Christopher Stanley, MD, MBA

President,
Healthy Populations

Dr. Stanley has over 30 years’ experience as a clinician and healthcare leader across physician group, health system and health plan organizations with a passion for improving cost of care, quality of care and experience of care equitably across our communities. He is a transformational and innovative thought leader who sees strategic opportunities and translates them into action.

He joined Henry Ford Health in April 2023 to create a wholly owned, independent Population Health Services Organization, where he serves as President. This organization, providing industry-leading Care Management, Utilization Management and Population Health Analytics and Insights services, will realign current teams and capabilities that exist within the care delivery and health plan divisions of Henry Ford Health, providing a coordinated and consistent experience for patients, members and physicians. This start-up organization, being built within a 100+ year old company, will serve both internal and external provider organizations to help them succeed and thrive in value-based payment models and Population Health programs.

Prior to joining Henry Ford Health, he was the first system Chief Population Health Officer at Sutter Health in Northern California. While there, he had responsibility for care management, utilization management, nurse line and claims payment functions through delegated arrangements with multiple health plans. Additionally, he was responsible for Sutter’s PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) program and joint-venture partnership for PACE programs across Northern California. During his tenure at Sutter, he was instrumental in establishing consistent care management and UM processes, developing an Internal Physician Advisor Service (IPAS) with reduction in operating costs of 50%, and was the key clinical sponsor for Sutter’s entry into CMS’ Direct Contracting program and transition to a downside risk Medicare Shared Savings Program. He was responsible for a budget of over $100M annually, while favorably exceeding targets each of his 4 years.

He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia with internship and residency in Pediatrics at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. He is a US Army veteran with terminal rank as Major, where he received multiple medals, awards and honors. Throughout his civilian career, he has been a community-based Pediatrician, a health plan Chief Medical Officer (UnitedHealth covering several states) and a health system clinical executive with Catholic Health Initiatives, Sutter Health and now Henry Ford Health.