Cleveland Clinic names chief strategy officer

Jim Cotelingam

Cleveland Clinic’s new chief strategy officer is Jim Cotelingam, who brings more than 20 years of strategic and operations experience in nonprofit healthcare, including in health systems and health insurance.

He will lead the enterprise strategy office team, which is responsible for setting the clinic’s growth plans and manages several areas, including, according to a news release: market intelligence and analytics; enterprise strategy development and major strategic initiative implementation; and strategic transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, affiliations and service agreements.

Cotelingam has served as interim chief strategy officer since February, when Josette Beran, who last held the role, departed.

Since joining the clinic as the executive director of strategy in 2019, Cotelingam has helped establish the organization’s five-year strategic framework, worked closely on the Mercy Medical Center agreement, formed local and international growth plans and developed new market modeling capabilities, according to the release.

“Jim is a seasoned and thoughtful leader who brings distinguished experience across the healthcare sector,” said Dr. James Merlino, the clinic’s chief clinical transformation officer, in a provided statement. “His insight and leadership will guide the future direction of our enterprise and drive our domestic and international growth strategy.”

Before coming to the clinic, Cotelingam was senior vice president of strategy at Trinity Health, where he was involved in payor and value strategy, developed the system’s inaugural strategic plan and led enterprise growth initiatives that contributed to doubling the size of the organization, among other initiatives, according to the release, which notes he also led the organization’s international business as president and CEO of Trinity Health International.

Cotelingam received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Oberlin College and a master’s of health services administration from the University of Michigan, according to the release.