Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Prathibha Varkey has been named president of Mayo Clinic Health System, effective Aug. 16.

Varkey will partner with Mary Jo Williamson, chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic Health System, to lead the strategy and operations of the health system’s 17 hospitals and nearly 50 community clinics across Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, a press release stated.

“We’re very excited to welcome Dr. Varkey back to Mayo Clinic,” said Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. “She’s well-positioned to help us realize Mayo Clinic Health System’s vision to be the nation’s leading community health system, setting the standard in every dimension as an innovative, forward-looking system of care with top quality, safety, affordability, diversity and performance.”

Varkey, who is board-certified in internal medicine and general preventive medicine, previously practiced medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester for 11 years. During her tenure, she also led several initiatives in quality improvement, faculty development and medical education, and managed consumer-facing health care business products.

She left Mayo Clinic in 2013 to serve as CEO of Seton Clinical Enterprise in Austin, Texas. Since 2016, Dr. Varkey has served as president and CEO of Northeast Medical Group within Yale New Haven Health in New Haven, Connecticut.

“I admire and respect the relentless pursuit of excellence and patient centered care at Mayo Clinic, and I am excited to come back to what feels like home,” Varkey said.

“The opportunity to lead Mayo Clinic Health System personally excites me because of the potential to make transformational impact in partnership with the communities we serve. Being with patients and communities in times of wellness and illness, and bringing hope and healing is deeply meaningful, as well as humbling and an honor. My recent visits to several of the health system sites were inspiring. I admire the passion, dedication and expertise of the teams I met and the work they have done to create meaningful impact.”

Varkey earned her medical degree from Christian Medical College, Vellore, in Tamil Nadu, India. She completed her internal medicine residency at Yale New Haven Health’s Hospital of St. Raphael. She has a Masters of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a Masters of Health Professions Education from University of Illinois Medical Center, an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an honorary Masters of Arts from Yale University.

Varkey succeeds Dr. Bobbie Gostout, who retired from Mayo Clinic in December 2020.