Sanford Wells is the current Chairman of the Board of the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He is the CEO of an unnamed Fortune 400 company. He is married to a woman who is much younger than he is. He is portrayed by actor Nigel Gibbs.
Unlike one of his predecessors, Edward Vogler, Wells has a primarily laissez-faire attitude towards the management of the hospital, preferring to leave the matter entirely to Lisa Cuddy, even with respect to major decisions. However, he also makes it clear that he holds Dr. Cuddy to a very high standard and although he trusts her, he makes it clear she will lose her job if she doesn't perform her duties satisfactorily.
Wells is also far more social than Vogler. He is very approachable, even with junior staff, and is often eager to lend a helping hand when he can. He invited most of the hospital's staff to his wedding.
Wells first appears in 5 to 9 when Cuddy wants to play hardball with Atlantic Net, the hospital's primary insurance provider. He makes it clear that she can proceed as she wishes, but will be let go if they lose the insurance contract.
His wedding is one of the focal points of the episode Small Sacrifices. He invites most of the doctors at the hospital to the wedding. The aftermath of Chase's womanizing at the event comes to a head in Carrot or Stick when Chase has to approach Wells to see if he knows the woman who were also at the party, one of whom is pranking him. Wells is happy to help when he finds out one of the women is his niece Wynn Phillips, until it turns out that Chase is looking for two other women too.
In Two Stories, House approaches Wells to see if he can get Rachel Cuddy special treatment for admission to a prestigious pre-school, knowing Cuddy would think it was an abuse of her relationship with Wells. Wells is happy to help again, but asks House to do him a favor by appearing at Career Day.
Appearances[]
Season 6 | |||||
#01 | "Broken" | #08 | "Ignorance is Bliss" | #15 | "Black Hole" |
#02 | "Epic Fail" | #09 | "Wilson" | #16 | "Lockdown" |
#03 | "The Tyrant" | #10 | "The Down Low" | #17 | "Knight Fall" |
#04 | "Instant Karma" | #11 | "Remorse" | #18 | "Open and Shut" |
#05 | "Brave Heart" | #12 | "Moving the Chains" | #19 | "The Choice" |
#06 | "Known Unknowns" | #13 | "5 to 9" | #20 | "Baggage" |
#07 | "Teamwork" | #14 | "Private Lives" | #21 | "Help Me" |
Season 7 | |||||
#01 | "Now What?" | #09 | "Larger than Life" | #17 | "Fall From Grace" |
#02 | "Selfish" | #10 | "Carrot or Stick" | #18 | "The Dig" |
#03 | "Unwritten" | #11 | "Family Practice" | #19 | "Last Temptation" |
#04 | "Massage Therapy" | #12 | "You Must Remember This" | #20 | "Changes" |
#05 | "Unplanned Parenthood" | #13 | "Two Stories" | #21 | "The Fix" |
#06 | "Office Politics" | #14 | "Recession Proof" | #22 | "After Hours" |
#07 | "A Pox on Our House" | #15 | "Bombshells" | #23 | "Moving On" |
#08 | "Small Sacrifices" | #16 | "Out of the Chute" |