A Los Angeles-area health care executive with significant experience in health systems leadership has been appointed as the chief operating officer of Keck Medicine of USC.
Rod Hanners will also serve as CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, effective June 15. Hanners formerly worked for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Hanners will oversee operations for the three acute care facilities that are part of Keck Medicine of USC: Keck Hospital of USC, USC Norris Cancer Hospital and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. Hanners will lead the system’s growth in market share and volume.

“In order to reach our goal of becoming the region’s leading academic medical center, it is imperative that we continue to develop our network throughout Southern California,” explains Tom Jackiewicz, senior vice president and CEO, Keck Medicine of USC.

In addition to his tenure with Keck School of Medicine of USC-affiliated Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Hanners’ experience includes serving as chief operating officer for Kaiser Permanente Hospital’s Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC), the largest Kaiser Permanente facility in Southern California.

“We have a faculty of world-class physicians. With the addition of Rod Hanners we are building a strong leadership team of the same caliber to allow our physicians to focus on providing the absolute best care to our patients,” Jackiewicz said. “Rod has an impressive background in improving quality, managing costs, and leveraging resources in a complex health care environment.”

Jackiewicz, to whom Hanners will report, continued: “Having worked at two of the largest medical centers in California, he understands the unique challenges we face in the rapidly changing health care landscape and has demonstrated the ability to develop successful strategies and processes for optimal growth and stability.”

At CHLA, Hanners is the senior administrative officer in charge of 10 departments, including radiology, patient care services, information services and human resources. At Kaiser, Hanners was responsible for hospital operations and support services across the LAMC campus and medical office buildings.

Hanners will work to establish strong and effective working relationships with key constituents across the USC enterprise, including department chairs, faculty and medical staff members, as well as leadership at the hospital and system level. He will also engage stakeholders in the communities served by Keck Medicine of USC.

Preceding his health care career, Hanners served in the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer and submarine training instructor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from California State University, Long Beach and a master’s-equivalent in nuclear engineering from the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL.