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PAN Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Klein announces 2021 retirement

Headshot of Dan

Dan Klein, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PAN Foundation, has announced he will step down from his position and retire by the end of 2021. Klein leaves after a seven-year tenure, where he oversaw an era of growth, expanded reach, and impact for the PAN Foundation, which is on track by the end of the year to have helped over one million seriously ill and economically vulnerable patients to pay for their critical prescription medications.  

Under Klein’s leadership, the organization provided $3.7 billion in financial assistance to patients through a portfolio of co-pay funds covering nearly 70 life-threatening, chronic, and rare diseases, launched new safety net programs to mitigate social determinants of health, directed critical COVID-19 relief efforts, built a powerful advocacy platform to call for patient-centered reforms, and fortified its financial and operational capacity.

“For the six years that I have served on the Board of Directors, I have witnessed Dan Klein lead the organization through transformation in nearly every aspect of its work,” said Susan Rucker, Chair of the PAN Foundation Board of Directors. “Challenges have not been in short supply, from a complex healthcare system that has made access to care increasingly difficult to a global pandemic that altered our world overnight. Dan has built a resilient and innovative organization that is positioned to advance its mission of serving underinsured patients in an expanded role and advocating for policy solutions that will improve healthcare access and affordability.”

Since Klein’s appointment as President and CEO in 2014, the PAN Foundation has made enormous strides thanks to his leadership. Several of his cornerstone accomplishments include:  

  • Expanding the organization’s strategic direction to offer safety net services beyond co-pay assistance and address social determinants of health, including FundFinder, a free patient assistance app with over 39,000 users; a transportation assistance program; a pilot financial navigation support program; and its first mental health co-pay assistance program.
  • Overseeing the organization’s pandemic critical relief efforts, including raising $2.7 million that helped over 8,000 patients access daily necessities during the pandemic and navigating the organization to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Bringing the organization into the policy arena for the first time, building a comprehensive advocacy platform that calls for critical healthcare reforms in Medicare Part D and commercial insurance that will lead to greater healthcare access and affordability for patients with complex and chronic diseases.
  • Guiding the development of an alliance partner program, which connects over 33,000 patients annually with education and support from leading patient support organizations.
  • Strengthening services and support offered to the healthcare provider and pharmacy community and expanding PAN’s network to 36,000 healthcare providers and pharmacies.
  • Solidifying the organization’s financial position by building efficiencies and safeguards into its program model, strengthening its development and fundraising, and diversifying its donor base.
  • Creating a best-in-class compliance program that set the industry standard for charitable patient assistance foundations.
  • Bringing the organization’s call center and technology platform in-house, quadrupling the size of the organization’s staff and gaining strategic efficiencies that will benefit the organization and the patients it serves for years to come.
  • Assembling a robust and talented executive leadership and support team that will drive the organization’s success in its next chapter.

“While it is bittersweet to depart the PAN Foundation during an exciting time in its history, it has been an honor to lead the organization through many changes and emerge stronger and more capable,” said Dan Klein, President and CEO. “I have the utmost confidence in the PAN Foundation’s Board of Directors, executive leadership, and staff to continue advancing our mission of helping patients afford their critical medical treatment.”

The PAN Foundation has started the search for its next President and CEO. A search committee within the Board of Directors has been selected to identify candidates and recommend Klein’s successor to the Board. The search committee is led by Deanna Banks, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, who brings deep expertise in executive recruitment. The PAN Foundation has retained Korn Ferry, a leading search firm for nonprofit executives in the healthcare sector, to assist the committee in the search for a new President and CEO. The position description is available here and all questions or interest should be directed to panfoundation@kornferry.com.

About the PAN Foundation 
The PAN Foundation is an independent, national 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to helping federally and commercially insured people living with life-threatening, chronic, and rare diseases with the out-of-pocket costs for their prescribed medications. 

Since 2004, we have provided nearly 1 million underinsured patients with $4 billion in financial assistance. Partnering with generous donors, healthcare providers and pharmacies, we provide the underinsured population access to the healthcare treatments they need to best manage their conditions and focus on improving their quality of life. Learn more at panfoundation.org

MEDIA CONTACT

Liz Eckert, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
Email: leckert@panfoundation.org