Our Team: Edwin K. (Ned) Zechman - Senior Consultant

Senior Consultant OAI Team Member Since: 2011 Years of Experience: 30 nzechman@oai-usa.com

Biography

Edwin K. (Ned) Zechman, Jr. joined the OAI team as a Senior Consultant in September 2011.  With over 30 years experience as president and chief executive officer of four pediatric hospitals, and a strong community of networks and connections in the healthcare industry, Ned is a valuable asset for OAI and its clients.

For 17 years (1994–2011), Ned served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, DC.  Overcoming fiscal adversity and a changing healthcare environment, Ned led the hospital to become a nationally and internationally-ranked leader in pediatric care, advocacy, research, and education.  Under Ned’s leadership, the hospital experienced significant and sustained revenue growth and was rebuilt to provide state of the art patient care facilities and add new research space.  During Ned’s tenure, Children’s National completed three major campaigns totaling close to $1 billion.  The final campaign raised over $500 million and was anchored by one of the largest philanthropic gifts made to a children’s hospital, a gift of $150 million from the government of Abu Dhabi to create and support the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.

Ned’s expertise is with large, complex institutions, including those in the healthcare and education sectors.  Ned advises OAI’s client CEOs and other senior leadership members on managing and governing their boards of directors as well as developing the philanthropic skills needed for leaders within these organizations.  Ned also advises clients during the strategic planning process, focusing specifically on the development of philanthropic plans concurrent with development of strategic plans.

Prior to his work at CNMC, Ned held the positions of President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Executive Director of the Children’s Hospital of Akron and Executive Director of the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans. 

Ned is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and past Chair of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals & Related Institutions (NACHRI) and Child Health Care Corporation of America.  He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Shippensburg State College and a Master of Science degree in health care management from The Ohio State University.  Ned and his wife, Denise, have two adult children.