Catherine Jacobson serves as president and CEO of Froedtert Health, a regional health care system based in Milwaukee. Jacobson joined Froedtert Health in 2010 as executive vice president of finance and strategy, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer. She was promoted in 2011, becoming president; she assumed the CEO role in 2012. Prior to joining Froedtert Health, Jacobson spent 22 years at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago in various leadership roles.
Jacobson is the board chair of Vizient.
Current board appointments include Teladoc Health, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and Siebert Lutheran Foundation as well as other boards representing partnerships of Froedtert Health. She is also a past chair of the board of the Wisconsin Hospital Association and is currently serving on its board. She was also appointed chair-elect of the MMAC beginning her term as chair in the fall of 2021.
Jacobson’s recognitions include being named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2019 and one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in healthcare in 2021. She received the Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame as Distinguished Executive of the Year in 2018. She was recognized as a Woman of Influence by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2013 and received honorable mentions as Executive of the Year in 2014 and 2019. Jacobson received an honorary doctorate in health care leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2015.
Jacobson is a member of Healthcare Financial Management Association and served as national chair of the board in 2009-2010. She is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Institute. She is a member of the Chicago Network, an organization for women executives, and of Professional Dimensions in Milwaukee.
Jacobson received her Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.