Heather Nye has been appointed SFVAHCS Medical Chief and DOM Vice Chair

Heather E. Nye, MD, PhD, has accepted the position of chief of the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) medical service and vice chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine (DOM). Heather is a professor of medicine at UCSF and has served as SFVAHCS associate chief of medicine since 2017. She will assume the positions of chief and vice chair on August 25.

The SFVAHCS medical service is home to over 130 UCSF faculty across 13 specialties and is recognized both for its highly rated educational programs and successful research portfolio. The medical service hosts one-third of all UCSF DOM trainee experiences, and SFVAHCS has the largest competitively funded research program across the national VA system.

Heather grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the town of Vancouver, Washington. She received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Duke University, followed by a PhD in Neuropharmacology and an MD from Yale. After completing residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Harvard Combined Residency Program, Heather began her academic career at UCSF within the Division of Hospital Medicine at UCSF Health. She was later recruited to the SFVAHCS to build a perioperative program and continues to practice in the hospital medicine section.

Heather is deeply passionate about the care of veterans and finds great satisfaction in supporting the clinicians of the medical service. She has served as director of the SFVA Surgical Co-Management Service since 2010 and founder/director of the Veterans Integrated Perioperative (VIP) Clinic for frail and older adults undergoing surgery since 2017.

Heather has also distinguished herself as a talented educator, holding roles as co-director for the UCSF doctoring course, Foundations of Patient Care, from 2011-2016. She created the orthopedic intern hospitalist rotation in 2015 and the comprehensive palliative care elective in 2014 – programs that continue to thrive. She was elected to the Haile Debas Academy of Medical Educators in 2012 and has received several teaching awards. She has mentored innumerable medical students pursuing medicine-pediatrics programs, residents interested in perioperative or hospital medicine, and junior faculty across disciplines.

During her tenure as associate chief of the medical service, Heather led several unique initiatives that focused on faculty experience, community building, strategic growth and operations, and systems improvement. She has gained a reputation as a trusted colleague and administrator, with an ability to lead in complex environments. This is reflected in the many healthcare system roles she has held, including service on the SFVAHCS Faculty Council, SFVAHCS Strategic Space Committee, VA Central Office Hospitalist Field Advisory Committee, and UCSF Executive Promotions Committee. She has chaired the SFVAHCS Peer Review Committee and the COVID Vaccine Task Force and served as the SFVAHCS chief well-being officer. Her efforts have been recognized through awards, including the Chief of Staff Service Leadership Award and the Federal Employee of the Year Award.

Heather has a national reputation in perioperative and hospital medicine and is regularly invited to speak at national and international venues. She served as the 2022 course director for the Society of Hospital Medicine’s annual conference and delivered SHM’s 2023 plenary address on updates in hospital medicine. In 2025, in recognition of her accomplishments and contributions to the field, Heather was elected to both SHM’s Board of Directors and the Society of Perioperative Assessment and Quality Improvement’s Board of Governors.