Hennepin Healthcare System on Tuesday named Dr. Jon Pryor as its new CEO, bringing in a leader for Hennepin County Medical Center who got his start at HCMC and who has deep ties to the state.
Pryor, 56, currently is CEO of Medical College Physicians, a practice that includes 1,250 physicians and other providers at Milwaukee's Medical College of Wisconsin. He takes over from David Jones, who stepped in as interim CEO in August when Arthur Gonzalez resigned to lead Denver Health.
"Hennepin is where I learned to be a doctor," Pryor said by phone from Milwaukee. "I learned the practice of medicine, the care of medicine and the compassion that comes with it at Hennepin. This is a coming home for me."
Pryor grew up in the Twin Cities area, attending high school in Roseville and earning an undergraduate degree in physics at Carleton College, where he met his wife.
He got his medical degree at the University of Minnesota in 1983 and spent the first two of his six-year medical residency in urology at HCMC.
He returned to the U from 2001 to 2006 as a professor and chairman of the Department of Urologic Surgery.
Pryor has spent the second chapter of his career honing his business skills, earning an MBA and working as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.
As health care reform moves forward, Pryor said HCMC will confine its core mission as a safety net and teaching hospital. But he sees a future with an expanded network of community clinics and perhaps a more broad-based outreach.
"Is there another segment of society that can use our help? A group that's in between people that have good insurance and Medicaid, that could use great care in a cost effective way where we deliver lots of value?" Pryor asked. "That's something strategically we need to think about."
His official start date is April 1. The annual salary for the top position at Hennepin Healthcare, which is a public subsidiary of Hennepin County, is $700,000.
Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335
