Karen Hanlon was named president of Highmark Health, effective immediately, the company announced Wednesday. She will remain in the COO role that she has held since 2018 and still report to CEO David Holmberg. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Highmark has 44,000 employees with operations across Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and New York.
“Karen is an exceptional leader with a deep understanding of both our organization and the health care industry,” said Holmberg. “She has demonstrated strong, astute oversight of our operations…As our industry continues to weather many challenges and we remain focused on delivering the best health experiences for those we serve, I look forward to this next step in Karen’s leadership journey.”
Hanlon will maintain management over Highmark Health, Highmark Inc., enGen and Allegheny Health Network, according to the announcement.
She began her career at KPMG Peat Marwick before joining Highmark’s finance team in 1997, advancing to the CFO post in 2014. Since then, the company’s annual revenue has grown from $17 billion to a projected $33 billion in 2025.
Karen Hanlon has been named president of Highmark Health, effective immediately.
Newsweek Illustration/Getty Images/Highmark Health
During her tenure, Hanlon has contributed to the execution of Highmark Health’s Living Health strategy, a key focus of the company’s evolution. She helped lead the transition of Gateway Health into Highmark Wholecare and integrated the New York–based Health Now plan.
She also oversaw Highmark’s collaboration with Google Cloud to enhance digital customer experiences and supported the growth and financial stability of Allegheny Health Network, while advancing initiatives to improve access, affordability and outcomes.
In August, Highmark reported its financial results for the first half of 2025, including revenue of $16.5 billion and net income of $329 million.
The diversified company operates 14 hospitals in western Pennsylvania and provides health insurance to more than 7 million members in its region. While the hospital revenue is growing, “continued pressure on health plan results from higher-than-anticipated utilization that we expect to persist, reducing our operating income year over year,” CFO Carl Daley said at the time.
Hanlon also serves on the board of directors for Federated Hermes Inc. and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and is the chair of the audit committee for Penn State Health.
In July, Highmark also added Board Chair Greg Jordan, a former PNC executive, and Chief Information and Digital Officer Dr. Alistair Erskine, to its leadership ranks.
Erskine joined from Emory Healthcare at Emory University, where he served as chief information officer and chief digital officer.
