Harold Paz

Harold Paz attended the University of Rochester from 1973 to 1977. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and psychology in 1977, and subsequently entered the Master of Science program at Tufts University. Upon graduating from Tufts University with a master of science degree in life science engineering in 1979, Paz went on to receive a medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1982.[2]

Paz was selected to serve as dean of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,[3] and chief executive officer of Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group,[2] seven years after completing his training at Johns Hopkins in 1995.

In 2006, Paz joined the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System,[4][5] where he held multiple leadership roles throughout his tenure, including chief executive officer, senior vice president for Health Affairs for Penn State University, dean of the College of Medicine and professor of medicine and public health sciences.[6][7][8] In addition to being one of the youngest and longest serving medical school deans in the nation, he was elected by his peers to serve as chair of the council of deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2012 to 2014 and chair of the board of directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers from 2013 to 2014.

Paz joined Aetna in 2014,[9] and was actively involved in Aetna's response to the national opioid crisis. Aetna is one of a small group of insurers that have stepped up efforts to fight the opioid epidemic.[10] Aetna created an enterprise-wide opioid task force in 2016, which was chaired by Paz. In June 2017, Paz authored an opioid strategy paper that discussed the complex issue of opioid addiction.[11] In October 2017, Paz participated in the fourth public meeting of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and Opioid Crisis.[12] In 2018, Paz participated in the PBS documentary “Understanding the Opioid Epidemic.”[13] Paz served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer and was a member of Aetna's executive committee where he led clinical strategy and policy for all of Aetna’s domestic and global business. At Aetna, he advanced an innovative personalized health strategy, bringing care into the home and local community by leveraging clinical analytics, member engagement, digital and telehealth solutions, along with value based arrangements with pharmaceutical companies and physicians to leverage the social and behavior determinants of health. Paz was medical lead for the integration planning process with CVSHealth through May 2019.

Since joining The Ohio State University, Paz leads clinical and academic health affairs at the seven hospital Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State’s seven health-sciences colleges with over 20 research institutes, an approximately $4B total budget and more than 30,000 employees.[14]

In addition to his current role at Ohio State, Paz is a professor adjunct of internal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine.[15] Paz was also a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Leadership Consortium,[16] the NAM Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Advanced Illness,[17] and the NAM Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.[18] Most recently, he has served on the boards of Research America, Select Medical Holdings Corporation, the National Health Council,[19] the Aetna Foundation and United Surgical Partners International.[20] Previously, he served on the board of directors of the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust, Vyteris, Inc., the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania, a number of hospital and health system boards, as well as the Johnson & Johnson Bio-Science Advisory Board.

Paz has received numerous awards[21] including a named professorship at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and holds an honorary degree from Elizabethtown College.[22] He has been listed among the 100 Physician Leaders of Hospital and Health Systems by Becker’s Hospital Review.[23] Paz speaks regularly about the transformation of the healthcare industry,[24] creating a patient-centered health ecosystem, personalized health,[25] value-based models, and the collaboration between health insurers and pharmaceutical companies.[26]

In June 2018, Paz was listed as one of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders in 2018 by Modern Healthcare.[27]

Paz was born in New York City. His parents immigrated to the United States after the Second World War. He later moved with his family to Duchess County, New York where he attended public school. Paz is married to Sharon H. Press, PhD, a child and adolescent clinical psychologist. They have two adult children. Paz has been involved in a number of philanthropic organizations including, most recently, serving on the board of directors of the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.