Jennifer Schwartz appointed chief legal officer

Jennifer Schwartz, Esq., joined Christiana Care as chief legal officer in June, reporting directly to President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH.

Schwartz’s last post was as vice president of legal affairs and general counsel for Lourdes Health System and chief executive director of the LHS Health Network ACO.

As chief legal officer she is a core member of Christiana Care’s senior leadership team and contributes to strategic discussions and decision-making impacting the health system.

She is responsible for all legal affairs across the system and provides counsel to the senior leadership team and Board of Directors. She serves as health system corporate secretary and staff to the Board of Directors and committees of the Board. She manages and leads the Legal and Risk Management departments.

As general counsel at Lourdes, Schwartz was responsible for all legal matters at a three-hospital health system, participated in the oversight of health system operations and led strategic revenue-generating initiatives. As chief executive director of the LHS Health Network ACO she was responsible for leading the strategy, operations and performance of the network, eventually building the organization to be one of the largest primary care physician networks in New Jersey.

Prior to joining Lourdes, she was a partner in the law firms of Fox Rothschild, LLP, and Gluck Walrath, LLP, where she represented acute care hospitals and providers in a wide range of areas, such as new models of care under health care reform; physician-alignment strategies; third-party reimbursement, including Medicare and Medicaid; federal and state regulatory compliance; certificate of need; strategic hospital affiliations, including joint operating arrangements; and risk management.

Schwartz received her law degree from Widener University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Denison University in Ohio.