Health Gorilla Appoints Lidia Niecko-Najjum as Chief Legal Officer and Ryan Smith as Chief Technology Officer

Both executives have worked alongside the company since last fall, shaping its technology and regulatory strategy through a period of sustained network growth.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Aug. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Gorilla, an interoperability platform powering nationwide health data exchange, today announced the appointments of Lidia Niecko-Najjum as Chief Legal Officer and Ryan Smith as Chief Technology Officer. Both have been working with the company since the third quarter of last year and have now joined the executive leadership team full time.

The appointments deepen the company's leadership bench across two areas central to its next phase: the technical foundation that carries clinical data across the country, and the regulatory framework that governs how data moves.

Niecko-Najjum joins as Chief Legal Officer, overseeing legal affairs, regulatory strategy, privacy, and corporate governance. She started her career as a registered nurse before moving into healthcare policy and healthcare law which makes her uniquely qualified. She brings 15+ years of focused experience on health data exchange, HIPAA/privacy, interoperability, TEFCA, information blocking, digital health, and AI regulation. Her background is especially well aligned with Health Gorilla's work in interoperability and the evolving federal regulatory landscape.

Smith joins as Chief Technology Officer with responsibility for platform architecture, engineering, and the technical roadmap supporting Health Gorilla's national network. He comes with 15+ years of experience in health tech, with a strong background in building and scaling technology platforms and leading technical teams. As Health Gorilla's CTO, he's responsible for shaping their technical vision and strengthening the infrastructure that powers secure health data exchange nationwide.

"Bringing Ryan and Lidia into these roles reflects our long-term view of what national interoperability requires, at scale," said Bob Watson, Health Gorilla's Chief Executive Officer. "Both have been part of our team since last fall, so they arrive with a clear picture of where the network is headed and what it will take to get there. Building the infrastructure the healthcare system depends on every day means investing years ahead of the need, in engineering and in the legal and regulatory discipline that has to sit alongside it. These appointments are a commitment to being here for the long run."

The additions follow a year of expansion for the company's interoperable network, which now reaches participants across all 50 states, and mark one year since Health Gorilla joined the CMS-Aligned Network as an early adopter. As a designated Qualified Health Information Network under TEFCA, the company continues to expand its participant base while investing in the platform, security, and compliance capabilities that large-scale exchange requires.

About Health Gorilla

Health Gorilla is an interoperability platform that gives healthcare organizations access to the clinical data they need to care for patients. Through its nationwide network, the company connects providers, payers, health systems, and digital health companies to patient records across care settings. Health Gorilla is a designated Qualified Health Information Network under TEFCA. Learn more at healthgorilla.com.

Media inquiries for Health Gorilla: [email protected] 

SOURCE Health Gorilla