University of Florida Health CEO Dr. Leon Haley dies unexpectedly

Photo: Courtesy of UFHealth Jacksonville

Dr. Leon Haley Jr., CEO of University of Florida Health Jacksonville and dean of the UF College of Medicine, died unexpectedly on Saturday, July 24, at the age of 56.

Action News Jax reported that Haley died after being ejected from a jet ski after losing control and crashing into a jetty.

In addition to serving as CEO and dean, Haley was a UF professor of emergency medicine and vice president for health affairs for the university. He assumed his UF roles in January 2017 and became CEO of UF Health Jacksonville in January 2018.

Haley rose up the academic ranks to become professor of emergency medicine at Emory University, where he was a clinician, scholar and administrator. At Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory’s safety-net hospital, Haley assumed increasing responsibilities for faculty matters and was executive associate dean for clinical affairs.

On top of those roles, Haley served as chief medical officer of the Emory Medical Care Foundation in Atlanta. He formerly served as deputy senior vice president of medical affairs, chief of emergency medicine for Grady Health System and vice chair of emergency medicine at Emory University.

Prior to his positions at Grady and Emory, Haley was a senior staff physician at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Haley completed his undergraduate degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. Haley completed his residency in emergency medicine at the Henry Ford Health System, serving a year as chief resident.

Haley’s primary academic interest had been identifying and evaluating strategies to enhance emergency care delivery to emergency room patients. He’s credited with successfully implementing a rapid medical evaluation process in the Grady Memorial Hospital emergency room that resulted in, among other things, decreasing the number of patients leaving without being seen by 50{f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca}, decreasing the time for patients to see an emergency medicine provider by 45 minutes and reducing the length of stay for the lowest-acuity patients by three hours.

He completed the Woodruff Leadership Program at Emory University and a fellowship for the National Association of Public Hospital Program. He was funded by the Department of Defense, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Healthcare Foundation of Georgia. Haley also served on the state of Georgia’s Trauma Network Commission as an appointee of the Georgia lieutenant governor.

As well, Haley was board-certified in emergency medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He was a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Physician Executives. In addition, he served on the board of directors for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Most recently, he served as a board member of the Florida Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida. Locally, he was a member of the Jacksonville Electric Authority Board of Directors and chair of Trustees on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.

Haley was father to one daughter, Nichelle, and two sons, Grant and Wesley. He is also survived by his parents, Elizabeth Ann and Leon Haley Sr., and sister, Lisa Haley Huff. He was predeceased by his brother, Loren Haley.
 

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