ChristianaCare Announces Leadership Transition; Janice Nevin to Retire After Transformational Tenure and Jenn Schwartz Named Successor

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The ChristianaCare Health System Board today announced that Dr. Janice Nevin has made the decision to retire after more than 23 years with the health system, including 12 years as President and CEO, effective September 1, 2026.

“Serving this community and working alongside our extraordinary caregivers has been the greatest honor of my career,” Nevin said.

Share

Following a very thoughtful and thorough process — drawing on insights from across the industry, reviewing best practices, and rigorously assessing talent — the ChristianaCare Health System Board has selected Jenn Schwartz as the next President and CEO effective September 1, 2026.

Nevin joined ChristianaCare in 2002 as Chair of Family and Community Medicine and later served in a series of leadership roles, including Executive Director of the Wilmington campus and Chief Medical Officer, before being named President and CEO in 2014. During her tenure, ChristianaCare has grown into one of the nation’s most respected health systems, advancing innovative models of care, strengthening academic partnerships, and expanding equitable access to health services across the region.

According to Board Chair George Foutrakis, Nevin’s leadership has had a profound and lasting impact on the organization and the communities it serves.

“Dr. Nevin’s leadership has helped shape ChristianaCare into a mission-driven organization grounded in compassion, innovation, and service. Under her guidance, we have dramatically expanded access to care — both in our physical footprint and through significant investment in historically under-resourced areas like primary care, school-based health centers, virtual care, and behavioral health. We are deeply grateful for her more than two decades of extraordinary service. Her vision, integrity, and unwavering commitment to our mission have left an indelible mark on ChristianaCare and will continue to shape our work for generations to come.”

“Serving this community and working alongside our extraordinary caregivers has been the greatest honor of my career,” Nevin said. “Together, we have built an organization defined by love and excellence, and by an unwavering commitment to improving the health and well-being of those we are privileged to serve. I am profoundly grateful to our caregivers, our partners, and our neighbors for the trust they place in us every day.”

Foutrakis said the Board has tremendous confidence in Schwartz to lead ChristianaCare into its next chapter.

“Jenn is an exceptional and highly respected leader who has helped guide ChristianaCare through a period of significant complexity and change,” Foutrakis said. “Her deep understanding of our mission, our caregivers, and the communities we serve uniquely positions her to lead ChristianaCare into its next era of impact and innovation.”

According to Schwartz: “It is an extraordinary privilege to be chosen to lead ChristianaCare and build upon the remarkable foundation Dr. Nevin has created. This is an organization where purpose and performance are inseparable, and where caregivers bring our values to life in meaningful ways every day. I look forward to working alongside them to continue advancing our mission and shaping the future of care for the communities we serve.”

About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, and innovating to make high-quality care more accessible, equitable and affordable. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, four hospitals (1,440 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute and a 10-bed neighborhood hospital in West Grove, PA.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work. ChristianaCare is rated by Newsweek as one of the World’s Best Hospitals and is continually ranked among the best in the U.S. in national quality and safety ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.