Mary Ann Christopher

Mary Ann Christopher is a strategic health care executive and board member with an exceptional record of innovation and market expansion at leading payor and provider companies. Experienced CEO of a health care system in the US with $2B in revenue and over 18,000 interprofessional team members. She has led mergers, integrations and turnarounds at multibillion-dollar organizations, launched far-reaching community health initiatives and guided successful exits for health care startups. She inspires teams to innovate, rely on data and pivot quickly, and she’s provided crucial leadership on dozens of boards and commissions, including the boards of health care companies.

Mary Ann is a Board Member of private equity backed RestorixHealth and Medbridge Education. She is a Senior Operating Adviser for the private equity company, LLR Partners. Mary Ann serves as a Strategic Adviser to Medalogix and Brave Health. She served as a board member of Orbis Education, facilitating its growth, profitability, and successful acquisition.

As a Vice President and Corporate Officer at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (2016-2019), Mary Ann led a broad expansion of services to fully leverage its role as the No. 1 private insurer in the state, including the development of a statewide payor/provider system. She advised private equity firms investing in health innovation,

Prior, Mary Ann was President and Chief Executive Officer of Visiting Nurse Service of New York (2012-2014) and Visiting Nurse Association Health Group of New Jersey (2001-2011), the largest community-based nonprofit home care and hospice organizations in the nation. Visiting Nurse Association Health Group grew statewide under her leadership, with a 500% increase in revenue.

Mary Ann has served as a director on the boards of companies, universities, health plans, trade associations, hospitals, community-based behavioral health systems, and senior living corporations. She has served on Audit, Finance and Compensation Committees. She was a founding member and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University and formerly served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, facilitating its merger with Rutgers University. She served as a congressional appointee to the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice for the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Across her career, Mary Ann has developed a reputation for strategic ingenuity and fast action in the face of industry disruption. She combines a comprehensive understanding of regulation, operations, data and finance with an enthusiastic embrace of innovation and transformation. She demonstrates effectiveness in translating strategy into operational execution and mobilizes diverse stakeholders toward common goals.

Mary Ann has written extensively and appeared at hundreds of national health care conferences, including the World Congress Summit in Washington, DC, and the national conference for the Center to Advance Palliative Care. She has presented to international audiences on the topics of health care equity, access and financing. Mary Ann has received numerous honors including the NJBIZ’s list of the Best 50 Women in Business (2017), the Top 50 Most Powerful Health Care Leaders in New Jersey and was awarded the prestigious American Nurses Association Honorary Human Rights Award.

Mary Ann has a Master of Science in Nursing from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (summa cum laude) from Fairfield University. She was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from Fairfield University and Monmouth University.