Joel L. Vengco has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer at Hartford HealthCare. He replaces Richard Shirey, who has announced that he will retire in July.
Vengco comes to Hartford HealthCare from Baystate Health in Springfield, Mass., following a national search of experienced IT executives to lead Hartford HealthCare’s complex health information and technology operations. He began his career at Baystate in 2012 as Vice President/Chief Information Officer, and has served that five-hospital system in a succession of increasingly challenging leadership roles in Informatics and Technology. Since 2020, Vengco has been Baystate’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer. He has previous executive leadership experience at GE Healthcare, Boston Medical Center and Partners Healthcare System, all in Massachusetts.
Vengco will begin working at Hartford HealthCare on February 14, and will report to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Daglio.
“We are exceptionally fortunate to have found a leader with such deep and wide experience so close to Hartford HealthCare. He is familiar with our region, our System and our opportunities,” Daglio said. “We are confident he will be able to build on the solid foundation Rich Shirey and his team have created, and help us optimize and elevate our IT platforms to connect and serve patients, providers and prospective customers.”
Vengco approaches his work with a customer focus and desire to harness design, entrepreneurship and digital innovation to more effectively engage with patients, clinicians and colleagues. He led the development of multiple enterprise data and digital strategies and ventures at Baystate, including the establishment of a Center for Analytics; the startup of baytechIT; the creation of TechSpring; and architecting Pioneer Valley Information Exchange.
Vengco earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College, and Master’s from Harvard University. He serves as an adjunct professor at Boston University. He has been recognized for his work as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Top 100 CIOs to Know” for the past 10 years. When he’s not passionately working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, three children, and two dogs.
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