Hakan Ilkin, MBA

Hakan Ilkin has been scouting the corridors of hospitals since 1994, looking for ways to improve hospital operations.  He started his career as the Surgical Service IT coordinator at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The entrepreneurial bug bit him hard when he assumed the roles as Founder and CEO of PeriOptimum, a company focusing on surgical services performance improvement. Most recently he held the position of VP, Operational Excellence, at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.   

Aydin, Hakan's 11 year old son, consumes -happily and willingly- nearly all of his father's attention beyond his commitments to brighthospital.

W. David Watkins, MS, MD, PhD

Dr. Watkins' resume competes with an average size Dostoyevsky novel.  MS and PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology; clinical, research and administrative positions at some of the world's prominent hospitals, including Mass General, Duke, UPittMC; Professor and chair of Anesthesiology / Critical Care Medicine; and, expertise in Clinical Trials design and conduct highlight his long career.

In his role as a clinical leader, a major challenge he initially inherited and subsequently embraced as a major research area centered on improving surgical services operations--getting surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and administrators to work together toward common goals, emphasizing the delivery of quality and efficient patient care. It should be no surprise that he has no hair left!  His common interest, work, and friendship with Hakan led to founding PeriOptimum and subsequently brighthospital.   

Dr. Watkins lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife, Sharon, and their 4 year old Havanese, Maximilian.