Jill VanKuren

Skillfully Navigating the Evolving Healthcare Landscape 

At Saratoga Hospital’s helm, President and CEO Jill VanKuren is as resolute as she is sincere, steering the ship toward a new horizon in patient-centered care.

From her strategic vantage point, Jill VanKuren envisions the future of Saratoga Hospital. 

Visiting Saratoga for the first time was like seeing an ideal city that you imagine exists but didn’t realize actually does, said Jill VanKuren. Here, the word “community” is a verb; people take action to build something special. 

After 17 years in various leadership roles at MedStar Health in metropolitan Baltimore, MD, Jill was scouted for a new position by competing hospitals all over the country. On the day of her final meeting in the interview process with a Virgina-based healthcare group, the call came in from Saratoga Hospital offering her the Presidential position in Saratoga Springs. 

During their preliminary visit in 2022, Jill, her wife Cheryl, and son, Alexander, all fell in love with the area. “Alex accepted on my behalf; he was so enamored with the Saratoga community and the environment. He was so excited he was running laps in the hotel’s hallway,” remembers Jill. 

To make the transition possible, Cheryl put her own career in healthcare administration on the backburner to support Jill. It was a big change, and an adjustment for the family, that Jill said she is extremely grateful for. 

Today, Alex is a rising junior at Albany Academy, and their oldest son, Nathan, is a Pace University graduate pursuing theater management in off-Broadway productions.  Last year, Jill’s contract with the hospital was extended to 2030, giving her time to see the vastness of the work she’s started emerge. 

Finding Equilibrium 

From an early age, healthcare attracted Jill’s attention, but after studying the scientific side of the field, she found her passion was more aligned with administrative duties. MedStar Health really grew into its own during her tenure there, said this FACHE board-certified healthcare management leader. Competition between hospitals in the urban healthcare system was in stark contrast to the environment that Jill found in our region when she arrived. Saratoga Hospital is the only hospital in Saratoga County, it draws patients from beyond its borders, like a lighthouse in a storm. Saratoga Hospital stands with 20+ satellite locations throughout Saratoga Springs and the surrounding communities in partnership with the Albany Med Health System. 

One of the area’s largest employers, the group’s approximately 3200 employees, whether working in the hospital, its ambulatory sites, primary or urgent care offices, are predominantly women.  

“As a woman in a leadership position, I have a unique perspective when it comes to balancing family and work, and how difficult it can be to try to do everything – often to the detriment of your own wellbeing,” said Jill.  

When a member of their team returns from hiatus after leaving to raise a family, Jill says to them, “Welcome Home” because this is like their second home and it’s important to meet people where they are, she added. 

There Through the Ups and Downs

Wherever you find yourself, as an Albany Med Health System patient, Saratoga Hospital is giving people more opportunities to access outpatient services closer to home through a hub-and-spoke model that extends specialized services further and strengthens coordination across institutions, said Jill. 

Last year, the Milton Health Center was expanded to offer neurology, therapy, and laboratory services. Having a centralized healthcare hub where multiple providers from the Albany Med Health System will come together is an important component of Jill’s grand vision. 

“It takes a village, and none of us can do It alone,” said Jill. 

She is a strong advocate of the Center for Successful Aging and Wellness (known as CSAW), a scalable organizational framework launched in 2024, with a new building on the horizon. By streamlining electronic record-keeping and appointment framework throughout the system, information can flow more efficiently back and forth between the patient, their provider, and their designated support system.

Jill said being able to proactively schedule doctor’s appointments (instead of planning your social calendar around them) sounds like a dream come true to anyone caught in the net of a disjointed system bogged down by redundant paperwork. 

By looking at the whole person and having conversations earlier in the process, the bumps in the road that come with chronic illness, and impede our lifestyles as we age, aren’t as jarring. Patients have the opportunity to prepare advance directives and care plans proactively, said Jill, instead of making decisions from a hospital bed. 

“You make better decisions when you’re not in crisis. We want to give them more control over their care,” she said. 

Often at a hospital, a calendar is merely a suggestion. Each day must be lived minute-by-minute, and in those moments when you do have the opportunity to pause and reflect, you come back to the realization of what healthcare is all about – the people. 

In addition to her leadership role at Saratoga Hospital, Jill sits on several community advisory boards. As hard as she works, she plays even harder.  She enjoys outdoor recreation, including golf, cross-country skiing, hiking and biking. Jill has always loved the ocean and being at the beach, and now, she’s kayaking on the area’s lakes – because when adventure beckons, Jill grabs a paddle.  

“As a woman in a leadership position, I have a unique perspective when it comes to balancing family and work, and how difficult it can be to try to do everything – often to the detriment of your own wellbeing,”