Dr. Cyrus Batheja serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ecumen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing aging services through innovative housing, health care, and community-based services for older adults.
A registered nurse and experienced health care executive, Dr. Batheja brings more than two decades of leadership experience focused on creating solutions to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. His work has consistently centered on accelerating pioneering care models, strengthening workforce capacity, and aligning mission, strategy, and operations to create lasting community benefit. He often describes his leadership philosophy as grounded in a simple principle: creating homes we would be proud to live in and providing care we would be grateful to receive.
Prior to joining Ecumen, he held senior leadership roles at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, including serving as National Vice President of Nursing at OptumRx, where he led a team of more than 1,500 nurses delivering critical therapies across the United States. Across these roles, he helped advance population health strategies and innovation at scale while building high-performing teams grounded in mission-driven leadership.
Dr. Batheja earned his ADN from Normandale College, his BSN and MBA from Augsburg University, and his Doctorate from the University of St. Thomas. As a community leader, in 2016, he was inducted into the University of Minnesota’s, Sigma, Zeta Chapter. He currently serves on several academic and healthcare boards, including: the University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing, Dean’s Board of Visitors; Normandale College’s Foundation Board; the Augsburg University’s Board of Regents; and the board of the Creative Nursing Journal, an international peer-reviewed publication. He has received the 2019 UnitedHealth Group Sage of Clinical Service Award, Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine 2013 award in Administrative Nursing Leadership, and he is a 2012 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year. In addition, Dr. Batheja is a 2021 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.