Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE
Jan Jennings served in the United States Air Force Medical Service Corps as a healthcare administrative officer and was twice decorated with the Air Force Commendation Medal. He was a captain upon honorable discharge.
From 1974 through 1980 he served what is now UPMC Shadyside Hospital and UPMC Mercy Hospital, the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania and the Allegheny Professional Standards Review Organization.
In 1980 at the age of 33 he accepted the position of President and CEO of St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital in Utica, New York. This is a 336-bed community hospital, it is here Jane received the prestigious Robert S. Hudgens’s Memorial Award, Young Healthcare Administrator of the Year administered by the American College of Healthcare Executives.
In 1983 Jan accepted the position of President and CEO of the Millard Fillmore Health System. Millard Fillmore was fully integrated with the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Bio-Medical Sciences. The position involved the management of seven hospitals, two nursing homes and building the largest Ambulatory Surgery Center in the United States. Prior to Jan arriving, the system lost money for 13 consecutive years. During his tenure, the system had positive financial results from operations in each operating year.
In 1993 Jan moved on to serve as President and CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a top five U.S. children’s hospital. With an assignment to raise $100,000,000 over five years, Jan was successful in raising $137,000,000 over 30 months. A $65,000,000 Research Center was built during this seven-year period and it was paid for in cash. Children’s was fully integrated with Northwestern University.
In 1999 Jan moved to his native Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and spent nearly two years as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Pitts Management Associates where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer and traveled around the country working on hospital financial turnarounds.
In January of 2001, Jan was tapped to serve as the President and CEO of Jefferson Regional Medical Center. In that capacity a new 22-bed ICU was built, three cardiac catheterization laboratories and two operating rooms dedicated exclusively to open heart surgery. Five open heart surgeons were successfully recruited.
For a ten-year period, 2004 through 2014, Jan owned and operated the national healthcare consulting firm, American Healthcare Solutions. In this capacity Jan served healthcare systems and hospitals in all 50 states and did 22 hospital turnarounds and served as interim CEO. The firm was sold in 2014.
Jan served on a team in 1992 to open diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China and lectured on healthcare operations and health policy throughout the country.
Jan has lectured through the United Kingdom on health systems and health policy issues.
For over ten years Jan was on the faculty of the American College of Healthcare Executives and lectured on Building Better Boards throughout the United States.
Jan has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health.
Currently Jan is a Senior Executive Consultant with SunStone Consulting providing a wide range of healthcare consulting engagements.
Jan holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an A.S. in Accounting from Robert Morris University, and a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh.