Sentara Norfolk General Hospital names new president

Liisa Ortegon leads one of state's largest hospitals

Published February 10, 2021 by Sydney Lake

Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare announced Wednesday it has hired Liisa Ortegon as the new president of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, one of the state’s largest hospitals. She replaces Carolyn Carpenter, who left to join Johns Hopkins Health System as its capital region president.

Ortegon most recently served as senior vice president of operations and chief nursing executive at Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Medical Center, a 1,000-bed academic medical center affiliated with New York’s Weill Cornell Medical College.

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has 525 licensed beds and in 2018 generated nearly $1 billion in net patient revenue. With 29 years of health care experience, Ortegon has also served as chief nursing officer (CNO) for 12 HCA hospitals and CNO with chief operating officer duties for HCA Horizon Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Sentara Healthcare includes 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, more than 300 care sites and 30,000 employees.

“I have always believed patients are at the center of everything we do and I was delighted to learn Sentara’s mission and values were very much aligned with mine,” Ortegon said in a statement. “I know that together we will continue to improve health, and health care, in our corner of the world.”

Ortegon earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Texas, her master’s degree in administration from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and her doctorate in business administration from Northcentral University in San Francisco. She also earned an executive certification from the Wharton School of Business.