Winston-Salem’s academic health system is turning to a familiar face for its top job. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has appointed Dr. David W. Zaas as chief executive officer of its Winston-Salem academic health system, effective Jan. 1. He will continue to serve as president of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and as executive vice president for clinical health affairs at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Zaas succeeds Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, who retired at the end of 2025.
According to a Feb. 12 news release from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Zaas will oversee patient care services, clinical operations and strategic growth across the system. The release notes that he will lead efforts to align clinical and academic priorities with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and to strengthen the enterprise’s learning-health-system model.
“Dr. Zaas brings a proven track record of compassionate, influential leadership that will further enhance care and health outcomes for the communities we serve in and around Winston-Salem,” Steve Smoot, president of Advocate Health’s North Carolina and Georgia division, said in the release. The move positions Zaas to guide both day-to-day clinical operations and longer-term strategy as the system looks to grow in the Triad and beyond.
Academic Alignment and Enterprise Leadership
Advocate Health also named Dr. Ebony Boulware chief academic officer of the enterprise while she continues to serve as dean of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The dual role is described as a way to connect research, graduate medical education and clinical innovation across the system’s Winston-Salem and Charlotte campuses.
What Zaas Brings
A pulmonary and critical-care physician by training, Zaas holds a faculty appointment as a professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest and has served in senior system roles for several years, local reporting shows. Blue Ridge Public Radio notes his operational experience within the system and his familiarity with the Triad’s hospital network.
Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag’s retirement at the end of 2025 set the stage for an internal succession plan, local coverage reported. WFDD documented Freischlag’s move to an ambassador role and Zaas’s earlier assumption of many clinical duties.
Regional health leaders welcomed the change as a continuity play that keeps the hospital’s academic and clinical missions moving in sync. Blue Ridge Public Radio reported that Zaas framed the role as an opportunity to improve patient care, advance research and strengthen training across the enterprise.
