Bernard S. Fellner Digital Essays

Bernard S. Fellner spent nearly 18 years as the chief financial officer at National Jewish Hospital (NJH). He began a career in financial management at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and then worked at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. National Jewish Hospital began as a tuberculosis sanitorium and was free to all patients. When Bernard Fellner arrived in 1980, NJH had only recently begun to charge for treatment and had deep financial problems. He helped make NJH solvent during the transition of NJH from inpatient to outpatient treatment of asthma. National Asthma Center was absorbed by National Jewish Hospital in 1978 and the remaining asthmatic children were transferred to NJH for treatment. Bernard Fellner began a bequest program and qualified the NAC asthmatic child patients for payments by governmental and private insurers. While he was at National Jewish, Bernard Fellner worked for four chief executive officers: Richard Bluestein, Michael Schonbrun, Len Perlmutter, and Dr. Lynn Taussig. He was an active member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association for over 50 years. In 1997, Fellner left National Jewish Hospital and went to work for Medicare and Medicaid Services.