About

The Fire Chief – The Chief Medical Officer Podcast is your frontline briefing on what it truly means to lead in the heat of healthcare. Hosted by Dr. Lee Scheinbart, this series offers raw, insightful conversations with current and former Chief Medical Officers—unfiltered stories from the command center of crisis, healing, and transformation. Drawing a powerful parallel between firefighting and medical leadership, each episode illuminates the path from early training to the burning challenges of the CMO role. From crisis response and financial strain to resilience, equity, and ethical leadership—these candid conversations decode what it takes to steer healthcare systems through turbulence. Whether you're a physician climbing the leadership ladder, a seasoned executive confronting systemic fires, or simply fascinated by the intersection of medicine and leadership, The Fire Chief delivers thought-provoking leadership lessons that are as urgent as they are timeless. Welcome to the front line.

Lee Scheinbart, MD, CPE, FAAPL, earned his BS in biology at the University of Michigan and his MD from Ohio State University. He completed his internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Florida Shands Hospital.

Dr. Scheinbart practiced hematology/oncology with Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates (MIMA) and Health First (HF) for over 20 years. During that time, he served on the MIMA Board of Directors and the Hospice of HF Board of Directors. A founder of the William Childs Hospice House and former Medical Director for the HF Cancer Institute, he went on to serve as VP for Medical Affairs and later the Chief Medical Officer at HF Hospitals, a division within the HF Integrated Delivery Network.

Dr. Scheinbart currently serves as the Chief Health Affairs Officer and Assistant Professor of Leadership Development at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine and is a Board Member for the Coalition for Osteopathic Excellence. He has a keen focus on physician leadership and its impact on organizational success. His writings and research have appeared in the Healthcare Administration Leadership & Management Journal (HALM) and the Physician Leadership Journal (PLJ), respectively. His writings also have appeared in several books dedicated to the CMO, all of which have been published by AAPL.  His most recent work, The Chief Medical Officer's Financial Primer: The Vital Handbook for Physician Executives, was published by AAPL in August of 2024.  

Dr. Scheinbart is the principal instructor for AAPL’s Chief Medical Officer Academy, the only certified educational experience designed by and taught by CMOs.  In 2024, Dr. Scheinbart launched the podcast, The Fire Chief, as the only podcast dedicated to the role of the CMO and the show benchmarked as one of the fastest growing podcasts for physician leadership.  

When he is not writing, researching, teaching, advising or speaking at national forums, he is mentoring medical students and aspiring physician executives.  When he is not doing that, he is fly fishing in parts unknown without cellular service.