Children’s Wisconsin names its new CEO; last was president of an Indianapolis children’s health system

Children’s Wisconsin has named a new president and CEO who will succeed longtime CEO Peggy Troy in mid-August.

On Aug. 12, Gil Peri will become president and CEO of the Wauwatosa-based health system, which has nearly $1.8 billion in annual operating revenue and operates hospitals in Wauwatosa and Neenah, as well as primary care and specialty clinics throughout southeast Wisconsin, according to a press release issued Monday by Children’s Wisconsin.

The health system, as an affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin, also does research and trains doctors, nurses and other health care providers.

Peri was named by Children’s Wisconsin’s board of directors following a national search that began in 2023, after Troy, who has served as president and CEO for the past 15 years, announced her intention to retire, the release says. Troy was the first woman to head the organization.

“I am pleased to welcome Gil to Children’s Wisconsin,” Troy said in Monday’s news release. “His values, expertise, and strategic vision are perfectly aligned with our organization and where we are headed in the future. Gil has an unwavering commitment to improving whole-child health, and I am confident that he will serve our organization and our community with passion and integrity for years to come.”

Peri last was president of Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis, a 485-bed children’s health system part of Indiana University Health and the Indiana University School of Medicine, the release says. News outlets in Indiana reported he left the Indiana hospital system in February, after less than three years with the organization.

Before that, he was president and chief operating officer of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, according to a previous Riley Children’s Health press release. Prior to that, Peri held leadership roles at other children’s hospitals, Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

“I look forward to working alongside the tremendously talented and dedicated Children’s Wisconsin team and partnering with individuals and organizations across the state who are committed to ensuring all kids have a chance to grow up healthy and happy,” Peri said in Monday’s news release.

Children’s Wisconsin is the latest Milwaukee-area health system to undergo a change in leadership. Last year, Bernie Sherry left his position as CEO of Ascension Wisconsin and was replaced by Daniel Jackson, who formerly led a Detroit hospital. Froedtert Health President and CEO Cathy Jacobson also announced last year that she would retire in 2024.

Under Troy’s tenure, Children’s Wisconsin embarked on a multi-year $385 million expansion project starting in 2018, which recently culminated in the opening of a new, expanded emergency department at the Wauwatosa hospital that medical professionals hope will better serve the more than 70,000 patients who visit the ER each year.

In 2019, Children’s Wisconsin announced a five-year plan to improve access to mental and behavioral health care for children and adolescents. Since then, Children’s has placed therapists in all of its primary care offices, using money from a $20 million gift from former Fiserv CEO Jeffery Yabuki. The hospital also opened the Craig Yabuki Mental Health Walk-In Clinic in 2022, to help children and adolescents experiencing urgent mental health issues.

Toward the end of Troy’s tenure, Children’s Wisconsin came under fire for recently closing a primary care office in Metcalfe Park, where there is a shortage of primary care providers and where the rate of lead poisoning in young children is among the highest in the city and the state.

Among the reasons cited in the press release for selecting Peri was “his demonstrated ability to build key strategic partnerships among organizations with missions focused on improving the health and well-being of kids and families.”