S. Dawn Bulgarella, MSHA, CPA
Chief Executive Officer, UAB Health System
Chief Executive Officer, UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance
Dawn Bulgarella is a senior leader in health care with more than 25 years of progressive experience in academic medicine. In her uniquely integrated role as CEO of both UAB Health System and the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance, Dawn is responsible for combined annual budgets in excess of $5 billion. She has a proven record of accomplishments in administration, financial management, organizational strategic planning, and senior-level recruitment.
Dawn earned a Bachelor of Science in commerce and business administration from the University of Alabama and a Master of Science in health administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a Certified Public Accountant who formerly served with Ernst & Young, a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Council of Teaching Hospitals Board, and active in the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Dawn participated in Class XXXI of Leadership Alabama. The Birmingham Business Journal named her one of the Top Birmingham Women in 2021, Birmingham’s CFO of the Year in the Large Enterprise category in 2020, and has listed her among Who’s Who in Birmingham Healthcare annually since 2015. Dawn also received a Women of Impact award from Yellowhammer News in 2019. She mentors women in health care, serves on numerous health care boards throughout Alabama, and routinely speaks about health care finance and leadership.
Dawn and her husband, Joe, have three adult children and one grandchild, and she enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.