Michael Dalton is the founder and CEO of Ovatient, a nonprofit, virtual care services company built by health systems for health systems. As CEO, he is dedicated to fostering a culture of collaborative innovation as Ovatient expands the reach of its Digital Health Home™ and Virtual Multispecialty Practice to deliver more connected, coordinated, and convenient care to patients in partnership with health systems, health plans, and employers. His role at Ovatient is a culmination of his life’s work and passion for effective servant leadership, taking on seemingly impossible challenges, and creating systemic, positive change. For him, solving healthcare challenges for rural communities is personal as he witnessed firsthand issues around access to care for his grandparents and family throughout rural Wisconsin.
Michael was recognized as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s Great Leaders in Healthcare in 2026 as well as selected for Slice of Healthcare’s 2025 Top Digital Health Leaders List. Ovatient was also named Becker’s Hospital Review 2026 Telehealth Companies to Know list, further recognizing the company’s growing impact in digital health and telehealth innovation.
Prior to Ovatient, Michael served in leadership roles at The MetroHealth System, including VP for the Virtual Care Enterprise and VP for Executive Projects. In these roles, he was responsible for designing, coordinating, and implementing the health system’s virtual and at-home health care services strategy, advancing MetroHealth’s care delivery footprint and empowering patients to receive care how, when, and where it was most convenient for them. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped launch MetroHealth’s Hospital in the Home, Remote Monitoring, and Virtual Maternity Care programs, along with numerous other virtual care initiatives, while also serving as a front-line leader for MetroHealth’s COVID-19 response. Michael led a statewide coalition of safety-net providers that secured $225 million annually from CMS to combat Ohio’s opioid epidemic and address numerous population health challenges, an effort that has resulted in more than $1.8 billion in new federal funding for health services in Ohio to date.
