Overview
- CHOP announced Tuesday that longtime CEO Madeline Bell will retire on Oct. 1, 2026 and that current President Joseph (Joe) Mitchell will succeed her as president and CEO on that date.
- Bell leaves after nearly 40 years at CHOP and 11 years as CEO during which the system more than doubled annual revenue to over $5 billion, opened a King of Prussia hospital, and began building a $2.6 billion patient tower.
- Mitchell joined CHOP in April 2025 after a national search and brings more than 20 years of health-care leadership, including executive roles at Boston Children’s and Franciscan Children’s and earlier work at McKinsey; he has spent the past year broadening responsibilities and meeting staff, patients and partners.
- CHOP says expanding access to care is Mitchell’s top priority as the system prepares for fiscal strain from Medicaid cuts next year that could affect roughly half of its patient population who rely on public insurance.
- The hospital frames the transition as orderly continuity with Bell remaining a philanthropic and advisory resource, but leaders will need to manage external scrutiny of programs serving transgender youth and other political pressures that could affect operations.