Duke University Health System Names David Zaas as CEO Starting May 2026

A 500-bed children's hospital under construction in Apex will be among the first agenda items for Dr. David Zaas when he takes over Duke University Health System on May 1, bringing to the $11 billion health network a physician who spent six years as president of Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Duke announced last week that Zaas would return to lead a system of more than 26,000 employees, four hospitals, and 250 clinic locations across central and eastern North Carolina. His predecessor, Dr. Craig Albanese, who had been CEO since February 2023, stepped down last fall and now leads day-to-day operations for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California.

The appointment carries direct implications for Wake County patients who use Duke Raleigh Hospital or any of the Duke Primary Care practices spread across the Triangle. Zaas ran Duke Raleigh Hospital from 2014 to 2020, giving him direct operational knowledge of its staffing levels, referral relationships, and the capacity constraints that determine how quickly patients can get appointments.

Before returning to Durham, Zaas most recently served as president and CEO of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, where he oversaw eight hospitals and 27,000 employees. He was less than three months into that CEO role when Duke announced his hire, a short tenure that prompted Atrium to launch a national search for his replacement. Before Winston-Salem, he held senior roles at Medical University of South Carolina Health, including chief executive of its Charleston division and chief clinical officer for the system.

Zaas spent nearly 20 years at Duke between 2001 and 2020, leading the lung transplant program, serving as vice chair for the Department of Medicine, and serving as chief medical officer of the Duke Private Diagnostic Clinic before taking over Duke Raleigh Hospital.

"I am honored to return to Duke and energized to lead Duke University Health System during this next phase of growth," Zaas said in the Duke announcement. "It is a privilege to work alongside such outstanding team members as we expand our impact, strengthen our academic mission and continue to set the standard for academic health systems nationally."

Duke University President Vincent E. Price welcomed Zaas's return: "As a physician and executive, David has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing and delivering world-class patient care along with an exceptional ability to lead complex, people-centered organizations."

Duke is midway through what it calls an "accelerated growth phase." Beyond Apex, the system last year acquired Mooresville-based Lake Norman Regional Medical Center from Community Health Systems, its first expansion outside the Triangle, sharpening competition with Atrium and Novant Health statewide. Duke posted $647 million in excess revenue over expenses in fiscal year 2025, slightly below the $656 million recorded the prior year.

Atrium said it "was grateful for [Zaas's] leadership and the impact he has made across our organization" and that a national search for his replacement has begun.

Zaas holds a biology degree from Yale University, earned his medical degree from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he also served as assistant chief of service. He holds an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business and specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine. For Wake County families, the clearest early signal of his priorities will come from the staffing and service-line announcements tied to the Apex children's hospital, decisions Duke is expected to address publicly in the months after he takes over in May.