Dr. Combes is the Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer and previously was the ACGME’s Senior Vice President, Public Policy and External Relations, as well as an ACGME Visiting Scholar, studying GME and institutional integration, physician well-being, and the health care governance of the clinical learning environment.

Prior to joining the ACGME, Dr. Combes served as the chief medical officer (CMO) and senior vice president of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the former president of the Center for Healthcare Governance, an AHA affiliate organization. He has been the CMO of several health care systems in Florida and New York.

Dr. Combes is Chair of the Board of Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics, an integrated health care delivery system in Oregon, and past Director of Quality Insights, a multi-state quality improvement organization. He writes and speaks frequently on governance, physician issues, and quality, and lectures nationally and internationally on health care leadership.