New CIO Joins Sentara as Health System Receives Award for IT Innovation

Sentara is focused on digital transformation using proprietary cloud-based architecture.

Tim Skeen has been named the new senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of Sentara Healthcare, a 12-hospital nonprofit healthcare system with more than 2,700 beds headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

Skeen joins the organization as it was named one of the top 100 leading innovative organizations in the world by CIO Magazine in its 2020 CIO 100 Awards which recognize companies for their achievements in technology innovation.

According to Sentara, the health system was chosen for "its cross-industry leading work with cloud-hosted application design, support, and cost optimization."

“Sentara is dedicated to investing in forward-thinking information technology to further our mission," said Howard P. Kern, president and CEO of Sentara Healthcare, in a news release. "Our vision is to create exceptional experiences for our patients and members through the adoption and continual development of a customer-centric digital platform."

Sentara's initiatives include using "proprietary architecture on [a] public cloud with security and application resiliency as the backbone," the release explains. "This transforms the capacity and capabilities of Sentara to be agile in its digital transformation. Sentara's information technology architecture will allow for a tailored product to healthcare providers. It will enable organizations to own their cloud experience, rather than fitting into an existing application support design."

Skeen's experience encompasses enterprise architecture, data and analytics, service-oriented architecture (SOA) platforms, cloud operations, systems infrastructure, informational security, network operations and corporate application in the healthcare industry.

Prior to joining Sentara, Skeen held several executive leadership positions at Anthem, Inc., including chief operating officer and enterprise chief information officer, where he oversaw the technology and government business division.

Previously, Skeen worked for Amerigroup, Molina Health, and Unisys. At Sentara, he replaces Michael Reagin , MBA, CHCIO, who left the organization in April to join Sharp HealthCare. Skeen begins his new position on November 9.