Sutter Health Leadership

Warner L. Thomas

President and Chief Executive Officer

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.

Theresa M. Frei, R.N.

Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Operating Officer

As interim Chief Operating Officer of Sutter Health, Theresa Frei oversees all clinical operations, Nursing,  and Information Services.

Frei continues to serve as president and CEO of Sutter Valley Medical Foundation. Previously, she was chief operations officer at Sutter Medical Foundation, director of operations and patient safety at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and Chief of Client and Patient Services at Sutter Physician Services.

She is a member of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Foundation, which promotes learning and collaboration across the high-performing health systems in America. She serves as Chair of AMGA’s CEO Leadership Council and Treasurer of AMGA Foundation. She was the founding chair of the California Patient Safety Action Coalition, a statewide coalition focusing on promoting the principles of a safety culture across healthcare.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, and an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, and has completed the California HealthCare Leadership Fellowship Program.

Jill Ragsdale

Senior Vice President and Chief People and Culture Officer

With caring and compassion at the forefront, Jill Ragsdale and her teams are responsible for the programs and systems that empower staff to provide excellent and compassionate patient care and ensure patients receive high-quality, affordable healthcare services. As the leader for Human Resources, Enterprise Transformation, and Protective Services, Ragsdale leads teams that are at the center of Sutter Health’s diverse culture and environment.

From 1995 to 2008 she worked at Sutter Health as director of human resources and later vice president, human resources.  In 2008, she returned to the Mayo Clinic where she had launched her career, and served as Mayo’s chief human resources officer for eight years, before returning to Sutter Health in 2015.

Ragsdale earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and religion, and a master’s degree in industrial relations/human resources from the University of Iowa.

Brian Dean

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer, Brian Dean is responsible for the financial operations of Sutter Health, and oversees financial reporting, treasury, managed care, strategy and business development.

Dean joined Sutter Health in July 2020 from Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas, where he most recently served as that organization’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. There he was a key strategic partner in developing transformative business models to elevate the system’s capabilities around operational excellence, care delivery and innovation, while balancing the need for cost containment and strategic growth.

He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Texas Hospital Association, Healthcare Financial Management Association, and Angel Flight Southeast Texas.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, an MBA from the University of Miami, and a master’s in public health in health administration from the University of Kentucky.

Florence L. Di Benedetto

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Prior to joining Sutter Health in 2008, Di Benedetto was a senior partner of the Sacramento-based law firm Hunter Richey Di Benedetto & Eisenbeis LLP for 20 years.  She started the firm’s litigation practice and chaired the litigation section. She then served more than 10 years as the firm’s health law section senior partner, representing clients across California.

Di Benedetto earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University and studied economics and economic planning at London University and the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw, Poland.  She earned her law degree from the University of San Francisco and a master’s in health services management from Golden Gate University.

For many years, Di Benedetto served in the leadership ranks of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, including serving as board chair in 2005-2006.

Conrad M. Vial, M.D.

Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer

As Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Vial oversees every aspect of clinical care that creates the patient experience at Sutter Health. That includes safe, equitable and quality care, digital health, a human-centered design approach to providing more personalized care, mental health and addiction care, clinical research, and laboratory and pharmacy services.

It’s important to Dr. Vial that Sutter be the best place for clinicians to practice medicine and for patients to receive care.

Dr. Vial, who drives Sutter’s continuing evolution as an integrated health system, also understands first-hand what his clinician peers go through every day. He sees patients as a cardiothoracic surgeon and has been board certified in both general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery. His special interests are structural heart disease,  minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery and catheter-based valve repair and replacement.

Dr. Vial received his bachelor’s degree and medical doctorate from Stanford and conducted his general surgical and cardiothoracic surgical training at the university’s medical center. He earned his master’s of philosophy at Cambridge University in England, while also completing a postdoctoral fellowship in transplant immunology.

In August, President Biden appointed Dr. Vial as the only physician on the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), which advises the White House on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s public works sectors.

Grace Davis

Vice President and Chief Public Affairs Officer

Grace Davis leads the comprehensive public affairs organization that builds on Sutter Health’s strong community ties and not-for-profit mission to improve overall health and well-being through the delivery of excellent healthcare services. In this role, she oversees all facets of Sutter’s brand, reputation and external relations. Her organization consists of a unified public affairs, marketing, communications, community benefit and government relations organization across the integrated system.

Davis joined Sutter Health in 2017 from Intel Corporation, where she spent 17 years in a series of leadership roles within the company developing government and community strategies. She most recently oversaw Global Public Affairs responsible for external and government relations in the United States and overseas markets, including China, Southeast Asia, Israel, Ireland and Latin America.

Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from San Jose State University.