Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS
Cliff A. Megerian, MD will assume the position of System CEO in January 2021 upon the retirement of Thomas F. Zenty III, who has served as CEO since 2003. Until that time, Dr. Megerian will serve as President of University Hospitals Health System (UH), which was effective December 2019.
Previously, Dr. Megerian served as President, University Hospitals Physician Network and System Institutes – a position he held since 2018. The Network includes over 2,500 UH employed physicians and the UH System Institutes bring highly trained subspecialists together from multiple disciplines to collaborate on the best treatment for patients spanning 14 clinical care areas. Institutes also promote uniform, standard care protocols and the sharing of best practices.
Prior to that role, Dr. Megerian served as President, University Hospitals Physician Services. UH’s physician network includes the fulltime academic medical practice at UH Cleveland Medical Center and UH’s community-based, multi-specialty physician network throughout Northeast Ohio.
Dr. Cliff Megerian is also a Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine where he was Chair from 2012-2018. In 2008, he was named the Inaugural recipient of the Richard W. and Patricia R. Pogue Endowed Chair in Auditory Surgery and Hearing Sciences at UH Cleveland Medical Center. As a surgeon, Dr. Megerian co-founded UH’s Cochlear implant program and he and his team have performed over 1,000 cochlear implant surgeries making it one of the largest programs in the country. He joined UH in 2002.
Prior to UH, Dr. Megerian served on the physician staffs of the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Metro Health System Medical Center and Boston Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Megerian worked at University of Massachusetts Medical Center, where he served as Director of Residency Training, Physician Unit Chief, Department of Audiology, Medical Director, Cochlear Implantation Program, CoDirector, Center for Skull Base Diseases, and Director of Otology and Neurotology in the Department of Otolaryngology.
Dr. Megerian’s clinical career has been devoted to the management of hearing loss, chronic ear disease, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, vertigo, and other otology and neurotolgy issues. He is also an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of acoustic neuroma. He has published over 120 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 sits on the Editorial Board of key journals in his field and has been selected by the FDA to serve as a consultant in the regulation of Ear, Nose and Throat Devices. He has been appointed by the American Academy of Otolaryngology to represent the Academy on the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCHI).
Dr. Megerian is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School and completed a residency in otolaryngology at Case Western Reserve University. He completed a research and clinical fellowship in otology and neurotology at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. In 2009 he completed a certificate program in healthcare management at Weatherhead School of Business at Case Western Reserve University. In 2017, Dr. Megerian was elected for a six-year term on the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board.
Dr. Megerian resides in Shaker Heights along with his wife Lynne. They have three children Drew, Mark and Caroline.
