Freeman Health names senior vice president/chief strategy officer

(From Freeman Health System)

Alex Curran has been named Freeman Health System’s Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer. Curran brings to Freeman 20-plus years of turning complex challenges into practical, high-impact solutions and improving financial performances while maintaining quality and compassion in care.

“What drew me to Freeman was its combination of independence, mission-driven culture, and community trust. I was also drawn to the opportunity to work with [Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer] Matt Fry, whose leadership and passion for improving care for this community really resonated with me,” he said. “Freeman has the heart of a community hospital and the ambition of an academic medical center, which is a rare and exciting balance.”

At Freeman, Curran is focused on strengthening growth and operational performance through data-driven strategy, partnership development, stakeholder collaboration, and system integration. As the new CSO, he will develop, communicate, and execute Freeman’s overall strategy, driving financial growth while achieving long-term goals for long-term success in an ever-changing healthcare environment.

“My goal is to align strategy and operations so we can make it easier for teams to do what they do best–care for patients,” Curran said. “That means listening, empowering, and supporting our staff so they can focus on delivering great outcomes. I also share Matt Fry’s passion for advancing care in this community, and I want to help turn that vision into reality.”

Freeman, he continued, has an incredible foundation of care and loyalty from both patients and staff.

“I’m most excited about helping to build on that foundation by aligning strategy and operations so great ideas can translate into measurable results and sustainable growth,” Curran said. “Innovation doesn’t always mean invention. Some of the best ideas come from connecting what already exists in new ways and empowering people to make them work. Real change happens when teams feel ownership of the solution.”

Great leadership in the healthcare industry starts with empathy and ends with accountability, he said. To successfully do that, it means creating clarity, empowering people to do their best work, and never losing sight of the mission to care for others.

“My first priority is to listen and learn,” Curran said. “I want to understand what’s working well and where we can remove barriers that make it harder for our teams to deliver excellent care.”

Curran previously served in both inpatient and outpatient operations, capital projects, and academic leadership roles at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, NYU-Langone Health, and Mount Sinai Hospital. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations and Strategy Officer at Dock Medical, and most recently, Healthcare Strategy and Finance Consultancy at a number of hospital and physician groups nationally.

He holds an MBA-HC from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of South Carolina.

A lifelong music fan and concert goer, Curran has spent the last two decades raising his daughter, who is currently studying psychology at St. John’s University. During those years, he became a “class parent,” a “proud stage dad,” and coach of his daughter’s numerous soccer and softball teams, “which probably taught me as much about leadership as anything else,” he said.

His guiding principle is drawn from Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 remarks during a stop at the University of Kansas: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not?”

“It’s a reminder to challenge assumptions and stay open to what’s possible,” he said.

Curran looks forward to bringing that spirit of innovation and possibility to Freeman and partnering with staff, clinicians and leaders to transform vision into measurable results.

“I’m honored to be here,” he said. “Freeman’s strength comes from its people and the trust of the community. I’m looking forward to listening, learning, and working alongside our teams to build on that legacy and shape the next chapter of healthcare in this region.”