Joe E. Ness serves as interim executive vice president and interim chief executive officer of OHSU Health, taking on those roles July 1, 2024. He has also been a senior vice president and the chief operating officer since 2018.

His areas of executive leadership responsibilities include OHSU Health, Adult and Doernbecher Children’s hospitals, Professional and Support Services, Perioperative Services, Knight Cancer Institute’s Clinical Oncology Services, Organ Procurement organization, and major capital construction initiatives.

Ness received his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from the University of Washington in 1990.  He completed his master’s degree in health administration at the University of Washington in 1992, along with a pharmacy administrative residency.

He joined OHSU Healthcare as the vice president of professional and support services in February 2013. He was responsible for the administrative operations of ancillary clinical services including Pharmacy, Imaging, Laboratory/Pathology, Rehabilitation Services, Transplant and Organ Procurement, Respiratory Therapy, Neurosciences and Dialysis. He also oversaw all health care related food and nutrition, environmental services, facility and engineering operations.

Before joining OHSU, Ness was senior vice president of operations at PeaceHealth, a nonprofit health care organization that operates 10 hospitals in the Western United States.

He is actively involved in the community, and was named a Health System Pharmacist of the Year by the Washington State Pharmacy Association.