By Vanessa Orr

In June 2026, David Zambrana, president and chief operating officer of Jackson Health System, will begin his tenure as its CEO, replacing the system’s current CEO, Carlos Migoya, who concludes his tenure on May 31, 2026. Zambrana, who began his career as a bedside nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital, is looking forward to this next step in his career, though he knows he has big shoes to fill.

“I am humbled and very excited; I don’t take for granted that I succeed Carlos Migoya, the most consequential leader in our 108-year history,” he said. “I am fortunate that I have been a part of cultivating the team of executives and leaders we currently have in place, and I am very confident that I can make Carlos and the community proud by building on the successes we’ve had and taking Jackson to the next level.”

Over the past decade, Zambrana and the Jackson team have focused not only on improving clinical care for patients, but also fortifying Jackson’s inpatient portfolio of hospitals. The Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial now ranks among the top 3 percent of rehabilitation hospitals in the nation, and in August 2021, Jackson West Medical Center opened in Doral, FL.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure that we evolve into an integrated healthcare delivery network, where a combination of both ambulatory and acute care assets work together in synergy as a system,” said Zambrana, noting that ambulatory and outpatient services are targeted areas for growth. “We’re also looking for community partners to work with in this synergistic fashion, such as federally qualified health centers (FQHC) that care for a large swath of the community.”

He adds that Jackson Health System will continue to work with and invest in the University of Miami Health System, the largest medical education program in the region, to provide the best healthcare delivery training program in the state and graduate the most physicians annually.

“If you look at the goals that we had for the last 10 years, we had quite an ambitious agenda to add capacity, to build hospitals, and to capitalize the health system to improve care,” he said. “We’ve been able to accomplish everything we committed to doing. In the same way, I hope that 10 years from now, we can call ourselves a fully integrated healthcare delivery network.”

Zambrana hopes to reach this goal by innovating technology in healthcare, such as the use of Jackson’s new EHR platform, and by decreasing the burden of work and stress-related efforts around care delivery for providers. He also wants to improve patient access through technology, ensuring that patients can access the health system in whatever way they choose.

Throughout his career, Zambrana has been known for setting and reaching goals. In addition to holding bachelor’s and nursing degrees, he holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix as well as a PhD in nursing with a concentration in leadership and healthcare systems and a doctorate in nursing practice, both from the University of Miami. He has held numerous leadership roles in his career, including serving as chief nursing officer at Des Peres Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., and other leadership roles throughout South Florida at Hollywood Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic Florida, and Delray Medical Center.

“I was fortunate that I worked in an environment like the Ryder Trauma Center or the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit or the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Jackson, where every day, those teams were innovating care and taking care delivery to the next level,” he said. “In taking clinical care of patients, I worked with some really amazing leaders who saw qualities and potential in me as a med tech clinical nurse that I didn’t see in myself. They gave me the opportunity to step up and lead.”

Zambrana noted that while it hasn’t been easy, his goal with each successive step up the career ladder was to leave everything better than he found it.

“If I was going to be a bedside nurse, I was going to be a great bedside nurse; if I was going to be a nurse manager, I wanted to be the best that I could be,” he said. “Some of that is about learning what is required to be excellent in the job. It’s also about finding out what teams need; where the gaps are and working hard with others to fill them.”

He added that no matter what position a person holds, it’s important that they understand their purpose for doing the job and are clear on what leads them to the work.

“Seek to add value, to make a difference first,” he said. “There’s room at the healthcare table for anyone who wants to make a difference. You don’t have to be a clinician; in the healthcare ecosystem, we employ every type of skill you can think of. Be ready to work hard, and surround yourself with individuals who will support you on your growth journey. And have a willingness to give back.

“I see leadership in general as a relay race,” he added. “It is a privilege to lead and contribute, and my vision and hope is that we continue to build a healthcare enterprise that this community can be proud of. That’s my commitment to this community and this team.”