Mr. Christopher J. O’Connor, MBA, FACHE has worked in the management consulting and healthcare industry for over two decades. He has held a variety of leadership positions over the course of his career and has built a reputation as an innovative and growth oriented thought leader. Mr. O’Connor has worked within the provider side of healthcare and at some of the top consulting firms across the globe.

Currently, Mr. O’Connor serves as Executive Vice President of GNYHA Ventures, Inc., the parent company for a number of for-profit businesses, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA). GNYHA is a one-of-a-kind trade association comprising nearly 250 hospitals and continuing care facilities, both voluntary and public, in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.

Mr. O’Connor also serves as President of GNYHA Services, Inc., an acute care group purchasing organization. In his role as President, he is responsible for the management and growth of the GNYHA Services/Premier portfolio, Business Solutions Group, Business Strategy, Pharmacy, and Supply Chain Resources. Mr. O’Connor, along with his team, has been a critical component in client base expansion, strengthening, and growth. Under his tenure, the company’s profitability has grown from $16 million to over $45 million.

Mr. O’Connor is also President of Nexera, Inc., a healthcare consulting firm he created when he first joined GNYHA in 2003. Nexera’s initial focus was to assist hospitals and long term care facilities to identify and implement strategies to reduce supply chain cost through operational and strategic improvement. Today, the firm’s services have grown to include: organization wide process improvement and redesign, technology implementation assistance, contract evaluation, pharmacy and 340B tracking implementations, laboratory process, cost assessment and implementation, dietary assessment and management, and project and program management. Through Mr. O’Connor’s vision and leadership, Nexera’s impact on the healthcare community has been quite significant. Since its creation in 2003, Nexera has saved clients over $200 million and has achieved revenue and profitability goals every year.

In addition to his years at GNYHA, Mr. O’Connor has worked at KPMG (Bearing Point) and Deloitte. There he spent several years working internationally in Brazil, Holland, and South Africa on supply chain projects in financial services, manufacturing, and transportation. Once back in the U.S., Mr. O’Connor spent a year working with the United Nations and the then-budding Department of Homeland Security. Mr. O’Connor was appointed to the Document Security Advisory Council, United States Secret Service (2002-2003) while working with KPMG. He also successfully worked in the areas of cost reduction, M&A, reorganizations, strategy, system implementation (ERP), and technology optimization.
Mr. O'Connor is currently the Region 2 Board Representative for the Association for Healthcare Resources and Materials Management (AHRMM), Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), and former Chair of the Premier Purchasing Partners National Technology Steering Committee (2003-2010). He is a former Board Member of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) and a former member of the Editorial Board-Materials Management in Healthcare (1998-2000). In addition, Mr. O’Connor was previously elected to both the Iona College Alumni Board (1996-2004) and the Pelham, New York Board of Education (2001-2004).

Mr. O’Connor is an active speaker and author on a variety of healthcare, leadership, and supply chain topics. Since 1993, he has served as an adjunct instructor at Iona College teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Interpersonal Communication, Management, and English. In addition, he has guest lectured on the topics of Leadership, Career Management and Executive Perspectives within the Healthcare Programs. He is also a guest lecturer on supply chain management at Cornell University.

Throughout his career, Mr. O’Connor has given back to his personal and professional communities. Mr. O’Connor volunteers on the Advisory Board of the American Red Cross Metro New York and is a former Board Member of both the Mount Vernon YMCA Family Center and the Danny Fund, an organization providing financial assistance to families of children with cancer. Mr. O’Connor is also a trustee of Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, NY.

Mr. O’Connor received his Bachelor of Arts in English Education from Iona College. He also has a Masters of Business Administration in Production Operation Management and a Post Masters Certificate in Management from Iona College’s Hagan School of Business.