President
Matthew Cook joined Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health in 2016. He is responsible for providing overall strategic direction and leadership for pediatric services throughout IU Health, which includes direct executive oversight of Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, along with shared program oversight for pediatric programs based at other IU Health facilities.
Cook comes to IU Health from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he most recently served as executive vice president of Strategic Planning and Business Development. Before that, he served for nine years as a principal at The Chartis Group, based in Chicago. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at several healthcare-related institutions, including APM Management Consultants, Computer Sciences Corporation and CareScience, Inc.
Cook has an MBA from New York University, where he graduated as class valedictorian. He graduated cum laude from The Wharton School, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts in German. He is an accomplished public speaker and has published several articles.
Chief Medical Officer
As chief medical officer, Paul R. Haut oversees the hospital’s quality and safety programs, helps with physician recruitment, and supports research and teaching initiatives. He works closely with the medical staff to fulfill the shared vision for the pediatric services and works to ensure the highest level of clinical care not only at Riley IU Health in downtown Indianapolis, but at Riley at IU Health affiliates statewide.
Dr. Haut, a board certified pediatric oncologist and an associate professor of Pediatrics with Indiana University School of Medicine, served until 2011 as the director of the Riley Stem Cell Transplant Program at IU Health. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as an active member of the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplant, the Children’s Oncology Group and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium.
He is a graduate of Brown University and received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 1990. He completed his pediatric residency at UAMS and his pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Northwestern University. Prior to joining Riley at IU Health in 2002, Dr. Haut was a pediatric transplant physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Chief Nursing Officer
Elizabeth Paxton, MSN, RN serves as the chief nursing officer (CNO) for Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. As a member of the executive team, Paxton oversees nursing operations for 397-staffed beds at Riley at IU Health, as well as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at IU Health Methodist Hospital. In addition, she works directly with the Indiana University School of Medicine chief of Pediatrics and other pediatric medical faculty on the development and implementation of clinical programs at Riley at IU Health.
Paxton has been a pediatric registered nurse for more than 24 years, with a clinical background in NICU and Cardiac Services. She is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, American Nurses Association and Society of Pediatric Nurses.
Paxton is passionate about giving back to the community, and spends her time volunteering with Special Olympics, Dress for Success, and the Café Patachou Foundation.
Chief Financial Officer
As chief financial officer for Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, Frank Runion directs the financial operations and strategic financial planning for Riley at IU Health and the pediatric service line. His areas of oversight include budget, financial analysis and planning, capital management and workforce contract management.
Runion has been with IU Health for 13 years. Before that, he worked at St.Vincent Health and Wishard Health Services. He has close to 25 years of healthcare financial experience in various healthcare settings.
He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Anderson University, is a certified public accountant and a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, CFO Forum. Runion is also on the Board of the Central Indiana Council of Aging and serves as the treasurer for their foundation. Runion is also active in his community serving on the Fishers Youth Baseball Board as well as serving on the board at his church.
Medical Director for Quality and Safety
As the medical director for Quality and Safety at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, Michele Saysana, MD, FAAP, provides direction and strategy for pediatric quality and safety initiatives across IU Health. Dr. Saysana has brought national quality and safety collaboratives such as the Children’s Hospitals Solutions for Patient Safety and the Children’s Hospitals Association (CHA) to Riley at IU Health. She is nationally recognized through publications and presentations on topics related to patient safety, family-centered care and faculty development. She serves on the Children’s Hospitals Solutions for Patient Safety Clinical Steering Committee, the American Academy of Pediatrics Value in Inpatient Pediatrics Network Steering Committee, as well as the CHA Quality and Safety Leaders Forum Steering Committee and was recently appointed as the Board Chair of the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety.
Dr. Saysana received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Indiana University and completed pediatric residency training and chief residency there in 2003. Dr. Saysana was a community pediatrician on the eastside of Indianapolis and returned to Riley at IU Health in 2006.
Dr. Saysana is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine and was the director of the pediatric hospital medicine program until 2012. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Hospital Medicine, the Academic Pediatric Association, and the American Association of Physician Leadership.
Chairman, Department of Pediatrics
D. Wade Clapp, MD, is the Chairman of the department of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Clapp was named Chairman of Pediatrics in 2009. He oversees 960 Pediatric faculty members throughout the state of Indiana and more than 150 pediatric residents. Physicians in the department of Pediatrics provide medical care for the patients of Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health—ranked one of the nation's best children's hospitals by U.S. News and World Report and one of only 10 Children’s Hospitals that are ranked in all areas of medical care.
Dr. Clapp is a neonatologist and a physician/scientist with an active research lab and NIH grant support focusing on translational research in childhood cancer. He is the Richard L. Schreiner Professor of Pediatrics, a professor of Microbiology & Immunology and professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Indiana University. He joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine in 1991 as a physician and researcher at the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research. His research is internationally acclaimed and has resulted in several breakthrough clinical trials.
Dr. Clapp graduated cum laude from Hanover College and received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1982. He completed his residency and chief residency at Indiana University School of Medicine followed by a fellowship at Case Western Reserve University.
As a physician, he does clinical work at the neonatal intensive care units at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and Eskenazi, where he served as director of the unit for five years.
Surgeon-in-Chief
Fred Rescorla, MD, is surgeon-in-chief and director of the Division of Pediatric Surgery for Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery, pediatric surgery and surgical critical care and was named a “Top Doctor” by U.S. News & World Report.
After completing undergraduate studies at Calvin College, Rescorla attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin. He completed a general surgery residency and a pediatric surgery residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Rescorla then joined the faculty in the section of pediatric surgery at IU School of Medicine, developing an active clinical practice focused on minimally invasive surgery and oncologic surgery.
Rescorla has been active with clinical research through the Children Oncology Group (COG), with a focus on germ cell tumors. He is a member of the surgical executive committee of COG. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Association of Pediatrics and is a member of various societies, including the Society of University Surgeons, American Pediatric Surgical Association, Central Surgical Association, British Association of Pediatric Surgeons and the Association of Academic Surgery. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as more than 60 book chapters.
Rescorla is active in teaching and has been recognized by the medical students as an outstanding professor on many occasions and has also received the Trustees Teaching Award. He has served as an active member of the faculty, instructing residents in general surgery and post-graduate residents in pediatric surgery. He has also been active in advancing pediatric surgical care in several Third World countries and has lectured and taught pediatric surgical techniques on many occasions in Africa.
