Dr. Jason Fish named next CEO of Yale Health
Jason Fish (Photo by Amber Shumake)
Dr. Jason Fish, a transformative and experienced leader in health care delivery and operations, has been named the next CEO of Yale Health, President Peter Salovey announced today.
Fish, who is currently the chief medical officer of Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) — a collaboration between Texas Health Resources and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center formed to support their strategic and operational transition to population health management in North Texas — has exhibited a commitment to advancing patient-centered clinical care and building strong teams that deliver exceptional care and service, Salovey said.
As a patient-centered, clinically integrated network of 31 hospitals and more than 7,000 clinicians, SWHR cares for more than 800,000 patients across 16 counties in North Texas. Fish also serves as the chief medical officer for SWHR’s regional Medicare Advantage health plan.
Yale Health is the staff model health maintenance organization (HMO) that provides comprehensive care and coverage to Yale University students, faculty, staff, and their families.
Fish begins his new role on July 1.
“With an unwavering focus on the health care needs of patients and communities and extensive knowledge of strategic operations, Dr. Fish has introduced initiatives — spanning the continuum from wellness to advanced disease — that have improved patient outcomes, increased quality and efficiency of care delivery, and enhanced support systems for staff,” Salovey wrote in a message to the Yale community.
Notable among these initiatives have been efforts to partner with mental health providers to improve screening and treatment, Salovey added. A key aspect underlying Fish’s work has been the identification of behavioral and social determinants — such as food insecurity and unemployment — that lead to inequities in health and health care.
“The positive effects of this focus on health inequities were evident when, in 2021, through targeted interventions based on key patient and neighborhood identifiers of risk for moderate to severe COVID-19, Dr. Fish’s teams reduced acute hospitalizations for COVID by 50 percent from the January to August 2021 spikes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” Salovey wrote.
Fish succeeds Dr. Paul Genecin, who retired on Jan. 6 after 33 years of service to the Yale community, including as CEO of Yale Health since 1997. Nanci Fortgang, Yale Health’s chief clinical operations officer, is serving as interim CEO.
“Jason brings an outstanding passion for innovative care delivery and a strong commitment to clinical excellence,” Fortgang said. “He is excited to balance the responsibilities of leading Yale Health while advancing our mission of providing outstanding, compassionate, patient-centered care to our members and the entire Yale community.
“We are truly excited for Jason to join Yale Health, and I am confident he will become a valued partner with our clinical partners across the university.”
In his work, Fish has forged strong relationships aimed at meeting the needs of SWHR’s patients, including close ties to surrounding hospitals and associated facilities, and to community organizations. Noting the inefficiencies in transitioning patients out of hospital stays, he used a data-driven approach and leveraged his partnerships with hospitals and post-acute care facilities to improve these transitions in care. These efforts ensure patients needing additional care following hospitalization receive it from a high-quality network of post-acute facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and rehabilitation facilities.
With a background in health services and population health, Fish has exercised effective population health management through innovation and robust data analytics, Salovey wrote. Several of his care delivery improvements have been published in the medical literature, and he has spoken internationally on his deployed population health strategies. He currently uses artificial intelligence models to predict key health care events, such as acute, unplanned hospitalizations, recurrent emergency room utilization, and progression of diabetes or kidney disease. These models identify rising risks for patients early in the course of illnesses, enabling clinical teams to intervene before patients’ conditions worsen.
“As a practicing primary care physician in a team-based practice, Dr. Fish understands first-hand the importance of monitoring and improving, when indicated, workplace processes and culture,” Salovey wrote. “It is with this careful attention to the needs of clinicians and staff that he helped to build the flexible and effective systems that enabled SWHR to respond rapidly to changes throughout the pandemic and maintain continuity of high-quality care for patients.”
Fish earned his B.A. in English with a minor in mathematics at Whittier College and his M.D. at Weill-Cornell Medical College. He did a general internal medicine residency at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), where he also completed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and earned a Master of Science in health services research from UCLA’s School of Public Health. While at University of Texas Southwestern, Fish earned a Master of Science in healthcare management and administrative sciences and was appointed to the rank of professor of medicine, recognizing his publications and teaching activities.
“I am excited to join Yale and work with the talented staff at Yale Health,” Fish said. “I look forward to learning the needs of and collaborating with the university community to build upon Yale Health's accomplishments in delivering outstanding patient-centered care.”
Fish and his wife, Dr. Veronica Meneses, come to Yale as “first-year empty nesters,” Salovey wrote, with both of their children in college. “Drs. Fish and Meneses love to hike and are looking forward to exploring all the local trails with their two dogs,” Salovey wrote. “In his free time, Dr. Fish enjoys music, literature, and the cinema, with a particular love for science fiction, and is eager to experience the richness of all the opportunities offered at Yale and New Haven.”
In his message, Salovey expressed gratitude to colleagues at Yale Health “for their unflagging dedication to the health and well-being of the university community” and to Fortgang for her leadership during the transition. He also thanked members of the search advisory committee, chaired by Dr. Stephanie Spangler, Yale’s vice provost for health affairs, and John Whelan, vice president for human resources; the student consultative council; and members of the university community who shared their insights during the search process.
Said Spangler: “Participating in the search for the next chief executive officer of Yale Health was an extraordinarily rewarding experience. It was a great privilege to work with my co-chair, Vice President for Human Resources John Whelan, and our wise and dedicated partners on the search advisory committee, and so gratifying to see the strength of our community’s engagement in Yale Health’s future, as faculty, students, staff, and their families shared their health care experiences and aspirations with us. I am delighted that Dr. Fish will join our community — with his impressive record of accomplishment and his clear commitment to the health and well-being of individuals and populations, he is extremely well positioned to lead Yale Health into the future.”
Media Contact
Karen N. Peart: karen.peart@yale.edu, 203-980-2222
