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September 30, 2024 / 2024 Power 25 Health Care

2024 Power 25 Health Care: James Shmerling

Jim Shmerling

For those traveling down Washington Street in Hartford, it’s been impossible to miss the giant red crane that’s been hovering above Connecticut Children’s medical center over the past year-plus.

It’s a symbol of the most significant expansion in the hospital’s 27-year history — a project occurring under the leadership of CEO Jim Shmerling.

The $280 million new tower, adjacent to Connecticut Children’s existing Hartford campus, will house several ambitious new programs, including a fetal surgery center that is expected to make Hartford a national leader in the discipline; a NICU unit with 50 private rooms; and state-of-the-art facilities for bone marrow transplant work and gene therapy.

The new patient tower is the highest-profile piece of a broader turnaround effort that’s been underway at Connecticut Children’s since Shmerling arrived nine years ago.

Shmerling is not new to major expansions. He previously oversaw hospital construction at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Colorado.

Earlier this year, Shmerling led the debut of a new 12-bed medical psychiatric unit at Connecticut Children’s Hartford campus. He also announced a major donation from former board chairman David Roth and his wife, Linda, who provided the largest single gift for the medical center’s tower expansion.

A Nashville native, Shmerling is well-known in the industry, having held management roles at children’s hospitals in five states since 1979. He also chaired the board of the national Children’s Hospital Association in 2014.

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