James Gary Sheets

Region President, Market President - Healthcare

James Gary Sheets brings nearly three decades of leadership experience in health care, with responsibilities that have included hospitals, markets, regional operations, and service lines. Throughout his career, he has relied on careful listening, clear thinking, and team development to address complicated organizational needs. His work has focused on improving performance while keeping the needs of patients and caregivers central to health care operations.

In his most recent position, James served as Peaks Region President for Intermountain Health, a nonprofit health system. He oversaw the complete scope of care delivery across eight hospitals and roughly 150 clinics in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. These operations were supported by about 12,000 team members and 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers. As part of the executive leadership team, he contributed to organizational strategy and held accountability for growth, quality, safety, financial performance, and the everyday experience of patients and caregivers.

Leadership That Shows Up in the Numbers

After stepping into the Peaks Region position, James Sheets established a focused regional vision around three fundamentals: safety and quality, engaged caregivers, and stewardship. He used these priorities to develop a multi-year operational improvement plan that produced meaningful financial gains in its first year. At the same time, patient satisfaction remained steady during a period of substantial change. The region also improved its quality and safety scores and brought SelectHealth, the organization's own health plan, into Colorado through a partnership with a leading local system.

Throughout his career, he has repeatedly worked to convert broader strategies into practical and measurable results.

A Long Run at Intermountain, in Two Acts

James's service with Intermountain has taken place in two chapters that together total eighteen years, providing him with extensive experience within the organization.

The first chapter ran from 2007 to 2023 and included positions with progressively greater responsibility. As Chief Operating Officer for Acute Care Services in the Canyons Region, he directed acute operations across 21 hospitals in Utah and Idaho. He also oversaw surgery centers, telehealth, air ambulance, and outreach services. The region reached the top tier of national quality rankings, exceeded financial targets, and increased caregiver engagement and safety culture. He created a dedicated ambulatory surgery center division, opened a new community hospital in one of Utah's fastest-growing areas, and began a long-range plan to modernize flagship facilities. He also identified, negotiated, and integrated an air medical company acquisition into the Life Flight service, resulting in a stronger air ambulance operation.

Earlier, Jim Sheets served as Vice President of Telehealth and Outreach Services, managing a portfolio across eight states. He rebuilt the virtual care offering from its branding onward, brought it together within a single modern hub, and increased its volume each year. When the pandemic began, his team expanded video visits by a factor of a thousand almost overnight. The team also introduced virtual programs in behavioral health, remote monitoring, oncology, and other areas, helping care continue when in-person appointments were not possible.

Before moving into regional leadership, James was CEO and Administrator of LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he had initially served as an Operations Officer. Patient satisfaction rose from the middle of the pack to the top tenth percentile nationally. Financial results improved by tens of millions of dollars, and quality measures strengthened across the board. The hospital earned repeated Top 100 Hospital honors and high marks from U.S. News & World Report. He also delivered a major facility renovation on time and under budget while securing philanthropic funding for a new blood cancer clinic.

Between his two periods at Intermountain, James served as Group President for the Mountain Region of CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic nonprofit health system in the country. He held responsibility for ten hospitals across the Denver and Utah markets. He also directed the organization's entry into Utah, integrating five acute care facilities within a matter of months while aligning leadership teams with the culture of a faith-based system.

James's earlier leadership experience included nearly a decade of growing responsibility at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix and Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California. During that period, he managed large operations and guided major expansion and financial improvement projects.

Educator, Board Member, Neighbor

James holds a Master of Healthcare Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, along with a bachelor's degree in business management, earned cum laude, from the University of Utah. Early in his career, he completed an administrative fellowship in California. For nearly a decade, he also taught future health care executives as an adjunct professor in the University of Utah's Master of Healthcare Administration program at the David Eccles School of Business.

His board service has included the Colorado Hospital Association, Utah Hospital Association, Colorado Concern, National Jewish Health, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and University of Utah MHA Advisory Council.

Rooted in Faith and Family

A native of Holladay, Utah, James has maintained close involvement with his community, his children's schools, and his church. He has raised millions of dollars for health care causes throughout his career, particularly during his years at LDS Hospital. He has also volunteered at homeless shelters, supported the Family Promise family homeless program, participated in school advisory councils, and served for many years as a Little League coach.