Judith C. Pelham

Judith C. Pelham is president emerita of Trinity Health, a national, not-for-profit system of health care facilities, including hospitals, long-term care, home care, psychiatric care, residences for the elderly, and ambulatory care. Operating in twenty-two states, Trinity is one of the largest Catholic health care systems in the United States. Prior to her current position, Pelham was president and chief executive officer of the Michigan-based Trinity Health (2000–2004) and Mercy Health Services (1993–2000) as well as of the Daughters of Charity Health Services of Austin (1982–1992). She was also assistant vice president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (1976–1980).

Since 2012, Pelham has been an independent director of Welltower Inc. (formerly, Health Care REIT, Inc.), a public real estate investment trust for senior living and health care real estate. She has also served on the board of directors of Amgen Inc. (1995–2017), the world’s largest biotechnology company; Zoll Medical Corporation (2011–2012), a medical products and software solutions company; Eclipsys Corporation (2009–2010), a health-care IT solutions company; and Hospira, Inc. (2005–2006), a specialty pharmaceutical delivery company.

Pelham has received numerous honors for her civic and health-care systems leadership, including the CEO IT Achievement Award (2004), jointly presented by the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Modern Healthcare magazine, for her leadership in implementing information technology in health-care provider organizations. Under her leadership, Trinity Health received the National Quality Healthcare Award (2004) from the National Committee for Quality Healthcare, for innovation and implementation of clinical quality and patient safety systems. She also received the American Hospital Association’s Partnership for Action Grassroots Advocacy Award (1992) in recognition of her work in health care reform.

Pelham graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in government from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She served on the board of trustees of Smith College from 2007 to 2016.