Beaumont Health announces appointment of John T. Fox as president and chief executive officer

The Beaumont Health Board of Directors has announced the appointment of John T. Fox as president and chief

John Fox

executive officer of Beaumont Health. Fox will join the organization in March.

“John Fox is one of the most recognized leaders in all of health care today,” says John D. Lewis, chairman of the board, Beaumont Health. “Over the past 15 years, he has led Emory Healthcare to become one of the top-rated health systems in the country for quality and patient safety. John and his team's recent work in successfully caring for Ebola patients and their families further established Emory’s reputation for outstanding care. We are fortunate to have such a well-respected and experienced CEO to lead Beaumont Health. Our board, leadership team, physicians, nurses and staff all look forward to partnering with him to lead us into the future during this dynamic, exciting time in health care."

Fox has more than 30 years of experience leading large, complex integrated health systems and academic medical centers. He joined Emory Healthcare in 1999 as chief operating officer and became CEO in 2002. Emory Healthcare is the largest and most comprehensive health system in Georgia with $2.7 billion in revenue. In 2013, Emory's two largest hospitals were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 nationally among all hospitals in the University HealthSystem Consortium Quality and Accountability Study. Prior to joining Emory, Fox was executive vice president of Clarian Health, now known as IU Health, in Indianapolis. Before that, he served as vice president and chief financial officer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. As an MBA and CPA, Fox began his career at Coopers and Lybrand, working in health care consulting. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to work with the outstanding team at Beaumont Health,” says Fox. “The accomplishments and reputation of all three founding organizations have been known to me for many years. The prospect of working together to build an integrated, high-performance system for the future is very exciting.”

In his new role, Fox will be responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for the new health system, which was officially formed in September 2014 through an affiliation involving Beaumont Health System, Oakwood Healthcare and Botsford Health Care. Initially, he will focus on developing strategies to sustain and grow Beaumont Health as a regionally and nationally renowned health system. The new organization’s focus is on improving the value of health care services by delivering high quality, well-coordinated patient care at the right time in the right setting at an affordable cost, to improve the health, well-being, and outcomes of all patients served.

“John Fox is a remarkable CEO who has experience in creating a well-balanced health system blending an academic medical center with a network of hospitals,” says David Wood, M.D., chief medical officer, Beaumont Health. “He understands how to work with insurers and physician organizations on achieving population health goals. He will bring a fresh perspective with new ideas to health care in Southeast Michigan that will enhance the continuum of care for our community."

Fox will succeed Gene Michalski, initial president and CEO of Beaumont Health since June 2014, and president and CEO of Beaumont Health System since 2010.  Michalski will retire in 2015.

“On behalf of the Beaumont Health Board and the boards of our three founding health systems, I want to thank Gene for his many years of dedicated service to the organization and to our communities,” says Lewis. “His commitment has been truly exemplary and we congratulate him on his upcoming retirement. The successful formation of Beaumont Health is a fitting capstone to his remarkable and successful career.”

After the formation of Beaumont Health, the system’s new 14-member board of directors began a comprehensive national search to identify a new CEO for the organization.  A search committee was formed with representation from the three founding health systems. The process was led by the executive search firm Korn Ferry.

“We interviewed several exceptional health care leaders and were impressed with the high quality of candidates,” explains Lewis. “In the end, we are very confident that John Fox is the right person to lead us.”

The retirement of Michalski, a resident of Oakland Township, caps off his 44-year health care career that began at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak in 1971 working in

Gene Michalski

the laboratory.

Michalski was appointed as Beaumont Health System’s fifth president and chief executive officer on June 1, 2010. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Beaumont Health System from 2006 to 2010, and as senior vice president and hospital director of Beaumont Hospital, Troy from 1997 to 2006. Prior to that, he served as a senior associate hospital director, associate hospital director, assistant hospital director and administrative assistant at Beaumont.

Michalski left Beaumont to serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Saint Francis Hospital, Evanston, Illinois, from 1992 to 1996.

During his Beaumont career, Michalski led major facility expansions at the Royal Oak and Troy hospitals; created a new ambulatory care division; oversaw the transition of Bon Secours Hospital into Beaumont, Grosse Pointe; and formed successful centers of excellence that enhanced quality and strategic growth. His leadership contributed to Beaumont, Royal Oak being named the No. 1 hospital in Michigan by U.S. News & World Report in 2014 and a long list of other regional and national quality accolades.

 About Beaumont Health

Beaumont Health, a not-for-profit organization, was formed by the affiliation of Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care, and Oakwood Healthcare Inc. with a goal of providing high quality, efficient, accessible services in a caring environment for Southeastern Michigan residents and beyond.  The organization has net revenues of nearly $4 billion and consists of eight hospitals with 3,337 beds, 153 outpatient sites, 5,000 physicians, more than 33,000 employees and 3,500 volunteers.  Beaumont, Royal Oak is the No. 1 hospital in Michigan with 10 national specialty rankings from U.S. News & World Report and is ranked No .4 nationally in the 2014 University HealthSystem Consortium Quality and Accountability Study. Beaumont, Royal Oak and Troy have earned Magnet designation for nursing excellence.