Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) recently announced the appointment of Dr. David Gibbs to the newly created role of inpatient assistant chief medical officer (A-CMO). Dr. Laura Goodman will succeed Dr. Gibbs as the new trauma medical director of CHOC’s Level 1 pediatric trauma center.
As A-CMO, Dr. Gibbs’ responsibilities include connecting inpatient work across CHOC’s healthcare system. He will play a key role in applying improvement science principles to enhance quality and safety. Dr. Gibbs, a pediatric surgeon who previously served as CHOC’s inaugural trauma medical director, will continue in his roles of division chief, pediatric surgery and interim co-director of The Fetal Care Center of Southern California. He will support CHOC”s trauma program as associate trauma medical director.
A graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Dr. Gibbs completed his general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. A member of CHOC’s medical staff since 2001, he has served in several leadership roles including president of the medical staff, member of the quality committee of the board of directors, expert reviewer for the California Medical Board, and member of the Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee. Most recently, he received a master’s degree in healthcare management from Harvard University and completed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Advisor Program.
Dr. Goodman was named CHOC’s new trauma medical director. A pediatric surgeon, she previously served as associate trauma medical director. She will continue as co-chair of the CHOC Injury Prevention Council.
A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Goodman completed her general surgery residency at the University of California, Davis. While in residency, she was selected as a Fulbright Scholar and obtained her master’s degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She then completed her pediatric general and thoracic surgery fellowship at Loma Linda University.
Dr. Goodman was elected as vice-chair of the Southern California Committee on Trauma in 2022. She is a member of the Pediatric Trauma Society and is on the organizing committee of the Western Pediatric Trauma Society. She is a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and serves on the national Trauma Committee of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. She was awarded the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Multicenter Trial Junior Investigator Award for her research on the treatment of pediatric hemothorax in 2023 and is the principal investigator for that trial with 40 enrolled institutions.
