Penn Medicine has named Julia Puchtler Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), expanding the role she has held since 2024. “Julia has been an exceptional leader and trusted advisor during a period of extraordinary change and complexity across health care,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of UPHS. “Her strategic vision, sound judgment, and deep commitment to our mission have strengthened Penn Medicine’s position and helped ensure that we can continue investing in our people and the patient care, research, and education that define our organization.”
About Julia Puchtler
Puchtler has served as CFO of UPHS since 2024; the new EVP title formally extends her remit beyond financial stewardship into shaping the health system’s long-term organizational direction and enterprise-wide priorities. “It is a privilege to work alongside colleagues who are deeply committed to Penn Medicine’s mission and the communities we serve,” Puchtler said. “I look forward to continuing our work to steward our resources responsibly, navigate the challenges ahead, and create the financial foundation that allows our teams to advance care, discovery, and education.”
Before being named CFO of UPHS, Puchtler served as CFO of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) from 2019 to 2024. She joined Penn Medicine in 2015 as Vice President for Financial Operations and Budgeting. Earlier in her career, she held senior financial positions at Trinity Health and Catholic Health East, which merged into Trinity Health in 2013, and began her career in the health care assurance and advisory business services practice at Ernst & Young.
Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, also praised Puchtler’s leadership. “Julia Puchtler’s leadership has helped strengthen Penn Medicine’s ability to advance our integrated missions of patient care, research, and education,” Epstein said. “She combines exceptional financial expertise with a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing academic medicine. Her leadership has been instrumental in ensuring that Penn Medicine can continue making strategic investments that support both the clinical enterprise and our research and education missions.”
Puchtler holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Accountancy from the University of Virginia, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
About Penn Medicine
Penn Medicine is an $11.9 billion enterprise comprising the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, established in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school. The health system includes the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital — the nation’s first hospital, chartered in 1751 — along with Penn Medicine at Home, behavioral health facilities, and rehabilitation services spanning from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. Penn Medicine employs nearly 49,000 faculty and staff and has pioneered advances including CAR T-cell therapy, Nobel Prize-winning mRNA vaccine technology, and gene therapy for blindness.
