Aparna Ananth, MD, MBA, FACHE, PCC
With experience as a healthcare executive as well as frontline clinician, medical staff leader, quality and safety champion, risk management and professional liability consultant, Aparna brings unique and powerful insights to her coaching and consulting practice. She has served on the front lines and on governing boards of organizations through growth and mergers, helping clinicians and executives navigate change by developing strong internal leadership and alignment with organizational goals.
Aparna enjoys working with physician leaders and healthcare executives to build collaboration. Her interest is in building a strong foundation based on open communication and trust between frontline providers and healthcare organizations as they move together towards mutual success in a patient centered environment.
With a coaching style based on creating a safe and open space for sharing thoughts, Aparna works with motivated individuals to maximize their potential and help them achieve their career and personal goals. She enjoys working with executives and physician leaders who are experiencing career and personal transitions, as well those navigating a change in organizational structure and culture. Her coaching focuses on optimizing the client’s personal transformation and internal growth during times of external change.
Aparna is a Fellowship-trained Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist and has served as Chief Medical Officer for two community hospitals in the metro Seattle area. She is certified as an Executive Coach from the Hudson Institute of Coaching, and has an Associate Coach Certification (ACC) from the International Coaching Federation.
Following her Anesthesiology Residency training at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit MI, Aparna did a Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship at the University of Washington, and subsequently obtained her Master in Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts — Isenberg School of Business.
An avid outdoor enthusiast, Aparna spends her leisure time exploring the mountains and waters of the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
What’s your coaching philosophy in action?
You already have insights buried beneath the noise, but accessing them alone often feels impossible. That’s where I come in. My role is to help you uncover what you know at a deeper level but can’t quite reach on your own. Self-awareness is the foundation, and it helps to have a skilled partner to bring it to the surface. As a coach, I help you get unstuck and awaken your full potential.
What’s the leadership challenge you’re known for solving?
I’ve been called the “Doc Whisperer.” I enjoy working with physician leaders, helping them work with the seemingly polarized, yet inherently interdependent worlds of the clinical arts and the business of medicine, to find alignment and motivation, especially when conflict threatens to derail progress. Often, brilliant clinicians lack the leadership tools to navigate organizational dynamics. I help bridge that gap.
Describe your ideal coaching client
My ideal client is capable of achieving everything they set their mind to, yet knows there’s something more—something they can’t quite put their finger on. That’s where I come in. I help them find that elusive something.
I’m also drawn to people who are open to exploring beyond conventional measures of success. They’ve checked the boxes, earned the accolades, but are ready to ask deeper questions about what fulfillment actually looks like.
What would surprise people about your approach?
That they may surprise themselves. Clients often discover they have access to and are choosing options that they never expected: directions and decisions that feel truer to who they really are, not just who they thought they should be.
They are frequently surprised (and pleasantly so) when they realize that most of what holds them back comes from rules that they have set and therefore, rules that they have the ability to rewrite in a way that helps them see ways to move forward.
What’s a leadership breakthrough you’ve witnessed?
Magic happens when clients step out of their usual environment. I’ve seen powerful breakthroughs during nature walks, while playing games, or in unconventional settings that activate the right brain and unlock creativity. Literally getting “out of the box” can awaken the ability for “out of the box” thinking!
When you’re not sitting in your usual chair, thinking your usual thoughts, you suddenly have access to options that weren’t available before. That shift in thinking is where transformation lives.
What’s your unique background and experience?
I’ve lived all aspects of healthcare leadership. I’ve worked on the front lines as a Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist, sat in the executive suite as Chief Medical Officer for two community hospitals, and served on the Board of a large and expanding healthcare system. These multi-faceted perspectives help me coach leaders through the real challenges of connecting clinical excellence with organizational priorities. Because I’ve walked in their shoes, I’m well equipped to help healthcare leaders navigate complex demands with confidence and clarity.
What myth about executive coaching do you love to bust?
The biggest myth is that needing a coach means you’re not good enough. Or that coaching is just about improving leadership skills.
In reality, coaching helps you achieve your full potential as a whole person, and therefore you become a better leader. It’s not about fixing what’s broken, but accessing your inherent strengths, expanding what’s possible, and maximizing your impact.