Lisa Freeman to serve as senior adviser for clinical affairs

Elizabeth (Lisa) Freeman has been appointed the School of Medicine’s senior adviser for clinical affairs. She will begin June 27.

Freeman was previously the director and CEO of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, where she was responsible for administrative and clinical programs, including planning for facilities.

Reporting to Norman Rizk, MD, senior associate dean of clinical affairs, Freeman will oversee projects that enhance Stanford Medicine’s focus on precision health and that improve quality, safety and efficiency.

“Lisa Freeman was welcomed into the position because of her deep experience in performance improvement, promotion of cost efficiency and attention to what really matters to patients,” Rizk said. “We hope to profit from her long and distinguished career to make Stanford Medicine safer, better and more efficient. Her devotion to patients over many years makes her the perfect fit.”

Freeman said she is looking forward to joining Stanford after working closely with School of Medicine leaders through her work at the VA.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to focus on specific areas of improvement and innovation in both patient care and patient experience and to partner with the world-class Stanford staff in doing so,” Freeman said. “My hope is to use my experience and expertise to further their efforts.”

Freeman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in civil engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Louisiana Tech University. She has held several leadership and administrative positions within the Department of Veterans Affairs, including interim network director for the VA Southwest Healthcare Network in Phoenix; director of operations at the VA Sierra Pacific Network in San Francisco; and project manager and senior resident engineer for the VA Office of Construction in Washington, D.C.