Former Bridgeport Hospital leader returns as Hartford HealthCare’s Fairfield Region president

Former Bridgeport Hospital President and CEO William Jennings is returning to the area.

Effective July 19, the 53-year-old Jennings will join Hartford HealthCare as president of its Fairfield region, which includes St. Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport. He will also be a system-level senior vice president.

Jennings, who was also an executive vice president of Yale New Haven Health, left those positions in 2018 to become president and CEO of Reading (Pennsylvania) Hospital. He was also an executive vice president at Reading parent Tower Health.

Vincent DiBattista, HHC’s current regional president, will “continue to lead major system initiatives, focusing on the successful integration of clinical practices and programs, until his planned retirement in September 2022,” according to a press release.

“Bill Jennings is a health care leader with great vision and passion for improving the health of the communities we serve,” HHC President and CEO Jeffrey Flaks said. “In addition to his deep expertise, we are excited about Bill”™s strong alignment with our core values and drive to make health care more accessible, more affordable, while delivering higher levels of quality and service.”

Prior to his leadership of Bridgeport Hospital, Jennings was president of SSM St. Mary”™s Health Center in St. Louis, and served as president of the SSM St. Louis Heart Institute, which served six hospitals. He has held executive positions with BayCare Health System in Florida and the Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee.

DiBattista, who joined HHC in 2015 as president of the HHC Medical Group, has led the Fairfield region since it began as part of Hartford HealthCare in October 2019.