Mr. Garrett serves as CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, a system of 18 hospitals that includes three academic medical centers, two children’s hospitals and more than 500 patient care locations. There, his leadership has driven Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center to be ranked among the top 20 hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, a state first, and the No. 1 hospital in the New York-New Jersey metro region. During his tenure, the system has committed $2.3 billion in investment across its three academic medical centers and $450 million to expand ambulatory care throughout the state, while innovative workforce strategies have produced a nurse vacancy rate that is half the national average. These endeavors have earned the system a place on Fortune‘s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2025. Mr. Garrett has led groundbreaking national firsts in quality and equity, with the health network becoming the first in the U.S. to achieve both the Joint Commission’s health equity certification in 2023 and its sustainable health certification in 2024. The Lown Institute also named HMH as the top nonprofit health system in the nation for community giving in 2025. Mr. Garrett served as chair of the World Economic Forum’s Health and Healthcare Governors Community for two years, has been a featured speaker at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos from 2017–2025, and is a member of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. He also chairs the American Hospital Association Academic Medical Center Group and serves on the boards of the New Jersey Hall of Fame Foundation and Ocean First Bank, among other leadership roles. He received the 2025 “Ellis Island Medal of Honor,” one of the nation’s most prestigious civic distinctions, recognized by both Houses of Congress.
