Vicki Cansler

CHRO Piedmont Healthcare

Vicki Cansler joined Piedmont Healthcare as the chief human resources officer in February 2013. Cansler leads system-wide human resources, providing services including compensation and benefits, employee relations, human resources information systems (HRIS), talent acquisition, organizational development, diversity and inclusion, employee recognition, and HR service delivery.

She has extensive HR leadership experience in healthcare, both on the payor and on the provider sides, as well as in healthcare HR consulting. Cansler is passionate about hiring, developing, rewarding and retaining talent, and aligning human resources with Piedmont’s strategic vision to prepare the healthcare system for the future.

Since 2013, Piedmont has grown from a $1.4 billion system with 8,500 employees to a more than $5 billion system with 27,500 team members. To accommodate this substantial growth, Cansler and her team prioritize integration while respecting the culture of each affiliating hospital and physician practice. The goal is to promote one cohesive healthcare system while understanding the cultures and nuances of each facility.

In 2019, Piedmont Healthcare was named one of Georgia’s best employers by Forbes and was the top healthcare system on the list. Cansler attributes this to Piedmont’s focus on its four strategic anchors of Quality, Safety, Service; Strategic Growth, Stewardship; and Talent.

Under Cansler’s leadership, Piedmont continues to focus on attraction and retention of the workforce and employee engagement, the embedding of diversity and inclusion into our DNA and preparing Piedmont talent for the future. Cansler is leading all talent initiatives for Piedmont during each wave of the pandemic which includes pop up childcare, vaccination clinics for employees, vaccination mandates, and rebuilding the workforce.

Prior to joining Piedmont, Cansler served as senior vice president of human resources for HealthMarkets, based in Texas, and chief people officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. Cansler also held senior global human resources and consulting positions with Booz Allen and Hamilton in Virginia and Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she was based out of Dallas.

She began her career in healthcare HR at Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, Louisiana, which is her hometown, followed by an HR leadership role with Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Cansler spent 11 years with Cigna, holding various HR roles, including vice president of human resources for Cigna’s Healthcare Division.

Cansler earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dallas, attended Louisiana State University and obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana, Monroe.

She serves as a member of the Atlanta Human Resources Executive RoundTable, the Ferst Readers board of directors and Piedmont Walton Hospital’s board of directors. Cansler was named Atlanta’s CHRO of the Year for 2020 (sponsored by Atlanta Business Chronicle and SHRM). In September 2021, Vicki was the recipient of HRO Today’s Leader of Distinction Award and was the inaugural recipient of HRO Today’s “Front of the Front Lines” Healthcare HR Leadership award presented during their North America Conference in November 2021.

Cansler and her husband of more than 40 years, Larry, have residences in both Atlanta and the mountains outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have two adult children, Camilea and Clayton, and one granddaughter, Athena.