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76 HEALTHCARE NEWS Dr. Atul Gawande tapped to lead Amazon, Berkshire, JPMorgan venture By Alyssa Rege A mazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway selected Atul Gawande, MD, a surgeon at Boston- based Brigham and Women's Hospital and contributor to e New Yorker, to lead their healthcare company, the organizations an- nounced June 20. Dr. Gawande assumed the CEO role at the venture, headquartered in Boston, July 9. "I'm thrilled to be named CEO of this healthcare initiative. I have devoted my public health career to building scalable solutions for better healthcare delivery that are saving lives, reducing suffering, and eliminating wasteful spending both in the U.S. and across the world. Now I have the backing of these remarkable organizations to pursue this mission with even greater impact for more than a million people, and in doing so incubate better models of care for all. is work will take time but must be done. e system is broken, and better is possible," Dr. Gawande said. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMor- gan announced their intent to form a joint healthcare company in January with the goal of cutting healthcare costs for their U.S. employees. Other contenders for the CEO role included former CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt, former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and Gary Loveman, former senior vice president of Aetna. Geisinger Health System President and CEO David T. Feinberg, MD, was also consid- ered for the role, but reportedly turned it down to remain at the Danville, Pa.-based health system. "We said at the outset that the degree of difficulty is high and success is going to require an expert's knowledge, a beginner's mind, and a long-term orientation," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. "Atul embodies all three, and we're starting strong as we move forward in this challenging and worthwhile endeavor." In a note to friends and colleagues cited by STAT News, Dr. Gawande said he does not plan on giving up his position at Brigham and Women's or his teaching positions at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, both in Bos- ton, and will continue to write for e New Yorker. However, he said he would transition from executive director to chairman of Adri- adne Labs, which aims to improve healthcare delivery across the world. n GE to spin off healthcare business: 5 things to know By Alyssa Rege G E revealed plans to spin off its healthcare business into a standalone enterprise June 26, concluding a yearlong strategic review of the company›s operations and financial strength. Here are five things to know: 1. Kieran Murphy, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, will remain as head of business. He said in the company's June 25 announcement that by operating "as an indepen- dent global healthcare business, we will have greater flex- ibility to pursue future growth opportunities, react quickly to changes in the industry and invest in innovation," and that the company "will build on strong customer demand for integrated precision health solutions and great tech- nology with digital and analytics capabilities as we enter our next chapter." 2. With the move, GE aims to reward shareholders and strengthen the company's balance sheet by reducing debt, building up cash and further shrinking GE Capital. Shareholders will receive 80 percent of the value of the company's healthcare business as a tax-free distribution. 3. A GE spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Re- view June 26 the company will "continue to focus on delivering precision health and improving clinical, operational and patient outcomes for our customers, offering great technology, underpinned by leading digital and analytics capabilities." 4. Officials expect the transition to take between 12 and 18 months to complete. Rumors of the potential split began surfacing in October 2017. Fitch Ratings does not anticipate the move to affect the company's rating. The decision to spin off its healthcare business affects the company's diversification, earnings and cash flow, but these negative effects on GE's credit profile are mitigated by an expected reduction in debt and pension liabilities. 5. With the spinoff, GE's business will focus on aviation, power and renewable energy. Veritas Capital, a pri- vate equity firm, announced its intent to purchase GE's healthcare business in April for $1.05 billion. n GE's business will focus on aviation, power and renewable energy.