The president and CEO of one of the nation’s most prestigious health systems has been recruited to lead Beaumont Health, the mega health system created from the merger of Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care and Oakwood Healthcare.
Emory Healthcare President and CEO John T. Fox will join Beaumont Health in March as president and CEO. Emory is the largest and most comprehensive health system in Georgia and the treatment site for the United States’ first Ebola patients.
Fox will succeed Gene Michalski, initial president and CEO of Beaumont Health since June 2014, and president and CEO of Beaumont Health System since 2010. Michalski will retire later this year.
“John Fox is one of the most recognized leaders in all of health care today,” said John D. Lewis, chairman of the board of Beaumont Health, in a statement released Wednesday. “Over the past 15 years, he has led Emory Healthcare to become one of the top-rated health systems in the country for quality and patient safety.
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“John and his team’s recent work in successfully caring for Ebola patients and their families further established Emory’s reputation for outstanding care. We are fortunate to have such a well-respected and experienced CEO to lead Beaumont Health. Our board, leadership team, physicians, nurses and staff all look forward to partnering with him to lead us into the future during this dynamic, exciting time in health care.”
Hospital analyst Allen Baumgarten was not surprised with Fox’s selection, given the size and reach of the newly minted health care system.
“When you get up to a certain size of hospital system, you are recruiting from similar size,” Baumgarten said. “They would probably be looking at Emory as a system that has faced some of the same challenges over time in terms of market competition, working relationships between physicians and the hospitals, and then redesigning systems.
“These are major challenges, and I imagine they were looking for someone with a track record for meeting and overcoming these challenges.”
Fox will be responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for the new health system, which was officially formed in September.
“I am honored to have this opportunity to work with the outstanding team at Beaumont Health,” Fox said in a statement. “The accomplishments and reputation of all three founding organizations have been known to me for many years. The prospect of working together to build an integrated, high-performance system for the future is very exciting.”
Fox has more than 30 years of experience leading large health systems and academic medical centers. He joined Emory Healthcare in 1999 as chief operating officer and became chief executive in 2002.
In 2013, Emory’s two largest hospitals were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 nationally among all hospitals in the University Health System Consortium Quality and Accountability Study.
Prior to joining Emory, Fox was executive vice president of Clarian Health, now known as IU Health, in Indianapolis. Before then, he was vice president and chief financial officer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
“John Fox is a remarkable CEO who has experience in creating a well-balanced health system, blending an academic medical center with a network of hospitals,” says David Wood, M.D., chief medical officer for Beaumont Health. “He understands how to work with insurers and physician organizations on achieving population health goals. He will bring a fresh perspective with new ideas to health care in Southeast Michigan that will enhance the continuum of care for our community.”
Date: January 7, 2015