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“I couldn’t be prouder of the work we have done together here at Intermountain. This has been the best six years of my life professionally that I could ever imagine. That said, I can see an opportunity here,” Harrison said in a video sent to Intermountain’s 59,000 employees. “While Intermountain is strong, that is the time for me to walk away, as hard as it is, to take this next big challenge on.”
The new General Catalyst company will make healthcare more equitable, accessible and affordable for millions of people across the country and around the world, Harrison said in the video. It will make health systems like Intermountain healthier, he added.
Healthcare is a growing focus for General Catalyst. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm has raised $670 million for a second healthcare fund, after closing a $600 million fund.
General Catalyst and Intermountain partnered in May to develop technology that accelerates value-based care. The venture capital firm, which has backed Transcarent, Olive, Sprinter Health and Commure, formed a similar partnership with Philadelphia-based health system Jefferson Health in October.
The venture capital firm has wooed other industry executives, including the former CEO of Jefferson Health, Dr. Stephen Klasko, who was named an executive-in residence at General Catalyst in February. Ron Paulus, former president and CEO of the Asheville, North Carolina-based health system Mission Health, was named an executive-in-residence in 2019.
“We’re hoping healthcare becomes more distributed,” Chris Bischoff, a managing director at General Catalyst, told Sam Glick of the consultancy Oliver Wyman during a recent podcast. “That we see doctors treating patients where they are, using virtual and in-home care and care becoming more decentralized. And indeed, not just patient-centric, but physician-centric. We need to be more connected.”
General Catalyst did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Under Harrison’s tenure, Intermountain is credited with increasing access to care through virtual physician-to-physician consultations. Intermountain Connect Care Pro has guided clinicians through basic medical care and advanced services, such as stroke evaluation, mental health counseling, intensive care and newborn critical care.
The integrated health system completed a merger with SCL Health in April, forming a $14 billion system with 33 hospitals spanning seven states.
“This integration work has really brought us together,” Harrison said in the video. “What I see is selflessness, humor, genuine affection, great work ethic and a free flow of ideas. It is powerful. It is palpable. I think it is going to stand the organization in really good stead.”
Harrison, a pediatric critical care physician by training, said he is proud of Intermountain’s efforts to improve clinical quality, grow its footprint and invest in its caregivers by expanding parental leave and educational benefits.
“Based on what I have seen from Intermountain, I have every reason to be completely optimistic about our future,” Harrison said in the video.
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