Mr. Flaks has spent three decades transforming care delivery, leading an $8 billion integrated enterprise that cares for more than 28,000 people every day across a network of more than 500 locations and 48,000 colleagues, including a medical staff of 8,000. Under his leadership, Hartford HealthCare has significantly improved quality and safety, with every one of its seven hospitals earning Leapfrog “A” safety grades, the system ranking highest in the nation for mitral valve surgery, achieving the best one-year kidney graft survival rate in the country, and being named the sole recipient of the American Hospital Association’s “Quest for Quality Prize” for 2025. His development of Hartford HealthCare’s Institute Model, which offers integrated care across seven specialties, has streamlined statewide access and enabled landmark achievements. Chief among them was Hartford HealthCare’s Cancer Institute at St. Vincent’s Medical Center becoming the nation’s first care partner of the New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Mr. Flaks has championed an entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering innovation, earning Hartford HealthCare the 2025 “Press Ganey Innovator Award” and a place on Fortune‘s list of “Most Innovative Companies in the U.S.,” driven by partnerships with Google, Amazon and a unique collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has also led the system’s value-based care strategy, including the establishment of Advantage Plus Network-Connecticut in partnership with Optum Care. He’s also helping to grow a skilled statewide healthcare workforce through deepened academic partnerships with the University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. Mr. Flaks serves as vice chair of the Connecticut Hospital Association and board secretary of The George Washington University, and in 2025 received the Leapfrog Group and Costs of Care “Steven Schroeder Award” for courageous and ethical leadership in addressing healthcare quality and affordability.
