HCA Healthcare appoints Dr. Michael Schlosser as chief clinical officer, expands ambulatory leadership under new operating group

HCA Healthcare said it has named Dr. Michael Schlosser, M.D., MBA, as executive vice president and chief clinical officer, elevating a senior leader who most recently served as chief transformation officer. The change, announced August 6, 2026, places Schlosser in a top clinical role at the Nashville-based healthcare company, with responsibilities that the company framed around clinical strategy and oversight.

In a separate leadership appointment, HCA said Charles Gressle has been named president of a new ambulatory operations group. Ambulatory care generally refers to outpatient services delivered without an overnight hospital stay, a segment that has been growing as payers and providers shift care away from inpatient settings when medically appropriate.

The executive reshuffle underscores how large hospital systems are reorganizing around both clinical execution and expanding outpatient footprints. For HCA, the announcements point to an internal emphasis on coordinating care delivery across settings, particularly as ambulatory operations can involve different clinician staffing models, scheduling workflows, and service-line economics than traditional inpatient hospitals.

Schlosser’s background at HCA includes serving as senior vice president and chief transformation officer, a title that indicates an internal focus on changing how care is delivered and how operational systems function. In his newly stated role as chief clinical officer, he will move from transformation work into a position that is typically responsible for clinical quality, clinical standards, and medical leadership across a broad provider network.

HCA’s new ambulatory operations group, led by Gressle, suggests the company is formalizing outpatient management rather than handling it through separate regional or service-line structures. While the announcement did not lay out the group’s geographic scope or specific outpatient services, creating a dedicated ambulatory organization typically aims to improve consistency in operations and to bring together clinicians, facilities, and administrative functions that otherwise operate in silos.

Industry watchers have noted that ambulatory expansion can become a major operational lever for hospital operators because outpatient volumes and throughput can respond differently than inpatient demand, and because systems often face different regulatory, technology, and payer-contract considerations in outpatient settings. HCA’s leadership changes are consistent with that broader trend, even though the company did not provide additional program details in the reported announcement.

HCA did not disclose in the announcement the timing of when Schlosser and Gressle will begin their new roles, nor did it provide information on whether the reorganization will affect other executive reporting lines. The company also did not specify performance targets, cost plans, or clinical initiatives tied to the appointments in the information carried by the initial report.

Going forward, investors and healthcare executives will likely watch for any follow-on disclosures that explain how HCA intends to measure success for the chief clinical officer role and for the ambulatory operations group, including whether the company will consolidate outpatient management, announce new outpatient investments, or update guidance on capital spending and operating priorities.