Erik Swensson, MD, FACS
Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
With more than 25 years as a practicing physician and significant leadership experience, Dr. Swensson provides leadership for affiliated hospitals’ quality and service excellence initiatives as well as for on-going communication with medical staff members. He also has senior leadership responsibility for facilitating the work of Capella’s National Physician Leadership Group, ensuring that physician leaders from across the company are continuously involved in shaping the company’s vision and future strategies.
Dr. Swensson is a vascular and general surgeon affiliated with Willamette Valley Medical Center (WVMC) in McMinnville, OR, which has been a part of Capella Healthcare since February 2008. He has practiced medicine in Oregon since 1998, serving in a variety of leadership positions for the hospital as well as in the community. The CMO position has been structured so that he is able to continue practicing medicine while serving simultaneously in the corporate role.
At the hospital, Dr. Swensson has held numerous medical staff leadership roles, rising to Chief of Staff in 2007. He has also been a member of the hospital’s Board of Trustees. He has served on WVMC’s Physician Leadership Group since 2000, and is currently Chair. When Capella Healthcare formed its National Physician Leadership Group last year, Swenson was selected as National Chair because of his proven leadership abilities.
The first president of the Willamette Valley Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides support for low-income cancer patients, Dr. Swensson continues to serve on the Foundation’s Board. In 2002, he launched a golf tournament fund-raiser for the Foundation, which he continues to help run. Respected by his peers, he was elected as President of the McMinnville Physicians Organization, serving for four years in that position. In the community, he has served on the Board of Directors for the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce and was named “Businessman of the Year” in 2003, the first physician to earn that honor in 50 years.
Dr. Swensson earned his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, in 1979 with honors. He then completed his general surgery internship and residency with Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, where he was selected as Chief Surgical Resident. He also completed a vascular surgery fellowship at St. Louis University in 1985. He has earned board certification in general surgery and vascular surgery from the American Board of Surgery, as well as completed extensive education and training in wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Dr. Swensson is married to Edythe Schlossstein, M.D. He has a son and a daughter.