Main Line Health CEO talks about his retirement plans and his hopes for the future

Next year, Jack Lynch will reach a milestone.

Jack Lynch, the president and CEO of Main Line Health, is planning to retire next year.

Lynch will celebrate his 20th anniversary as president and CEO of Main Line Health, a hospital system based in the Philadelphia area. But it will also be his last year in that role.

He announced in September that he’s going to retire June 30, 2025. The health system is searching for his successor.

Lynch, who will turn 65 next year, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that it’s the right time to step aside and for the system to have new leadership. Lynch says when Main Line Health offered him another five-year contract in 2021, he said he only wanted a four-year deal.

“I respect the handful of CEOs and healthcare organizations around the country that have stayed in their CEO role for longer than 20 years, but there's not very many of us,” Lynch says. “And I think there's a healthy component to the organization having a change at the top.”

Lynch says there’s a strong leadership team at Main Line Health to continue to provide continuity. With two decades guiding the organization, which has received high honors in recent years, Lynch says he is ready to retire.

“I think there are often times where CEOs stay too long, and I just made a decision that, unlike my father, I wasn't going to work until I died, at 86 in his case. And I decided that, 20 years in the helm of this incredible organization was a privilege, and it was time to let somebody else take the reins,” Lynch says.

In a recent interview, Lynch talked about his career, the accomplishments he cherishes, his frustrations with inadequate government support, and his hopes for the future.

(See part of our conversation in this video. The story continues below.)

‘Our employees stepped up’

Since joining Main Line Health, the system has invested $1 billion in capital projects, including new patient pavilions and outpatient facilities. Main Line operates four acute care hospitals: Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital. Main Line also operates Bryn Mawr rehabilitation hospital.

Lynch has helped expand the system’s physician network, which now has more than 600 physicians and 300 advanced practice providers at over 40 locations in the Philadelphia region.

In 2023, Main Line Health received the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize. The association recognized Main Line for “its systemwide integration of quality, safety, and equity and for the governing and operating structures supporting these goals.”

Lynch has taken pride in the system’s honors, and he’s careful to point out that they reflect the contributions of everyone in the organization.

“The most exciting part of my job every day is to see our team members impact people's health,” Lynch says.

When asked about what has instilled the most pride in his career, Lynch initially struggles with an answer.

“That's hard to say. There's so many accomplishments that our team has done. I would say probably the closest one that comes to mind is our response during the pandemic. We met the needs of the patients that we had come to Main Line health,” Lynch says.

“We committed 25% of our vaccines to go into the arms of Black and Brown community members. Our employees stepped up. Like a lot of other healthcare employees in this country. We didn't have to close any beds. When we sent people home and didn't have any work for them, we paid them. You know, we've got an incredibly loyal workforce, incredibly talented medical staff. So I'm real proud of that,” he says.

Lynch hailed the work of the staff to improve patient safety, deter cyberattacks, and do everything necessary to help Main Line thrive.

“I'm most proud of what our people do every day, whether it's a housekeeper or a sterile processing technician or it's a doctor, a nurse, or IT person that's protecting us from a cyberattack or a registrar for our accounts payable or accounts receivable,” Lynch says.

‘Brutal’ challenges

At the same time, Lynch admits the last few years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken a toll.

Like other hospital leaders, Lynch bemoans the insufficient reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, which are making it more difficult to invest in patient care. And he says it’s become more and more difficult to manage in recent years.

“The last five have been brutal for everybody, from a housekeeper all the way to the CEO,” he says. “The demands on healthcare providers, healthcare leaders, through COVID in the unbelievably unprecedented inflation that we're experiencing and the unbelievably inadequate funding for Medicare and Medicaid, just take the fun out of the job.”

“Most health systems around the country are being financially challenged because of inadequate government reimbursement, and yet all committed to eliminating disparities of care, reducing safety events, performing the highest and safest care they can provide. It's exhausting,” he adds.

At Main Line Health, more than half (55%) of the system’s patients are on Medicare, while another 10% rely on Medicaid. So about two-thirds of Main Line’s patients rely on government payers.

“Sixty-five percent of the patients we serve, we don't get paid our cost,” Lynch says.

Main Line Health has also seen an influx of additional patients, with nearby Tower Health and Crozer Health closing hospitals in recent years. Main Line’s hospitals are typically filled to capacity, and Lynch says some patients have been stuck in emergency departments for longer periods due to a lack of available beds. “I think this market is particularly challenging,” he says.

In addition, Main Line, like many hospitals, is seeing higher expenses, both in labor and supplies, including drugs. In some cases, the supply cost increases are outpacing the growth in labor expenses.

Facing these myriad challenges, Lynch says the system lost $80 million last year, although Main Line is poised to have a better year in 2025. While Main Line is in much stronger financial shape than it was when he took over as CEO, Lynch says he would like to see a better balance sheet.

“I would like to leave it in a much healthier position than it is now. I mean, we've been losing money for the last five years,” Lynch says. “We're on a good trajectory for fiscal year ’25, but I wouldn't say I'm leaving it in the condition that I would like to leave it in.”

‘The hardest part’

With just several months remaining as CEO, Lynch says he’s been moved by the warm comments and congratulations of staff. He also says it will be an adjustment not coming to work every day.

“It's been incredibly heartwarming,” Lynch says. “It's bittersweet, because I have so many really, really close friends. You know, a lot of people need different things for their ‘oxygen’ or their ‘food.’ I need people. I need to be around people. I thrive when I'm with people. That's going to be the hardest part is not being in the workforce and being around people committed to the same things I'm committed to.”

Lynch says he has full confidence that Main Line Health will pick the right person to lead the system. He says he expects the system will continue to provide high-quality care, and he notes that he’s staying in the region and will continue to get his care from Main Line Health.

And he says he thinks the Main Line leadership and staff will support the system’s first new CEO in two decades.

“I'm very confident that they'll be as supportive to my replacement as they have been to me,” Lynch says. “And quite frankly, I don't expect any loyalty to Jack. I expect loyalty to Main Line Health and loyalty to Main Line Health’s mission, mission, vision and values. And you know, that's what allows us to achieve what we've been able to achieve.”

Lynch says the outpouring of kindness has been very moving, and at times even a bit overwhelming. But he also says he believes it’s a reflection of the care Main Line Health has been providing to its communities.

“I just remind people, it’s not about me,” Lynch says.