Newswise — Cambridge, Mass. – Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) today announced the appointment of Juan Fernando Lopera as its inaugural Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. In this newly created role and reporting to BILH President and CEO Kevin Tabb, MD, Lopera will lead and accelerate BILH’s efforts to transform care delivery for the underserved, while establishing diversity, equity and inclusion capabilities across the system.
“With 36,000 employees and more than a million people counting on us for their health care, Beth Israel Lahey Health has a profound responsibility to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive organizational culture – for our patients, employees and our communities," said Kevin Tabb, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beth Israel Lahey Health. “We proudly welcome Juan to our senior team as our first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. His lived experience, authentic leadership style and background in health care will be critical to our ability to embed our values and our vision for the future at every level of our organization.”
Most recently, Lopera has served as Vice President and Corporate Business Diversity Officer at the combined Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, where he led company-wide diversity, equity and inclusion programs, including health equity, multicultural customer offerings, supplier inclusion and workforce equity, and co-chaired the company’s Anti-Racism Leadership Taskforce. He was also part of the Tufts Health Plan Public Plans leadership team, overseeing the Rhode Island Medicaid business and leading marketing and community outreach efforts for all public plan products. Previously, he served as the company’s Director of Health Services leading medical cost management and provider contracting strategy and analytics.
Before joining Tufts Health Plan, Lopera served as Director of Affordability Strategies at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, where he oversaw idea generation and analysis of health care affordability strategies and supported efforts related to health care reform in Massachusetts. He also managed the design, implementation, and negotiation of the company’s Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), which was designed to advance safe, timely, effective, affordable, and patient-centered care. Lopera has also held management roles at Deloitte Consulting.
"As an organization, Beth Israel Lahey Health has made a long-term commitment to driving change and being an inclusive, welcoming organization for both patients and employees alike, and it’s an honor to lead this important work forward as the organization’s first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer " said Lopera. “At a moment in history when we are dealing with the dual pandemics of racial injustice and COVID-19, we have a significant responsibility to address workforce equality and health disparities.”
Lopera was born in Medellin, Colombia, and immigrated to the United States at age 12. A graduate of Boston College’s School of Management, Juan has demonstrated exceptional commitment to community organizations and initiatives, including as Vice-Chair of the Board of The Dimock Center; Co-Chair of The Boston Foundation’s Latino Equity Fund; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ COVID-19 advisory groups for health equity and vaccine communications; Massachusetts’ Latino Advisory Commission; and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Economic Opportunity Board.
The appointment of a Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer is foundational to BILH’s multi-year Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roadmap. The Roadmap is based on recommendations from a system-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, which was charged with recommending concrete actions the organization can take to address systemic racism, institutional bias and inequity. The Roadmap includes actions with real opportunity for impact across six priority areas: infrastructure; culture and leadership; talent; patient care; academics; and community investment.
For more information about BILH’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roadmap, please visit: www.bilh.org/dei.
About Beth Israel Lahey Health Beth Israel Lahey Health is a new health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,800 physicians and 36,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education. For more information, visit www.bilh.org.
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