Jennifer Jackson has led the Connecticut Hospital Association as chief executive officer since 2000.
The CHA serves as an advocate for the state’s hospitals and healthcare systems.
The association notes that, according to data from the most recently audited fiscal year, 2023, the state’s hospitals and health systems generate $41.1 billion for the state’s economy and employ more than 120,817 people.
Still, like those nationwide, hospitals in Connecticut continue to face difficult financial challenges. As noted in a report from the association, hospitals and health systems in the state continue to face “extraordinary financial pressures, exceeding national and regional challenges as healthcare providers across the country work to recover from the lasting effects of the global pandemic and years of historic inflation.”
That financial hardship is, in part, the result of being under-reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid, the CHA says.
Under Jackson’s leadership, the CHA submitted testimony more than 100 times during the 2025 session of the state General Assembly.
According to data from the Office of State Ethics, the CHA spent nearly $1.6 million, the most of any organization, to lobby the state legislature in 2025.
Before taking over as CEO, she had served as the association’s general counsel and vice president.
Jackson, who joined the CHA in 1988, earned a nursing degree from the University of Delaware; an MBA from the University of New Haven; and a law degree from the UConn School of Law.