Richard Schulick Tapped to Serve as UR Medicine’s First-Ever Chief Clinical Officer
Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, FACS, a seasoned healthcare executive and current director of the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chair of Surgery at the University of Colorado, will join the University of Rochester Medical Center in April as Chief Clinical Officer (CCO)—a pivotal role designed to strengthen integration and coordination across our patient care enterprise.
Bringing extensive experience leading complex organizations and multidisciplinary groups, Schulick will report directly to URMC CEO, SMD Dean, and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences David Linehan, MD, FACS. In his new role, he will develop a strategic roadmap and innovative care models that advance quality and safety, and ensure a seamless, patient-centered experience across every care setting. Schulick will also serve as Senior Vice President for Health System Strategy, and Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Schulick, whose experience and vision will help us take the next step toward becoming a truly unified and integrated health system,” Linehan said. “His leadership at Colorado drove transformative alignment and sustained growth for both the Cancer Center and Department of Surgery. I’m confident he’ll bring that same focus and discipline to strengthening our position as the health system of choice for patients, providers, and staff.”
As CCO, Schulick will oversee the Medical Faculty Group and partner with faculty and staff leaders throughout our health system and schools to establish consistent standards across all care sites. Key priorities include expanding access to primary, preventive, specialty, and post-acute services; advancing readiness for value-based care; and implementing digital health strategies to enhance patient and provider experience.
“Ultimately, the most important part of any successful institution is the people who make it what it is,” Schulick said. “My priority is to make sure that whatever we pursue—whether it’s clinical, academic, or research growth—we do it in the right way so the most people benefit and we keep the collegial and can-do culture strong. This new role is about bringing leadership, faculty, and staff together to form one team with one purpose: To deliver the best possible care to our patients, while educating the next generation of physicians and advancing impactful research—all in a way that reflects the values for which we’re proud to stand.”
Along with his leadership roles at the University of Colorado, Schulick is also Professor of Immunology and Microbiology, giving him a resume that ranges from community outreach and engagement to preventive medicine, and cross-departmental and cross-specialty projects and collaborations. He is a distinguished surgical oncologist in hepatopancreatobiliary cancers and is recognized for complex surgical procedures on the pancreas and liver.
A Growing Enterprise
Over the past decade, UR Medicine has tripled in size, with revenues up 250 percent and annual outpatient visits now exceeding five million. This growth—along with our continued expansion and integration—underscores the need for strong, system-wide clinical leadership.
“The time is right for this position,” Linehan said. “We need a physician executive empowered to unify care across the entire UR Medicine health system, ensuring that every patient receives seamless, high-quality care—at the right time, in the right place, and as close to home as possible. Dr. Schulick will help us build the structure for long-term success by advancing value-based care and strengthening our connection to the communities we serve.”
“Establishing the Chief Clinical Officer role at the system level will help drive strategic alignment, integration, and cohesion within and across our multidisciplinary teams. It opens a new realm of possibilities in collaboration and coordinated care delivery,” Michael Rotondo, MD, FACS, URMFG CEO, said. “With Dr. Schulick’s proven academic track record, I’m confident our research and education missions will continue to thrive. As I complete my term as Vice Dean and URMFG CEO in early 2026, I look forward to supporting Dr. Schulick to ensure a successful and smooth transition as he establishes this new role.”
Dermatology Chair Alice Pentland, MD, who led the national search, noted that the University of Rochester is fortunate to recruit a physician executive like Dr. Schulick.
“Dr. Schulick is highly talented and has extensive experience in the management of complex academic medical centers,” Pentland said. “Equally important, he also exemplifies a caring physician-scientist, whose first interest is taking excellent care of patients.”
Schulick noted that URMC’s sterling reputation as one of the nation’s foremost academic medical centers drew him to apply.
“I’m deeply impressed with URMC and with the many faculty and system leaders I’ve already had the chance to meet,” Schulick said. “I see an institution that’s on a steep positive trajectory with impressive possibilities for the future, and I’m excited to be part of that. In my meetings with many leaders, I was so impressed with the pervasive culture of collegiality.”
Schulick characterizes himself as a servant leader. As a surgeon, he knows how to move fast when needed, but he said he favors gathering input, building consensus, and moving forward in a deliberative manner.
“As a complex system like URMC grows, the leadership structure must adjust to match, and my new role is a logical step in that process,” he said. “I’ll know I’m succeeding if I’ve helped chairs, center directors, faculty, and staff to succeed. My role is to set up the systems and streamline processes to make that happen. In the end, however, it is always about the patient and their families who will be receiving exceptional care.”
More About Schulick
Born in Rangoon, Burma, Schulick earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering science and his MD from Johns Hopkins University, where he then completed an advanced gastrointestinal surgery fellowship. He subsequently completed immunology and clinical pharmacology fellowships at the National Cancer Institute, and a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
He served in a variety of roles at Johns Hopkins before joining the University of Colorado in 2012 as professor and chair of Surgery. He was named director of the cancer center in 2018.
Under Schulick’s leadership, the Department of Surgery at Colorado tripled in size, recruiting top talent from across the country and building a strong program that now includes more than 180 MD/PhD faculty, 171 APP faculty, 80 research staff, and trains 157 fellows and residents. His department handles more than 36,000 surgical cases and 120,000 patient visits a year, and is typically listed in the top 10 to 20 departments of surgery funded by the NIH.
In his leadership roles, he has stewarded philanthropic investment including over $150 million in gifts to support clinical, scientific, and educational programs and has established 26 new endowed chairs.
Schulick currently serves on numerous national committees including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Board of Directors, Society of Asian Surgeons, International Surgical Group, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, International Hepatopancreatobiliary Association, and the Society of Surgical Chairs. He has also served as president of the Halsted Society.
Fast Facts
Schulick’s globe-trotting childhood, the result of a father who worked for the State Department, saw him spend time in Burma, Thailand, and India as well as the Washington, D.C. area.
He met his wife, Cristina Cenciarelli, when they worked in nearby laboratories as NIH postdoctoral fellows. She has a PhD in immunology from the University of Rome (Italy) and currently works as an administrator. Their three children are all pursuing careers in medicine—one is a surgical resident at Johns Hopkins pursuing a PhD in transplant xenoimmunology, one is a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at UC San Diego, and one is in dental school at the University of Colorado.
Schulick has remained active in clinical practice while fulfilling his leadership role at the University of Colorado. He expects to do the same, albeit in a scaled-back way, at URMC.
Away from work, Schulick enjoys fishing and spending time outdoors. He’s eager to explore Rochester and all it has to offer.
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