Stephen Ondra, M.D., to Lead CMS Alliance to Modernize Health Care

MITRE Corp. has named Stephen Ondra, M.D., vice president of the Center for Transforming Health, and director of the CMS Alliance to Modernize Health Care (Health FFRDC.) 

MITRE operates the Health FFRDC (federally funded research and development center) on behalf of sponsors across the Department of Health and Human Services. Through multi-disciplinary teams, the center serves all federal agencies with health and human services missions: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health Resources and Services Administration, Administration for Children and Families, and more.

Ondra joined MITRE in 2022 and previously served as chief medical adviser and an acting managing director of the Health FFRDC. He has served in numerous leadership roles throughout the healthcare ecosystem, including neurosurgeon, hospital and healthcare insurance executive, policy adviser, entrepreneur, and educator.
 
MITRE says it is working to enable effective use of AI in healthcare, developing data-driven programs to strengthen maternal and mental health, enhancing medical device cybersecurity, and helping build resiliency in the healthcare ecosystem, among many other initiatives.
 
“Steve’s career spans numerous executive and leadership roles in government and industry, and his experience as a clinician and policy expert brings a unique vantage point to our government sponsors and our team,” said Beth Meinert, senior vice president and general manager, MITRE Public Sector, in a statement. “He has a deep understanding of the complex health and healthcare landscape. He also brings an innovator’s mindset, having led breakthrough developments in surgical care and developed multiple medical devices that improved patient care and outcomes.”
  
During his career, Ondra has served as chief medical officer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC), CEO of CygnusAI, and founder of NorthStar HealthCare Consulting, LLC. Ondra was a professor of neurosurgery, directed the residency program, and served as interim chair of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
 
During the Obama Administration, Ondra served as senior health policy adviser for health affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in the Executive Office of the President as co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council for Health Information Technology, and as a member of the Implementation Deputy Group for the Affordable Care Act. 
 
An Army veteran, Ondra was awarded a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal for his service during combat deployments in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
 
Ondra attended the U.S. Military Academy West Point and holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and a medical degree from Rush University.