Commonwealth Fund Executive Vice President for Programs Steve Schoenbaum, M.D., has decided to pursue other interests and will leave the foundation at the end of this year. Dr. Schoenbaum is not only an outstanding executive and a national expert on health system improvement, but also a dear friend to his colleagues.
The Commonwealth Fund has been extremely fortunate to have Dr. Schoenbaum lead our programs for the last 10-and-a-half years. Early in the last decade, his focus on health care quality improvement efforts helped make health care quality a national issue, and he has done some of the seminal thinking and writing on topics such as patient-centered primary care. He oversaw development of the Fund's programs on Health System Quality and Efficiency, Patient-Centered Coordinated Care, and Quality of Care of Frail Elders. As executive director since 2005 of the Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System, he has contributed significantly to the national debate over health reform. All of our programs have been enriched by his enormous experience in health care and his creative thinking on how to make things better.
Dr. Schoenbaum is still deciding on his next career move, and in the coming months will undoubtedly be helpful to us in determining how to fill the gap he will leave. But for now, The Commonwealth Fund wishes to express, to all of you who follow our work, our gratitude to him for his 10-and-a-half years of magnificent contributions, and to wish him all the best in his next venture.
