President's Biography

Dr. Steele is a member of the New England Surgical Society, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Healthcare Executives Network, the Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System, Past President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, previously serving on its Committee on Reviewing Evidence to Identify Highly Effective Clinical Services.

Dr. Steele serves on the boards of Bucknell University, Temple University School of Medicine, Premier Inc. as Vice Chair, Weis Markets Inc., Wellcare Health Plans Inc. and the American Hospital Association (AHA) Committee on Research. His most recent board appointments were to The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians Board at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dr. Steele is currently Honorary Chair of the Pennsylvania March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign. In 2006, Modern Healthcare magazine and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society presented Dr. Steele with the CEO IT Achievement Award for promoting health information technology.

Dr. Steele and Geisinger honored by nation's healthcare leaders

Dr. Steele receives the eighth annual American Hospital Association's Health Research & Education Trust (HRET) Award for his strong use of research to inform evidence-based practice, his leadership as an early adopter of health information technology and patient-centered care, and his vision to redesign and implement new payment models.

In 2007, Modern Healthcare honored Dr. Steele with AHA’s Grassroots Champion Award and he was named to the magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare. In 2009, he was named to the publication’s 2009 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. In 2010, Dr. Steele received the 8th Annual AHA Health Research & Education Trust Award, which honors individuals who exhibit visionary leadership in healthcare and who symbolize HRET's mission of leveraging research and education to make a dramatic impact in policy and practice. In 2011, Dr. Steele was awarded the Healthcare Financial Management Association's Board of Directors' Award, which recognizes individuals or organizations for significant positive contributions to the profession of health care, the financ­ing of health care services and benefits society related to health care.

Dr. Steele received his bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University and his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in surgery at the University of Colorado, where he was also a Fellow of the American Cancer Society. He earned his doctorate in microbiology at Lund University in Sweden.