John Pope, MD, MPH, ACC
Chief medical officer, HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, HonorHealth network patient safety officer
Q: How many years have you been with HonorHealth?
A: I’ve been with HonorHealth for about 27 years. I joined in 1999 as a pediatric hospitalist to expand pediatric services. I’ve been chief medical officer at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center since 2013 and network patient safety officer since 2023.
Q: What inspired you to pursue medicine and eventually hospital leadership?
A: Positive childhood experiences shaped my interest in medicine and pediatrics. I received stitches twice in my head by my pediatrician, and I also witnessed the amazing care my older brother received at Shriners Children’s Boston for burn treatment. In my leadership, those memories drive me to work with teams to provide that same experience to our patients. I’m proud of what our teams provide at HonorHealth.
Q: What are your top one to two priorities or areas of focus for HonorHealth physicians and APPs this year?
A: Physician and APP well-being and leadership development through well-being services, the Physician Leadership Academy and personal coaching. We’re also evolving HonorHealth through the HonorWay to an easier place for physicians and their teams to provide community members with the best patient experience and high-quality, safe care.
Q: What’s one tangible way you actively support HonorHealth physicians and APPs in delivering excellent care?
A: Co-directing the Physician Leadership Academy and supporting an academy for APPs, as well as providing physician coaching and formal peer support.
Q: What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of from the past year at your campus?
A: Our teams providing excellent patient experience and service during our construction — I’ve seen some amazing, compassionate actions by our team members. The construction has provided beautiful and advanced public and care areas for patients. I’m also proud of advancing our services and programs in cardiovascular (LVAD program), women’s and children’s (US News & World Report best maternity hospital in US), GI (advanced GI lab) and oncology service lines (cellular therapies), with more to come! Finally, I love hearing stories from our patients about the amazing care they receive from our team members.
Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you or how you spend your time outside of work?
A: I have a superhero alias, “Captain Kidz,” who appears for fundraising and other secret missions.
Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
A: My dad regularly reminded me that “a brick a day” is how you build great things with other people. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Brian Sidoti, MD
Chief medical officer, HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center
Q: How many years have you been with HonorHealth?
A: Since the beginning of my career. I started with Affiliated Hospitalists at HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center in 2002, then moved to HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center when the hospitalist program expanded after HonorHealth formed in 2015. I transitioned to my role as chief medical officer (CMO) there in 2016 and have been serving as CMO at HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center since 2023.
Q: What inspired you to pursue medicine and eventually hospital leadership?
A: My love of biosciences, combined with the humanity of caring for people and helping them manage acute and chronic medical conditions, drove me to become an internist. Growing up with a father with multiple sclerosis gave me personal experience with the impact of chronic illness on patients and their families. I had a very rewarding 14-year career as a hospitalist at HonorHealth, including several years as a medical director. At that point, I also found purpose and satisfaction in working on hospital system challenges to improve how my colleagues, hospital team members and I could care for patients. Even though my career path has changed, I have not lost my devotion to the care of hospitalized patients.
Q: What are your top one to two priorities or areas of focus for HonorHealth physicians and APPs this year?
A: Promoting a culture of safety on our journey toward becoming a High Reliability Organization. Active involvement, transparency and communication with our physicians and APPs are critical to our success.
Q: What’s one tangible way you actively support HonorHealth physicians and APPs in delivering excellent care?
A: I developed a successful method to communicate and share barriers to care bidirectionally daily through TigerText, following our hospital’s leadership and throughput huddles. HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center is quite a complex campus given our cardiac and trauma services, alongside challenges with overcapacity and throughput. This platform keeps physician leaders aligned with hospital leadership. It now enables more efficient communication on quality and patient safety topics.
Q: What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of from the past year at your campus?
A: I’m most proud of the collaboration among our physicians, APPs and hospital team members toward common goals, especially during the third year of major campus construction with its adverse impacts on our physical space and operations. It’s an honor to support such a dedicated team.
Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you or how you spend your time outside of work?
A: I moved to Arizona after medical school because of my love for the outdoors, which is far better than Cleveland’s climate and landscape. Now that I’m officially an “empty nester,” I’m reinvigorated to hit the hiking trails again with my wife and work on my recently dormant golf game.
Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
A: “You need to focus on two things in healthcare: taking care of your team and the quality of care they deliver.” Hearing this from a leader without prior clinical experience was very impactful in grounding me early in my career as a CMO. It helps reorient me, so I don’t lose sight of our mission despite the long list of daily tasks that can sometimes overwhelm my time and attention.