West Paul, M.D., Ph.D. is the new chief clinical officer at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the organization announced in a news release. He fills a position "created to advance NHRMC’s commitment to offer the highest level of patient safety and clinical quality," the release stated. He will provide oversight for clinical quality and safety, clinical practices and the NHRMC system medical staff.

Paul comes to NHRMC from WakeMed, where he served as senior vice president and chief quality and medical staff officer.

"He has been instrumental in transforming the quality and safety structure at WakeMed into a proactive, data-driven service that informs the clinical and frontline staff while educating the system on best practices to achieve aspirational goals," the release stated.

Prior to leading WakeMed’s Chasing Zero efforts to eliminate preventable harm, Paul worked for 16 years at the Mayo Clinic in a variety of roles, including founding chair of the Division of Consultative and Diagnostic Medicine, where his goal was to manage complex patients and evaluate the “un-diagnosable.”

“Dr. Paul’s quality and safety abilities are unparalleled,” Philip Brown, NHRMC chief physician executive, said in the release. “He spent two decades in a physician-led system at the Mayo Clinic, and that uniquely qualifies him to lead our efforts to achieve perfect care.”

A native of Ayden, North Carolina, Paul completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University and then became the first student to earn a PhD and MD at East Carolina University, according to the release. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.