Alastair Bell, MD, MBA, has been appointed CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System (BMCHS) by the system’s Board of Trustees. Bell was named President of BMC Health System in November and has been serving as Interim CEO of the health system since March. In this new role, he will continue to lead the performance and strategic growth of BMCHS, an integrated health system that includes the largest essential hospital in New England and the largest Medicaid managed care provider in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“Dr. Bell will continue to lead our longstanding mission of exceptional care for all patients and members, as well as advance our system strategy of growth, innovation, health equity, and performance excellence,” said Mark Nunnelly, the BMCHS Board Chair. “He has a deep and unwavering commitment to our mission and is passionate about healthcare reform that eliminates systemic inequities. The board is confident that Dr. Bell is the right leader to ensure that BMCHS continues to be a thriving health care system that improves the health of our communities.”
Bell, who received his medical degree from Oxford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, was working in international healthcare strategy at McKinsey and Company when he was drawn to Boston Medical Center’s mission and began serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2012.
As COO, Dr. Bell was an integral strategic leader in a successful effort to address financial challenges and evolve hospital operations to put BMC on solid financial footing. In a more recent BMCHS leadership role, he helped lead the hospital’s strategy and operations through the most challenging days of COVID-19, as the hospital transformed its clinical footprint nearly overnight to meet successive surges from COVID variants. Dr. Bell has also been instrumental in the expansion of the WellSense Health Plan to provide greater access for most historically marginalized populations in Massachusetts through an accountable care organization model and for the successful creation of Clearway Health, a pharmacy solutions company that helps third-party health systems build and expand specialty pharmacies.
“I’m truly honored to serve as President & CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System and feel a great responsibility to the people who place their trust in us,” Bell said. “I am fortunate to work alongside such a talented and committed group of people at all levels of our BMC Heath System as we seek to reshape how we deliver care, from cutting-edge clinical treatments and research in our hospital to unique partnerships in the community. The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive.”
About Alastair Bell, MD, MBA, President & CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System
Prior to joining BMC in 2012, Dr. Bell was a leader in the North American Payor and Provider Practice at McKinsey and Company, advising a range of national and international healthcare organizations and leading large scale transformation programs. He received a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Oxford in England, a Master of Arts in physiology from the University of Cambridge in England, and a Master of Business Administration with distinction from Harvard Business School. He currently serves as the vice chair of the board for both Boston Medflight and Boston Children’s Chorus.
About Boston Medical Center Health System
Boston Medical Center Health System provides world-class care to all, with an emphasis on health equity, clinical and research excellence, and the treatment of complex conditions through a value based, coordinated continuum of care.
BMC Health System includes Boston Medical Center, with one million patient visits annually; WellSense Health Plan, a Medicaid managed care organization with 740,000 members in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; Boston University Medical Group, with 800 physicians, non-physician clinicians, educators and researchers across 18 clinical departments at BMC; Boston HealthNet, a network of 12 affiliated community health centers; Boston Accountable Care Organization, the largest Medicaid ACO in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; and Clearway Health, a pharmacy solutions company that helps third-party health systems build and expand specialty pharmacies.
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