J.P. Morgan increases security for 2025 conference

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is working to increase security at its healthcare conference next week in San Francisco, according to a source familiar with the planning.

The 43rd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off Monday at the Westin St. Francis. The conference attracts thousands of attendees each year from the provider, insurance, digital health and pharmaceutical sectors, including top executives from hundreds of companies and health systems such as Mayo Clinic, Walgreens, Centene and Pfizer.

Related: Brian Thompson shooting unlikely to change insurer practices

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month at the insurer's investor day in New York left the healthcare industry and company executives on edge. Since then, a suspected terror attack at a New Year's celebration in New Orleans and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion last week in Las Vegas have raised more concerns across the country about event security and crowd safety.

Event organizers have largely remained mum on security at the conference, but J.P. Morgan is partnering with the city of San Francisco and others to boost safety measures, the source said. A J.P. Morgan spokesperson declined to provide details on the additional measures or share any changes to meeting areas.

Marriott, which owns the Westin St. Francis, did not respond to requests for comment.

The San Francisco Police Department is encouraging attendees to be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activity, said Officer Robert Rueca, public information officer at the police department.

"We are precluded from providing information regarding security measures and specific staffing numbers for obvious reasons, but we will be staffed up to ensure that sufficient officers are on hand," Rueca said. "We are working with other city agencies throughout these conferences and we are prepared to respond to any emergency in and around the conferences as well as the other districts throughout the city."

Several security companies did not respond to requests for comment.

Some companies and organizations scheduled to present at the conference expressed support for event organizers.

“We are confident JPM has appropriate security safeguards in place and will attend the conference as planned," OhioHealth Chief Financial Officer Mike Browning said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Fresenius Medical Care said the company highly trusts the planned security measures and places great emphasis on the safety of its senior management.

Many other conference attendees are keeping quiet on the matter. Insurers scheduled to present at the conference — including Cigna, Centene, Oscar Health and Clover Health — did not respond to requests for comment. Presenters such as Kaiser Permanente, Advocate Health, Intermountain Healthcare and Walgreens declined to comment.

UnitedHealth Group is not presenting at this year's conference, and also did not present last year. CVS Health, which presented last year, made a decision before Thompson's murder not to present this year, a spokesperson said. The company is reportedly conducting a strategic review of operations.