Ramanathan Raju, MD, MBA, FRCS, FACS, FACHE

Dr. Ram Raju has a distinguished career of over 40 years as a healthcare provider, teacher, researcher, and community organizer. In his role at Northwell Health – the largest provider in the state of New York serving 2 million people every year in the New York metro area and beyond – Dr. Raju set the strategic vision to improve population health by examining the existing programs aimed at improving the health system’s response to the needs of its most vulnerable communities and working with local organizations to address them.

Prior to joining Northwell, Dr. Raju was the President and CEO of NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest public health system in the country. Dr. Raju was appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in January 2014 to lead the 37,000 employees of this $7.3 billion corporation, which includes 11 acute care hospitals, five nursing homes, six large diagnostic and treatment centers, more than 70 community-based health centers, a large home care agency, and one of the New York area’s largest providers of government-sponsored health insurance, MetroPlus Health Plan. During his tenure, he rebranded HHC, implemented EPIC EMR, set a new vision for HHC, and successfully managed the Ebola crisis in NYC.

From 2011 to 2014, Dr. Raju served as the CEO for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) in Chicago, the third-largest public health system in the country. His proposed healthcare delivery model fetched the much-coveted 1115 Waiver to the Social Security Act, enabling the creation of CountyCare, an Illinois Medicaid program that provided health coverage for more than 182,000 low-income Cook County residents. Dr. Raju’s further recognition that patients are more likely to use care they can access near their home resulted in the development of a network of more than 130 primary care access points through partnerships with FQHCs, safety-net and community hospitals, academic medical centers, and private doctors.

Dr. Raju has served on many local, regional, and national organizations, including as past Vice-Chair of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) and as board of Trustees of America’s Essential Hospitals and Healthcare Association of NY State (HANYS). He is president-elect of Asian HealthCare Leaders Association (AHCLA), Board Trustee of the American Hospital Association (AHA), a trustee of the NY Academy of Medicine, a board member of NYS Office of Professional Conduct, and was appointed to the NYC Board of Health by the Mayor of NYC. His community activities include serving as a board member of Community Board 2 and Iron Hills Civic Association and a member of the NYS Board of Medicine and Director of NYS OPMC. He served on many FSMB committees and serves as an alternate delegate for the FSMB House of Delegates.

Dr. Raju earned his medical diploma and Master of Surgery degree from Madras Medical College. He underwent further training in England and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Dr. Raju is also a physician executive, having obtained an MBA from the University of Tennessee and CPE from the American College of Physician Executives.