As the vice president of government affairs and chief of staff, Kathryn (Kathy) Gillette, M.H.A., serves as an advocate for child health issues in Tallahassee on both the legislative and regulatory fronts. She serves as an adviser and consultant to the hospital president and executive leaders, providing guidance, coordination and management of high-level, cross-functional projects and programs to further the Johns Hopkins All Children’s operational and strategic priorities. She also manages and supports the organization’s governance structure and serves as the Board of Trustees executive liaison. She joined the hospital staff in 2022. 

Gillette has more than 30 years of leadership experience in health care organizations in the Tampa Bay area and central Florida, including community hospitals, tertiary care centers and teaching hospitals. Before joining Johns Hopkins All Children’s, Gillette led her own consulting firm, providing expertise to health care organizations and physicians in areas that include government relations, strategic planning and growth opportunities.

She served as market president and CEO for Bayfront Health St. Petersburg from 2013 to 2017. During more than a decade with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), she held leadership roles such as chief financial officer, chief operating officer and chief executive officer at Community Hospital in New Port Richey. As CEO of Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, she developed the hospital’s affiliation agreement and teaching program with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and led the planning and development of the hospital’s Level II Trauma Center. Her other leadership experience in the Tampa Bay area includes serving as senior vice president and CFO at Tampa General Hospital from 1994 through 1997.

Gillette earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of West Florida and a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of South Florida. She chaired the CEO Committee of the American College of Healthcare Executives, was a member of the Board of Governors for the Washington, D.C.-based Federation of American Hospitals, and chaired the Executive Committee of the American Heart Association STEM Goes Red initiative. Locally, she serves on the board of Mental Health for Heroes and an independent audit committee for USF Health.