BOSTON – Benjamin K. Mizell, MD, an anesthesiologist with a proven track record of leading major Mass Eye and Ear initiatives including its electronic medical record integration, has been named chief of Anesthesia at Mass Eye and Ear. Dr. Mizell, who first joined Mass Eye and Ear in 2012 as a staff anesthesiologist, will assume this new leadership role on February 1, 2023.
Dr. Mizell will oversee a department that boasts more than 30 anesthesiologists and 15 certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) who have a specialized expertise in procedures related to conditions affecting the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck.
“After an extensive search, Dr. Mizell was the obvious choice to lead Mass Eye and Ear’s anesthesiology department given his management track record overseeing major hospital initiatives, expertise in anesthesiology care and operations, and positive and passionate energy he has for patients and his medical staff colleagues,” said CarolAnn Williams, Interim President at Mass Eye and Ear. “Dr. Mizell’s expertise, with the collaboration of the departments of ophthalmology, otolaryngology and nursing, will help facilitate improvements for processes of hospital interfaces to streamline the overall patient and staff experience.”
About Dr. Mizell
Dr. Mizell, a native of St. Francisville, La., began his medical career as an undergraduate when he took on a job as a medical technician in an emergency room. He then attended medical school at LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine, before he completed residencies in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City where he became chief resident. Following his training, he joined the hospital as a staff physician, and developed and led a hospitalist group that specialized in children with chronic diseases at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Mizell relocated to Massachusetts in 2010, where he completed another residency in anesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, before joining the faculty of Mass Eye and Ear in 2012. At Mass Eye and Ear he oversaw numerous program initiatives, including the EPIC integration of the hospital. He was appointed OR (operating room) medical director in 2020 and also serves on the Board of Anesthesiology credentialing committee.
“I am beyond excited about this opportunity to collaborate in new ways with my colleagues across our departments to improve the daily experiences for staff, surgeons and patients,” said Dr. Mizell. “Mass Eye and Ear has an amazing culture where our surgeons, nurses, CRNAs, and anesthesiologists are leaders who excel in their fields and are passionate about providing specialized care for patients who require ophthalmology and otolaryngology treatments and surgeries. It’s incredibly gratifying to work with these outstanding clinicians and our patients, including those with sensory conditions, whose lives are significantly impacted when they come to our hospital.”
Dr. Mizell and his husband and three teenage children reside in Lincoln, Mass.
About Mass Eye and Ear
Massachusetts Eye and Ear, founded in 1824, is an international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. A member of Mass General Brigham, Mass Eye and Ear specializes in ophthalmology (eye care) and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ear, nose and throat care). Mass Eye and Ear clinicians provide care ranging from the routine to the very complex. Also home to the world’s largest community of hearing and vision researchers, Mass Eye and Ear scientists are driven by a mission to discover the basic biology underlying conditions affecting the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck and to develop new treatments and cures. In the 2022–2023 “Best Hospitals Survey,” ranked Mass Eye and Ear #4 in the nation for eye care and #4 for ear, nose and throat care. For more information about life-changing care and research at Mass Eye and Ear, visit our blog, Focus, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
