Leadership Speaker Series - feat. Stephanie Conners, CEO of BayCare

Join us for our Leadership Speakers Series, featuring Stephanie Conners, CEO of BayCare Health System.

Stephanie D. Conners, is president and CEO of BayCare Health System, West Central Florida’s leading health care provider. An experienced executive with over 30 years’ experience in health care, she has built a reputation as an inspiring leader and collaborator committed to health care delivery with the highest standards of clinical excellence, compassion, safety, service and engagement.

That unique combination derives from a career that began at the bedside as a nurse and then moved into patient services before becoming a Chief Nursing Officer. She later added operations to her portfolio and led several high-quality health care systems as the Chief Operating Officer for both not-for-profit and for-profit entities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey before joining the not-for-profit BayCare system in August 2022.

Conners serves as a transformative leader at BayCare, where she has strengthened the organization’s position as a top-tier health provider and a vital economic force for the region. She led a corporate restructuring that secures BayCare’s not-for-profit mission and allows it to swiftly adapt in the evolving health care landscape to meet the specific needs of its communities. In 2025, she was instrumental in advancing BayCare’s academic mission by formalizing a strategic collaboration with Northwestern Medicine, including Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Under Conners’ leadership, BayCare has significantly expanded its graduate medical education and research programs, resulting in BayCare’s St. Joseph’s Hospital being designated a statutory teaching hospital in 2025. The system has a bold trajectory to grow its residents in training from 300 to 650 by 2029, exemplifying Conners’ commitment to shaping the future of medical education in the region. Guided by her vision, BayCare is also investing in specialized clinical institutes, driving innovation and accelerating strategic initiatives that position the system for long-term excellence and community impact.

Conners fosters a culture of success among BayCare’s 33,000 team members who are dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate care. Recently, BayCare was named a Top Workplace in the USA by Energage and USA Today and recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the Best Workplaces for Women, reflecting its inclusive culture.

Conners holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Villanova University, an MBA from Eastern University, and she still maintains her registered nursing license. She and her husband, Timothy Conners, have four children and three grandchildren.

The Leadership Speaker Series is dedicated to bringing outstanding leaders from the private, government and nonprofit sectors to campus to discuss business topics and corporate strategies with students, faculty, alumni and members of the community. Leaders candidly share their experiences, discuss challenges, which have impacted their leadership development and provide advice to aspiring leaders. For questions regarding this event, please contact Dominique Walker at [email protected].

Host or Publisher The University of Tampa TECO Energy Center for Leadership