David Torchiana

Torchiana Named President, CEO of Partners HealthCare

David Torchiana, MD, former Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), began as Partners HealthCare president and CEO on March 2.

As president, Torchiana will continue Partners’ efforts of making health care more affordable. He is the fifth CEO since the founding of Partners in 1994 and succeeds Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, who is joining Partners In Health as its CEO.

“We are delighted that Dr. Torchiana has accepted the board’s offer to serve and carry forward the mission of Partners,” said Edward Lawrence, chairman of the board. “Not only does he have strong roots in our community, but he has a deep understanding and appreciation of the value that our system brings to all of our patients.”   

As chairman and CEO of the MGPO, Torchiana oversaw the largest physician practice in New England, representing more than 2,000 physicians. Under his leadership, the MGPO launched the Medicare High Risk demonstration project—the cornerstone of Partners’ population health management initiative to improve care coordination for patients with a focus on high quality, affordability and accessibility. Torchiana is also an advocate for research, teaching and mentorship.

“Partners’ institutions are vital members of the community, and we want to be constructive participants in the ongoing public conversation about the future of health care, including quality, cost and access,” said Torchiana. “Patients will always be at the center of these discussions; improving patient care is the reason our institutions exist.”

Torchiana graduated from Yale College and Harvard Medical School (HMS). He completed residencies in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at MGH before joining its Department of Surgery. He became the chief of Cardiac Surgery at MGH in 1998 and CEO of the MGPO in 2003. Torchiana is also an associate professor of surgery at HMS and sits on a panel of Boston-area business executives called Jobs for Massachusetts, which meets monthly with the governor and top legislative leaders to discuss public issues.

Shulman to join Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania

Larry Shulman

Lawrence N. Shulman, MD will be leaving the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in early June to assume the position of Deputy Director for Clinical Service of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Shulman, who became chief of staff in 2012, has played multiple leadership roles at Dana-Farber as the institute’s director of regional strategy development and director of the Center for Global Cancer medicine.

Prior to these positions, Schulman served as chief medical officer and senior vice president for Medical Affairs at Dana-Farber. Prior to that, he served as Dana-Farber’s vice chair for Clinical Services for the Department of Adult Oncology.

Shulman is also involved in clinical research and care for patients with breast cancer and lymphoma. He is an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and received his bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.

“Larry has touched and made better nearly every part of our institution,” said Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dana-Farber. “He pioneered the introduction of modern information technology and electronic health records into the Institute. He was a major architect of the chemotherapy order entry system, which has become an international model for improving the safety and quality of cancer treatment. He founded, essentially from scratch, our global medicine efforts…In these and myriad other ways, Larry has advanced the excellence of our work.”

Shulman will maintain strong connections to Dana-Farber and has agreed to accept an appointment as a Presidential Scholar at Dana-Farber.