Stephen A. “Steppe” Mette, MD, has been named senior vice chancellor for UAMS Health and chief executive officer for UAMS Medical Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
“Dr. Mette has done an outstanding job since joining UAMS in April 2015 as chief clinical officer, and he has taken on additional responsibility, including serving as interim chief executive officer for the Medical Center for the past five months,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, MD, MBA. “His clinical expertise, administrative experience and commitment to equitable health care delivery make him well-suited to this role, and we are fortunate to have his leadership. The healthcare landscape is changing rapidly, and it’s imperative we have strong, skilled leaders as we navigate the next several years.”
Mette will be responsible for the 514-bed hospital, outpatient clinics in central Arkansas, digital health clinics, and clinics at regional campuses across the state. He also serves as chair of the board of directors of the Baptist Health-UAMS Accountable Care Alliance. For the past decade, he has worked to create effective health care delivery systems in rural states. He is a professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine.
Mette came to UAMS from the Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was chief of the Department of Critical Care for six years and chair of Critical Care Services for nine years. Earlier posts at Maine Medical Center included president of the medical staff, director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care and medical director for respiratory care.
He also served as an associate professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He completed an internal medicine residency and clinical and research fellowships in the Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Division at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of the Cornell University College of Medicine and of Reed College in Portland, Oregon.