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Ep 31 – Leading a Diversified Health System – Jason Zachariah (Lifepoint Health)
In this episode of The BetterCare Podcast, Bo Bartholomew (EvidenceCare) talks with Jason Zachariah (EVP, Chief Operating Officer, Lifepoint Health) about the real-world mechanics of running a distributed system: connecting data across settings, improving flow from ED to inpatient to post-acute, clarifying ownership around bed management and transfers, and building an inclusive culture that enables teams to execute.
They also touch on the leadership journey—what scales, what doesn’t, and how to balance mission and margin without losing sight of the frontline. Recorded live during Nashville Healthcare Sessions 2025.
Topics include:- Why a diversified footprint (acute, rehab, behavioral) strengthens access, continuity, and system performance
- How clinician-centered innovation helps with earning adoption by solving workflow friction first
- Building a “control-tower” view of patient flow, bed management, and inter-facility transfers
- Maintaining operating discipline while expanding access in a rural strategy
- How leadership behaviors translate to quality, experience, and retention
- Diversification as strategy. Integrated acute, rehab, and behavioral services make the system more resilient and patient pathways clearer.
- Adoption beats aspiration. Solutions stick when they reduce friction for nurses and physicians.
- See the whole system. Real-time visibility and clear ownership improve throughput, LOS, and handoffs.
- Rural doesn’t mean rudimentary. Disciplined operations and connected data can raise the floor for access and experience.
- Lead with heart and clarity. Culture is an operating asset when it’s built intentionally.
Jason Zachariah Bio:
As executive vice president, chief operating officer, Jason leads operations for Lifepoint’s key lines of business, including acute care hospital operations, rehabilitation, behavioral health operations, quality and clinical support, and Medical Group Services.
Zachariah most recently served as president, integrated solutions, a role in which he led rehabilitation and behavioral health operations, joint venture services, physician services, information technology, marketing, business transformation and development initiatives.
Before joining Lifepoint, he served as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Kindred Healthcare, where he led the company’s hospital division, rehabilitation services and behavioral health operations. Prior to that, he served as president of Kindred’s rehabilitation services and in various roles in the company’s hospital division, including COO and executive director for the division’s California/Arizona district. During his tenure with Kindred, he drove a culture of patient advocacy, quality outcomes, employee engagement and operational efficiency and demonstrated a passion for innovation, care enhancement and diversity, equity and inclusion.
He earned his MBA with Distinction from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a master’s degree in biotechnology from Northwestern and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in biology and a chemistry minor from Duke University.
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The BetterCare Podcast is produced by EvidenceCare.
Sign up for email updates when new episodes are released.
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By EvidenceCare
5
77 ratings
In this episode of The BetterCare Podcast, Bo Bartholomew (EvidenceCare) talks with Jason Zachariah (EVP, Chief Operating Officer, Lifepoint Health) about the real-world mechanics of running a distributed system: connecting data across settings, improving flow from ED to inpatient to post-acute, clarifying ownership around bed management and transfers, and building an inclusive culture that enables teams to execute.
They also touch on the leadership journey—what scales, what doesn’t, and how to balance mission and margin without losing sight of the frontline. Recorded live during Nashville Healthcare Sessions 2025.
Topics include:- Why a diversified footprint (acute, rehab, behavioral) strengthens access, continuity, and system performance
- How clinician-centered innovation helps with earning adoption by solving workflow friction first
- Building a “control-tower” view of patient flow, bed management, and inter-facility transfers
- Maintaining operating discipline while expanding access in a rural strategy
- How leadership behaviors translate to quality, experience, and retention
- Diversification as strategy. Integrated acute, rehab, and behavioral services make the system more resilient and patient pathways clearer.
- Adoption beats aspiration. Solutions stick when they reduce friction for nurses and physicians.
- See the whole system. Real-time visibility and clear ownership improve throughput, LOS, and handoffs.
- Rural doesn’t mean rudimentary. Disciplined operations and connected data can raise the floor for access and experience.
- Lead with heart and clarity. Culture is an operating asset when it’s built intentionally.
Jason Zachariah Bio:
As executive vice president, chief operating officer, Jason leads operations for Lifepoint’s key lines of business, including acute care hospital operations, rehabilitation, behavioral health operations, quality and clinical support, and Medical Group Services.
Zachariah most recently served as president, integrated solutions, a role in which he led rehabilitation and behavioral health operations, joint venture services, physician services, information technology, marketing, business transformation and development initiatives.
Before joining Lifepoint, he served as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Kindred Healthcare, where he led the company’s hospital division, rehabilitation services and behavioral health operations. Prior to that, he served as president of Kindred’s rehabilitation services and in various roles in the company’s hospital division, including COO and executive director for the division’s California/Arizona district. During his tenure with Kindred, he drove a culture of patient advocacy, quality outcomes, employee engagement and operational efficiency and demonstrated a passion for innovation, care enhancement and diversity, equity and inclusion.
He earned his MBA with Distinction from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a master’s degree in biotechnology from Northwestern and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in biology and a chemistry minor from Duke University.
---
The BetterCare Podcast is produced by EvidenceCare.
Sign up for email updates when new episodes are released.
---
Follow Jason Zachariah
Follow Lifepoint Health
Follow EvidenceCare
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X