Dr. Janice E. Nevin appointed president and CEO of Christiana Care Health System

Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH, has been appointed president and chief executive officer for Christiana Care Health System, the health system’s Board of Directors announced today. Dr. Nevin succeeds Robert J. Laskowski, M.D., MBA, who announced his retirement in March, 2014.

“These are exciting and historic times for health care in America. After an extensive national search, Dr. Nevin rose to the top of a lengthy list of nationally qualified candidates, as the ideal choice for Christiana Care and our community,” said Gary M. Pfeiffer, chair of the Christiana Care Board of Directors. “With Dr. Nevin’s leadership, Christiana Care will continue its mission of service, strengthen its community ties and broaden its national profile by creating greater value for the patients and families we are privileged to serve.”

“I am also very grateful for the intensive amount of time and steadfast leadership the search committee invested in this important next step for Christiana Care,” said Pfeiffer. The CEO succession strategy was guided by a search committee appointed by Christiana Care’s Board of Directors and chaired by former board member and a director at law firm Richards Layton & Finger, Doneene Keemer Damon. The committee worked with the internationally recognized executive search firm Spencer Stuart noted for executive health care recruitment. More than 200 candidates from across the country were reviewed and assessed with a select group of candidates going through an intensive interview process involving physicians, leadership, Christiana Care board and trustees.

A visionary and collaborative health care leader, Dr. Nevin is nationally recognized for her strong commitment to patient- and family-centered care. She serves on the American Association of Medical Colleges Health Advisory Panel and Leadership Forum and is Vice Chair, Fellowship Advisory Committee of the Health Management Academy. She is a former president of the Association of Family Practice Residency Directors and was a member of the Project Leadership Committee for the Future of Family Medicine Project. In addition, she served as chair of the Family Medicine Review Committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and was a member of the 2010 ACGME Duty Hours Task Force.

Dr. Nevin is best known for the transformative and strategic shift in care processes at Christiana Care’s Wilmington campus — improving quality, safety and patient experience by directly involving patients and families as partners in their care. Through her leadership, patient- and family-centered care became an integral part of The Christiana Care Way, firmly establishing it as a central tenet of Christiana Care’s culture.

“I am genuinely honored to partner with our physicians, nurses, management and our community to continue to advance The Christiana Care Way,” said Christiana Care’s incoming President and CEO, Dr. Nevin. “Working together we continue to build on a rich tradition of excellence — advancing the transformation of health care for our community and serving as a model for others throughout the country.”

Dr. Nevin has served as chief medical officer and chief patient safety officer since 2011. In that role, she advanced Christiana Care’s commitment to patient safety, clinical excellence and patient experience by working closely with system leadership, clinical chairs, physicians, nursing leaders and others to ensure a patient- and family-centered approach to care outcomes resulting in exceeding the health system goals. She also oversaw Christiana Care’s medical education programs including the Delaware Branch Campus of Jefferson Medical College and 280 residents and fellows.

From 2008 until her appointment as chief medical officer, Dr. Nevin served as the senior vice president and executive director of Christiana Care–Wilmington, as well as the associate chief medical officer. In this role she was responsible for all clinical activity and operations at the Christiana Care Wilmington campus. In addition, she provided leadership for the $210 million transformation project that began in 2009 at the Wilmington Hospital campus.

From 2002 to 2008, Dr. Nevin was chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Christiana Care. During this time, she was also the medical director of the Christiana Care Visiting Nurse Association and clinical chair of Women First, the Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

Before joining Christiana Care Health System, Dr. Nevin was a faculty member and the residency program director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Jefferson Medical College.

Dr. Nevin graduated from Harvard University in 1981 and earned her doctorate in medicine with honors from Jefferson Medical College in 1987. She completed her family-medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in 1990 and received her master’s degree in public health in community health services from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health in 1992. She also finished a two-year faculty-development fellowship in family medicine at St. Margaret Hospital in Pittsburgh, completed a program in executive education at Harvard Business School in 2010, and a fellowship in physician executive leadership at Health Management Academy in 2009.

Dr. Nevin has numerous publications and national presentations to her credit. She is an associate professor of Family and Community Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

She serves on the Delaware Health Care Commission, comprised of leaders throughout the state who look to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Delawareans, and she serves on the board of directors for both the United Way of Delaware and the Delaware Community Foundation.