Dr. Lewis is the retired inaugural Physician-in-Chief of the Hartford Healthcare Bone & Joint Institute in Hartford.  Following graduation from the UVM College of Medicine, residency at the University of Maryland Hospitals and an adult reconstruction fellowship at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Dr. Lewis joined the full-time faculty at the University of Connecticut Health Center where he was Residency Program Director for many years. He was selected for a sabbatical at the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy in 1992 and was promoted to Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1997.

After transitioning to private practice in Hartford, Dr. Lewis was Director of Research & Quality at the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute at St. Francis Hospital from 2007 until 2013 when he assumed his position at Hartford Hospital and oversaw design and building of the Bone & Joint Institute.  After a clinical career as a total hip and knee replacement surgeon, he retired in 2018 from active practice.  He currently serves on the Board of Hartford Hospital.

 

Jeffrey A. Flaks is a nationally recognized healthcare leader.  He is President and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, an $8-billion system serving more than 28,000 people daily and has transformed Hartford HealthCare into a highly integrated network of 500+ locations with 48,000 colleagues, including 8,000 employed and aligned providers.

Under Mr. Flaks leadership HHC earned the 2025 AHA Quest for Quality Prize; “A” grades for safety from the Leapfrog Group; Nation’s First Care Partner of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; ranked #1 in the U.S. for mitral valve surgery; named the top employer in Connecticut for career development by Career minds: recognized for its commitment to helping employees build meaningful, long-term careers; forged partnerships with Google, Amazon, MIT, Abridge, Aidoc, K Health & others;  and recognized on Fortune’s Most Innovative Companies list.

Mr. Flaks is the recipient of the 2025 Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO; named Press Ganey’s Innovator of the Year in 2026. He has built academic pipelines with UConn, Quinnipiac and the Connecticut State Colleges system, supporting scholarships, mentorship and workforce development.

A Connecticut native, Mr. Flaks joined Hartford HealthCare in 2004 and serves on numerous

boards, including vice chair of the Connecticut Hospital Association. He holds honorary doctorates from Trinity College, Eastern Connecticut State and Sacred Heart universities