Catherine Jacobson, FHFMA, CPA, serves as president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health, a regional health system comprised of an academic medical center, two community hospitals, a community-based medical group and several joint ventures.
Ms. Jacobson joined the 772-bed system in 2010 as executive vice president of finance and strategy, CFO and chief strategy officer. She became the system's president in 2011 and took on the CEO title in 2012. Prior to joining Froedtert, Ms. Jacobson spent 22 years in various leadership positions at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
While at Froedtert, Ms. Jacobson has helped form strategic relationships with other healthcare organizations in the region. For example, in 2013, the system announced a joint clinical practice group with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. "This structure aims at achieving a high performing off-campus patient care model to deliver value across the continuum of care, including enabling easy connections to the academic medical center as needed," Ms. Jacobson said in a news release. The partnership brings Froedtert's physicians into an integrated practice model and connects to MCW physicians through shared quality and service standards.
Outside of time spent leading Froedtert Health, Ms. Jacobson serves on the boards of several local organizations, including the Wisconsin Hospital Association, United Way of Greater Milwaukee, The Milwaukee Health Care Partnerships and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, to name a few.
Additionally, Ms. Jacobson served as the voluntary national chair of the Healthcare Financial Management Association for the 2009-2010 term and has been a HFMA member since 1989. She is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and three women's leadership organizations.
Ms. Jacobson has been nationally recognized for her healthcare leadership prowess. In 2012, Becker's Hospital Review named her on its list of 120 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know.
If you have additional information or updates for this profile, or would like to recommend a leader to be profiled in the future, please contact Lindsey Dunn, editor in chief, Becker's Hospital Review at ldunn@beckershealthcare.com.
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