About Peter L. Slavin, MD
Peter L. Slavin, MD, Biography
Peter L. Slavin, MD, has served as president of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) since 2003, leading the clinical care, research, education, community health and other key activities of the hospital. He also oversees four community hospitals within the MGH family—Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital–as well as the MGH Institute of Health Professions. Dr. Slavin serves as a senior member of the leadership team for the Mass General Brigham (MGB) system (formerly Partners HealthCare).
During Dr. Slavin’s tenure, the MGH has grown from a $2 billion to a $5.5 billion organization and is a leader among academic medical centers nationally. Under his leadership the hospital has advanced quality and patient safety programs, establishing the Lawrence Center for Quality and Safety in 2007 to drive implementation of quality and safety initiatives and measure, monitor and promote the highest standards of care and service. The MGH in 2003 was the first hospital in New England to earn Magnet status from the American Nurses Credential Center.
Dr. Slavin has supported the formation of a wide range of innovative clinical programs, including the Lurie Center for Autism, the Transgender Health Program, the new Gordon-Browne Proton Therapy Center, and the Home Base program. During Dr. Slavin’s tenure, the MGH Research Institute was created to serve as a front door for the hospital’s scientific program. Today, the MGH exceeds $1 billion in annual research funding and receives the most NIH funding of any hospital in the country. The Ragon Institute, which seeks ways to cure and prevent for HIV and other infectious diseases; the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies, which is devoted to speeding discovery of cancer treatments; and the Sean Healey and AMG Center for ALS and numerous other programs focused on discovery were established under Dr. Slavin and are part of the multi-faceted approach to advancing and leveraging cutting-edge research at MGH.
Strategic efforts aimed at reshaping the future of medical education have led to the establishment the MGH Learning Laboratory, the launch of initiatives to advance interprofessional education, and the ongoing focus on expanding the knowledge base that guides and elevates clinical care across the globe. Most recently, comprehensive, sound and real-time guidance regarding COVID-19 was developed by MGH experts and shared with those across the medical community.
Dr. Slavin has also shepherded significant expansion of community health activities including increasing programs aimed at youth, addressing social determinants of health, and dealing with such major public health issues as substance use disorders, gun violence, immigrant health, domestic violence, homelessness and refugee health. A fierce advocate for equity and inclusion, Dr. Slavin recently oversaw the development and launch of comprehensive programs to eliminate structural racism at both the MGH and MGB system level.
Prior to serving as president of the MGH, Dr. Slavin was chair and CEO of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, the largest multi-specialty medical group in New England with more than 1,700 physicians. He also was president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri from 1997 to 1999. He trained in Internal Medicine at the MGH from 1984 to 1987 and served as MGH senior vice president and chief medical officer from 1994 to 1997.
Dr. Slavin is a professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, where he teaches health care management. He has advised and mentored medical students and residents throughout his career. He is the recipient of the Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award from Harvard Medical School, and the Dr. Jim O’Connell Award from Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on their Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience. He has chaired the boards of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Council of Teaching Hospitals, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, and Buckingham, Browne and Nichols. He has also served as a director of the Mass Life Sciences Center, the United Way and as a corporation member of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Slavin is currently on the Boards of Amwell (a publicly traded telemedicine company) and the University of Miami Health System.
Dr. Slavin graduated from Harvard College in 1979, Harvard Medical School in 1984, and Harvard Business School in 1990.