Former NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Ram Raju hired by Northwell Health

Ram Raju, MD

Ram Raju, MD, the former head of the nation's largest public health system, has been appointed to a key leadership position at New York-based Northwell Health.

Raju served as president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals from January 2014 until stepping down in November 2016. He will now serve as Northwell's senior vice president and community health investment officer, where he will evaluate the needs of the most vulnerable communities the system serves and gauge its ability to respond to those needs. He also will collaborate on solutions with various community-based organizations.

Prior to NYC Health + Hospitals, Raju served as CEO for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System in Chicago, the nation's third-largest public health system, where he improved cash flow by more than $100 million and changed the system's financial health during his tenure from 2011-14, Northwell said in a statement.

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Raju earned his medical diploma and Master of Surgery degree from Madras Medical College in India. He underwent further training in England, where he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and later received an MBA from the University of Tennessee and CPE from the American College of Physician Executives.

He served as vice-chair of the Greater New York Hospital Association and currently sits on the boards of numerous city, state and national health care organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Asian Health Care Leaders Association.

Twitter: @JELagasse