Anthony Shih, MD, MPH, has become the new president of United Hospital Fund, effective August 14.
“I've always been impressed by UHF's ability to bring diverse stakeholders together to find common ground, its truly independent, evidence-based analysis, and the respect that policymakers, CEOs, and other key decision-makers all have for its work,” Dr. Shih commented. “I look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Until July Dr. Shih was executive vice president of the New York Academy of Medicine, which uses a population health approach to improve health and well-being in cities worldwide. Before coming to NYAM in 2014, he was executive vice president for programs at The Commonwealth Fund, overseeing all program and research activities, including initiatives related to health care coverage and access, delivery system transformation and payment reform, health system performance “scorecards,” and improving quality and reducing inequities in care for vulnerable populations.
Earlier, Dr. Shih was chief quality officer and vice president for strategy at IPRO, where he developed and managed large-scale quality assessment and improvement projects related to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and led IPRO's Health Care Transparency Group.
A graduate of Amherst College, with a bachelor's in economics, Dr. Shih earned his medical degree at the NYU School of Medicine and his master's at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health; he is Board-certified in preventive medicine and public health.
Selected after a year-long search, Dr. Shih replaces James R. Tallon, Jr., who has retired after 24 years of leading the 138-year-old organization. “Tony is nationally recognized for his expertise in health policy, health system performance improvement, quality improvement, and population health, and is a seasoned executive in nonprofit management and health care philanthropy,” said J. Barclay Collins II, chairman of UHF. “He understands New York's extraordinary health care sector and the issues it faces. We are thrilled he will be leading UHF into the future.”
Dr. Shih already has firsthand knowledge of UHF's work through collaborative and grant-funded projects during his tenures at NYAM, The Commonwealth Fund, and IPRO, and as a member of UHF's Health Policy Forum and the advisory committee of its Quality Institute. But it's not only that experience that he shares with UHF; his path has demonstrated a common vision as well.
“Truly a product of the city,” is how he describes himself—born in Manhattan, moving to Brooklyn and then Queens, graduating from The Bronx High School of Science. “I was exposed to both the wonders of urban living and the stark inequities I saw on the subway each day. My parents emigrated from Taiwan and my father, a psychiatrist, spent his career in the State's public mental health system. His example instilled in me the obligation to serve society's most disadvantaged, so I've spent my own career in nonprofits, and am particularly drawn to those, like UHF, that focus attention on the needs of the most vulnerable.”