Karen A. Shehade, MBA, MHP, PA-C, CHIE, has over 30 years of experience in a variety of health care settings and has applied this expertise to direct patient care, health plan management, the medical device industry, health equity and medical education.

Ms. Shehade has specialized knowledge and recognized expertise as a Physician Assistant in Internal Medicine through her work as the first PA for the Department of Medicine at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center where she established practice and prescriptive guidelines for the PA Service. Her 11-year tenure included the privilege of teaching Physician Assistant students, pharmacy students and medical students early in her clinical career. She also served on the Board of the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants for 5 years, 2 of which included leading the organization as their President where she was successful in making changes to state law for more favorable PA practice.

She later received her MBA and expanded her reach from individual patients to population health through her work with health plans. There, she helped establish novel programs for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and dual eligibles in Massachusetts through United Health Care as a Clinical Manager and Business Development Manager. She held a series of progressive leadership roles with Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts from Clinical Strategy, to leading Health Management for Medicare Advantage as a Director, and then serving as Vice President of Health Management & Clinical
Quality for the organization. She was selected for several leadership development programs, received multiple awards for her Vison, and was one of the first recipients of the Blue Beacon Award which acknowledged her contributions in expanding Diversity and Inclusion.

Ms. Shehade joined the Medical Device Industry through Covidien, now Medtronic, in December of 2014 in Global Medical Affairs with Healthcare Economics, Health Policy and Reimbursement. She worked on a variety of projects at the national level focused on advancing clinical quality through her leadership as a voting member with the National Quality Forum’s Measure Application Partnership - Hospital Workgroup for 7 consecutive years. Additionally, she continues to represent Medtronic at the National Committee for Quality Assurance Industry Council. She has led efforts for the company around novel payer and provider solutions in an effort to ensure equitable access of novel technologies to improve clinical outcomes.

Most recently, she created Medtronic’s Health Equity Advisory Committee and leads enterprise efforts around Health Equity through novel solutions to improve access and close gaps in care. She has been a featured speaker discussing Health Equity with the American College of Cardiology (April, 2022), The American College of Colon & Rectal Surgeons (May, 2022), The American College of Surgeons, and was recently featured on a number of podcasts discussing Medtronic’s efforts around Health Equity.

She has remained an advocate of PA education serving Northeastern University as Adjunct and now Part-Time Faculty and a member of the Admissions Committee throughout her career. Most recently, she brought the concept of Lifestyle Medicine to the PA Program Director, and she is back in the classroom teaching Lifestyle Medicine modules to first year students.

She remains a lifelong learner and holds a bachelor’s from Wheaton College, Physician Assistant Certification and a Masters of Health Professions from Northeastern University, a Masters of Business Administration from Suffolk University and is currently pursuing her certification as a Health and Wellness Coach.