Harvard Pilgrim CEO Eric Schultz Has Resigned Over Inappropriate Behavior

Eric Schultz, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, left, with Dr. James Weinstein, CEO and president of Dartmouth-Hitchcock on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 | photo via AP/Jim Cole

Eric Schultz, the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, announced his resignation Tuesday, effective immediately, after behavior that was described as inappropriate.

“It’s with mixed emotions that I inform you that today will be my last day as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Chair of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation,” Schultz said in a resignation letter shared Tuesday. “Regrettably, I recently exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with my personal core values and the company’s core values and code of conduct. During the past eight years as your leader, I was committed to fostering a workplace culture that was inclusive, welcoming and rooted in integrity and respect. I made mistakes, and I’m truly sorry.”

The board of directors at the Boston-based health services company said in a statement it has accepted his resignation.

Neither Schultz nor Harvard Pilgrim has offered any more specifics.

Schultz served as CEO of the company starting in 2010, after working as the president and CEO of Fallon Community Health. The Boston Business Journal reports Schultz has been on leave for three weeks during an investigation.

Michael Carson, who had been Harvard Pilgrim’s chief business growth officer since January 2017, will take Schultz’s place. Carson previously served as COO of ConcertoHealth.

Read Schultz’s full resignation letter:

To the Harvard Pilgrim Board of Directors and employees at Harvard Pilgrim,

It’s with mixed emotions that I inform you that today will be my last day as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Chair of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. Regrettably, I recently exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with my personal core values and the company’s core values and code of conduct. During the past eight years as your leader, I was committed to fostering a workplace culture that was inclusive, welcoming and rooted in integrity and respect. I made mistakes, and I’m truly sorry.

I want you to know, it’s been my great privilege to lead Harvard Pilgrim during a time of great change and turbulence in our industry. Our leading national position as a health services company could only have been achieved and sustained due to the exceptionally dedicated and most talented group of employees and boards of directors that I have ever worked with in all my years in health care. I am exceedingly grateful for the long hours and hard work you have put in—especially during the past few years—which is now producing financial, service and clinical success. And I expect these positive results will persist with your continued focus. These are not accomplishments of a CEO, but are achievements that require a committed team of gifted, tenacious and caring individuals who come together to work relentlessly for a common goal.

I’m especially proud of many significant accomplishments. For example, our expansion into Connecticut and rededicating our company to the needs of seniors in the Medicare Advantage program. I’m particularly very proud of the important work we’ve done to create an inclusive organization. By launching Eastern Harmony, creating benefits for our transgender brothers and sisters, establishing a purchasing program focused on women and minority-owned businesses and taking steps to close equity gaps in health care, we have “created value by embracing differences.”

You should all be proud of the life-changing work that you individually and collectively deliver to our customers, providers, brokers, community partners and one another.

I wish you all my very best.

With gratitude and warm regards,

Eric