MIAMI -- Nicklaus Children’s Hospital welcomes veteran healthcare executive George R. Lesmes as chief operating officer and executive director of Pediatric Specialists of America (PSA), the physician-led multispecialty group practice of Miami Children’s Health System.
Dr. Lesmes will oversee the health system’s physician practices at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and its network of outpatient centers located throughout South Florida. A seasoned healthcare executive, he brings to this position more than 20 years of experience in the management of primary and multi-specialty care physician practices within large healthcare systems. He also was an academic faculty member for 15 years and served for seven years as the chairman and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois.
“George’s background in academia, combined with the management expertise he brings to this role will prove invaluable as we expand our footprint to bring the innovative and compassionate care for which we are renowned to more children and families in South Florida,” commented Dr. Leonard G. Feld, president of PSA.
Prior to joining PSA, Dr. Lesmes served as chief administrative officer for the University Medical Group of Greenville Health System, a $2.2 billion academic healthcare network based in Greenville, South Carolina, where he was responsible for the oversight of more than 160 multispecialty physician practices. Before that, he worked for 17 years with Advocate Health Care, a Chicago-based $5 billion not-for-profit health system consisting of hospitals, healthcare facilities, clinics, graduate medical education, an allied health program and health and fitness resources. During his 17-year tenure with this organization, Dr. Lesmes held various positions including chief operating officer of Advocate’s Physician Ambulatory Services, interim president of Advocate’s Imaging Division, senior vice president of operations of Advocate Medical Group, and chief information officer of Advocate Health Partners, Advocate Medical Group and Advocate Health Center.
Dr. Lesmes earned a master of science from Queens College/City University of New York (CUNY) and a doctorate in physiology from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in muscle physiology at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. Lesmes is bilingual in English and Spanish.
About Pediatric Specialists of America (PSA)
Pediatric Specialists of America (PSA), is the multispecialty group practice of Miami Children’s Health System. Led by physicians, PSA employs more than 200 pediatric specialists and subspecialists with a regional, national and international presence bringing lifelong health and hope to children and families through innovative and compassionate care at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and its outpatient centers located throughout South Florida. For more information please visit www.pediatricspecialistsofamerica.org.
About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Your Child Matters Most ™ (2025)
For 75 years, Nicklaus Children's has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children serving close to 70 percent of children in the Miami metropolitan community. In addition, Nicklaus Children's offers care within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center's De George Pediatric Unit and select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units. The hospital and its network of more of nearly 35 outpatient care locations offer lifesaving care in in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin, and Palm Beach counties. These outpatient locations include an array of urgent care, pediatric primary care, and subspecialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS). Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Nicklaus Children's is home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children's Orthopedics, Sports Health and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children's Neuroscience Institute and Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute. The 325-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with over 40 specialties, and an ambulatory surgery center.