 | This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information.(October 2023) |
Harry R. Jacobson (born June 21, 1947) is an American physician executive and entrepreneur who served as the vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 1997 to 2009.
Jacobson was born on June 21, 1947 in Freising, Germany, a town in upper Bavaria north of Munich. [1] He immigrated to the United States in 1951, and his family settled in the South Side of Chicago. [2] He spent his childhood in Chicago and received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1969. [3] Jacobson then completed his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Illinois Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine in 1972. [4] Jacobson trained in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital then moved to Dallas, Texas to complete his fellowship in nephrology at the University of Texas Southwestern, where he specialized in kidney failure and diseases. [1]
Jacobson served in the US Army following the completion of his fellowship under the Berry Plan. From 1976 to 1978, Jacobson served as the chief of the renal section at the US Army Surgical Research Center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. [1]
After the completion of his military service under the Berry Plan, Jacobson returned to the University of Texas Southwestern as an assistant professor of internal medicine and was quickly promoted to an associate professor of internal medicine. Jacobson spent 7 years as a faculty member at UT Southwestern at Parkland Hospital in Dallas before moving his family to Nashville, Tennessee to join the medical faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in 1985. [1]
Jacobson served as a professor of medicine and the director of the division of nephrology at VUMC from 1985 to 1995. During the same time, Jacobson was also a staff physician and nephrologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Nashville. [1] He was promoted to vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of VUMC in 1997 and served in this role until 2009, when he retired from academia. [4]
During his tenure as CEO of the medical center, revenues grew from $750 million to more than $2.5 billion. [5] Annual research funding quadrupled to more than $400 million, and NIH-funded research rankings improved from 24th in the nation to top 10. [4] Jacobson oversaw more than $1 billion in the development of new clinical and research facilities. He was also in charge during the construction of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital and Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks. [4] By his retirement in 2009, Vanderbilt was named one of the top 100 best places to work by Fortune magazine, the first educational institution to be named to the list. [6]
Jacobson helped establish the $10 million Chancellor's Fund in 1999, which helped launch 18 companies in conjunction with the university's technology transfer office. [2] The Academic Venture Capital Fund was a later version of the Chancellor's Fund which nurtured cross-institutional projects, including imaging science and institutes of biology. [4] One of the more notable companies derived from venture capital through the Chancellors' Fund was Informatics Corporation of America (ICA), on which Jacobson served as the chairman. [7] While at Vanderbilt but before assuming his position as CEO, Jacobson co-founded Contact Software, which was acquired by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC). [8] It became one of the first movers in CRM software and one of the first business solutions for Windows operating system through its product, ACT!. Overall, in his role at VUMC, Jacobson oversaw technology transfer and made direct investments in 30 early-stage companies launched from Vanderbilt IP and ideas. [2]
In 1999, Jacobson helped VUMC establish a formal alliance with Meharry Medical College to enhance educational, clinical, and scientific programs between both institutions. [9] By 2002, Vanderbilt University Hospital earned an "honor roll" position of the nation's best hospitals in U.S. News & World Report for the first time. [9] Jacobson reinforced a strong commitment to biomedical informatics, and he viewed VUMC as a demonstration project for the power and potential of health IT to improve health outcomes. [2] President George W. Bush visited Vanderbilt in 2004 to inspect the computer system. [2] From 1997 to 2009, Jacobson oversaw the completion of the Page-Campbell Heart Institute, the Ingram Cancer Center, the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Diabetes Center, the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, the Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, the Orthopedic Institute, the Eskind Diabetes Center, the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, the Center for Stem Cell Biology, a 102-bed Critical Care Tower, and Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks. [9]
Under his leadership, the Medical Center's budget grew more than 300%, and Vanderbilt became a top 10 funded research university. [1] Jacobson retired from Vanderbilt and academia in 2009. [10]
Throughout his career, Jacobson has been a successful investor and entrepreneur. He has founded or co-founded several notable companies, including Contact Software, Renal Care Group, Cardiovascular Care Group, Informatics Corporation of America, CeloNova Biosciences, Ambulatory Services of America, and MindCare Solutions, Innovative Renal Care, and ForBetterHealth. [11]
While at Vanderbilt, Jacobson co-founded Renal Care Group (NYSE: RCG) and served as chairman. [12] RCG was a dialysis service provider that owned more than 425 dialysis clinics and served more than 30,000 patients. [13] In 2004, RCG's revenue was approximately $1.35 billion with an EBIT of $254 million and a net income of $122 million. [13] RCG was acquired by Fresenius Medical Care (NYSC: FMS) in 2005 for approximately $4.0 billion. [14]
Jacobson serves on the board of several health care-oriented companies, and he has served on the board of three New York Stock Exchange companies, including Merck (NYSE: MRK), [15] Renal Care Group (NYSE: RCG), and Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI). [16] He was also a member of the board of directors for BioNumerik Pharmaceutical from 2009 to 2016, [17] for Ingram Industries from 2003 to 2020, [18] and for CeloNova Biosciences, which was acquired by Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) in 2016. [19] Jacobson is currently a board member for Seno Medical Instruments, Gradalis, Inc., Refocus Group, Inc., MindCare Solutions, Salus, Inc., and is the executive chairman of ForBetterHealth.
Following his retirement from VUMC in 2009, Jacobson served as the chairman of MedCare Investment Funds until 2017. He remained at MedCare, investing more than $600 million into a portfolio of 14 companies. [20] While at MedCare, Jacobson launched an early-stage venture fund called TriStar Technology Ventures. The first TriStar fund was funded in 2010 through a State of Tennessee economic development initiative. [21]
Jacobson was named the 2002 Ernst and Young Southeast Entrepreneur of the Year, and he recently ranked number 35 on Modern Healthcare's "50 Most Powerful Physicians in Healthcare." [5] He served as the chair of the Nashville Health Care Council from 2006 to 2008, [22] and he was inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame in 2017. [1] He also received the McWhorter Society Distinguished Service Award from Belmont University in 2018, [23] and he was the inaugural recipient of the Crystal Leaf Award for fostering innovation in the health care industry in 2009. [24] Jacobson is both Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. In 2018, the Nashville Business Journal honored Jacobson with a lifetime achievement award. Most notably, Jacobson was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. [25]
Jacobson has been an active member of the Nashville community. He has been on the steering committee of Leadership Nashville since 1998, served on the board of directors of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee from 2007 to 2010, and has been on the advisory council of the Family Foundation Fund since 1999. He was the chairman of the Boy Scouts of America, Middle Tennessee Council, from 2005 to 2007, was on the board of the Nashville Symphony Association from 2007 to 2010, and was on the board of the Nashville Metro Hospital Authority from 2011 to 2017. In addition, Jacobson has remained active with the American Red Cross and championed its support in Middle Tennessee. [26]
Jacobson has authored and co-authored two full-length books, including The Principles and Practice of Nephrology and Begin Again Now: The Path to Fixing Health Care. In addition, Jacobson has published more than 100 academic research papers. [27]
William Harrison Frist is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. In 1994, he defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Jim Sasser.
Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first medical school for African Americans in the South. While the majority of African Americans lived in the South, they were excluded from many public and private racially segregated institutions of higher education, particularly after the end of Reconstruction.
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is a medical provider with multiple hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as clinics and facilities throughout Middle Tennessee. VUMC is an independent non-profit organization, but maintains academic affiliations with Vanderbilt University. As of 2023, the health system had more than 3 million patient visits a year, a workforce of 40,000, and 1,741 licensed hospital beds.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) is the graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. The School of Medicine is primarily housed within the Eskind Biomedical Library which sits at the intersection of the Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) campuses and claims several Nobel laureates in the field of medicine. Through the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, VUSM is affiliated with over 60 hospitals and 5,000 clinicians across Tennessee and five neighboring states which manage more than 2 million patient visits each year. As the home hospital of the medical school, VUMC is considered one of the largest academic medical centers in the United States and is the primary resource for specialty and primary care in hundreds of adult and pediatric specialties for patients throughout the Mid-South.
Thomas Fearn Frist was an American physician and businessman who co-founded the Hospital Corporation of America.
Jesse Menachem Ehrenfeld is an American physician. Ehrenfeld is President of the American Medical Association and Professor of Anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is also a former Speaker of the Massachusetts Medical Society, where he was the youngest officer in the 228-year history of the organization. He is also a former Vice-President of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists. The inaugural recipient on the NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Award from the NIH Director, Ehrenfeld has been recognized for his contributions to advancing health equity. A 2008 recipient of the AMA Foundation Leadership Award, Ehrenfeld is a researcher in the field of biomedical informatics. Ehrenfeld's research interests include bioinformatics and the application of information technology to increase quality, reliability and patient safety. Ehrenfeld's work has led to the presentation of over 200 abstracts at national/international meetings and the publication of over 175 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Systems, and is a fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association and the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
The Erlanger Health System, incorporated as the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, a non-profit, public benefit corporation registered in the State of Tennessee, is a system of hospitals, physicians, and medical services based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Erlanger's main location, Erlanger Baroness Hospital, is a tertiary referral hospital and Level I Trauma Center serving a 50,000 sq mi (130,000 km2) region of East Tennessee, North Georgia, North Alabama, and western North Carolina. The system provides critical care services to patients within a 150 mi (240 km) radius through six Life Force air ambulance helicopters, which are equipped to perform in-flight surgical procedures and transfusions.
Jeffrey R. Balser is the president and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM). Balser is a 1990 graduate of the Vanderbilt M.D./Ph.D. program in pharmacology and subsequently completed residency training in anesthesiology and fellowship training in critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins. He continued to work at Johns Hopkins as a cardiac anesthesiologist and ICU physician before returning to Vanderbilt University and joining VUMC in 1998. Balser was appointed dean of the VUSM in 2008 and, the following year, was appointed the vice chancellor for health affairs at Vanderbilt, in charge of the medical center. He became president and CEO of VUMC in 2016 when the medical center became a financially distinct non-profit organization.
Mildred T. Stahlman is an American neonatologist and academic. She worked as a professor of pediatrics and pathology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Informatics Corporation of America (ICA) is a privately held health information technology organization headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It serves integrated delivery systems (IDNs), health information exchanges (HIEs), individual hospitals, Independent Practice Associations (IPAs), and Regional Health Information Systems (RHIOs). In 2000, some of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's (VUMC) practicing physicians teamed up with informatics professionals to develop two complementary software applications—dubbed StarChart and StarPanel—to aggregate and organise medical data, and to improve communication and clinical decision-making within a single interface. This technology has allowed VUMC to improve efficiency and communication processes in order to deliver cohesive care across the medical center and its affiliated clinics and physicians' practices.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, also known as Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital and entity of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The hospital is affiliated with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics.
David Charles is an American neurologist, professor and vice-chair of neurology, and the medical director of Telehealth at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Thomas Fearn Frist Jr. is an American billionaire physician and businessman. He is a co-founder of HCA Healthcare, and the wealthiest person in Tennessee.
Consuelo H. Wilkins is an American physician, biomedical researcher, and health equity expert. She is Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is a professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and has a joint appointment at Meharry Medical College. She additionally serves as one of the principal investigators of the Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Award, Director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CTSA) and as vice president for Health Equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Manish Kumar Sethi is an American physician and former political candidate. He is the president and founder of the non-profit Healthy Tennessee and an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sethi serves as the Director of the Vanderbilt Orthopedic Institute Center for Health Policy and is the lead author of the books An Introduction to Health Policy and Orthopedic Traumatology: An Evidence Based Approach.
Bill Stone, was a nephrologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was head of the kidney department at the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, part of the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, for over 45 years. There, in the 1970s, he began the first dialysis treatments that could be performed both in a healthcare setting and at home. During this time he helped work out how to administer safe doses of penicillin to people with kidney failure, who otherwise might develop toxic levels of penicillin in their blood.
Barney S. Graham is an American immunologist, virologist, and clinical trials physician.
Marie R. Griffin is an American vaccine researcher. She is a Professor of Medicine and holds the Endowed Directorship in Public Health Research and Education at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Melinda Jean Beeuwkes Buntin is an American health economist and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Previously, she was the Mike Curb Chair for Health Policy at Vanderbilt University, having served as a deputy assistant director for Health at the Congressional Budget Office.
W. Kimryn Rathmell is an American physician-scientist whose work focuses on the research and treatment of patients with kidney cancers. She is the Director of the National Cancer Institute, and most recently served the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics in Nashville, Tennessee. On November 17, 2023, Rathmell was nominated by President Biden as the next Director of the National Cancer Institute.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
