Gregg Meyer, senior vice president of the Edward P. Lawrence Center for Quality and Safety at Massachusetts General Hospital, will fill the new position of chief clinical officer and executive vice president for population health for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system, which includes Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's various campuses, the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, according to a DHMC press release.
Meyer plans to work closely with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Chief Executive Officer and President James Weinstein and to represent the institution nationally in both quality and safety, he said.
"[DHMC] is really starting to embark on a powerful, interesting path that will serve the community of the Upper Valley well," Meyer said. "Much more important to that, it serves as a national model of how you can create an affordable, sustainable health care system."
The creation of Meyer's position marks the continued transition of Dartmouth-Hitchcock's leadership team, according to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Interim Director of Communications Rick Adams. In November, Weinstein was appointed to his current position as part of this leadership structure shift.
"Consistent with our mission to improve population health and our increasing focus on quality and value in health care, our belief is that one central position to oversee our clinical operations is critical to advancing our mission and vision," Adams said in an email to The Dartmouth.
Adams declined to comment on other candidates for the position due to the confidential nature of recruitment but said the position was not created specifically for Meyer.
Along with Weinstein, the clinical leadership team and the Geisel School of Medicine faculty who practice at the hospital, Meyer will work on formulating DHMC's strategy for creating a sustainable health care system, he said.
Chief Medical Officer Larry Dacey's position will be "folded into" Meyer's role, Adams said. Dacey indicated "some time ago" that he would like to return to practice as a cardiothoracic surgeon full time, Adams said.
Meyer who has worked on population health and safety as a health care policymaker in Washington, D.C., through his research and at Massachusetts General said he will continue his work on the national scene.
Meyer, who will continue to practice medicine, said he will first focus on learning DHMC's culture, noting the size difference between Massachusetts General and DHMC. Massachusetts General has 907 beds, while DHMC has just 369, according to U.S. News and World Report.
"I'm going to be listening and learning when I get there," he said. "The best plans can often fall prey to an inattention to culture."
While working at Dartmouth, Meyer aims to increase the institution's focus on shared decision making, he said.
Massachusetts General Hospital President Peter Slavin recruited Meyer to become the medical director of the Massachusetts General Physician's organization, and in 2005, Slavin was involved in appointing Meyer as the organization's leader of quality and the senior vice president for quality and safety, Slavin said.
"He really cares only about the mission at hand, not about him and his own career," Slavin said. "He's incredibly smart, hardworking, and he presents himself incredibly well. He was a remarkable physician leader at Mass General."
At Massachusetts General, Slavin's father was one of Meyer's patients, Slavin said.
"I'm going to miss him not only as a great leader at the hospital but as a great primary care physician for my father," Slavin said.
Leaving his patients and Massachusetts General, which ranks second on U.S. News and World Report's Best Hospitals Honor Roll, will be "very difficult" for Meyer, but he sees "unique opportunities" available at DHMC because of its history and geography, he said.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock attracted Meyer because of its longstanding focus on health care delivery science, he said. He added that DHMC's ability to use research and learning from The Dartmouth Institute to guide its choices is one example of this interest.
"[TDI] can be tapped not only to increase information on how we ought to do health care but can actually be applied directly to how to operate a health care system," Meyer said.
Because of its location, Dartmouth can "own" the Upper Valley population in a more tangible, durable way than is possible in Boston due to competing providers and health care systems, Meyer said.
"That opportunity to do something for a population is what is so exciting up there," he said.
Meyer also received the the Geisel School's Paul B. Batalden Chair in Health Care Leadership Improvement, which Meyer called a "special honor."
Meyer "absolutely" plans on working with the Geisel School and can also learn from colleagues at the Thayer School of Engineering and the Tuck School of Business, he said.
"I know there's a lot to learn form the College itself and the work they're beginning on health care delivery science," he said. "In many ways, Dartmouth is one of the few that can put these pieces together."
In at least one way, however, Meyer will try to give the College some space his daughter, Caitie Meyer '14, is a sophomore at Dartmouth, he said.
"I'm going to be careful not to encroach on her wonderful Dartmouth College experience," he said. "It's a fine, fine line."
