Jennifer Swenson

President

Jennifer Swenson is the president of Adventist Health Simi Valley, a role she has held since 2015. Since joining the organization, Swenson has focused on growing high-quality services to keep patients close to home for healthcare. She is accomplishing this by attracting high-quality physicians and healthcare partners to practice at the hospital. This focus on quality led to the hospital achieving its first Leapfrog “A” grade in 2019, awarded to hospitals in the top 10 percent in the nation.

Swenson has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Although she started in the finance sector of healthcare, she quickly moved into operations, which is her passion. Swenson has held the roles of CFO, COO and now president of Adventist Health Simi Valley.

Her interest in healthcare sparked during childhood. Swenson’s younger brother, Michael, has cerebral palsy. She grew up helping Michael through therapy sessions, coaching and encouraging him throughout his life.

Later, she was exposed to the way compassionate care can transform the patient experience firsthand when her father was diagnosed with cancer. Helping her dad navigate his treatment has shaped her vision for healthcare. It’s her goal for every patient served to experience the exceptional level of care her father received.

Before joining Adventist Health in 2015, Swenson served as corporate vice president for Kettering Health Network in Kettering, Ohio, where she implemented strategic initiatives and oversaw business development and the senior division for the Kettering Health Network.

Before her work with Kettering Health Network, Swenson was president at Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio. There, she oversaw significant achievements, including successfully transitioning the hospital to a new electronic medical record, implementing a new emergency department transformation of care, recruiting more than 30 physicians through employment and partnership, as well as creating a new hospital foundation that raised $2.5 million in the first campaign.

Simi Valley is not unfamiliar to Swenson, who lived in the community from 2000 to 2004 while serving as controller at Adventist Health Simi Valley, a role that launched her executive career. Her love of Simi Valley and the mission of Adventist Health – Living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope – called her back to the area.

Her philosophy both professionally and personally is to always strive for excellence in all things you do.

Swenson is a member of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce; the Gold Coast Health Plan Commission; the California Hospital Association; the Noontime Rotary Club of Simi Valley; and the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Swenson holds a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio University and bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pacific Union College. She and her husband Grant have three boys, Brandon, Devin and Ian.