Warner L. Thomas

As president and CEO, Warner Thomas leads the 50,000 employees, 12,000 physicians and 2,000 advanced practice clinicians in Sutter Health’s nationally recognized integrated delivery system of hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health and hospice care, laboratory and pharmacy services, research facilities, and Sutter’s Institute for Advancing Health Equity.

Thomas, who has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare, became president and CEO of Sutter Health in November 2022 after serving for 10 years as president and CEO of Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest healthcare provider, employer, and educator of medical professionals. Prior to becoming CEO, Thomas was Ochsner Health’s president and chief operating officer from 1998-2012.

In 2014 he was appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission where he continues to advise Congress on issues affecting Medicare. He is a current member of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Board of Trustees and has served as Chairman of AHA’s Health Systems Governing Council. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Thomas received an undergraduate degree in accounting and computer information systems from New Hampshire College in Manchester, N.H., and his Master of Business Administration degree in 1994 from Boston University Graduate School of Management. He is also a certified public accountant.