Washington native chosen as president of UPMC-Hillman Cancer Center
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wild
Elizabeth Wild, center, newly named as president of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, with her stepmother, Becky Wild, and her father, Tom Wild, at her graduation from Northwestern University, where she received her M.B.A.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wild
Trinity graduate Elizabeth Wild, right, who was recently named president of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, sits at a Pittsburgh Steelers game with her nephews, from left, Elliot and Oliver Bodart and Jonah Bieranoski. Wild is an avid sports fan and enjoys spending as much time as she can with her nieces and nephews.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A tree and plaque dedicated to Cathy Wild is located on the grounds of JFK Elementary School in Washington.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A tree and plaque dedicated to Cathy Wild is located on the grounds of JFK Elementary School in Washington.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wild
Elizabeth Wild, center, president of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, with her parents, Cathy Wild, left, and Tom Wild, right. Cathy died from cancer in 1993.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wild
Elizabeth Wild, who played basketball at Trinity High School and excelled in the classroom, delivers the valedictorian speech at Notre Dame University. Wild’s father, Tom, also graduated from Notre Dame.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wild
Beth Wild, newly named president of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, was a standout basketball player for the Trinity Hillers.
Elizabeth Wild has spent the bulk of her professional career at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, where she recently was named president of UPMC Hillman’s large network of more than 70 cancer centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Ireland and Italy.
But Wild, 43, a graduate of Trinity High School, where she excelled on the basketball court and in the classroom, and valedictorian at the University of Notre Dame, became familiar with UPMC hospitals as a teenager, long before she joined the cancer center in 2002.
Wild’s mother, the late Cathy Wild, was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent treatment at University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Cathy Wild died in April 1993 following a nine-month battle with the disease. She was 39.
So for Wild, who was 15 when her mother passed away, oncology care is personal. She knows how frightening and uncertain undergoing cancer treatment is for patients and their families.
Wild – a driving force behind much of UPMC Hillman’s regional and international expansion and its innovative clinical initiatives – is excited to take the helm at the cancer center, the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“I’m really honored that UPMC had the confidence in me to move me into this role. I’m thrilled,” said Wild, of Lawrenceville. “I’m just so fortunate to do something that is so personally important to me. Working at Hillman meets my need to do something meaningful and to give back to my community, especially my local community.”
Wild has more than 20 years of oncology-related experience in the U.S. and internationally, and has held several leadership roles at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, most recently as senior vice president.
She pointed out that while UPMC Hillman is young in terms of cancer centers – by comparison, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has been around since 1884 – it has developed into a top-rated clinical and research facility, and it provides care to more than 110,000 patients annually.
Wild – who on her first day on the job at UPMC Hillman in 2002 bumped into one of the physicians who treated her mother nearly a decade before – credits UPMC Hillman’s physicians, researchers, executives, and other employees for its growth as a world-class cancer center.
The treatments and medications now available to patients weren’t available to her mother and other cancer patients nearly 30 years ago.
“I’ve had the privilege over the past 20 years to witness progress made in the oncology space, and to see treatments that are now available and that allow hope for patients,” said Wild. “We’re seeing amazing results in immunotherapies, and we have supportive care, drugs, and treatments that help patients live well with their disease. My mother had so much of her life and so much possibility taken away because of the disease.”
Wild considers UPMC’s community care centers to be game-changers for patients, offering them access to the best cancer care close to home.
“In terms of building cancer centers in communities, it’s changed the way that cancer care is delivered. My mom and dad traveled a great distance for her treatment, and they were away from family for significant periods of time. That wouldn’t happen today, the way Hillman has expanded,” said Wild.
In Washington County, UPMC Hillman has partnered with Washington Health System Radiation Oncology to offer cancer treatment at two locations.
In her new role as president, Wild will provide the strategic vision to further enhance the growth and development of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center domestically and abroad.
Internationally, Wild leads the expansion of UPMC Hillman’s world-class cancer care to Italy, Ireland, China and Kazakhstan. She was part of a team that developed a joint venture with Bon Secours Health System, Ireland’s largest independent health care provider, to build an advanced radiotherapy center in Cork, joining UPMC locations in Waterford, Clane and Kilkenny.
In Italy, Wild has collaborated with UPMC’s Italian leadership team to develop cancer centers in Rome and southern Italy. The goal is to ensure that Hillman’s treatment protocols and best practices are integrated across the network.
Wild, who earned her M.B.A. from Northwestern University, said her mother “would probably laugh if she knew I ended up in health care.”
“I’m very squeamish. I liked science but am nervous around blood and things like that,” said Wild. “My mom was really into that stuff. She loved nursing.”
The two, however, have other things in common.
Cathy Wild was an advocate for Catholic education and volunteered at JFK Elementary School, where Wild, along with her two younger sisters, Laurie Bodart and Carrie Bieranoski, attended elementary school.
A tree and memorial plaque dedicated to Cathy Wild in recognition of her contributions to the school and to Immaculate Conception Church are located on the campus grounds.
Wild, who over the years has coached, volunteered, and supported sports, academic and extracurricular programs at JFK, shares her mother’s passion for the school and its mission.
“My mother had a passion for service and helping others, whether it was as a nurse or supporting the church and school,” said Wild. “I’m a strong supporter of Catholic education, too.”
And, like her mother, Wild has made family her priority.
“My mom was clearly involved with us as kids. She was at all of our sporting events and she rooted for us and supported us in everything we did,” said Wild.
Wild returns to Washington often to cheer for her five nieces and nephews at all of their events, and to spend time with her father, Tom Wild, CFO at Accutrex Products in Southpointe, and her stepmother, Becky Wild, a nurse at Advanced Orthopedics and Rehabilitation in Washington.
Wild is a self-described compulsive over-achiever, and her trim, 5-foot, 1-inch frame somehow manages to contain her energy and infectious enthusiasm.
An avid sports fan, she enjoys attending sports events ranging from Steelers, Pirates, Penguins, and Notre Dame games, to Super Bowls and national championship games when she’s not working.
“My favorite team right now, though, is the JFK Comets basketball team,” said Wild.
She also lives a healthy lifestyle – she runs and plays recreational basketball and other sports – and follows a healthy diet to reduce her risk of diseases like cancer.
Wild is grateful for the close-knit relationship she has with her family, and acknowledges how the loss of her mother has shaped her life.
“I think that anyone who has lost a loved one at a young age can say that experience teaches you that life is fragile, that life is short. For me, though, it also made me want to make an impact on the world around me – to know that I left something behind, that I’ve made the most of the life and the gifts, talents and opportunities that I have been given, whether that ‘something’ is my relationship with my nieces and nephews, my work in the cancer field or my support of local institutions, such as John F. Kennedy School,” said Wild. “I think that it is important to know what and who is meaningful to you and to leave nothing on the table. To always go all-in and not wish that you would have focused more, spent more time or tried harder.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated.