Lou’s guest arrived at Fairview Health Services as President and CEO five years ago. The system was facing major challenges and had been through a string of CEOs with much of the time filled by Board Chairs while in search of a new President and CEO. James has led the team creating a stronger affiliation and partnership with the University of Minnesota, Rebranding as M Health Fairview, acquisition of Health East (another twin cities healthcare system), rebranding, and innovation. 

All despite the Pandemic, he shares what that’s like and the importance of focusing the institution and on its reason for being. Be certain to hear this inspiring story on leadership in tough times. It applies to everyone no matter where you sit in an organization. 

Prior to joining Fairview, James served as chief operations officer at Stanford Health Care. Previous roles include chief operations officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a series of leadership roles with the Group Health Care Delivery System. 

James holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Montana State University. He has taught courses with Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, University of Washington’s Master of Health Administration program and The Ohio State University’s Master of Business Operations Excellence program. He is a frequent writer and presenter on the topic of lean management systems and transformation.