We have exceptional teams across our departments to work with in developing strategies and plans to enhance our capabilities and move us forward.
— Rick McCarthy

He may be UConn Health’s new chief information officer, but he’s not new to UConn.

Thirty-two years after captaining the UConn men’s swim team and graduating with a bachelor’s in health systems management, Rick McCarthy returns to the University to lead the UConn Health Information Technology Department.

“Rick has a proven record of implementing effective IT solutions in hospitals and in the U.S. Navy,” says Dr. Bruce T. Liang, interim UConn Health CEO. “We look forward to his leadership and his strategic health care IT expertise as we meet the growing demands of our expanding academic health system.”

Over his time between Storrs and Farmington, McCarthy has held IT leadership positions in both civilian and military medical institutions. He spent the last four years as CIO of White Plains Hospital, where he reconfigured the IT infrastructure and oversaw the transition to the Epic electronic health record system, which UConn Health adopted in 2018.

“When I was looking for a new opportunity and saw UConn Health was looking for a new CIO, I jumped at the chance to apply,” McCarthy says.

McCarthy says the biggest challenges in health care IT include getting the most out of technology and securely handling patient data transmitted from outside traditional health care settings by way of smartwatches, smartphones, and personal medical monitoring and other devices.

“UConn Health is positioned well,” he says. “Most importantly, we have a great IT team that manages and supports our IT systems.  Secondly, we have some of the best systems (e.g. Epic) that are a foundation to taking advantage of these technologies. Lastly, we have exceptional teams across our departments to work with in developing strategies and plans to enhance our capabilities and move us forward.”

McCarthy served in the Navy from 1991 to 2012, retiring with the rank of commander. He served in various capacities both domestically and overseas, including CIO at a naval hospital in Italy, medical CIO for the Pentagon Joint Staff, director of corporate information assurance and IT security at the Navy’s corporate medical headquarters in Washington, D.C., and chief operating officer at a NATO trauma center in Afghanistan.

“I was fortunate in that the Navy Medical Service Corps trained me to be a leader, a health care administrator and a health care technologist.” McCarthy says. “That experience is the foundation by which I am able to work with our UConn Health executives and leaders to plan for our future and deliver systems that support our strategic and operational priorities, all while enabling our staff and our patients to have a positive user experience.”

McCarthy lives in Monroe with his wife, Joelle, and three children, Beth, Lauren, and Zachary. He succeeds Dr. Adam Buckley, who had been serving as UConn Health’s interim CIO since July 2021.