City of Hope has added a new position to its executive team: chief strategy and administrative officer. Robert Stone, J.D., who had been the institution’s general counsel, serves in the new role.
 Robert Stone (Photo by Markie Ramirez) |
Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president and chief executive officer, recently appointed Stone to the position.
Friedman noted that recent factors such as the national economic downturn, impending heath-care reform and the California budget crisis have heightened City of Hope’s need to implement its long- and short-term strategies effectively.
“I created the chief strategy and administrative officer position to provide us with a focused and coordinated approach to address our challenges and achieve our goals,” Friedman said.
“Robert’s new responsibilities will include advising and assisting me and the executive team in developing strategies and priorities, and coordinating implementation plans for those strategic priorities across the organization.”
Stone will oversee the Department of Human Resources, strategy management efforts and the offices of the general counsel and board of directors. He also will continue in his role as corporate secretary.
 Gregory Schetina (Photo by p.cunningham) |
A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Stone joined City of Hope in 1996 as associate general counsel after serving as associate attorney at the firms of Christa & Jackson and Hanna and Morton. He has been the medical center’s general counsel since 2000 and general counsel of City of Hope and Beckman Research Institute since 2003.
Friedman also announced that Gregory Schetina, J.D., City of Hope’s chief deputy general counsel, has been promoted to general counsel.
Schetina has served as chief deputy general counsel since 2004. He was formerly a partner with the law firms of Jones Day and Tuttle & Taylor and received his law degree from Loyola Law School.
Among other accomplishments, Schetina directed City of Hope’s legal team in the successful California Supreme Court appeal of the medical center’s lawsuit against Genentech. He also has led the institution’s defense of the validity of the Cabilly II patent — the basis for numerous widely used drugs produced by the biotechnology industry — in the recently concluded reexamination proceedings by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in two different lawsuits.
