Kenneth Paulus

President and chief executive officer

Ken Paulus became president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Allina Health in 2009. He moved into that leadership position after serving as chief operating officer (COO), responsible for the operations of the 11 hospitals, specialty operations and clinic groups (Allina Medical Clinic, Aspen Medical Group and Quello Clinic) within Allina Health. He has led numerous growth initiatives, including a number of joint ventures, partnerships and acquisitions.

Before joining Allina Health in 2006, Paulus was president and chief executive officer of Massachusetts-based HealthOne Care System, one of the nation's largest physician organizations and a teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Prior to that he was chief operating officer of Boston-based Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., and chief operating officer of Alta Bates Medical Resources in Berkeley, California.

Paulus serves on the Board of Overseers for the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business, is a trustee with Hamline University, and serves on the executive committee and board of directors for the Minnesota Hospital Association.

Paulus is a Wisconsin native, was raised in Chicago, and is a 1983 graduate of the University of Minnesota Masters Program in Healthcare Administration. He earned his bachelors degree in biological sciences with a concentration in chemistry from Augustana College in Illinois.

Penny Ann Wheeler, MD

Chief clinical officer

Penny Wheeler, MD, chief clinical officer (CCO) of Allina Health, leads the organization's clinical quality and improvement agenda by collaborating with medical staffs, the Allina Health Board of Directors' Physician Governance Council and medical directors. She is responsible for ensuring best-of-practice approaches, ongoing innovation and excellence in care, and supporting the development and retention of effective clinicians.

A board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist, Dr. Wheeler has served patients at Women's Health Consultants in Minneapolis and taught as an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Minnesota. She has served as president of Abbott Northwestern Hospital's medical staff, as chairperson and vice-chairperson of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department and on numerous committees. 

Prior to assuming the position of CCO in June 2006, Wheeler served on the Allina Health Board of Directors, where she led the Quality Committee.

Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Minnesota, and a doctorate of medicine degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Duncan P. Gallagher

Chief financial officer

Duncan P. Gallagher, chief financial officer (CFO) of Allina Health, is responsible for ensuring that Allina Health resources are deployed properly to enhance the quality, safety and effectiveness of the care Allina Health provides to patients and communities.

Prior to joining the Allina Health Executive Leadership Team in August 2009, Gallagher was the executive vice president and chief operating and financial officer of Iowa Health System based in Des Moines, Iowa. Gallagher spent 10 years in that role overseeing all of the finance functions as well as administrative functions including legal services, human resources, information technology, strategy, supply chain management, and payer contracting.

Prior to his time at Iowa Health System, Gallagher was a partner with KPMG Peat Marwick based in Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Dallas. He spent 10 years with KPMG leading client engagements with large hospital systems. Prior to his time with KPMG he was a director of finance at Health East Care System in the late '80s and was a senior auditor with Peat Marwick Mitchell and Company in the early to mid '80s.

Gallagher completed his master's degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota in 1989. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1983 from the University of South Dakota.

Ben Bache-Wiig, MD

System vice president
President, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Ben Bache-Wiig, MD, is president of Abbott Northwestern Hospital, the largest Allina Health hospital. Prior to this role, Dr. Bache-Wiig served as vice president of medical affairs for Abbott Northwestern from 2009 to 2011.

Bache-Wiig is board-certified in internal medicine. As an accomplished medical executive, he supports values-based leadership and advocates for high-quality patient care.

Bache-Wiig completed his undergraduate studies at Michigan State University. He attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin and completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Bache-Wiig has 20 years of experience as part of the North Clinic, PA, a multi-specialty clinic with more than 50 physicians, serving both as a medical director and physician president.

Thomas O'Connor

System vice president
President, United Hospital

Tom O'Connor is president of United Hospital in St. Paul, effective January 2, 2012. This role includes leadership of Allina Medical Transportation, Allina Community Pharmacies and River Falls Area Hospital.

O'Connor began his career with Allina Health in 1997, managing five owned and eight managed rural hospitals as vice president of operations for Allina Regional Health Services until 2001. As corporate vice president of operations for Allina Health, he led the administrative redesign and system-wide financial improvement necessitated by the Allina Health split with Medica Health Plan in 2002. He then served as president of St. Francis Regional Medical Center until 2007, when he became president of Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

Tom began his career in health care management in Georgia and Florida, including serving as chief operating officer of Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee.

A Minnesota native, Tom has master's degrees in health services administration and in business administration from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor's degree in economics/finance from St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Jeffrey D. Peterson

Executive vice president, Hospital Division
Interim president, Mercy Hospital

Before assuming his current role leading the 11 Allina Health hospitals, Jeff Peterson was president of Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Peterson came to Allina Health in 2006 from St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, where he served as president, chief executive officer, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to his work at St. Vincent's, he served as metro vice president of Professional Services and Clinical Services at Mercy Health Partners.

He has a master's in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa and a bachelor's degree in business from Western Michigan University. He grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Peterson is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He also is an active member of Rotary International and the University of Iowa Healthcare Administration Alumni Program.

Elizabeth Truesdell Smith

General counsel

Elizabeth Truesdell Smith brings a patient-centered focus to the corporate health law and governance work of the general counsel. Smith came to her current role in 2009 with a long track record of representing Allina Health in patient safety, risk management, professional liability litigation and clinical regulatory matters.

She joined the Allina Health Legal and Risk Management Department in 2000. In 2007, Smith began leading the Allina Health medical-legal team as its vice president. In this role, she worked with local and corporate leaders in areas of clinical practice and health care quality.

Before coming to Allina Health, Smith practiced as a trial lawyer for eight years with a focus on hospital and health law, medical professional liability and medical products liability litigation.

Prior to attending the University of Minnesota Law School, Smith earned a master's of public health with a health law and bioethics concentration from Boston University School of Public Health. She has worked in biomedical laboratory research at Harvard Medical School and in biomedical ethics at Boston University and the University of Minnesota.

Robert Wieland, MD

Executive vice president, Clinic and Community Division

Robert Wieland, MD, has been employed by Allina Health since 1994. He has served as the vice president of medical affairs at Abbott Northwestern Hospital since 2006. Dr. Wieland serves on the quality and investment committees of the Allina Health Board of Directors. He also serves on the Sister Kenny Foundation board and is chairperson of the WestHealth Board.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Wieland was the district medical director for Allina Medical Clinic. He also co-founded the Hospitalist Service at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Dr. Wieland earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, his medical degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed internal medicine training at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Lori Wightman

System vice president
President, Unity Hospital

Lori Wightman has been the president of Unity Hospital in Fridley since January 1, 2011. Prior to that she was the president at New Ulm Medical Center in New Ulm, Minnesota for more than eight years.

Lori Wightman is a registered nurse with a master's in health care administration from the University of Colorado. Active in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Wightman has served as regent for Minnesota and currently is a governor on the Board of Governors for the College.

Wightman has a varied background that includes having held positions as a health care consultant, building project coordinator, governor campaign manager, and general manager of a professional basketball team.