April 6, 2001

Michael S. Jellinek, MD

Michael S. Jellinek, MD, senior vice president for Administration and chief of Child Psychiatry at the MGH, has been named president of Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He has served as interim president at Newton-Wellesley since October.

Although Jellinek will be stepping down from most of his day-to-day responsibilities at the MGH, he has agreed to continue leading the planning effort for the MGH's new ambulatory care building. He also will continue to have both an academic and a clinical role in the MGH Department of Psychiatry.

Jellinek says that his 25 years of enlightening, challenging and heart-warming experiences at the MGH will serve him well in his new role. "I've worked with and learned from so many wonderful people throughout the MGH, and I am very grateful for all of the opportunities I have been given. I clearly will miss my daily interactions with everyone here," Jellinek says. "But the opportunity to lead Newton-Wellesley is a privilege and an honor. In the six months that I have been interim president, I have come to see the depth of quality and potential that extends throughout the organization. Newton-Wellesley is a vital part of the Partners system, and I am excited about the chance to help create collaborations between Newton-Wellesley and other institutions within Partners that will benefit patients throughout the system."

James J. Mongan, MD, president of the MGH, says that Jellinek is talented and inspires those around him to succeed. "I am confident that Mike can provide the kind of leadership that will enable this excellent community hospital to thrive," Mongan says. "In the five years that I have worked with Mike at the MGH, he has demonstrated time and again that he is a thoughtful, enthusiastic and dedicated leader. He is masterful at bringing the right people together to solve problems creatively and effectively. Newton-Wellesley is fortunate to be gaining his insight and perspective in this challenging era in health care."

As Newton-Wellesley's interim president, Jellinek has worked with medical and hospital leadership to set forth a vision and plan for restoring financial stability to the 250-bed community teaching hospital. Newton-Wellesley employs 2,000 people and has a medical staff of 900.

Jellinek and his team also have been investing in and shaping Newton-Wellesley for the future by renovating space to create a women's imaging center, a new endoscopy suite and expanded rehabilitation facilities. Also under Jellinek's leadership, Newton-Wellesley has been working with the MGH, BWH and Partners to form clinical collaborations.

"Newton-Wellesley, its physicians and other clinicians provide a key and valued component of the care we give our patients," says Samuel O. Thier, MD, president and CEO of Partners.

"The president of Newton-Wellesley must, of course, be an excellent manager, but it is equally important that he or she have a real understanding of and commitment to the best in patient care. Throughout his time as senior vice president at the MGH and more recently as interim president at Newton-Wellesley, Mike has proven himself thoroughly qualified on both counts."

Jellinek first arrived at the MGH in 1976 as a resident in Psychiatry. He went on to join the MGH staff in 1979 as chief of Child Psychiatry, and in 1991, he was named associate chief of the Department of Psychiatry. Jellinek has gone on to serve in a variety of administrative roles at the MGH, including vice president for Ambulatory Services, a position he assumed in 1992. He was appointed senior vice president for Administration in 1996. Throughout the past seven years, Jellinek has been responsible for overseeing 10 operational and three clinical departments.

Jellinek is a professor of Psychiatry and of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and is board-certified in both specialties. Widely respected for his work in pediatric psychiatric issues, he has published more than 200 reports, chapters, articles and monographs. Jellinek also is an editor or co-author of four books.