Cathy Bennett, President and CEO
Cathleen Bennett took the helm Nov. 9, 2017, as president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, a nonprofit trade association representing New Jersey’s hospitals, health systems and other healthcare providers that provides leadership on quality and patient safety, education and advocacy in both Washington, D.C., and in Trenton.
As CEO, Bennett oversees NJHA, the Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey, a not-for-profit affiliate that promotes continuing education, patient safety, quality improvement and research; and the for-profit Healthcare Business Solutions, which provides group purchasing and other business solutions for healthcare providers. Prior to being selected as CEO of NJHA, Bennett served as New Jersey’s 20th Health Commissioner, beginning Aug. 3, 2015.
Bennett began her career in the private sector, with 20 years of experience as an executive providing consulting, strategy and management services to federal and state health and human services agencies. She joined the New Jersey State Department of Health as Director of Policy and Strategic Planning and Chief Information Officer in August 2010, where she directed strategic public health and healthcare delivery initiatives including healthcare quality assessment, health statistics and informatics, population health and health equity, regional health planning and health information technology.
As Commissioner, she established her top priority by creating an Office of Population Health to promote stronger collaboration among hospitals, local health departments and healthcare providers. She convened an unprecedented Population Health Action Team, which brought eight state departments together to strategize on how to improve health in all policies. Bennett also transitioned the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services and four state psychiatric hospitals from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Health’s new Integrated Health Services branch, in recognition that good health encompasses the whole person.
Bennett holds a Master of Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, a Juris Doctorate from The Dickinson School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Villanova University.
She lives in Haddonfield with her husband and daughter.
