MCHP leader Jim Schowalter to join HealthPartners

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – HealthPartners today announced that Jim Schowalter will join the organization as Senior Vice President of Provider Partnerships. In this position, Schowalter will lead the organization’s strategic partnerships in current markets, as well as help develop new relationships that extend HealthPartners mission into new ones.

Schowalter has more than 30 years of organizational government and finance experience spanning multiple economic sectors and industries. He has been a key budget advisor in the administrations of several Minnesota governors, including serving as the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget. He currently is president and CEO of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, where he is a leading industry policy advocate and voice on an array of business and health issues. He will leave that position in February.

“We are very fortunate to have Jim join our organization,” said Jim Eppel, HealthPartners Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. “Jim’s a thoughtful, passionate leader with an exceptional track record when it comes to building teams and partnerships.”

Schowalter earned his master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and his bachelor’s degree in economics from Macalester College. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in Eagan. They have two children.

He will begin his new role at HealthPartners in March.