UHF also elects new vice chairman
and two new board members
NEW YORK, NY—June 19, 2019—United Hospital Fund announced today that John Simons, managing partner with the investment bank Corporate Fuel Advisors LLC, has been elected Chairman of the Board. Mr. Simons replaced J. Barclay Collins II, who is stepping aside after helming UHF’s board since 2006 and who was named chairman emeritus and will be honored with a special tribute at UHF’s gala in October.
UHF also elected a new vice chairman, Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, and two new board members--Meera Mani, MD, a partner with McKinsey & Company’s Healthcare Systems and Services practice in New York, and Seun Salami, senior vice-president, chief accounting officer, and corporate controller of TIAA.
“John Simons has an unwavering commitment to UHF’s mission to build a more effective health care system and decades of valuable experience,” said UHF President Anthony Shih, MD. “He is an excellent successor to Barclay Collins, who provided invaluable leadership, and I am delighted that John will be taking the reins. I look forward to working with him to enhance our impact in the years ahead.”
Mr. Simons, a member of United Hospital Fund’s board since 2001, has spent some 35 years as a banker and advisor to small and mid-size businesses and the families that own them. Before co-founding Corporate Fuel in 2005, he was an executive vice-president for Bank of America (formerly Fleet National Bank) in the Regional Commercial Services Group, responsible for small business, middle market, and corporate banking in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and the Hudson Valley area. He was also market executive for FleetBoston Financial’s activities in New York City. Prior to joining Fleet, Mr. Simons was a senior vice-president with Chase Manhattan Bank. He began his career with Chemical Bank in 1983.
In addition to serving on the board of United Hospital Fund, Mr. Simons is a former Trustee of The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and a former Trustee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He was Chairman of the Lincoln Center Business Council and a member of the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund. In 2003 Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Mr. Simons holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College.
“It is an honor to take over from the esteemed Barclay Collins as chairman of the board of United Hospital Fund,” said Mr. Simons. “For 140 years UHF has been bettering the lives of all New Yorkers by improving access to high-quality health care. I look forward to working with our excellent board and UHF’s staff to continue to fulfill this mission.”
Dr. Boufford is Clinical Professor of Global Public Health at the College of Global Public Health at New York University where she is also Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the NYU School of Medicine. She is immediate past president of The New York Academy of Medicine and president of the International Society for Urban Health. She has been a member of UHF’s board since 1999.
Dr. Mani is a partner with McKinsey & Company’s Healthcare Systems and Services practice in New York. She has extensive experience serving for-profit and non-profit health care entities on growth and innovation, operations, at-scale performance transformation, and asset acquisition and divestiture. Dr. Mani received her doctoral degrees from the Weill Cornell-Rockefeller-Memorial Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD program.
Prior to joining TIAA in 2018, Mr. Salami was executive vice-president and global controller-Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, and senior manager and Ellen P. Gabriel Fellow at Deloitte. Mr. Salami received a BS in Management and Accounting from Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from Ohio University, and participated in Columbia Business School’s Ellen Gabriel Fellowship Leadership Program. Mr. Salami is a board member of the Illinois CPA Society, a former chair of the Diversity Advisory Council, and a 2014 recipient of the Illinois CPA Society Emerging Leader Award. He was an advisory board member at Roosevelt University.
Photos of Vice Chairman and New Board Members
Jo Ivey Boufford, MD
UHF vice chairman
Meera Mani, MD
UHF board member
Seun Salami
UHF board member
About United Hospital Fund
United Hospital Fund works to build a more effective health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we analyze public policy to inform decision-makers, find common ground among diverse stakeholders, and develop and support innovative programs that improve the quality, accessibility, affordability, and experience of patient care. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow us on Twitter.