Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health, was again named to Modern Healthcare’s annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. The prestigious recognition program acknowledges and honors those who are deemed by their peers and the senior editors of Modern Healthcare to be the most influential individuals in the industry in terms of leadership and impact.
This year, the list focuses especially on government officials and policymakers, given the election to come in 2020. Other notable figures on the list include Tim Cook of Apple, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
“This year’s selection process was contentious and difficult. Many healthcare organizations made bold strides in the continued transformation of the industry,” said Aurora Aguilar, editor of Modern Healthcare. “The honorees chosen this year by Modern Healthcare and our readers are those who were fearless in their risky strategies and unapologetic in their rationale.”
Dr. Klasko has been one of the nation’s foremost voices in applying creativity across healthcare disciplines and championing disruption of long-held beliefs in order to advance healthcare in a consumer-friendly way.
“It’s really credit to Jefferson and our vision of the future that we’re on Modern Healthcare’s Top 100 for the third year in a row,” Klasko said. “My thanks to everyone at Jefferson for their dedication to re-imagining health, education and discovery.”
This year brought forth particularly unique circumstances for health care in Philadelphia with the closing of Hahnemann University Hospital, an academic medical center located only a mile away from Jefferson’s Center City campus. Klasko has said the closure sounds an alarm about the wellness of the nation’s healthcare system.
Klasko leads the Jefferson Health enterprise, comprising 14 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient and urgent care locations and a multitude of physician practices in the Philadelphia region. Jefferson serves 127,000 inpatients, 517,000 emergency room visits and 3.8 million outpatients annually.
He is also president of Thomas Jefferson University, which meshes design and medicine, as well as a variety of other majors, to prepare students for the work force of the future. Klasko is author of 2016’s “We Can Fix Healthcare in America: The Future Is Now” and 2018’s “Bless This Mess.”
