Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS

Cliff A. Megerian, MD, is Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals (UH), a comprehensive health system with annual revenues of $7 billion, 21 hospitals (including 5 joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices located throughout 16 counties. He assumed this position in February 2021 and joined UH in 2002.

In December 2019, Dr. Megerian was appointed the system’s President, where he led the organization through an unprecedented pandemic. Prior to that, he served as President, University Hospitals Physician Network, Physician Services and System Institutes. In these positions, he was charged with managing the clinical integration strategies, policies and practice guidelines for more than 2,500 UH employed physicians as well as the operations and infrastructure for UH system institutes. These clinical care institutes bring highly trained subspecialists together from multiple disciplines to collaborate on the best treatment for patients – promoting uniform, standard care protocols and the sharing of best practices.

Additionally, he raised physician productivity to its highest level and significantly increased physician engagement and research funding. UH’s physician network includes the full-time academic medical practice at UH Cleveland Medical Center and UH’s community-based, multi-specialty physician network throughout Northeast Ohio.

Dr. Megerian is also a Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, where he was Chair from 2012-2018 and held the Julius McCall Professorship at CWRU, as well as the Richard and Patricia Pogue endowed Chair in Auditory Surgery and Hearing Sciences at UH. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Prior to UH, he served on the physician staffs of the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veteran Affairs Medical Center and Metro Health System Medical Center. At the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Dr. Megerian was the Director of Otology and Neurotology, as well as the Director of Residency Training, the Medical Director, Cochlear Implantation Program, and the Co-Director, Center for Skull Base Diseases. He also served on the medical staff of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Megerian’s clinical career has been devoted to the management of hearing loss, chronic ear disease, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, vertigo, and other otology and neurotology issues. As a surgeon, Dr. Megerian co-founded UH’s Cochlear implant program and he and his team have performed over 1,500 cochlear implant surgeries, making it one of the largest programs in the country.

He is also an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of acoustic neuroma. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts and has served as visiting professor at numerous medical schools and institutions throughout the world.

His research interests in the pathogenesis of Meniere’s disease have been funded by a number of agencies including the NIH and DRF. He previously served as a consultant to the FDA in the regulation of Ear, Nose and Throat Devices. He is co-author of a textbook in its second publishing, “Surgery of the Cerebellopontine Angle.”

Dr. Megerian is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School and completed a residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland and CWRU. He completed a research and clinical fellowship in otology and neurotology at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He also completed a certificate program in healthcare management at Weatherhead School of Business at CWRU.

Dr. Megerian serves on the American Hospital Association’s Health Systems Committee. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio Business Roundtable, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. He is also past Chair of the Cleveland Innovation District/Jobs Ohio Consortium.

Dr. Megerian has been widely recognized for his leadership in healthcare at the regional and national levels. In 2023, Modern Healthcare named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the U.S. healthcare industry, and Ohio Business Magazine included him in the Ohio 500, honoring leaders shaping the state’s future.

His influence continued to be acknowledged in 2024 and 2025, as Cleveland Magazine named him to the Cleveland 500 for guiding University Hospitals to grow and adapt in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape. In 2024, Crain’s Cleveland Business again recognized his leadership, naming him to its Power 150 list of executives positioned to move Northeast Ohio forward – an honor he had earned in prior years as well. That same year, Becker’s Healthcare highlighted Dr. Megerian on multiple national lists, including 80 Great Leaders in Healthcare, 64 CEO Influencers to Know, and 30 Highly Successful CEO–CFO Duos.

Becker’s continued to acknowledge his impact, most recently listing him among 95 Academic Medical Center CEOs to Know and naming him one of the Most Influential CEOs in healthcare. In 2025, Crain’s Cleveland Business added him to its Who’s Who list of leaders shaping the region’s progress.

Under his leadership, University Hospitals has also earned significant accolades. UH was named by Forbes as one of America’s Dream Employers for 2025, placing among the Top 10 nationwide. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report recognized UH Cleveland Medical Center as the Best Regional Hospital for Equitable Access – the only Ohio hospital included on this inaugural list. Earlier, in 2022, University Hospitals received the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize, the organization’s highest honor for excellence in quality and safety.

Dr. Megerian and his wife Lynne Sheffler Megerian, MD, have three adult children.