Joanne Pollak to Retire as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief of Staff for Johns Hopkins Medicine

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues,

We write to inform you that after more than 22 years of service at Johns Hopkins, Joanne Pollak is retiring from her positions as senior vice president, general counsel and chief of staff for Johns Hopkins Medicine, effective June 30, 2017.

Joanne has been a gifted leader and problem solver for this organization since her arrival in 1994. She leaves a legacy as one of the chief architects of Johns Hopkins Medicine, the governance structure that brought together the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation and its affiliates.

When Joanne became general counsel of the health system in 1994, relations were strained between leaders of the health system and the medical school. In response, the boards of the health system and the university formed a joint committee to find a way to ensure collaboration between the two separate legal entities. Joanne, an adviser to the committee, suggested forming a joint trustee committee to which certain powers of the two "parent" organizations would be delegated, which became the model for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Johns Hopkins Medicine is now more than 20 years old, and the health system and medical school continue to operate in partnership as the left and right hand of one of the most successful health care enterprises in the world. Thanks to Joanne's prescience and ingenuity, our integrated academic medical center has navigated major changes in the health care environment, including the rise of managed care, industry consolidation and health care reform, and is poised to do so well into the future.

Of course, Johns Hopkins Medicine has evolved over the decades. When it needed a new path forward to account for its rapid growth, Joanne and others worked to design an elegant operating plan, known as Johns Hopkins Medicine 3.0. Joanne has served capably as chief of staff for that effort, leading the review of all major initiatives affecting Johns Hopkins Medicine today.

Beyond her immense contributions to Johns Hopkins, she also has effected industrywide change. For instance, in late 2001, when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was first published, the proposed regulations struck many providers as too onerous. Joanne led a national push to amend the rules, resulting in ones that safeguard patient confidentiality without crippling medical research or hospital fundraising. Moreover, she has played an active role with the Maryland Hospital Association for decades, representing industry positions and helping to shape legislation.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Joanne created and was head of the health care group at Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper), a global, multiservice law firm. She was one of the first female partners at a major law firm and has been a role model for many lawyers. In her 18 years at Piper, she represented many health care clients, including hospitals and physician groups, providing counsel on regulatory matters and corporate finance. She began her career as a K-12 teacher in New Jersey and Columbia, Maryland.

A distinguished alumna of Dickinson College, Joanne earned her legal degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, graduating with honors. The law school honored her with its Distinguished Graduate Award in 2006, and The Daily Record named her among its 2011 Leadership in Law Award winners and has granted her permanent status as one of Maryland's Top Women.

Additionally, she has participated in numerous professional associations and boards, currently chairing the University of Maryland School of Law Board of Visitors for 2016–17 and sitting on the board of Charlestown, the nation's largest nonprofit, continuing care retirement community. She looks forward to devoting more time to community involvement and returning to her roots as an educator by teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and tutoring city students in reading.

In reality, Joanne has never stopped teaching. Throughout her career, she has mentored law students, clerks and young lawyers who have gone on to careers of prominence, including Patty Brown, whom she hired, as well as other present and future leaders.

In her time here, Joanne has been known for her hard work, integrity and unwavering dedication to the mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine. She has been instrumental to our continued success. Please join us in congratulating her on a remarkable career and in thanking her heartily for all she has done for our employees, our patients and all of us at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President, Johns Hopkins Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine