On Friday, April 29, the Shady Side Academy Senior School community had the privilege to hear from alumnus Dr. Marc Harrison '82, a national and international leader in the field of health care transformation, at an all-school assembly.
Dr. Harrison, who is president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare and a pediatric critical care physician, spoke about his lifetime pursuit of making health care more equitable and affordable for all, and the work he has done transforming Intermountain's strategy from a "sick model" to a "well model." His advice to students was to seek to make the world a better place by starting small, learning from failure, acting with integrity and courage, and being "absolutely intolerant of other people's intolerances."
Prior to assembly, Dr. Harrison held a question and answer session with members of the Senior School's Pre-Med Club. He answered wide-ranging questions about his career trajectory, his philosophies towards the health care systems, and more.
After graduating from Shady Side in 1982, Dr. Harrison earned a B.A. in psychology from Haverford College, an M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School and a Master of Medical Management (M.M.M.) from Carnegie Mellon University, and completed a pediatric residency and fellowship at Intermountain's Primary Children's Hospital. He served as chief of international business development and chief medical operations officer for Cleveland Clinic, and CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi before leading Intermountain. He has been named to Fortune's Top 50 World's Greatest Leaders list and Modern Healthcare's Most Influential People in Healthcare list. He is a two-time cancer survivor.
Thank you, Dr. Harrison!
Watch the video of Dr. Harrison's full speech: