Dr. Rod Hochman. Photo credit: Once Films
Dr. Rod Hochman plans to retire as president and CEO of Providence St. Joseph Health, effective Jan. 1. He has worked in health care for 45 years, 17 of them at Providence.
Hochman had been president and CEO of Swedish Health Services when Swedish merged with Providence Health & Services in 2012. He then joined the Providence Health & Services as a group president that year, before becoming the system's president
and CEO in 2013. When Providence Health & Services merged with St. Joseph Health in 2016 to become Providence St. Joseph Health, Hochman assumed leadership of that system.
Under Hochman, Providence has invested heavily in advanced technology, including virtual care, data-driven systems and initial forays into artificial intelligence applications. Hochman helped to form Truveta, a consortium of health systems aggregating
medical data for use in research on disease prevention and treatment.
Under Hochman, Providence increased its investment in community benefit work. The system also established the Well Being Trust to address behavioral health and substance misuse and has made sizable investments in health equity work.
The system also has boosted its environmental stewardship work during Hochman's tenure, including by making a pledge to be carbon neutral and by signing on to the White House Health Care Sector Climate Pledge.
During his time as Providence president and CEO, Hochman has served as board chair of CHA and of the American Hospital Association. Under his chairmanship, AHA helped coordinate a unified response to the onset of the COVID pandemic.
In a Providence press release, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said Hochman's "leadership in the health care sector has been nothing short of visionary." CHA President and Chief Executive Officer Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, said in the release that Hochman
"has led the way in a changing world while always keeping the focus on the mission." Last year, Hochman received CHA's Sister Carol Keehan Award, which goes to individuals who excel in boldly championing society's most vulnerable.
Hochman began his career in medicine as an immunologist and rheumatologist, having earned his bachelor's and medical degrees from Boston College. Prior to heading the Swedish Health Services system, he held executive positions at Sentara Healthcare, the
Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and the Guthrie Health System.