New leaders step up to oversee academic, clinical administration

An new era of leadership for the business and administration side of the Department of Medicine came about in late 2024.

After more than 13 years working within IU School of Medicine and IU Health, Kerry Makielski accepted an opportunity to join the Stanford University Department of Medicine, and departed Indiana for sunny California in December 2024.

Tara Casey, MHA, seamlessly stepped into the vice chair role in March 2025, having served the previous five years as the Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Operations.

Makielski first joined the Department of Medicine since 2011, when she became a Division Academic Administrator for the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology; but with her compassionate leadership, dedication to continuous improvement, and terrific strategic planning skills, she quickly rose through the department’s ranks.

In 2013, she was promoted to Service Line Administrator for the division, and in 2017, she was promoted again to Associate Vice Chair for Clinical Operations in the Chair’s Office for the department.

Makielski became the Vice Chair for Clinical and Academic Administration in 2020, where she is responsible for managing and directing the administrative, fiscal, research, education, and clinical operations within the department’s 10 divisions and 11 clinical service lines.

Makielski hired Casey in 2020 to be the Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Operations.

Casey quickly proved herself to be an unmatchable asset to the department, as she formed meaningful working relationships within IU School of Medicine and IU Health while being a fierce adv

ocate for her team members.

Casey is a Hoosier through and through. She graduated from IU Bloomington in 2009 with a degree in public health before earning a master’s in health administration in 2012 from the Fairbanks School of Public Health.

She started her career as a healthcare administrator in 2010 with the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis. She climbed through the ranks at the VA, departing in 2017 as Group Practice Manager of Ambulatory Care. She then joined the Department of Medicine and worked as a Service Line Administrator of Hospitalists for three years.

Casey is also an Army Veteran. She coordinated logistics during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Away from work, she serves on the Brownsburg Education Foundation Board and on the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health Alumni Board.

Then, in June 2025 following a nationwide search, longtime IU Health team member Melissa Mayorga, MHA, was named the Department of Medicine’s Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Operations.

Mayorga brings to the role more than a decade of experience in healthcare operations and strategy. She has shown unwavering commitment to the department’s clinical work and patient care goals, leading large teams within the organization while consistently improving performance, innovation and culture.

As the Service Line Administrator for the Division of Hospital Medicine, Mayorga oversaw a team of more than 170 providers and hospitalists across six hospitals. She led initiatives that resulted in more than $4 million in additional net patient revenue and a $1.6 million reduction in non-budgeted expenses. She has guided major transformations in staffing, compensation redesign and value-based care alignment — all while centering team engagement and equity.

She is an active and engaged community member and professional leader. She serves on a local school board and is a member of the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives. She was an adjunct faculty member of the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and is now part of the MHA/BSHSM advisory board at IU Indianapolis.