Penn State Health names new CEO

• Michael Kupferman named CEO of Penn State Health, starts June 23

• Will collaborate with College of Medicine on training, care, and research

• Selected through national search led by 12-member committee

Michael Kupferman has been named Penn State Health CEO.

A physician executive, clinician, and researcher, Kupferman has been appointed by Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi and the Penn State Health Board of Directors to lead the university’s $4.2 billion health system and collaborate with the College of Medicine to advance training, research, and care missions.

“I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the CEO of Penn State Health,” Kupferman said in a statement. “I look forward to working shoulder to shoulder with my talented and dedicated colleagues at Penn State Health and the College of Medicine to deliver on our promise to provide unparalleled and innovative care to the people of Central Pennsylvania and the commonwealth.

“Together we will foster an environment that enables us to train the best physicians and health care providers, advance research and expand our role as the region’s only locally based academic health system,” added Kupferman.

Kupferman will assume his duties as Penn State Health CEO effective June 23. Per a release, Kupferman is a healthcare leader and physician executive with over a decade of experience driving transformational change across integrated health systems, academic medical centers and community healthcare enterprises.

“I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Michael Kupferman to lead Penn State Health,” said Bendapudi. “Michael is an innovative and accomplished academic physician leader who is deeply aligned with our health system’s tripartite mission to train the next generation of health care providers, conduct life-changing health science research and provide patient care of the highest quality.

“Working together with Penn State College of Medicine, I have great confidence in his ability to elevate our integrated academic health system to benefit the people of our commonwealth and beyond,” added Bendapudi.

Kupferman has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, and his research interests include the mechanisms of metastasis in head and neck cancer, salivary gland tumor biology, affordability and access in patient care, and emerging robotic technologies for cancer treatment.

Kupferman will work with Penn State College of Medicine Dean Dr. Karen Kim and other leaders of the College of Medicine and University to increase academic and clinical collaborations.

“I look forward to partnering with Michael to advance our shared missions of patient care, research, education and service,” said Kim, who also serves as physician-in-chief for Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck professor and chair in rural health research. “His wealth of experience in integrated, university health systems will be a tremendous asset in helping our health system deliver on our shared vision to improve health, advance discovery and prepare the future health care workforce.”

Kupferman was selected following a national search led by a 12-member committee, chaired by Penn State Health Board member and Siemens healthcare market executive Steve Wagman, with assistance from the search firm Russell Reynolds. The committee included Kim, representatives of the Penn State Health Board of Directors, department chairs of Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the College of Medicine, as well as senior executives of Penn State Health.

“Dr. Kupferman is an experienced clinician, educator, researcher and administrator with a deep appreciation for the many complex forces shaping the future of health care,” said Keith Masser, chair of the Penn State Health Board of Directors. “He sees opportunity where others see challenges. Penn State Health will be well-positioned to meet the evolving health care needs of our community under his capable leadership.”

In addition to his CEO duties, Kupferman will hold a College of Medicine faculty appointment as a professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

Kupferman joins Penn State Health after serving as president of the Banner University Medicine Division and senior vice president of the physician enterprise for Phoenix-based Banner Health, one of the largest health systems in the U.S. He was senior vice president of clinical and academic network development at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he served from 2006-2022.