James Cernilia, MD, FACS

Dr. Cernilia is a practicing cardiac and thoracic surgeon with more than twenty-five years of clinical and medical staff leadership experience. He is a former physician surveyor for the Joint Commission and served there from 2005-2012.  Dr. Cernilia functioned in multiple roles while at the Joint Commission including as both Hospital and Ambulatory Surgery surveyor, team lead for triennial hospital surveys, team lead for corporate network hospital routes, and as faculty for new physician surveyor training.  In addition, he functioned in a core role with the Sentinel Event/OQM division conducting for-cause surveys focusing on surgery, cardiology, and medical staff issues nationwide.

Dr. Cernilia is board-certified in both Cardiothoracic Surgery and General Surgery and has an extensive background in hospital administration and hospital-based performance improvement.  He has served as both Chair and Vice-Chair of multiple Performance Improvement committees at the hospital level and is a previous member of the Infection Control Committee at Good Samaritan Hospital. He served as a Surgery Peer Review Committee member at Citrus Valley Medical Center, and he is the former Director of Cardiac Surgery at Downey Regional Medical Center.  Throughout his career, Dr. Cernilia has published numerous articles covering topics in cardiac surgery, trauma, patient quality of life, and interventional radiology.  He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a long-standing member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Cernilia earned his medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.  He completed General Surgery Residency at the University of California Irvine and fellowship training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Tulane University.  He also completed advanced clinical fellowships at 

Rush-Presbyterian/Cook County Medical Center in beating heart surgery and in endovascular intervention at the University of California Davis.  Dr. Cernilia resides and practices in Southern California and maintains medical licenses in both California and Louisiana.  Systems-based performance improvement and hospital-driven quality assurance remain personal passions.  He is also a FAA licensed private pilot and avid snow skier.