Courtesy of Amber Shumake

Jason Fish will serve as the next CEO of Yale Health, University President Peter Salovey announced on Monday.

Fish, who serves as the chief medical officer of Southwestern Health Resources, a network of 31 hospitals with over 7,000 clinicians through a partnership between Texas Health Resources and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, will replace Paul Genecin in the role. 

Genecin spearheaded the University’s health system for four decades, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, before retiring in January. Under Genecin’s leadership, Yale Health implemented electronic medical records, opened its facility at 55 Lock St. and launched Yale College Community Care, a mental health service for students. Fish will officially begin his term on July 1.

“I am excited and honored to have been chosen to be the next CEO of Yale Health, and I am eager to begin working with the talented staff meeting the needs of the dynamic community,” Fish told the News.

As the leader of Yale Health, Fish will have to address the most pressing issues affecting students today, from mental health to sick student policy. He will be expected to collaborate heavily with Philomena Asante, a pediatrician and public health leader who has worked at Boston University, Northeastern University and the Boston Public Health Commission. Asante was named the new chief of student health earlier this month.

Fish said that upon his arrival on campus, he intends to spend a significant portion of his time learning about the needs of the University community, which will guide the future direction for Yale Health. He added that he would incorporate input from faculty, staff, students and their families to ensure the success of the student health provider. However, he did not specify any priorities to the News that he would be reviewing as of yet.

In his email announcement, Salovey spoke about Fish’s medical and operational background in a variety of health related areas, including mental health services, healthcare inequality research and COVID-19 hospital response.

“Dr. Fish has introduced initiatives — spanning the continuum from wellness to advanced disease — that have improved patient outcomes, increased quality and efficiency of care delivery and enhanced support systems for staff,” Salovey wrote in his email. “These initiatives include efforts to partner with mental health providers to improve screening and treatment.”

Mental health care has become a particularly meaningful issue for many students at the University. Genecin himself wrote a column for the News defending Mental Health and Counseling services in 2015 and confirming that Yale Health would address concerns made by students at the time. Last fall, Yale was subject to a class action lawsuit by mental health advocacy group Elis for Rachael and two undergraduates claiming that Yale discriminates against students with mental health disabilities. 

Fish said that he planned to meet with members of the Yale community to review the “needs of the university community.”

“Incorporating input from the faculty, staff, students and their families about their needs and any ideas that arise out of those conversations will be paramount for our continued success,” Fish told the News.

Fish did not directly respond to an inquiry as to how he planned to delegate mental health support resources through Yale Health.

University COVID-19 coordinator Stephanie Spangler, who chaired the search committee for the CEO of Yale Health alongside vice president for human resources John Whelan, told the News that the decision to select Jason Fish was made in collaboration between the executive search firm Russell Reynolds and the committee.

“Dr. Jason Fish emerged as the clear choice — with a rich record of accomplishments and abundant skills — to partner with Yale community members to build upon Yale Health’s considerable strengths and lead it into the future,” Spangler wrote in an email to the News.

Fish completed his residency in general internal medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.