The MIT Medical Department has selected a new executive director after a national search that attracted almost 200 applicants.
Annette Jacobs, the chief administrative officer for Boston University's Evans Medical Foundation, will replace Linda Rounds beginning October 31. Mary Smith, senior manager of the MIT health plans, has been serving as acting executive director since last March. A search committee chaired by Dr. Peter Reich, chief of psychiatry, was convened in January and forwarded its recommendation after interviewing more than 20 candidates.
Ms. Jacobs has been with the Evans Medical Foundation (the BU Department of Medicine's private corporation) since 1986. Prior to that, she held administrative positions at Temple University. Earlier in her career, she was vice president of the John Snow Public Health Group, Inc. in Boston and director of fiscal affairs for the Cambridge Housing Authority.
"I have found Annette Jacobs to have a depth of knowledge and experience and human qualities that give me great confidence that we can work very well together," said Dr. Arnold Weinberg, medical director. He noted her experience in many areas, including managed primary care, financial operations, development of information systems for tracking physician activity, and development of contracts to cut costs for expensive testing and hospitalizations. "In a nutshell, she's had a career that includes working in many areas that are essential to our operational and strategic planning for the future. She's a person who can lead us in the areas that need to be developed and expanded to help keep us competitive and responsive to the needs of the MIT community," he said.
"The way the Medical Department provides services puts it right at the forefront of what's going on in health care," with finances and delivery under one managed-care organization, Ms. Jacobs said. Hew new position will also offer her the chance to deal with a wider array of medical services, she added. "The quality and breadth of services offered make (MIT Medical) special in addition to its structure," she said.
A version of this article appeared in the September 21, 1994 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 39, Number 5).
