Chicago's public health commissioner will join Trinity Health to lead the Livonia, Mich.-based system's safety net and community benefit programs.
Dr. Bechara Choucair, 41, will leave the Windy City at the end of the month to become Trinity's senior VP for safety net transformation and community benefit, a new position for the health system. Dr. Julie Morita, currently chief medical officer at the Chicago Department of Public Health, will replace him as commissioner.
At Trinity, Choucair will be responsible for improving care for poor and vulnerable patients by developing new delivery models and improving relationships with payers, public health agencies and community organizations. He will also oversee Trinity's community benefit ministry, which provides charity care and other services.
Before serving as public commissioner—a position he was appointed to in 2009—Choucair was vice chair for community medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Before that, he was executive director of Heartland Health Centers in Chicago and medical director of Crusader Community Health in Rockford, Ill.
Follow Adam Rubenfire on Twitter: @arubenfire
