Laura Ryan
Laura Ryan

The Joint Commission healthcare accreditation organization has named Laura Ryan, who has more than 25 years of corporate & healthcare PR experience, chief marketing & communications officer, effective Oct. 13.

She will join the Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based JC from Ruder Finn, where Ryan headed the US corporate communications practice.

Earlier, Ryan led the US corporate practice at Cohn & Wolfe, held the senior VP post in Ketchum’s healthcare practice, and worked as a director in Burson-Marsteller’s corporate group. She has counseled Cleveland Clinic, Biogen, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Before entering agency life, Ryan was external communications manager at Blue Cross & Blue Shield, and media relations manager at the American Osteopathic Association.

At the JC, Ryan will handle marketing, branding, internal/external/executive communications, digital outreach and stakeholder engagement.

Her job is to make the JC more accessible, understood and appreciated across the healthcare industry spectrum.

Ryan will report to JC CEO Jonathan Perlin. He said Ryan’s background in positioning, strategic PR and brand management "makes her the perfect choice to support our efforts in fully articulating and communicating our important story to the healthcare community and beyond."

Founded in 1951, JC enables and affirms the highest standards of healthcare quality and patient safety. It has evaulated more than 23K healthcare organizations and programs.