Just six months after Haven pilot-tested its initial health-benefits plans, Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, is relinquishing his role as the fledgling organization’s CEO.
The renowned surgeon and bestselling author will stay on as chairman, focusing on advocacy and policy tasks while tending to fewer day-to-day operational matters, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
Haven launched in early 2018 with a high-visibility PR campaign. Gawande was handpicked by tycoons Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet and Jamie Dimon to lead the endeavor.
Its stated aim was—and presumably still is—to “transform healthcare to create better outcomes and overall experience, as well as lower costs for you and your family.”
Despite the initial hype, “the venture’s efforts so far have been of limited scope,” WSJ notes, adding that Gawande’s hiring “was seen as a signal that the partners’ ambitions were set higher than conventional tweaks to health coverage.”
Sources close to the development tell the newspaper Haven has launched a search for a new CEO but has yet to settle on a candidate and hasn’t made a decision on its leadership structure going forward.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.