A partner you can trust. Experience you can rely on

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Elizabeth P. Conrad is a senior HR executive who has held increasingly responsible leadership positions for healthcare organizations experiencing significant change and growth over her 30 plus year career. 

Prior to forming Conrad HR Advisors in 2019, Elizabeth served as system Chief Human Resources Officer (2013-2018) for Lahey Health in Greater Boston. This was followed by consulting support to finalize planning for its merger with Beth Israel Deaconess in 2019. Lahey Health was an integrated healthcare system with 15,000 employees including 1200 providers. The system included six in-patient hospitals (950 beds), ambulatory surgical and community practice sites, long-term care, homecare, and behavioral health subsidiaries. 

Previously Elizabeth served as the top HR executive for Saint Raphael Healthcare System in New Haven CT, (2002 – 2012) until its sale to Yale New Haven Health. Her background also includes top HR leadership roles in community hospital settings and integrated delivery systems.

She has worked with healthcare leaders in a wide variety of settings including acute care, physician practices, ambulatory clinics, nursing homes, home care and hospice, and inpatient and outpatient behavioral health. 

Expertise in M & A HR Integration Strategy, HR Optimization, Cost Restructuring, and Executive Leadership Consultation, Workforce Engagement and Retention

Elizabeth has extensive experience leading HR integration through mergers and acquisitions. 

At Lahey she restructured HR operations into an integrated system level function and supported the formation of a new corporate services organization that included HR, Finance, IT, Legal and other administrative functions during a period of rapid growth and change. 

Elizabeth achieved significant cost reductions for Lahey through the standardization and consolidation of benefit structures and vendors, pay practice alignment and targeted workforce reductions. She introduced a common vision for HR service accountability and supported the system CEO and board through the multiple phases of executive restructuring and re-alignment required during this time. She led HR planning to prepare Lahey for its merger in early 2019 with Beth Israel Deaconess.  The new Beth Israel Lahey Health system is an organization with over $5B in revenues and more than 35,000 employees. 

At St. Raphael, she partnered with the COO and CFO to lead a financial turn-around while preparing the organization for sale to the Yale New Haven Health System in 2012. As a part of the transaction, she developed a plan to resolve outstanding unfunded pension liabilities, negotiated the transfer of all employees including a large Teamsters bargaining unit, and led a full management talent assessment in advance of the transaction. 

Consulting engagements 2019- Present have included the following:

• Comprehensive HR assessment and restructuring projects for two health systems (Northeast)

• A 5-year workforce planning and pipeline development investment strategy (Southeast)

• Leadership for engagement and retention strategy, executive alignment, and implementation project spanning 2 years (Northeast)

• Interim CHRO for a $2.0B health system seeking a major transformation to their HR function (Southeast)

• Performance coaching and advisory support for new and incumbent CHROs (Northeast/Southwest) 

• Leadership for M&A Integration planning and implementation projects (West Coast) 

• Leadership for HR/workforce related components for several cost restructuring projects (Northeast) 

• Leadership for sustainable human capital management strategy recommendations (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic)

• Guidance and support for a national healthcare consulting firm’s development of new Healthcare Workforce offerings.

Board Services and Memberships

Elizabeth currently serves on the board of The Opportunity Alliance as vice-chair. The Opportunity Alliance is a non-profit social services organization with 500 employees in Southern Maine. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Society of Healthcare Human Resources, and the Society for Human Resources Management. She resides with her family in Kennebunkport Maine.