Alice L. Walton School of Medicine appoints executive vice dean

The Bentonville-based Alice L. Walton School of Medicine has named Yolangel Hernandez Suarez as the executive vice dean, effective in October, according to a Monday (Aug. 12) news release.

She will oversee and coordinate the school’s clinical and education training programs and learning environments.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Hernandez Suarez as a key addition to senior leadership at AWSOM,” said Dr. Sharmila Makhija, founding dean and CEO. “Her track record of building high-performing teams in medical education university settings and hospital environments provides vital expertise to ensure the school takes significant steps in reaching its strategic goals.”

The school’s medical education building is under construction in Bentonville, near Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Heartland Whole Health Institute. A school spokesman said the building is expected to be completed by summer 2025. The school is seeking programmatic and institutional accreditation and plans to welcome its inaugural class in 2025.

“The school’s mission and vision, along with the innovative Northwest Arkansas market, is unmatched in our country,” Hernandez Suarez said. “When I went to medical school in the mid-80s. The directive from Johns Hopkins was to graduate future leaders of medicine. We have the chance to graduate influencer physicians from AWSOM who will change how healthcare is delivered, paid for and managed.”

Hernandez Suarez recently was senior associate dean for student affairs for the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She’s worked in numerous leadership positions at the university and was the founding associate dean for clinical affairs and graduate medical education. In the position, she was critical in starting the faculty practice plan and new residency programs. As the university’s founding vice provost for population health and wellbeing, she led its COVID response team.

She’s also worked as a hospital administrator at the Jackson Health System, Miami’s safety net hospital system and was founding chief medical officer of Humana’s Care Delivery Organization. There, the system provided care to more than 100,000 seniors across three states in a full-risk, value-based model.

Hernandez Suarez graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and trained in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. She earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami and had a private clinical practice before entering academia.

Founded in 2021, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine is a nonprofit, four-year medical degree (MD) program that aims to enhance traditional medical education with the arts, humanities and whole health principles. The school’s culture embraces self-care through offerings such as 1-to-1 health coaching to help students care for their and their patients’ well-being.