Shortly after Dr. Atul Gawande was tapped as CEO for the yet-unnamed Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-J.P. Morgan healthcare venture, the groups have found a chief operating officer: Jack Stoddard, according to a CNBC report.
Sources told the publication his first day was September 4.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jack Stoddard to our team,” a spokesperson said, according to CNBC. “He will serve as the chief operating officer of the organization going forward.”
Per his LinkedIn, Stoddard comes to the Amazon-Berkshire-JPM project from Comcast, where he was general manager of digital health. He also previously served as COO and chief strategy officer of Accolade, a company tackling the employee healthcare benefits space through its personalized tech solution. Stoddard spent three years with UnitedHealth Group as well.
Additionally, he serves as an advisor to BehaveCare, a care coordination company geared toward Medicaid patients, and on the board of directors of Carrot, a digital health business with a smoking cessation platform.
The collaborative project between Amazon, Berkshire and JPM was first announced in late January.
Headquartered in Boston, the venture itself is still surrounded by a number of question marks. What we do know is that it will initially focus on tech solutions that will help the three companies’ U.S. employees and their families with healthcare. A press release also noted it will function as “an independent entity that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints.”
News of Gawande’s appointment to CEO surfaced in late June, and he started his role on July 9. As both a surgeon and author, he has been outspoken about topics such as wasteful healthcare spending, unnecessary care amping up costs and the slow pace of innovation in healthcare.
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