UH Lake West and TriPoint CMO Keeps Patients and Hospitals Healthy

UH Clinical Update | September 2026

John Baniewicz, MD

Growing up in Chicago, John Baniewicz, MD, had a clear plan for his future. He’d either be a doctor – or a priest.

“If you talk to my mom, she'll laugh, because that’s what I told her,” Dr. Baniewicz says. “I don't know what those two things have in common, but I guess I wanted to serve in some way. I felt that I wanted to serve the community.”

And he has – with distinction. Dr. Baniewicz has practiced internal medicine in Lake County for the last 34 years, the last 12 as Chief Medical Officer for Lake Health. When Lake Health joined University Hospitals in 2021, Dr. Baniewicz made the leadership transition, becoming CMO of UH Lake West and UH TriPoint medical centers.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lake integration and the launch of Epic, it’s been a challenging few years, he says, with new issues to confront nearly every day. But through a lot of thoughtful conversations and other communications with physicians and other caregivers, the two UH Lake hospitals he oversees have emerged even stronger than before, he says. Specifically, Robyn Strosaker, MD, Market President and COO, and Don DeCarlo, MD, Associate CMO, East Market, have noted improvements in CMS star ratings, length of stay and a “relentless” focus on safety under Dr. Baniewicz’s watch.

In fact, UH CEO Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair, recently recognized Dr. Baniewicz’s stellar leadership with a “Dinner with the Doc” honor.

Dr. Baniewicz says everyone at UH Lake West and UH TriPoint are energized by the integration – and what it means for the patients they serve.

“It's been great,” he says. “There’s so much enjoyment in getting some new service lines out here.”

For one, he cites the UH Cleveland Medical Center critical care team providing 24/7 service in UH Lake ICUs.

“What a transition to care, and then all the newer resources that we have from the institutes, like UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute. It’s amazing what they bring forward in terms of quality, he says. “It's been a really great ride. I enjoy seeing what it's doing for our quality of care.”

Dr. Baniewicz earned his undergraduate degree at Kent State University and his medical degree at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), as part of the joint six-year program. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Akron City Hospital/Summa Health System, where he served as chief resident.

“I knew I wanted to be a primary care doctor, and I pretty much stood with that all through my training,” he says. “I just want to take care of people, and I like the variety of things that you see in primary care.  I also really value the relationships you develop with your patients. It's a very longitudinal relationship you have with your doctor. I have people now that I've been taking care of for literally three decades.”

This connection to patients is so important, Dr. Baniewicz says, that he makes time in his jam-packed schedule to see patients three half-days a week – a significant commitment.

“It really keeps me balanced,” he says. “As hard as doctoring is, I very much still look forward to getting in the office and taking care of my patients. That’s still, in my heart, what I want to do. And I feel good about what I do on the Chief Medical Officer side, because I take care of the hospital, take care of my medical staff and enhance the quality of care for a bigger group than just my own patients by doing that kind of work.”

When it comes to managing medical care in the hospitals on his watch, Dr.  Baniewicz heralds the importance engagement and alignment – “buzzwords” that he says can only be achieved through effective communication.

“These courses talk about physician engagement and alignment and so forth,” he says. “I may have been skeptical, but it's the whole thing! That's the whole job! But we work as care teams now, so you're not going to move anything by just moving the hearts and minds of physicians. You've got to move the whole care team -- nurses, physicians, whoever is involved. Inspiring people by engaging them and aligning them into improvement activities is not a boring side subject, it's actually the whole thing. In this role, that's really what you have to do.”

To nominate a physician for this honor, click here for the Dinner with the Doc Nomination Form.