Jeff Thompson

Jeff Thompson is CEO Emeritus of Gundersen Health System and a retired neonatal pediatrician. He is also author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community. As CEO of Gundersen Health System, he was responsible for improving quality, lowering costs, and rapidly advancing technology, partnering with a staff of 7,000, serving hundreds of thousands of patients, and stewarding a $1 billion budget that he considered the community’s money. Under his leadership, Gundersen developed an energy program that decreased greenhouse gas emissions by 95% and also lowered the cost of care and improved the local economy. Thompson received the Practice Green Health Visionary Leader Award, was the only US provider to speak in the Blue Zone at the Paris Climate talks, and received the White House Champions of Change award in 2013. He continues to teach, mentor, and build the next generation of leaders.