Truveta is led and governed by innovative health system members, which operate thousands of care facilities across more than 42 states. The health systems lead the Board of Directors and Board of Governors, who give ongoing guidance and support to Truveta as we continue to pursue our vision of saving lives with data. The Boards provide strategic, scientific, and operational direction on specific areas of expertise. Truveta’s Governing Boards include seven committees comprised of representatives from our health system members, focused on strategic initiatives and stewardship.
As part of a continuing series featuring members of our Board, we wanted to highlight a member of our Board of Governors.
Debe Gash is Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Saint Luke’s Health System and a member of the Technological Innovation Committee. Debe was also recently listed as one of the 50 Innovative Chief Digital Officers to Know by Becker’s Hospital Review. As the Becker’s list notes: “Chief digital officers are an emerging role for hospital IT teams and take on increasing importance as systems dive deep into digital transformation.”
The Technological Innovation Committee provides strategic guidance on Truveta’s curation and delivery of a high value, high quality data corpus, with a focus on data, technology, and information management, as well as integrates recommendations from the Security and Data Integration Committees.
We took this opportunity to speak with Debe about her background and career, and her connection to Truveta and our vision.
Congratulations on being named an innovative chief digital officer to know. What does that mean to you and/or Saint Luke’s?
I believe that successful innovation allows you to add value to the business. If businesses don’t innovate well, the business will plateau. This recognition tells me that my work is helping the business to be prosperous and competitive.
You’ve spent over two decades of your career at Saint Luke’s. What has been your proudest moment at the organization?
I am most proud of the work done over the last 2.5 years by the team of professionals that work with me. I take great pride in their accomplishments and response to the pandemic. That time showed how their creativity, innovation, and forward thinking enabled this organization to fulfill its mission.
Can you tell us about a pivotal moment, event, or person in your life that changed the direction of your career?
My predecessor, John Wade, was instrumental in my development as a leader. He saw my potential, encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree, helped me develop my leadership skills, and challenged me constantly.
What does Truveta’s vision — saving lives with data — mean to you?
The Truveta platform is a significant dataset that will allow life science companies and health care providers the opportunity to learn what treatments work, what therapies are effective, and what drives health outcomes. I believe life science companies and health care providers will make improvements, innovate, and perhaps address disparities in health care through their research and analysis of this dataset—and that ultimately will save lives.
You serve on one of Truveta’s Board of Governors’ committees. What do you think is unique about Truveta’s approach?
The differentiators are Truveta’s mission and involvement of healthcare providers in governing the data. In addition, the scale, depth, and diversity of data are unique.
Debe is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a BS degree in Health Services Management and Master’s Degree in Business Administration. She is an active member of ACHE, CHIME, and HIMSS. Debe holds the following certifications: CHCIO, CDH-E, FHIMSS, FACHE, and CPHIMS.