Dr. Ram Raju has joined Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in the state of New York. Raju, who in November stepped down from his position as president and CEO of NYC Health & Hospitals, will serve as senior vice president and community health investment officer at Northwell.
Raju will work on meeting the needs of Northwell's most vulnerable communities. Northwell, with 21 hospitals and 550 outpatient facilities, sees 2 million patients every year in the New York metro area.
Northwell CEO Michael Dowling told Modern Healthcare that Raju's background and perspective made him “singularly suited” to take a leading role in investing in the space. “We've done a lot of programs in the community health space, but like everything else, we need to go broader and deeper,” Dowling said. Raju started Jan. 17.
NYC Health & Hospitals, which Raju led from January 2014 until November 2016, is the largest municipally owned system in the U.S. and a major safety net provider, serving a large proportion of poor and uninsured patients. But it has struggled financially, facing a potential budget gap of $1.8 billion in 2020.
At Northwell, Raju will examine programs aimed at improving the health system's response to their needs and working with community-based organizations to address them.
