Biography of James Gary Sheets
James Gary Sheets has spent nearly three decades in health care leadership, taking on responsibilities across hospitals, markets, regions, and service lines. His leadership has been shaped by listening to others, bringing clarity to complicated situations, and building teams that can deliver results. Through periods of change and operational challenges, he has maintained a focus on patients, caregivers, and the overall strength of the organizations he has served. Most recently, James served as Peaks Region President for Intermountain Health, a nonprofit health system. In this position, he was responsible for care delivery across eight hospitals and roughly 150 clinics located throughout Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The region consisted of about 12,000 team members and 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers. As part of the executive leadership team, he helped guide strategy while holding accountability for growth, quality, safety, financial performance, and the daily experience of patients and caregivers.
Leadership That Shows Up in the Numbers After taking charge of the Peaks Region, James Sheets established a focused vision built around three fundamentals: safety and quality, engaged caregivers, and stewardship. He then developed a multi-year operational improvement plan that achieved meaningful financial gains in its first year. Patient satisfaction remained steady throughout a period of significant change. The region also raised its quality and safety scores and introduced
SelectHealth, the system's health plan, into the Colorado market through a partnership with a leading local system. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a consistent ability to translate organizational strategy into measurable outcomes.
A Long Run at Intermountain, in Two Acts James's history with Intermountain includes two chapters that together account for eighteen years of combined service, giving him broad institutional knowledge. His first chapter ran from 2007 to 2023, with responsibilities increasing over time. As Chief Operating Officer for Acute Care Services in the Canyons Region, he oversaw acute operations across 21 hospitals in Utah and Idaho, as well as surgery centers, telehealth, air ambulance, and outreach services. Under his leadership, the region reached the top tier of national quality rankings, exceeded financial targets, and improved caregiver engagement and safety culture. He established a dedicated ambulatory surgery center division, opened a new community hospital in one of Utah's fastest-growing areas, and launched a long-range plan to modernize flagship facilities. He also identified, negotiated, and integrated the acquisition of an air medical company into the Life Flight service, strengthening the overall air ambulance operation. Earlier, as Vice President of Telehealth and Outreach Services, he managed a portfolio extending across eight states. He rebuilt the virtual care offering from its branding onward, consolidated operations into a single modern hub, and increased volume year after year. When the pandemic began, his team expanded video visits by a factor of a thousand almost overnight. New virtual programs were also launched across behavioral health, remote monitoring, oncology, and other areas, allowing care to continue when in-person visits were not possible. Before moving into regional positions, he served as CEO and Administrator of LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City after initially joining as an Operations Officer. Patient satisfaction rose from the middle of the pack into the top tenth percentile nationally, while the hospital's finances improved by tens of millions of dollars. Quality metrics also strengthened across the board. The hospital received repeated Top 100 Hospital honors and high marks from U.S. News & World Report. He completed a major facility renovation on time and under budget and secured philanthropic funding for a new blood cancer clinic. Between his two chapters at Intermountain, James served as Group President for the Mountain Region of CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic nonprofit health system in the country. He carried responsibility for ten hospitals across the Denver and Utah markets. He also managed the organization's entry into Utah, integrating five acute care facilities in a matter of months while aligning leadership teams with the culture of a faith-based system. Before his Intermountain career, Jim Sheets spent nearly a decade advancing through positions at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix and Enloe Medical Center
in Chico, California. His responsibilities included managing large operations and directing major expansion and financial improvement projects.
Educator, Board Member, Neighbor James earned a Master of Healthcare Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, along with a bachelor's degree in business management, earned cum laude, from the University of Utah. Early in his career, he completed an administrative fellowship in California. For nearly a decade, he also taught future health care executives as an adjunct professor in the University of Utah's Master of Healthcare Administration program at the David Eccles School of Business. His board service has included the Colorado Hospital Association, Utah Hospital Association, Colorado Concern, National Jewish Health, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and University of Utah MHA Advisory Council.
Rooted in Faith and Family A native of Holladay, Utah, James has remained active in his community, his children's schools, and his church. Throughout his career, he has raised millions of dollars for health care causes, particularly during his years at LDS Hospital. He has also volunteered at homeless shelters, supported the Family Promise family homeless program, participated in school advisory councils, and spent many years coaching Little League. James Gary Sheets and his wife, a kindergarten teacher, raised five children, and some of his happiest times have been spent watching them play from the stands. Outside work, he enjoys golfing, skiing, reading, and backpacking in the Utah wilderness. He is a devoted University of Utah fan and has worked the chain gang at Ute home football games for two decades, spending that time on the sideline.