I oversee our hospital, our clinics and our primary care network, which serve millions of people in more than half of California's counties. I make sure we have strong support for all of our clinical programs, which include the region's leading trauma, emergency, and pediatric care teams. Patient satisfaction, safety and quality-of-care are some of my ongoing priorities.

What do you enjoy about your work?

First and foremost, it's the amazing people with whom I work. Everyone pitches in to make our patients, their families and our special guests feel at home in our clinical care facilities. I also enjoy the challenge of guiding major projects, such as our new $424-million Surgical and Emergency Services Pavilion. It's very gratifying to discover and create unique solutions which, in turn, help us meet the needs of our fast-growing community.

Ann Madden Rice is the chief executive officer of UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. She is a nationally recognized expert in the financial management of health-care institutions.

As CEO, Rice oversees 6,500 employees at the medical center, an acute-care teaching hospital licensed at 577 beds with an annual budget of nearly $1 billion. Every year, the hospital sees 900,000 patients and admits 33,000. It serves 6 million residents in 33 counties encompassing 65,000 square miles of Northern and Central California. The emergency room sees an average of 130 patients every day.

Several independent, national organizations rank the medical center among the nation's best in safety, quality and patient satisfaction. It offers nationally regarded expertise in areas such as telemedicine, rural medicine, trauma and emergency care, primary care and cancer. It is the sole provider of a number of services for inland Northern California, including: a level-1 trauma center, a full-service children's hospital and a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center.

As the chief executive of Sacramento's second-largest employer, next to the state government, Rice occupies a key role in the health care and economy of the region, including oversight of a network of 130 primary care physicians in 10 Northern California communities.

Rice came to UC Davis in October 2006. She previously served as the associate director and chief operating officer for the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, where she had worked since 1999. Previous positions include chief financial officer of the Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa, and vice president of fiscal services for the Central Vermont Medical Center in Barre, Vermont.

Rice has been a certified public accountant and has a bachelor's degree in industrial administration from Iowa State University and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Iowa. She is a fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and a diplomat of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

She is married to Tom W. Rice, a political science professor. They have two daughters, Kate and Charlotte.