NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consonance Capital Partners today announced that Nancy-Ann DeParle, one of the nation’s leading experts in health care policy and finance, has joined the healthcare private equity manager of Consonance Capital as a Partner. Consonance Capital Partners focuses exclusively on private equity investing in the U.S. lower middle market healthcare industry. A top official in both the Obama and Clinton Administrations, Ms. DeParle will re-join her former partners Mitchell Blutt, MD, Benjamin Edmands and Stephen McKenna, who worked together for over a decade while at JPMorgan Partners and its successor and predecessor entities (collectively “JPMP”), and have over 65 years of combined private equity experience.
Ms. DeParle’s experience over 20 years as a policy official, private equity investor, and corporate board member, give her unique insight into the nation’s rapidly changing health care sector. From 2009 to January 2013, she served in the Obama White House, first as Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, where she spearheaded President Obama’s effort to enact the Affordable Care Act and managed the initial implementation of the law. In 2011, she was promoted to Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, where she was one of President Obama’s most senior advisors and oversaw policy development in many areas, including health. Ms. DeParle also served under President Bill Clinton as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration), where she managed the $870 billion Medicare and Medicaid programs and oversaw the successful launch of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As a Washington policymaker and administrator, Ms. DeParle was known for her effectiveness in working to extend health coverage to new populations, promote patient safety and consumer transparency, and reduce fraud, waste and abuse in government programs.
“It is wonderful to be reunited with Nancy-Ann,” said Dr. Blutt, CEO of Consonance Capital and Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Consonance Capital Partners. “There is no other individual with her combination of healthcare policy and industry insight and private equity investing expertise. She is a delightful partner who completes the re-assemblage of our private equity team.”
“Having worked together previously for over eight years, I am thrilled to be partnering with Nancy-Ann again and working to find innovative healthcare businesses that drive efficiency, quality and value,” said Benjamin Edmands, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Consonance Capital Partners. “She is one of the foremost experts on health care policy, has a deep understanding of this constantly evolving industry and uniquely complements our thematic based approach to sourcing businesses with proven business models in emerging subsectors.”
“I have great respect for Mitchell, Ben and Steve and their approach to private equity investing,” said Ms. DeParle. “The team at Consonance Capital Partners has a unique combination of deep clinical and healthcare business expertise, as well as many years of experience in working with management teams to build successful companies. I am excited to bring my knowledge to a team that is committed to making meaningful investments that will drive innovation and improve healthcare.”
From 2001 to 2009, Ms. DeParle served as a Senior Advisor and Managing Director at JPMP. She also served as a trustee or director of several corporate and non-profit boards, including Boston Scientific, Cerner, DaVita, Health Affairs, Medco Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. From 2002 to 2008, she was a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which advises Congress on Medicare policy matters.
Earlier in her career, Ms. DeParle was Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, administering a 6,000 employee cabinet agency. She has also worked as a lawyer in Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
From 2001 to 2005, she taught health policy as an Adjunct Professor of Health Care Systems of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. More recently, she was a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution and a Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School.
Ms. DeParle received a B.A. with highest honors from the University of Tennessee, where she was Student Body President, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She also received a B.A. and M.A. in Politics and Economics from Balliol College of Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
About Consonance Capital Partners
Consonance Capital Partners ("CCP") is a private equity manager focused on making growth equity and buyout investments in the U.S. lower middle market healthcare industry. Headquartered in New York City, CCP was founded by Mitchell Blutt, MD, Benjamin Edmands, and Stephen McKenna.
About Consonance Capital
Consonance Capital is a healthcare investment firm that invests broadly across the healthcare landscape. Public investments are made under the direction of Consonance Capital Management (“CCM”), a long/short public equity manager. Private investments, which include growth equity, leveraged buyouts, and recapitalizations, are made under the direction of Consonance Capital Partners (“CCP”), a private equity manager. CCM and CCP operate in a collaborative fashion. Consonance Capital was established in 2005 and is located in New York City.