Adventist HealthCare General Counsel Ken DeStefano Retiring after 25 years
Dwayne Leslie Named General Counsel, Effective Jan. 1, 2024
Gaithersburg, MD – Adventist HealthCare (AHC) announced that Ken DeStefano, SVP and General Counsel for Adventist HealthCare, will retire from his role on Dec. 31 after 25 years of astute service. The healthcare system also announced that Dwayne Leslie, currently serving as VP, Deputy General Counsel & Chief Compliance/Integrity Officer, will serve as their new SVP and General Counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
DeStefano joined AHC in 1999 as the health system’s first general counsel. As AHC's chief legal officer, Ken provided representation and advice to all Adventist HealthCare entities on the full spectrum of legal matters including professional and general liability defense, mergers, acquisitions, governance issues, corporate filings and regulatory matters. Ken’s career has spanned over 35 years in the health law field, including roles at Mercy Health System in St. Louis and Tenet HealthCare in Dallas.
Leslie holds over 25 years of legal expertise, drawing on an array of previous roles including working as a health law attorney for two international law firms, Jones Day and Mintz Levin, serving as in-house counsel for publicly-traded healthcare finance companies, and co-founding a specialty pharmaceutical company. Since joining AHC in 2019, Dwayne has served as a legal advisor on a wide range of legal issues and has overseen the health system’s compliance, organizational integrity, internal audit, grants management and institutional research programs.
"Adventist HealthCare has benefited from having Ken’s insightful counsel that has guided key business decisions during a time of great volatility in the healthcare industry," said Terry Forde, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. "Given both Dwayne’s extensive experience and his close partnership with Ken over the past four years, I am confident that we will enjoy a seamless transition that will allow us to continue our commitment to organizational transparency while providing high-quality healthcare."
Adventist HealthCare is a comprehensive health system that includes three acute care hospitals, two rehabilitation hospitals and two community cancer centers along with a full range of Imaging and Home Care services and established the Adventist HealthCare Physician Alliance, a clinically integrated network of over 1,700 healthcare providers who work together to improve both the quality of care and patient outcomes throughout the region.
"I look forward to supporting Adventist HealthCare’s mission to provide hope and healing to our community,” said Dwayne Leslie. “I have greatly enjoyed working with Ken and hope to further elevate Adventist HealthCare’s reputation and trust in the community by advising leadership’s legal and business decisions."
