Brown University Health has outlined several priorities for 2026 — including improving the patient experience through what president and CEO John Fernandez calls “wow care,” reimagining primary care, leveraging digital tools and data, and implementing recent expansions and infrastructure upgrades.
“One of [the goals] is what we call ‘wow care’ — how do we make a wow experience for patients? How do we reimagine and expand our primary care? How do we use digital and data to help us be better? We have growth targets for our clinical services, both in our Massachusetts sites and in Rhode Island. And then, how do we diversify revenue?” Mr. Fernandez said of the system’s strategic priorities. “All of these goals point in the same direction — but if you boil it down to two words, it’s focus and access.”
Mr. Fernandez leads the Providence, R.I.-based system — formerly known as Lifespan — which operates three teaching hospitals, a community hospital, a behavioral health provider, and a network of outpatient and primary care facilities. He recently spoke with Becker’s about Brown University Health’s goals for 2026, lessons from earlier leadership roles, and the capabilities health system CEOs will need in the years ahead.
He noted that he is able to apply lessons from prior experience as he helps navigate Brown University Health toward its goals. His career spans specialty care, integrated delivery and academic medicine. Before becoming the fourth president and CEO of the organization in 2023, Mr. Fernandez served as president of Mass Eye and Ear and of Mass General Brigham Integrated Care — both part of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham.
The two lessons that have stayed with him throughout his career — whether at a large academic medical center, a specialty hospital, in business development or opening ambulatory sites — are to “get stuff done” and to lead with kindness.
With those lessons in mind, Mr. Fernandez identified several decisions he believes will most shape Brown University Health’s trajectory in the years ahead. Among them: how the system manages the ever-changing reimbursement environment, particularly at the federal level; how it approaches growth; how it improves access for patients — whether digital, in person, inpatient or outpatient; and how it makes research easier to conduct.
These decisions come as Brown University Health reported $4.4 billion in revenue and a 0.9% operating margin for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2025, and the system continues efforts to stabilize finances and grow through its academic health partnership with Brown University.
As part of those efforts, in 2025 the organization advanced its rebranding and academic integration work following Lifespan’s transition to Brown University Health.
Additionally, on Oct. 1, 2025, Brown Health Medical Group merged with Brown Physicians, a multispecialty practice group led by faculty affiliated with the university’s medical school.
The system also recently added Epic to its physician group and implemented Workday, an enterprise software platform used for finance, human resources and other administrative functions.
Meanwhile, the system’s Rhode Island Hospital — the state’s only level 1 trauma center — served as the primary treatment site following a Dec. 13 shooting on the university’s campus that resulted in the deaths of two students and injuries to nine others.
“In some ways, we’re used to dealing with gunshot wounds and tragedy, so we’re built to handle tough situations as a healthcare organization,” Mr. Fernandez said. “But still — it’s a large emotional set of moments because it was in our neighborhood, in our backyard.”
He said the situation emphasized both the importance of a trauma center and the empathy with which staff treated patients.
“Unfortunately, in my career, I’ve been in several situations — gunshot wounds, gangs, shootings in hospitals. I was in Boston during the Boston Marathon event. It’s always amazing to me how healthcare staff respond. There’s no better group when you have to respond to a disaster. People step up in ways you just cannot imagine.
“And it’s not just the doctors or the nurses in the ER. It’s our public relations group, our security team and our [cleaning staff].”
Looking ahead, he said health system leaders will need to navigate “being calm during chaos,” inspire enthusiasm for working in healthcare, and help “fix an absolutely broken reimbursement system.”
“We have to do better on the reimbursement side, but I would say using data and technology to make it easier for patients should be top of mind,” he added. “Not just using technology, but making it easier for the patient to get the services they need. Even with all this technology, it can be very hard.
“That may also mean making technology — like ambient technology that we are using in our clinics and the ER — make it easier for our doctors and nurses to do their jobs, so they have more time for patients. There is no magic bullet, but we have to stay really focused on that because it is a real problem.”
He also encouraged more collaboration among healthcare providers.
“As healthcare leaders, especially on the provider side, we have to figure out ways we can work together to make our health system better, as opposed to everybody working independently,” Mr. Fernandez said. “I think we can do a better job of that — have one big voice, or at least some small voices that make significant change. Hopefully we can lead the way here at Brown University Health.”
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