Dr. Srilekha Palle is a visiting fellow at Independent Women’s Forum. She is an accomplished healthcare executive with 23+ years’ experience driving performance, improvement, and profitability for major healthcare systems in the Virginia and Washington, D.C. area. Working in partnership with executive management teams and clinical leadership, Dr. Palle develops and implements strategic plans that support organizational missions and goals, ensuring that healthcare systems provide first-rate patient care with compassion, precision, and efficiency.

Prior to her current position with Inova Health Systems, Dr. Palle held several roles of increasing responsibility in executive and general leadership at other private healthcare systems, with P&L responsibility of $30M+ and accountability for both organizational and departmental leadership.

As an executive leader, Dr. Palle is distinguished for her strong team and project management skills, which she leverages to increase organizational capacity by streamlining complex processes and facilitating decision-making on key strategic plans, such as new business models to support population growth. Her expertise in strategic planning and her leadership on program development initiatives ensure that healthcare facilities and new programs exceed standards, demonstrate efficient administration, and remain compliant with relevant policy. As a primary care provider in physical therapy and rehabilitation services, Dr. Palle champions evidence-based practice that improves quality of care; as a program director, she leads process improvement (PI), quality improvement (QI), and program development initiatives that drive site performance.

Dr. Palle earned her Doctorate in physical therapy from Boston University and her MBA, with a focus on healthcare administration, from the IIBM Institute of Business Management. She often gives guest lectures on leadership and service at George Mason University, and she is an advisory board member for the Physical Therapy Assistant Program at Northern Virginia Community College. Currently, Dr. Palle served as Vice President of National Capital Healthcare Executives, a role in which she is dedicated to advancing excellence in healthcare management for our region and beyond. She also volunteers with the Vincent Ferrari foundation to provide rehabilitation care in rural community hospitals across India.

When Dr. Palle is not providing leadership in her professional or volunteer capacities, she enjoys spending time with her husband Srinath and their two children, Mahat and Shirdi.