J. Stephen Jones is President and CEO of Inova, Northern Virginia's leading nonprofit healthcare system and Greater Washington DC's largest private employer. A board-certified practicing urological surgeon, he is also a Professor of Surgery at the University of Virginia. Under his leadership, Inova became the first large health system in the U.S. to have every hospital rated five stars by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — an accomplishment still never matched. In 2025, Inova was recognized as Health System of the Year by Press Ganey, the nation's foremost authority on healthcare experience and performance and in 2026 Glassdoor listed Inova as the 11th best health system to work in America.
In his tenure, Inova has continually expanded access to care — serving more patients each year, enhancing quality and outcomes, and ensuring care is available regardless of ability to pay. Under his leadership, Inova has also launched an unprecedented capital reinvestment to modernize facilities and broaden access across its service area, including two new hospital campuses to replace Inova Alexandria Hospital and over 30 Inova Cares sites for the underserved.
Dr. Jones previously served as President of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals and Family Health Centers. Before that he was Department Chair and held the Leonard Horvitz and Samuel Miller Distinguished Chair in Urologic Oncology, which has now been renamed in his honor.
He earned a BS in zoology at the University of Arkansas, MD at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and MBA at Case Western Reserve University. After residency at Vanderbilt University, he joined the Springfield Clinic/St. John's Health System in Missouri. Under his chairmanship the Department of Urological Surgery became the highest rated community urology program in America, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Jones was Editor-in-Chief of the American Urological Association journal Urology Practice 2020-2025, has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, over 40 book chapters, two books for the lay reader, and is editor of five medical textbooks. He has been Editor of Urology & Kidney Disease News, Associate Editor for Urology as well as Renal & Urology News, and served on the editorial boards of British Journal of Urology and Urology Times.
Named one of Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare, Dr. Jones has also been recognized as Leapfrog/Cost of Care CEO of the Year, the Arne Sorenson Leadership Award from the Economic Club of Washington DC, "Imagine a Virginia" VHHA award for patient safety, and was the inaugural recipient of The Joint Commission Award of Excellence.
He was most recently elected to the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees term beginning 2027. Dr. Jones chaired the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) board 2024. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Greater Washington Partnership, Economic Club of Washington, DC, and the Virginia Hospital and Health System 2018-2022. He has also served on multiple hospital and health system boards, including Cleveland Clinic and Inova.