Board Members

OCHA Board

Heidi L. Gartland, MHA, FACHE, CDM

Chief Government & Community Relations Officer


Heidi Gartland is a health care executive, community leader and health policy expert at University Hospitals of Cleveland, a $5.3 billion comprehensive health system with a national reputation for providing world class health care, research and education. Headquartered in Cleveland, UH serves over 1 million patients through a network of 21 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and physician offices in more than 200 locations across 16 counties in northern Ohio.

She leads UH’s strategy for community relations, community benefit, community health strategic investments, corporate reinvestment, strategic economic-development projects, government and regulatory affairs, and diversity and inclusion commitments. She advocates for University Hospitals at the federal, state and local level, and is a decorated government relations leader.

Ms. Gartland is also a dedicated civic leader at the local, state and national levels. In 2023, she was appointed by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to serve as the Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, after serving on the board as an elected Class B member since 2021.  She previously served for three years on the Bank’s Community Advisory Board. She also serves as the Chair of the Trauma Centers Association of America Board (Charlotte, NC), the Region 5 Policy Board for the American Hospital Association (AHA) (Washington, DC), Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (Columbus), Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (Cleveland), and Cleveland’s In Counsel with Women.  Ms. Gartland is a member of The United Way Greater Cleveland’s Community Investment Committee of the Board. In 2019, she was appointed to Ohio’s Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee, a federally designated policy advisory body.

Previously, she chaired the boards of the Institute for Health Innovation (Columbus); NewBridge Cleveland; the Foundation for Healthy Communities (Columbus); Center for Health Affairs (Cleveland) and Voices for Ohio’s Children (Columbus). She also co-chaired the 2016 United Way of Greater Cleveland campaign, the Cleveland Foundation’s Economic Inclusion Management Committee, the Infant Mortality Community Health Action Team, which is part of the Greater University Circle Initiative, and was a member of the Northeast Ohio Area wide Coordinated Agency’s Advisory Committee.

Honors include election as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (Chicago, IL) and as a board member of the American Leadership Council for Diversity in Healthcare (Chicago, IL). In 2023, the American Hospital Association honored Ms. Gartland as a Health Equity Pioneer and the YWCA of Greater Cleveland honored her as a Woman of Achievement. Previously, Ms. Gartland was recognized as a Health Care Hero by Crain’s Cleveland Business and profiled for her advocacy leadership by Inside Business magazine.

Ms. Gartland completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio’s College of Wooster. She earned a Masters of Health Administration at The Ohio State University and a Certificate in Diversity Management from Georgetown University. For over seven years, Ms. Gartland served as an adjunct faculty member at Baldwin Wallace University, teaching Health Policy and Law in the MBA program. Currently, she is an instructor for AHA’s Certificate in Diversity Management. She is a regular speaker nationally and in Ohio on emerging health policy issues.

Prior to working at University Hospitals, Ms. Gartland worked at the Ohio Hospital Association (Columbus), the Illinois Hospital Association (Naperville, IL), Rush Medical Center (Chicago, IL); The Ohio State University (Columbus) and Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron).

Ms. Gartland and her husband, Dan, live in Hudson, Ohio and they have two adult daughters and a son-in law.