Joseph R. Betancourt, MD

Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, is the president of the Commonwealth Fund. A national leader in health-care policy, equity, quality, and community health, Betancourt formerly served as the senior vice president for Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and as founding director of the Disparities Solutions Center. He has devoted his career to improving the quality and value of health  
care for diverse populations. Betancourt has provided guidance to agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services, private industry, and state and local governments. His governance roles have included service on the boards of Trinity Health and the Massachusetts Health and Hospitals Association.  

Betancourt is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing primary care physician. He has served on several Institute of Medicine committees, including the committee that produced the seminal report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. He is also the recipient of the Sumner M. Redstone Endowed Chair in Health Equity at MGH and, in 2024, he was named one of Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Health Care. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.