President/CEO
Valleywise Health
Steve Purves became President & Chief Executive Officer of Valleywise Health in Phoenix, Arizona in September 2013. Valleywise Health is Arizona’s largest and longest serving public teaching hospital and healthcare system and includes the Valleywise Health Medical Center, the Arizona Burn Center, the Arizona Children’s Center, a Level I Trauma Center, three inpatient behavioral health centers and a network of 12 Federally Qualified Health Centers that serve Phoenix and Maricopa County. Valleywise Health is part of the Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance and has 10 ACGME accredited residency programs with over 350 residents, hundreds of medical student rotations and significant nursing and allied health training programs. Mr. Purves works with the publicly elected five-member Board of Directors who represent the Maricopa County Special Health Care District, to provide executive leadership for the growth and development of Valleywise Health.
Mr. Purves is actively involved in the community as an ambassador for Valleywise Health and in a variety of roles outside his health care duties. He served as chairman of the board for America’s Essential Hospitals, serves on the board of the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association, the Arizona State University Health Advisory Board and Health Futures Council, the Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Greater Phoenix Leadership. He is a member of the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association and a member of the editorial board of The Governance Institute.
Mr. Purves has over 43 years of service as a health care executive serving in the investor-owned, public, academic, and private not-for-profit settings. He has numerous awards and honors; including an appointment by the Secretary of the Army as the Civilian Aide for South Carolina in 2001. He was awarded the U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 2006. He was appointed as an honorary commander of the 161St Air Refueling Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard in 2020. He was the recipient of political advocacy awards from the American Hospital Association and the Florida Hospital Association. In 2013, he was honored with the presentation of the “Key to the City” by the mayor of the City of Ocala, Florida.
In 2023, Mr. Purves was the recipient of the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association’s Salsbury Award, the highest honor for someone who has made an outstanding contribution to healthcare in Arizona. He was also the recipient of the 2020 Dean Conley award from the American College of Health Care Executives for his article “How Transparency Efforts Helped One System’s Financial Turnaround,” published in the spring 2019 issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management. He was named one of the top 25 most influential leaders in Phoenix, Arizona by the Phoenix Business Journal in 2017 and named a 2021 Healthcare Leader of the Year by the Arizona Capital Times.
He received his master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and his bachelor’s degree in Health Education from Springfield College in Springfield, MA. Purves is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).
Purves is a native of Roanoke, Virginia. He and his wife, Mary Anne, have two adult children and two young grandchildren.
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Tuesday, March 25, 2025
3:15pm – 4:15pm CT