“Haven worked best as an incubator for ideas, a place to pilot, test and learn – and a way to share best practices in our companies,” added Dimon.
Business and Economy
Haven appointed Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon affiliated with Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who also writes for The New Yorker, as chief executive for much fanfare. At the time, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, acknowledged the high degree of difficulty in the Haven mission.
“Success will require expert knowledge, a beginner’s mind and long-term guidance,” he said.
But since then, there have been few public signs of what Haven was doing. And in May, when the coronavirus pandemic swept the country, Dr. Gawande stepped down as chief executive and became chairman. Haven said he plans to look for a new chief executive, although he never hired one.
Healthcare and delivery costs have been a major concern for the three companies, but mostly for Amazon, which has embarked on a wave of unparalleled hiring. The online retailer, which declined to comment on the closure of Haven, is testing its own primary care clinics for workers in its warehouses. The company said this summer that it expects to start with 20 clinics in five cities where it has major operations, providing access to care for more than 115,000 warehouse employees.
Some of the ideas generated by Haven employees have been tested by the three companies, according to a person familiar with the collaboration. JPMorgan, for example, tested telemedicine options – which became much more popular after the coronavirus pandemic forced the country into confinement last spring – for employees in Ohio and Arizona, the two states where it has the most employees outside of New York .
The bank also tested a program that allows employees to assess the cost of a test or medical appointment before it occurs, so that they can better prepare themselves to pay their medical bills, the person said.