RoBert FrUend's BIO

---

Robert has been a health care leader and teacher for more than 25 years, focusing on increasing health equity and implementing community-based initiatives to drive improvements in health outcomes.

Prior to joining NYITCOM, Jonesboro as a Senior Advisor for Health Policy, Robert was the founding CEO of the St. Louis Regional Health Commission, where he served for nearly two decades. The RHC serves as the regional planning body for health care issues in St. Louis. The RHC has concentrated much of its work on preserving and enhancing the delivery of health services to the uninsured and underinsured in St. Louis City and County. During his tenure, Robert negotiated with Federal, State, municipal, and hospital leaders to create a $30 million annual fund for the outpatient needs of uninsured St. Louisans living in poverty, and founded a 26,000-member health plan to serve this population.

While with the RHC, Robert also had an instrumental role in founding six other social service organizations still in existence today, focusing on behavioral health, social service/health care integration, and trauma-informed community services.

Prior to joining the Commission, Robert spent seven years as a health care consultant and senior manager for Ernst & Young LLP, focusing his practice on strategic planning, organizational change, and post-merger integration.

Robert earned an MBA from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University, an MHA from the Washington University School of Medicine, and is an alumnus of the prestigious Eisenhower Fellows International leadership program. Robert served for seven years as an adjunct faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine, teaching health care finance, and is currently of faculty with New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, teaching health policy.

Robert has served on over twenty non-profit boards and committees over the past 25 years, including the United Way, Washington University School of Medicine’s Strategic Planning Committee, the Eisenhower Fellowship Steering Committee (St. Louis), the Lutheran Foundation, and Provident Behavioral Health. He is a frequent speaker at seminars, conferences, and universities concerning issues of health finance and equity.

Robert was named by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the “Most Influential People in St. Louis” for five successive years. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the “Health Care Hero” Award by the St. Louis Business Journal, the Silver Key Award from Mental Health America, and the Community Advocate of the Year award by the National Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NCADA) – St. Louis chapter.