Veteran CIO Shafiq Rab heads for new role in Chicago

Shafiq Rab, chief information officer and senior vice president of information technology at Hackensack University Health Network in New Jersey since 2012, is moving to Chicago.

Rab has accepted the positions of CIO and SVP at Rush University Medical Center, effective January 9.

Hackensack is a rapidly growing system that only five months ago merged its operations with Meridian Health. In November, the organization announced an agreement to affiliate with JFK Health.

At Rush, Rab replaces Lac Van Tran, who served in the position since 2002 before recently retiring.

At Hackensack, Rab helped usher in the mobile era by introducing iPads and the Apple Health Kit to enable patients and families more access to their medical records and electronic communication with care teams. He developed an app enabling patient access to appointment scheduling, test results, prescription data and communication with physicians from any device.

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He also led development of facial recognition technology to match patients to their data.

Rab previously served as CIO for four years at Greater Hudson Valley Health System, one year at Catskill Regional Medical Center, nearly five years at Saint Mary’s Hospital and almost four years at Carrier Clinic/East Mountain Hospital.

As Rush continues to expand access to care across the region, linking our academic health network will be critical,” Rush University Medical Center President Michael Dandorph said in a statement. “His clinical and public health expertise will help Rush to use technology to grow its mission to improve the health of individuals and diverse communities it serves.”