Covenant Physician Partners Announces Goran Dragolovic to Succeed Lew Little as President and CEO

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Covenant Physician Partners (Covenant), a rapidly growing physician services company, announced today that Goran Dragolovic will succeed Lew Little as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 11, 2021.

Dragolovic is an accomplished leader in the healthcare services sector who most recently served as CEO of Women’s Health USA, a leading national practice management platform focused on women’s health. Following the transition, Little will continue to serve as an advisor to Covenant to ensure a seamless handover of responsibilities and will remain an investor in the company.

“Lew has overseen a period of significant evolution over the past four years, and we are grateful for his work in building Covenant into the comprehensive physician services organization that it is today,” said Max Lin, Chairman of the Covenant Board and Partner at KKR. “While Lew leaves big shoes to fill, we are delighted to welcome an executive of Goran’s caliber. Goran brings the right experience and vision to grow Covenant as the partner of choice to leading physicians and allied health professionals during this time of dynamic change in the delivery of healthcare.”

Having spent more than 30 years leading healthcare services organizations, including ambulatory surgery centers and physician practices, Dragolovic brings deep expertise in managing physician partnerships, coupled with proven success scaling and growing healthcare companies with a focus on delivering high-quality clinical care. His leadership will help accelerate Covenant’s pursuit of additional growth opportunities and further evolution as a leading physician services organization.

“I am honored and humbled to assume this role with Covenant, which has built a tremendous physician services platform under Lew’s leadership and is supported by leading investor KKR,” said Dragolovic. “We have a strong trajectory, and my goal is to execute on the exciting opportunities in front of us by engaging with our physician partners to drive strategic growth and advance clinical outcomes by helping them to provide high-quality, affordable patient care across the nation.”

“The opportunity to lead such an influential organization has been a true gift, and I am grateful to the incredible team for all that we have accomplished together,” said Little. “I have seen the vision and leadership that Goran brings to the table, and I know Covenant is in good hands to participate in the future of healthcare and provide valuable services for our physician partners to thrive.”

Goran Dragolovic Biography
Dragolovic has spent his entire 30+ year career in the healthcare services sector, most recently as CEO of Women’s Health USA, a leading national practice management platform focused on women’s health, since 2017. In this role, he partnered with leading physicians to grow their practices and provide the best care possible to patients in cost-effective settings.

Previously, Dragolovic spent nearly seven years at Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), and at Optum following Optum’s acquisition of SCA. At SCA, Dragolovic served in several capacities, including Group President of a $500 million portfolio of surgery centers and specialty hospitals in the western U.S. and leading enterprise-wide strategic service line expansion. After the Optum transaction, Dragolovic served as Senior Vice President of Practice Growth and Transformation. In that role, Dragolovic helped aggregate and organize specialty physician groups into market-leading, clinically-integrated networks, as well as contributing to M&A growth opportunities across SCA.

Earlier in his career, Dragolovic held operational roles with Symbion and Amsurg, amongst other smaller practice management and multi-site groups. He holds an MBA and bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University.

Dragolovic is relocating with his family to Nashville, Tennessee to assume the role of CEO at Covenant.

About Covenant Physician Partners
Founded in 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee, Covenant Physician Partners is a physician services company that partners with leading providers across the country to grow thriving practices and surgery centers while advancing clinical excellence. Covenant’s national network of leading practices and surgery centers across the outpatient care continuum brings operational expertise, financial backing and clinical best practices to fuel growth. Please visit CovenantPhysicianPartners.com for more information.