AKRON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 3, 2026--
Summa Health today announced that it has named Jennifer Eslinger as the organization's next President and Chief Executive Officer. Eslinger will join Summa Health on September 21, bringing more than two decades of executive leadership experience.
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Most recently, she served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Rochester Regional Health, where she helped lead a $4.2 billion integrated health system through significant transformation, strategic growth and quality and performance improvement. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles with Henry Ford Health, Mobile Infirmary Health System, HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare.
"Jennifer is an accomplished healthcare leader with deep experience driving operational and clinical excellence, embracing innovation and creating a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement,” said Kate Walsh, Chair of Summa Health’s Board of Directors. “She has both the judgment and values to build on Summa Health's strong foundation while accelerating our impact in the communities we serve and helping shape the future of healthcare.”
As President and CEO, Eslinger will lead the organization's continued transformation by strengthening clinical quality, financial sustainability, digital innovation, and impact while preserving Summa Health's deep commitment to compassionate, community-based care.
"I'm honored to join Summa Health at such an exciting moment in its history," said Eslinger. "I am energized by the opportunity to expand access, improve outcomes and advance the future of healthcare together while staying grounded in what matters most – serving Summa Health’s consumers and members, providers and team members, and communities across Northeast Ohio."
Eslinger will succeed Daryl Tol, Acting President and CEO of Summa Health and President and CEO of HATCo, who has led the organization following Summa Health's acquisition by Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo). Tol will continue serving as President and CEO of HATCo and will work closely with Eslinger as she assumes leadership of Summa Health.
"Jennifer combines operational rigor with strategic vision and a collaborative leadership style,” said Tol. “I look forward to working with her as she leads the next chapter of our transformation, ensuring long-term sustainability and creating a more proactive, technology-enabled health system that delivers even better outcomes for all those we serve.”
Summa Health selected Eslinger through its national CEO search, following Dr. Cliff Deveny’s transition from CEO to CEO Emeritus and Strategic Advisor, effective January 1, 2026.
About Summa Health
Summa Health is one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community medical centers, a health plan, an accountable care organization, a multi-specialty physician organization, medical education, and research, we are nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa Health’s clinical services are consistently recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (Magnet status), The Joint Commission, American Hospital Association, U.S. News and World Report, Healthgrades, Thomson Reuters and The Leapfrog Group. For more information, visit summahealth.org or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/summahealth, Pinterest, pinterest.com/SummaHealth, YouTube at youtube.com/summahealthsystem, Instagram at instagram.com/summahealth TikTok at tiktok.com/@summahealth and LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/summahealth.
Summa Health Selects Jennifer Eslinger as Next President and Chief Executive Officer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican senators who had threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will support his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate allies of President Donald Trump.
The endorsement from Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis paves the way for the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche's nomination on Tuesday following a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund" created as part of the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
Cornyn and Tillis had refused to back Blanche's bid for the permanent post without written confirmation killing the fund meant to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department. The order, issued by Blanche late Sunday, came after days of negotiations between the Justice Department and the Republican senators who are leaving Capitol Hill when their terms end in January.
“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon," Cornyn, of Texas, and Tillis, of North Carolina, said in a statement.
Blanche has repeatedly said that the Justice Department was scrapping the fund, which sparked bipartisan outcry over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But skeptical lawmakers had said they were concerned that could be revived without a commitment in writing, especially because Trump has continued to defend the idea.
Blanche wrote in his order late Sunday that the department was confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”
Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, “No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,” the order says. “This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”
Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed the Justice Department to limit the scope of a separate piece of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and members of his family from tax audits. Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.
Blanche’s nomination was thrown into doubt last week after the Judiciary Committee postponed a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday morning as Tillis and Cornyn said they needed more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.
After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche’s nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year. And on Saturday the president threatened to push forward with the fund if the two Republicans blocked Blanche's nomination.
On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol and could have benefited from the fund had “their lives destroyed.”
“This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,” Trump said. “A lot of people like it.”
Blanche, who served as Trump’s defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.
Though Blanche insisted he wasn’t auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved quickly since taking the reins of the department to promote the Trump administration’s agenda and accelerate investigations into the president’s perceived foes.
FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
