Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

As executive vice president and chief operating officer of City of Hope, Virginia A. Opipare oversees all operational and business activities for City of Hope, the National Medical Center, and Beckman Research Institute. Her responsibilities include the implementation of the institution’s research and clinical strategic plans, patient care, quality, and support programs, finance, human resources, safety, facilities, construction, information technology, and the annual and capital budgets.

Opipare has served in health care research and administration for more than 20 years. Prior to joining City of Hope in 2006, she was executive vice president and chief executive officer of Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., where she helped achieve a financial turnaround, the highest patient satisfaction rating in the marketplace and the reestablishment of the organization’s National Cancer Institute designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Previously, Opipare served as Chief Executive and Hospitals Administrator of the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. In that role she was responsible for over 1,000 beds and six hospitals including a children's hospital. Her accomplishments include improved financial performance, the development of a hospital-wide patient satisfaction program, significant improvement in patient satisfaction rankings, and the establishment of a working partnership with the Faculty Practice Plan. She began her career in Pittsburgh, where she served in various roles including vice president of operations at Allegheny General Hospital and assistant administrator at Divine Providence Hospital. In these roles she was responsible for building the financial base, growing utilization, building partnerships with faculty and improving the patient experience.

Opipare earned her B.S. degree in medical technology from the University of Dayton and her M.S. degree from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Has a National Certification in Medical Technology by the American Society of Clinical Pathology.  She has held faculty appointments as Associate Professor in School of Allied Health at the University of Texas Medical and guest lecturer at the University of Houston graduate school in health care administration.

She has served and continues to serve on various National Committees and Boards; and has been the guest speaker at numerous special engagements.