Hannah Hartung is a healthcare operations executive with a career built on connecting clinical insight to enterprise performance. She began her career as a physical therapist, grounding her leadership approach in patient-centered care and frontline realities. Today, she serves as Vice President, Population Health Clinical Operations at Centene Corporation, leading Medicare and Duals care management operations and reimagining integrated models of care. Prior to joining Centene, she was the Senior Vice President of Clinical and Customer Service Operations at Evolent Health, where she led teams through multiple acquisitions and integrations, overseeing end-to-end operations across multiple business units.
How did your career in healthcare start? Have you always been passionate about this area, or did it happen by chance?
A career in healthcare itself was intentional; the physical therapist path, and then my route into managed care, were a series of chances. After completing my Doctorate in Physical Therapy, I went on to work in inpatient rehab, outpatient orthopedics, and pediatrics therapy settings… and bartended at my now husband’s family bar on the weekends – the start of a second series of chances in my career.
My pivot into “the business side of healthcare” came one chance-filled Friday Fish Fry at the bar when I was chatting with a customer about healthcare. A woman down the bar overheard our conversation and asked, “What do you do besides bartend?” I told her that I was a physical therapist. She offered me a job before knowing my name, and after trusting my gut to give it a go, I “accidentally” found my way into managed care.
You’ve attributed much of your growth and career success to “check yourself” moments. Can you share a recent check-in or learning that led to a win for you or your team?
In the fall of 2024, I had reached what I thought was my stride with my team, my role, and my career. I was newly pregnant for the third time, had gone through two years of integrating five operational teams, and we were finally starting to gel and find our groove. Then, in the same week, I was faced with a proposed restructure and a “surprise, it’s twins!”
In both instances, my mouth spoke before my brain could restrain it. On the twin front, my jaw may still be on the floor of that ultrasound room. On the job front, before I could even think it through, I knew – and voiced – that it would be my time to move on.
Throughout the transition period, I kept waiting for that “oh, crap” moment of “I am about to have four kids, no job, and no backup plan,” but it never came. I witnessed my team stepping up and taking charge. I felt proud and at peace with us all spreading our wings.
Personally, the “check myself” was trusting my heart and my gut. Professionally, the “check myself” was realizing that by stepping back, I allowed and empowered so many others to step forward.
You spent time navigating the patient and patient advocate experience last year. How have those perspectives shaped the way you approach your professional role today?
In May 2025, one of our twins, Jacob, was born with a congenital heart defect. From diagnosis to open-heart surgery at three weeks old and beyond, we learned what “it takes a village” truly meant: it isn’t just personal, it can and should include your healthcare team.
Having spent the last decade building and operationalizing products and programs that tout provider and patient experience, I had never really truly endured a meaningful volume of care on the patient side. I’d said those words – compassionate care, collaborative care, patient-centered care – but I had never really known what that should feel like. They were not just “providers;” they were part of the physical and emotional infrastructure that held us together.
I also learned that healthcare literacy and proximity to resources are true gifts when navigating complex care. Walking a mile in Jacob’s shoes reminded me why I got into “the business side of healthcare” to begin with.
Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?
As a mom of four, I enjoy running marathons as my source of sanity. I often get asked how I find the time for training with four kids, to which I usually respond, “Wouldn’t you enjoy three hours of alone time outside on a Saturday morning if your house had four kids in it?”
