Adrienne Kirby, Ph.D., MSN, BSN
Health System Executive
Adrienne Kirby is the former Executive Chairman and CEO of Cooper University Health Care. She is a health care industry leader with diverse experience as a board member, CEO and COO who has forty years of strategic and operational experience in large health systems, physician organizations,
insurance plans and outpatient services. Adrienne has significant understanding of executive leadership development and succession planning, P&L management ($1.5B annual revenue), strategic growth, major facility development, consumer and provider facing digital platforms, and risk mitigation. She also has experience as a board member for corporations and healthcare delivery and service organizations. With her strong background and deep experience as a transformational executive, Adrienne has successfully achieved market leading revenue growth, and driven organizational scale to meet customer demand in a highly regulated industry. Adrienne is a skilled communicator who is keenly attuned to stakeholders at all levels.
Adrienne is now focused on a portfolio of corporate boards for healthcare product, technology and service companies. Previously, she served on the board of MedCPU (a healthcare decision support company), and Cooper University Health Care Board and member of the Finance and Audit Committees, among others. She recently served on the board of TrellisRX, until the company’s sale in May 2022. She is currently an Independent Board Director for MedVet, where she serves on the Compensation Committee, Greenway Health, where she serves as Chair of the Compliance Committee, and Sila REIT, where she serves as the chair of the Compensation Committee, and a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. She also serves on the advisory board for several other companies at various stages of development. Adrienne received her certification as a Master Professional Director from the American College of Corporate Directors and holds a certificate from Harvard University’s Women on Boards program. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and serves on the Philadelphia chapter board and is also a member of C200 and the C200 Corporate Board Forum.
While at Cooper University Health Care, from January 2012 to June 2019, Adrienne spearheaded a remarkable organizational transformation beginning with the development and subsequent implementation of a multi-year Strategic Plan. As the CEO, she also guided the company through two of the most high-profile events in its long history; the opening of the first medical school in the state in 35 years and the formation of the partnership with MD Anderson that resulted in an 83% growth in the oncology service line. Under her leadership, the large and complicated organization grew revenue by 80% to $1.5B, increased EBITDA 87%, and improved Total Cash and Investments by 80%. Volume growth was unprecedented and market share grew 25.8% while the competitive market declined (7.5)%.
From 2010 to 2012, Adrienne served as the President of MedStar Franklin Square Hospital Center, achieving noteworthy performance results. In 2011 and 2012, the organization received Healthgrades designation as one of the 50 best hospitals nationally for risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity. It also garnered Healthgrades awards for achieving clinical outcome rankings in the top 5th percentile nationally in six major categories. While at MedStar, Adrienne also led the enterprise wide digital transformation of access services for consumers and providers for the $4B company. From 1999 to 2010, Adrienne held a series of increasingly responsible roles with Virtua Health, the largest health system in Southern New Jersey. Beginning as Vice President Programs of Excellence and ultimately promoted to Chief Operating Officer for the organization’s flagship hospital and system wide outpatient services and programs of excellence, she led the successful development of over 800,000 sq. ft. of new outpatient facilities, completed planning for a $500M hospital and ambulatory campus, exceeded growth targets for seven consecutive years, and negotiated and delivered numerous joint ventures and partnerships. Earlier in her career, while she was at the University of Pennsylvania, Adrienne served as a leader for a multi-year, multi-organizational international project to improve the health of women and children in Ukraine. While there, she collaborated with the local Ministers of Health in Kiev to facilitate measurable improvements in outcomes for large segments of the population.
Adrienne holds a Ph.D. and an MSN from the University of Pennsylvania and as a BSN from Rutgers University. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and is the recipient of numerous professional and community service awards. She has been named by the Philadelphia Business Journal several times as a Most Admired CEO, Power 100 and a Woman of Distinction.