WCM and WCPO Award Healthcare Leadership Fellowships to 7 Faculty Members

Weill Cornell Medicine and the Weill Cornell Physician Organization have awarded Healthcare Leadership Fellowships to seven physicians to foster their development as physician leaders. 

The fellowship was established in 2012 in recognition of the pressing need for physician leaders in the face of rapid transformations in the healthcare industry. Healthcare reform, value-based purchasing and the imperative to improve population management have been driving major changes in the way healthcare is paid for, organized and delivered. The fellowship seeks to prepare the “leaders of tomorrow” to develop innovative solutions for efficient, patient-centered and cost-effective health care delivery.

During the program year, fellows are supported with leadership training opportunities, mentoring, and engagement with nationally known leaders. They spend two weeks offsite attending healthcare policy and leadership courses organized by institutions such as the Harvard School of Public Health, Intermountain Health Care and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Fellows also prepare a Fellowship project on a healthcare policy, management or leadership topic. 

The fellowship was initiated by Dr. Michael J. Wolk, the chief contracting officer of the Weill Cornell Physician Organization, professor of clinical medicine and president of the Michael J. Wolk Heart Foundation. Dr. Wolk co-chairs the fellowship’s leadership committee along with Lawrence Casalino, chief of the Division of Health Policy and Economics in the Department of Population Health Sciences. The Michael J. Wolk Heart Foundation has sponsored the fellowship since its inception.

Now in its sixth year, the success of the fellowship program is evident, with many past fellows obtaining leadership positions at the medical center and at other institutions. For example, Dr. Peter Fleischut, a fellow in the first year of the program, is now an associate professor of anesthesiology at WCM and chief innovation officer at NewYork-Presbyterian, where he has spearheaded efforts to implement technological innovations. Dr. Matthew Press, a fellow from the second year of the program, is now Senior Advisor and Medical Officer in the Office of the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“It’s a wonderful program that has been very successful in supplying future leadership for the organization,” said Dr. Wolk.

Congratulations to the 2017-2018 Awardees: