Mr. Hereford leads Fairview Health Services, a system of more than 30,000 employees, where he has overseen one of the most significant financial turnarounds in recent healthcare history. With his guidance, operating performance improved by more than $600 million while preserving access to care, protecting essential programs and sustaining investment in community health. Rather than relying on short-term fixes, he has focused on long-term resilience by strengthening operational accountability, redesigning care models, and reinvesting in the people and systems that improve patient experience and outcomes. Mr. Hereford’s leadership is defined by his insistence that healthcare transformation must remain human-centered. He has elevated Fairview’s role as a community anchor, with the system’s work in food access, mental health innovation, and care for underserved populations earning Fairview the American Hospital Association’s “Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service” in 2025. He is nationally recognized as an architect of lean management in healthcare, has been featured in national case studies including by the Harvard Business Review, and is a frequent keynote speaker at global and national healthcare forums. Mr. Hereford serves on the boards of the Minnesota Hospital Association, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Medical Alley Association, the University of Minnesota Physicians and the YMCA of the North. In honor of his outstanding dedication to ethical business practices and community involvement, he has received the “Jim Wolford Business Award” from The Sanneh Foundation.
