American Academic Health System owns or manages both academic and community-based acute care hospitals. AAHS is an affiliate of Paladin Healthcare, a national healthcare management company with a proven track record of building strong healthcare delivery networks in urban and suburban areas, including some of the nation’s most diverse communities facing healthcare challenges.
Working collaboratively with our medical staff, nurses and other providers, we bring a strong, disciplined focus on all aspects of hospital operations to the academic medical centers and general acute care hospitals we operate. With many years of experience in successfully operating prestigious academic and teaching hospitals, we understand the unique challenges these institutions face – especially in the current healthcare environment.
We make sure all our hospitals are acutely focused on such critical areas as the trauma and emergency departments, care coordination, case management, clinical documentation, labor productivity, purchasing, facilities management, contracting, revenue cycle, and capital efficiency. We are also committed to improving quality and safety of care, as well as patient, physician and employee engagement.
We also partner with proven community-based organizations to address underlying social determinants of health such as behavioral health issues, lack of access to quality healthcare services, environmental disparities, food scarcity, and trauma. To address these issues, we integrate community organizations, religious institutions and social services agencies into our care network to create an enhanced patient-focused healthcare delivery system.
By focusing on these areas, and working collaboratively and effectively, we provide a nurturing, supportive environment for the ambitious clinical, research and teaching missions of our academic medical centers.
Our leadership team has many years of experience in successfully operating academic medical centers as well as general acute care hospitals. This includes such prestigious institutions as Howard University Hospital, The George Washington University Hospital, Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
We have successfully managed Howard University Hospital (HUH) in Washington, DC, since October 2014 under a management services agreement with Howard University. Since then, HUH has significantly improved its financial and operating performance. Our leadership team also has years of experience overseeing the operations of George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, and Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pa.
Chief Executive Officer
Joel Freedman is Chairman and Founder of American Academic Health System, LLC, which recently acquired a prominent health system in Philadelphia, including Hahnemann University Hospital, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and several affiliated physician groups. He is also CEO and Founder of Paladin Healthcare Capital, LLC which managed Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C and four hospitals in South and East Los Angeles that are owned by Avanti Hospitals, LLC, a company cofounded by Freedman. In these roles, he was responsible for setting the strategic direction of all aspects of business. He also cofounded CompWest Insurance Company, a California workers compensation insurer, now a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Prior to acquiring hospitals and health systems, he served as the Managing Partner of Paladin Capital, an investment-banking firm where under his tenure he successfully led the completion of more than 175 transactions.
Freedman is well entrenched in the US Healthcare landscape and serves our nation in a variety of healthcare advisory roles. Freedman is a founding member of the Healthcare Policy Advisory Council for Harvard Medical School. He lends his considerable knowledge of the healthcare industry as Chairman of the Industry Working Group for Harvard’s Healthcare Markets and Regulations Lab, helping to transform healthcare access and delivery locally and nationally. As a member of the Board of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, he provides guidance and support for key initiatives related to measurably improving value in healthcare through evidence-based policy solutions, research excellence, transformative education, and private and public sector engagement. H.e also serves as a National Council Co-Chair for American Enterprise Institute.
Freedman has distinguished himself as an innovative leader and visionary. His accomplishments have earned him numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Congressional Black Caucus and National Minority Quality Forum in April 2016, presented to individuals who have worked in practice and public policy to eliminate healthcare disparities.