MLA Places Annette White as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Lehigh Valley Health Network

Hanover, MD (March 17, 2021) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today announced the placement of Annette White as senior vice president and chief legal officer at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Penn. The search was conducted by managing directors Elizabeth Long and Deborah Thompson of MLA’s In-House Counsel Recruiting group in Philadelphia.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is a comprehensive, integrated health network that includes eight hospital campuses; a children’s hospital; 1,600 employed primary care and specialty physicians and advanced practice clinicians; three institutes specializing in heart, cancer and surgical care; more than two dozen health centers; and 20 ExpressCARE locations. Lehigh Valley Hospital is recognized on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list, ranking as the region’s #1 hospital for seven straight years and recognized among Pennsylvania’s top six hospitals for seven consecutive years.

Annette will serve as the primary legal advisor to the CEO, the organization’s senior management team, the board of trustees and the hospitals. She will help lead and oversee the legal, compliance, risk management affairs, and internal audit functions, providing overall leadership and management of all corporate and commercial legal matters; facilitating strategically important corporate initiatives such as acquisitions or strategic alliances; and advising management and the board with respect to the transactions and negotiations.

“Annette was the ideal fit for LVHN’s senior vice president and chief legal officer role as she is mission-driven and team oriented and has an extensive healthcare legal background, combining strong transactional, corporate governance and industry expertise and demonstrated leadership experience,” said Deborah Thompson. “Not only is Annette ethical, agile, dynamic and strategic, she also possesses an innovative, genuine and empathetic executive presence that seamlessly fits with LVHN’s culture,” added Elizabeth Long.

Annette joins LVHN after nearly 10 years with Sanford Health, a non-profit healthcare system that provides integrated healthcare, genomic medicine, senior care, global clinics, research, and insurance, where she most recently served as senior vice president, general counsel. During her tenure, she helped shepherd the company’s strategic growth through mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic alliances. Prior to joining Sanford Health, she practiced law at Morgan Lewis and Davenport Evans.

“I am honored to join the LVHN team, a leading healthcare organization that is known for helping to heal, comfort and care for people. LVHN helps make the communities it serves healthier and better places to live, and I look forward to being part of its incredible work,” said Annette. “I so greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with Deb and Beth and the entire team at MLA. I feel very fortunate that I could benefit from their expertise and professionalism; it’s been a tremendous experience.”

Annette earned her J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law and her B.S. from the University of Kansas.