Robert Wyllie, MD

Robert Wyllie, MD, is Chief of Medical Operations at Cleveland Clinic since 2011. In this position he is responsible for the activities of a variety of units including Business Intelligence, Pharmacy, Continuous Improvement, Hospital Throughput, Surgical Operations, and Critical Care Transport. Dr. Wyllie also oversees the operations of Service Line Performance Management, driving down the cost of health care while improving quality and enhancing patient experience.

Cleveland Clinic is a world leader in hospital transfers, with nearly 2000 transfers per month from 48 states and 22 countries. Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus is among the largest and busiest hospitals in the United States, with 55,000 admissions in 2012. As a large academic medical center, Cleveland Clinic’s surgical operations are ranked among the most efficient in the United States, with 80% utilization. Cleveland Clinic has been recognized by the University Hospital Consortium for its outstanding work in quality and efficiency, winning an award as the Most Improved Hospital among academic medical centers in the United States in 2012. To discuss these activities and accomplishments, Dr. Wyllie is invited each year to the World Conference of Health Care.

Before Dr. Delos Cosgrove, Senior Advisor & Former CEO of Cleveland Clinic, brought him onto his Executive Team, Dr. Wyllie was Chief of Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, Chairman of the Pediatric Institute, and the first holder of the Calabrese Endowed Chair in Pediatrics. During his five years in the position, Dr. Wyllie recruited 160 physicians and tripled the number of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists at Cleveland Clinic. Under his leadership, every pediatric specialty became ranked nationally by US News & World Report, and Cleveland Clinic’s became the highest rated Children’s Hospital in northern Ohio. He built a system for pediatric care across northeast Ohio, with three level 3 neonatal intensive care units staffed 24/7 by pediatric neonatologists and community hospitals staffed at all times by on-site pediatricians. Under Dr. Wyllie’s leadership, Cleveland Clinic’s Children’s Hospital grew to be the largest provider of pediatric services in northeast Ohio.

Dr. Wyllie is also a world renowned pediatric gastroenterologist with subspecialty interest in inflammatory bowel disease and complex endoscopic procedures. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, and has been repeatedly named among Castle Connolly’s America’s Top Doctors, Best Doctors in America, and Consumers’ Checkbook Guide to Top Doctors. Other prominent roles at Cleveland Clinic include Member of the Board of Governors, Vice Chair of the Office of Professional Staff Affairs, and Past President of the Professional Staff.

Dr. Wyllie is a member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological Association, the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. He is editor of a major textbook in pediatric gastroenterology, starting on its fifth edition, and has authored over 130 articles in scientific journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatrics, Clinical Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, American Family Physician, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Hepatology, and the American Academy of Pediatrics update. He has presented at more than 185 national and international scientific meetings and has delivered more than 135 presentations at hospitals and medical centers.

Dr. Wyllie graduated with honors from the Indiana University School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. Dr. Wyllie earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa while pursuing his undergraduate degree at Indiana University and received the Lyman Mieks Award as the outstanding student in pediatrics. His wife, Dr. Elaine Wyllie, is a world renowned pediatric epileptologist at Cleveland Clinic, and their two sons are pursuing exciting careers in science and technology.

Education & Professional Highlights

Appointed
1981

Education & Fellowships

Fellowship - Indiana University Medical Center
Gastroenterology
Indianapolis, IN USA
1980

Residency - Indiana University Medical Center
Pediatrics
Indianapolis, IN USA
1978

Internship - Indiana University Medical Center
Pediatric Internship
Indianapolis, IN USA
1977

Medical Education - Indiana University School of Medicine
MD
Indianapolis, IN USA
1976

Undergraduate - Indiana University
Bloomington, IN USA
1972

Professional Highlights

Calabrese Chair of Pediatrics, 2007
America’s Top Doctors, 2001-2012
Best Doctors in America,1996-2012
Phi Beta Kappa, Indiana University
Graduated with Honors, Indiana University School of Medicine

Certifications

Pediatrics
Pediatrics - Pediatric Gastroenterology

Specialty Interests

Crohn's Disease, inflammatory bowel disease, pediatric gastroenterology, Ulcerative Colitis, Diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, Inflammatory bowel disease

Awards & Honors

Calabrese Chair of Pediatrics
America’s Top Doctors since 2001
Best Doctors in America since 1995
Lyman Mieks Award, Indiana University School of Medicine (Outstanding student – Pediatrics)
Graduated with Honors, Indiana University School of Medicine
Phi Beta Kappa, Indiana University

Innovations & Patents

The use of biologic therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Developed advanced endoscopic techniques for the closure of tracheo-esophageal fistulae and foreign body removal.

Memberships

American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Gastroenterology
North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
American Gastroenterological Association

Research & Publications

See publications for Robert Wyllie, MD.

(Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)

Industry Relationships

Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists may collaborate with the pharmaceutical or medical device industries to help develop medical breakthroughs or provide medical expertise or education. Cleveland Clinic strives to make scientific advances that will benefit patient care and support outside relationships that promise public benefit. In order for the discoveries of Cleveland Clinic physicians' and scientists' laboratories and investigations to benefit the public, these discoveries must be commercialized in partnership with industry. As experts in their fields, Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists are often sought after by industry to consult, provide expertise and education.

To assure professional and commercial integrity in such matters, Cleveland Clinic maintains a program that reviews these collaborations and, when appropriate, puts measures in place to minimize bias that may result from ties to industry. Cleveland Clinic publicly discloses the names of companies when (i) its physicians/scientists receive $5,000 or more per year (or, in rare cases, equity or stock options) for speaking and consulting, (ii) its physicians/scientists serve as a fiduciary, (iii) its physicians/scientists receive or have the right to receive royalties or (iv) its physicians/ scientists hold any equity interest for the physician's/scientist's role as inventor, discoverer, developer, founder or consultant.* In publicly disclosing this information, Cleveland Clinic tries to provide information as accurately as possible about its physicians' and scientists' connections with industry.

As of 10/3/2023, Dr. Wyllie has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing. In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.

Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers' discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.

* Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists subscribe to the guidance presented in the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals and the AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. As such, gifts of substantial value are generally prohibited.

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About Robert Wyllie, MD