Egon Zehnder Recruits CEO for Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health

October 21, 2022 – Egon Zehnder has helped to place Joseph G. Cacchione as the new CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health. Emeritus board trustee H. Richard Haverstick, Jr. has served as interim CEO and president of Thomas Jefferson University and interim CEO of Jefferson Health since Jan.1, while Jefferson’s Board embarked on a national search for a permanent CEO. Mr. Haverstick will work with Dr. Cacchione to ensure a smooth transition as he assumes his new role.

Along with Egon Zehnder, the search was led by Leslie J. McNamara, vice chair of the Jefferson board of trustees, and was guided by the work the board already had begun years ago around its CEO of the future. “The search committee was immediately struck by Dr. Cacchione’s ability to transform and manage complex organizations with a clear vision, while building diverse and high-performing teams to execute against a well-defined strategy,” said Ms. McNamara. “That approach will serve Jefferson well as we map out what’s next.”

“Jefferson is a national leader in healthcare delivery and higher education,” said Patricia D. Wellenbach, Jefferson’s board of trustees’ chair. “The board was laser-focused on finding a leader who would be committed to our mission of ‘improving lives’ by prioritizing innovation, partnerships, and reducing racial, ethnic, health, and socioeconomic disparities. With Dr. Cacchione, we’ve found the visionary and operational leader we need to reach new heights in healthcare, research, and higher education. His experience successfully managing large, complex organizations while also demonstrating thoughtful, inclusive leadership, leaves no doubt in my mind that he is the best person to take Jefferson into the future.”

Most recently, Dr. Cacchione served as executive vice president, clinical and network services for Ascension, a $28 billion organization with 165,000 employees across 145 hospitals and over 2,600 care sites in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Previously, he served as CEO of Ascension Michigan with 15 hospitals and 22,000 employees. Before that, Dr. Cacchione spent eight years at the Cleveland Clinic, an academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education, where he played a major enterprise role in business development while also serving as chairman of operations and strategy for its Heart and Vascular Institute. Before that, he served as EVP and chief of quality and operations at Saint Vincent’s Health System in Erie, PA, where he oversaw the development of several service lines, including orthopedics, oncology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular. He spent the first 20 years of his professional career as a private practice cardiologist and large private physician practice executive.

National Model for Excellence

“Jefferson has long served as a national model for excellence in care delivery, higher education, discovery and innovation,” said Dr. Cacchione. “I look forward to working together with the dedicated Jefferson team to continue the remarkable work they have done around creating one of the nation’s most respected healthcare organizations and distinctive universities. I believe in organizations that make their communities better, and I can think of no better example than Jefferson.”

Related: Egon Zehnder Recruits CEO for Intelsat 

Jefferson, located in the greater Philadelphia region and Southern New Jersey, has more than 42,000 employees. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, dates back to 1824 and today comprises 10 colleges and four schools offering 160 undergraduate and graduate programs across a variety of academic programs to more than 8,200 students. Jefferson Health serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 18 hospitals and over 50 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region.

“Egon Zehnder is the world’s largest privately held leadership advisory firm,” Jefferson said in a statement. “The firm has a distinguished history of successful health system and higher education executive searches.”

Egon Zehnder’s public and social sector practice works in partnership with its clients to advise governmental, NGO, non-profit, civic, and academic institutions on finding top leadership. Each client and mandate is bespoke, with its engagements covering executive search, leadership assessment and development, team effectiveness, succession planning as well as organizational change management consulting. Egon Zehnder is the fourth largest search firm globally as ranked by Hunt Scanlon Media. The firm currently has 525 consultants across 63 offices and 37 countries.

Related: Societe Generale Turns to Egon Zehnder to Find Next CEO

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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