Rady Children’s Health co-CEO Patrick Frias selected to lead Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta after retirement announcement

Leadership change links two major pediatric systems in San Diego and Atlanta

Rady Children’s Health announced that Patrick A. Frias, MD, one of its co-presidents and co-chief executive officers, has accepted the role of president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Frias is expected to begin the Atlanta position later this summer, following the planned retirement of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s current chief executive, Donna Hyland, who has led the organization for 18 years.

Rady Children’s Health said its remaining co-president and co-CEO, Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, will transition to sole president and CEO after Frias’ departure. The announcement comes amid continued consolidation and executive turnover across U.S. pediatric systems as children’s hospitals face rising behavioral-health demand, workforce pressures, and the capital needs tied to major facility expansion projects.

Frias’ Southern California tenure and organizational restructuring

Frias joined Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center in 2018 as president and CEO after nearly two decades at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he held clinical and senior operational roles. In San Diego, he led initiatives that included an expansion of pediatric mental-health services, including efforts to integrate behavioral health into primary care settings, and advanced planning for campus growth intended to expand emergency and intensive care capacity.

In 2025, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and Children’s Hospital of Orange County combined their parent organizations into a single system, now operating as Rady Children’s Health. The merged entity includes three hospitals and a workforce exceeding 13,000 employees, with more than 2,000 members of medical staff. Frias and Cripe were named co-leaders of the combined system, a governance structure that will now shift to single-leader oversight following Frias’ move.

What changes immediately in San Diego

• Kimberly Chavalas Cripe will lead Rady Children’s Health as sole president and CEO after Frias exits.
• Rady Children’s Health has not indicated a new co-CEO appointment as part of the transition.
• Existing integration work between the San Diego and Orange County organizations will continue under the current system structure.

Atlanta transition follows CEO retirement plan

In Atlanta, Frias will take the top job as Hyland steps down later this year. The leadership shift arrives as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta continues to manage the operational demands of a large regional pediatric network and the long-term planning that follows major capital investments, including flagship hospital expansion initiatives in recent years.

Frias’ move connects two pediatric systems with a shared leadership history: he previously spent 19 years at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta before relocating to Southern California in 2018.

The transition establishes a new executive alignment between two prominent children’s hospital organizations, while positioning Rady Children’s Health to continue post-merger integration under a single chief executive in Southern California.