Following the launch of the combined health system, Froedtert Health President and CEO Cathy Jacobson will initially assume the role of CEO, and ThedaCare President and CEO Imran A. Andrabi, MD, FAAFM will serve as president. After a six-month transition period following the launch of the combined health system, Cathy will retire from the organization with a legacy of steadfast and thoughtful leadership. Upon Cathy’s retirement, Dr. Andrabi will assume the role of president and CEO of the combined organization, leveraging more than 30 years of medical, operational and strategic expertise and innovative leadership.
What's Next?
A Thoughtful Leadership Transition
Catherine Jacobson serves as president and CEO of Froedtert Health, a regional health care system based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jacobson joined Froedtert Health in 2010 as executive vice president of finance and strategy, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer. She was promoted in 2011, becoming President and in 2012, she assumed the CEO role. Prior to joining Froedtert Health, Jacobson spent 22 years at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago in various leadership roles.
Current board appointments include Teladoc Health, Vizient, Greater Milwaukee Committee, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), Siebert Lutheran Foundation and Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) as well as other boards representing partnerships of Froedtert Health. Jacobson is currently serving as the chair of the board of MMAC and of Vizient and is a past chair of the WHA.
Jacobson’s recognitions include being named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 most influential people in healthcare in 2019 and one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in healthcare in 2021 and 2022. She received the Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame as Distinguished Executive of the Year recognition in 2018. She was recognized as a Women of Influence by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2013 and received an honorable mention as Executive of the Year in 2014 and 2019. Jacobson received an honorary degree of Doctor of Healthcare Leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2015.
Jacobson is a member of Healthcare Financial Management Association serving as national chair of the board in 2009-2010. She is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Institute. She is a member of the Chicago Network, an organization for women executives and Professional Dimensions in Milwaukee.
Jacobson is a Certified Public Accountant. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.
Dr. Imran Andrabi is president and chief executive officer of ThedaCare, a community, not-for-profit health system consisting of eight hospitals, 7,000 team members and more than 180 points of care in Northeast and Central Wisconsin.
Dr. Andrabi joined ThedaCare in 2017 with extensive experience leading safe, quality health care in the Midwest. He is passionate about population health, process improvement, and providing world-class experiences and care for patients and the caregivers who serve them. He believes in team-based care and innovative design and delivery of this care.
“ThedaCare is leading a movement – as a system and within our communities – reinventing health care and empowering all to live their unique, best lives,” said Dr. Andrabi. “ThedaCare is committed to changing what it means to be a health care system in America. Our teams are dedicated to understanding the people in our communities – as individuals and as part of populations they belong to, getting ahead of health events before they occur, and providing care immediately when health issues begin. ThedaCare will be a proactive partner in health – enriching the lives of all and creating value in everything we do. Our focus is to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve through our leadership in wellness, prediction, prevention and healing.”
Dr. Andrabi is a family medicine physician who graduated from King Edward Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan. He completed his transitional year residency and then his family medicine training at Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, where he served as chief resident. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and American College of Managed Care Medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Andrabi currently sits on various boards and supports numerous community organizations, including:
- Be Well Fox Valley Anchor Leader
- ThedaCare Board of Trustees Member
- United Way Fox Cities Board Member and Campaign Co- Chair (2022)
- United Way Fox Cities Finance Committee Member
- Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) Board Member
- Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) Board, Chair (2023)
- WCHQ Value Acceleration Advisory Group, Chair
- AboutHealth Board – Vice Chair
- b.well Board Member
- Key Executive Council (KEC) Member
- Panda Board Member
- Senior Fellowship Member with Health Evolutions
- Vizient Upper Midwest Board, Chair (2023)
- Vizient Chair Council
- Vizient Value Analytics Committee Member
Dr. Andrabi has been featured in many health care publications and national news outlets, including Becker’s Hospital Review, Modern Healthcare, Healthcare IT News, CBS News, Wisconsin Public Radio, as well as numerous state-wide and local media outlets.
Before joining ThedaCare, Dr. Andrabi was chief operating officer and president and CEO of Mercy Health in Toledo, Ohio.
Next Steps
While there is much work continuing to plan for and activate how we work together as one organization, to truly operate as one organization will take time.
With our new combined organization, patients can continue seeing their doctor and accessing the services they always have at Froedtert Health and ThedaCare facilities.
We know that employees, physicians, clinicians, patients and members of our communities will have questions about what this means for them. We are committed to answering questions as best we can and to keeping you informed as we move forward.
About Froedtert Health
Froedtert Health is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based, integrated health care system providing a variety of health-related services, including hospitals and health centers, home care, laboratory, health insurance, employer health services and workplace clinics, and digital health solutions.
Froedtert Health partners with the Medical College of Wisconsin to form the Froedtert & MCW health network supporting a shared mission of patient care, innovation, medical research and education. Our health network operates eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center and adult Level I Trauma Center at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, an internationally recognized training and research center engaged in thousands of clinical trials and studies. The Froedtert & MCW health network, which includes 10 hospital locations, more than 2,100 physicians and more than 45 health centers and clinics, draws patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. In our most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits were more than 1.7 million, inpatient admissions to our hospitals exceeded 58,000 and visits to our network physicians totaled more than 1.17 million.
About ThedaCare
For nearly 114 years, ThedaCare® has been committed to improving the health and well-being of the communities it serves in Northeast and Central Wisconsin. The organization delivers care to more than 650,000 residents in 17 counties and employs approximately 7,000 providers and team members. ThedaCare has 180 points of care, including eight hospitals. As an organization committed to being a leader in Population Health, team members are dedicated to empowering people to live their unique, best lives. ThedaCare also partners with communities to understand needs, finding solutions together, and encouraging health awareness and action.