Dennis W. Pullin

Dennis W. Pullin is president and CEO of Virtua Health, an academic health system in New Jersey offering a full continuum of preventative, primary, ambulatory, acute and tertiary care across more than 400 locations.

A recognized thought leader and advocate for health equity, Mr. Pullin was named one of the Top 10 Healthcare Leaders in the U.S. by Healthcare Digital in 2024. The year before, Modern Healthcare selected him as one of the 25 Top Innovators in Healthcare and one of the 100 Most Influential People in the industry nationwide. Prior to that, Modern Healthcare recognized him as one of the nation’s Top 25 Diversity Leaders in Healthcare on three occasions.

In 2019, Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) honored Mr. Pullin with the Most Admired CEO award. PBJ also named him to the Power 100 list of most influential people in the region for the past eight years. Mr. Pullin received the Distinguished Healthcare Leadership Award from the National Association of Health Services Executives, and Junior Achievement of New Jersey inducted Mr. Pullin into its New Jersey Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Pullin came to Virtua in 2017 from the Washington, D.C./Baltimore, MD area where he had been president of MedStar Harbor Hospital and senior vice president of MedStar Health. Prior to leading MedStar Harbor, he was senior vice president and chief operating officer at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Pullin’s extensive background includes many executive leadership positions in hospitals, academic medical centers, physician group practices, and private industry. He was vice president of Operations and Business Development at St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston and vice president of Acquisitions and Development at Symbion Healthcare, Inc.

A Fellow and past Regent of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Mr. Pullin was elected to the Board of Directors of Hillenbrand, Inc., (NYSE: HI) in 2021 and DaVita, Inc., (NYSE: DVA) in 2024. His prior board service with non-profit, community, and civic organizations includes the American Hospital Association, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Economic and Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.

Before relocating to New Jersey, Mr. Pullin was chair of the American Hospital Association’s Governance Council for Metropolitan Hospitals and a member of the Maryland Hospital Association’s Council on Legislative and Regulatory Policy. He also served on the boards of Healthcare for the Homeless, Houston Regional HIV/AIDS Resource Group, American Heart Association, DePelchin Children’s Center, and the College of Health Professions at Towson University, among others.

Mr. Pullin serves as host for the Here for Good podcast, where he engages in meaningful conversations with transformational leaders about how they create a positive impact on the world around them. He is also the author of several impactful op-ed articles on topics ranging from rising violence against health care professionals to the life-saving gift of organ donation.

Mr. Pullin has served as an adjunct professor at Texas Lutheran University and Towson University and has presented and published a wide variety of papers and articles. A past Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, he is a Hall of Fame Inductee of the Edgewood Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas.