Israel Rocha Jr.

Israel Rocha Jr. was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer for Cook County Health in October 2020 by the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

Before arriving at Cook County Health, Mr. Rocha served as the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals Elmhurst and Queens hospitals. NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health system in the U.S. with a combined annual budget of over $8 billion.

Over the course of Mr. Rocha’s time at Elmhurst, he successfully implemented an operational and clinical improvement plan that turned around financial performance from a $100M deficit to a breakeven point in less than three years. He increased patient revenue by over $50M in 24 months through the implementation of a clinical services plan that expanded Elmhurst’s market share in a number of service lines. Mr. Rocha established a patient throughput and quality assurance team that reduced patient length of stay by 1.3 days, reduced ER wait times by almost 30 percent, and improved physician engagement scores by 20 percent in the first year of enactment.

Working with the team at Queens, Mr. Rocha launched the development of a Sickle Cell Center of Excellence, started a Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Program and launched the development of a new Primary Stroke Center. The development of a full simulation education program has been launched as well as an initiative to integrate services with Elmhurst Hospital for expanded coverage of the Surgical ICU.

Before joining NYCH+H, Mr. Rocha served as the CEO of Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg, Texas. Prior to his healthcare roles, Mr. Rocha worked in the federal legislative process in Washington D.C. for Texas Congressman Rubin Hinojosa (D-15). He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science & Environmental Science from Columbia University, NY.