LEADERSHIP

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

FROM LEADERS TOWARDS NEXT GENERATIONS LEADERS

WELCOME ABOARD

 

In Synchronization with THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB Alliance System

A European-Based Global Program for 360° Next Generation Health Leadership

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE is designed to cultivate a new class of internationally minded 360° Health Captains—visionary leaders equipped with strategic foresight, ethical integrity, and systemic intelligence to guide the transition from fragmented, reactive Sickcare toward a resilient and unified LifeCare paradigm.

At the heart of this transformation is the accelerating convergence of disciplines, sectors, and technologies. Medicine, public health, data science, finance, biotechnology, policy, environmental sustainability, and digital innovation are no longer operating in isolation—they are interdependent forces, shaping a new landscape of human and planetary health.

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE prepares leaders to navigate this convergence zone with confidence and competence. We enable Health Captains to architect change where complexity, innovation, and public value intersect – we are all sitting in the same boat – facing the same challenges in the Transformation from “SickCare” towards “LifeCare”—driving together the SUPERCONVERGENCE of:

Sustainable Value-Based Healthcare

Healthy Longevity Medicine for All

Blue Zones-Inspired Community Lifecare

One Health Integrated Ecosystems

Advancing a new era of scaleable Healthspan Economy and sustainable global One Health Industry, where sustainable Medicine to expand the Healthspan is not only a medical outcome, but a shared ecological, social, and economic imperative.

Through this interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach, THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE empowers leaders to move beyond managing health systems—to strategically aligning them, designing future-ready policies, and leading value-driven transformation across borders and industries.

FROM LOCAL-, REGIONAL-, FEDERAL-, NATIONAL-, EUROPEAN-CENTERED TOWARDS

WORLD-CENTERED

INTERNATIONAL ROLE MODELS IN LEADERSHIP

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE draws on a lineage of globally respected institutions and leadership traditions. These role models anchor our ethics, shape our pedagogy, and provide benchmarks of excellence for building a globally relevant leadership culture:

  • BBUG – Baden-Badener Unternehmergespräche (Germany)
    Ethics · Responsibility · Civic Leadership

  • Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr (Germany)
    Strategy · Resilience · Mission Command

  • Historic Medical School of Hippocrates (Kos Island, Greece)
    Oath · Ethics · Lifelong Service

  • Historic Captain Schools of Föhr Island (Föhr Island, Germany)
    Navigation · Accountability · Decisive Action

  • University of St. Gallen – Unternehmerschule (Switzerland)
    Innovation · Systems Thinking · Responsible Entrepreneurship · Healthcare Management Retreat

  • INSEAD / ESMT / ETH Zurich / Harvard Kennedy School / Royal College of Defence Studies (UK)
    Global Excellence · Strategic Foresight · Interdisciplinary Impact

These institutions are cultural reference points in our shared mission: to develop leaders who act with purpose, lead with vision, and operate across boundaries to transform the future of health.

University of St. Gallen

Executive School

St. Gallen “Healthcare Management & Leadership Retreat”

FROM THE BEST LEADERS FOR THE BEST LEADERS

Executive Summary by Professor Holzgreve

From CEOs to CEOs.  From Board Members to Board Members. From Ministers to Ministers.

This is not another healthcare conference. It is a Retreat—designed exclusively for the highest decision-makers across Medicine & Health Sciences Business, Health Sciences, and Health Policy.

Led by Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Holzgreve, former CEO of the University Hospital Bonn and a proven transformation leader in both the German, Swiss, Austria (DACH), EU and International Healthcare Systems, this invitation-only retreat offers a uniquely strategic setting for open dialogue, cutting-edge insights, and effective solutions from the Best towards the Best.

Purpose

With 70% of hospitals in Germany—and a growing number in Switzerland—facing negative margins (Hospital Rating Report 2024 / KPMG Study Clearing Health.Care, 2024), the call for resilient, results-driven healthcare leadership has never been louder.

We address the core challenge: How can we lead with excellence while ensuring both medical quality and financial viability?

Why St. Gallen? Why Now?

As Professor Holzgreve states:

“Healthcare is one of the most important services which societies have to provide. In Germany the costs for medical treatment are not paid by the patients themselves, but by the “ solidarity community” of all citizens. This is a great social achievement for more than 100 years, but currently this system has to be defended, because the costs are exceeding the money available with anongoing increase of the expenditures.

Therefore in order to safeguard the highest possible quality management together with everybody in the system has to make sure that there is maximum efficiency and no waste of resources. This requires a good control of costs as well as excellent leadership, and for that purpose the training of healthcare providers has to be optimal  in medicine and economy as well.

The Healthcare  management program in the Executive School of the University of St. Gallen/ Switzerland is offering such an intensive program following the motto of lifelong learning and learning from the best”.

– Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Holzgreve, MBA

What to Expect: Executive-Level Learning in an Exclusive Format

  • Selective Participation: Limited to 15 top-tier leaders for direct, meaningful exchange.

  • More than 20 Expert Faculty: Thought leaders and practitioners from hospitals, ministries, and business.

  • Actionable Takeaways: Case studies, strategic electives, best practices, and peer exchange.

  • Lifelong Learning & Alumni Network: Annual gatherings for continued collaboration and innovation.

  • St. Gallen Excellence: #1 in the German-speaking world (FT Executive Education 2025), winner of the EFMD EIP Gold Award (“the Oscar of Executive Education”).

Strategic Philosophy: Leadership at the Interface of Medicine and Management

  • Economics serves medicine.
    We embrace the principle outlined by the Leopoldina Science Academy: Economics exists to support the goals of medicine—ensuring high-quality care within finite resources.

  • Leadership makes the difference.
    Excellence in leadership drives success—in workforce strategy, process design, digital innovation, infrastructure development, and cultural transformation.

  • Learning that transfers.
    Beginning in 2026, selected 2-day deep-dive workshops will further explore participant-driven topics, ensuring ideas translate directly into operational improvement.

Founding Vision

This program was initiated by Henri B. Meier, former CFO and Board Member at Roche, World Bank advisor, and founder of one of Europe’s largest biotech and medtech investment funds (HBM BioVentures). His legacy of entrepreneurial excellence in healthcare strategy and investment is embedded in the program’s DNA.

A High-Return Investment in Future-Proof Leadership

The St. Gallen Healthcare Management & Leadership Retreat is fully independent and financed primarily through participant fees—ensuring quality, neutrality, and focus. It is a direct investment in the future of leadership across Medicine & Health Sciences Business, Health Sciences, and Health Policy.

We invite senior decision-makers who lead with foresight, responsibility, and purpose to join us on 12–13 September 2025 at the University of St. Gallen—an institution where legacy meets leadership.

Welcome on Board: Contact Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Holzgreve
Program Director, St. Gallen Healthcare Management & Leadership Retreat
Email: wolfgang@holzgreve.net

THE 5 PILLARS OF LEADERSHIP – THE CORE FRAMEWORK

Our leadership development model is built on five synchronized pillars that reflect the competencies required to lead at the intersection of innovation, governance, and values:

1. SYNAPTING – Systems Leadership & Cross-Sector Alignment

We prepare leaders to act as system integrators—building strategic connections between public and private sectors, medical and scientific disciplines, and local and global stakeholders.

  • Multistakeholder systems thinking

  • Health diplomacy and governance across silos

  • Ecosystem design from micro to macro levels

Applied Across to built together Systemic Value: Sector Convergence as the Foundation for Lifecare Transformation: Academia · Providers · Insurers · MedTech · Digital Health · Service & Supply Chains

The health ecosystem is no longer a series of parallel industries—it is a deeply interconnected, interdependent network of stakeholders whose collective performance determines the value delivered to patients, populations, and society. From translational science to care delivery, from financing models to digital infrastructure, each sector contributes essential capabilities to a system that must now evolve from volume-driven “Sickcare” toward outcome-oriented Lifecare.

However, siloed operations, misaligned incentives, and fragmented governance remain persistent barriers to system-wide value. Addressing today’s health challenges—chronic disease, demographic shifts, digital disruption, and ecological fragility—requires convergence strategies that transcend institutional and sectoral boundaries.

To realize the full potential of Value-Based Lifecare, cross-sectoral alignment must be actively designed and led. This means fostering integrated models of innovation, financing, and delivery across:

  • Academia – Advancing translational research with measurable population health impact

  • Healthcare Providers – Delivering integrated, personalized, and preventive care at scale

  • Insurers & Payers – Driving value-based reimbursement and population risk management

  • MedTech & BioTech – Accelerating clinically relevant innovation with system integration

  • Digital Health – Enabling interoperability, data liquidity, and AI-supported decision-making

  • Service & Supply Chains – Ensuring sustainable, ethical, and resilient health infrastructure

True systems leadership recognizes that no single actor can transform healthcare alone. It requires intentional collaboration, trust-based governance, and shared accountability across all domains. Only through such strategic convergence can we unlock resilient, future-ready Lifecare systems that serve people and planet alike.

2. STRATEGY – Strategic Health Leadership & System Governance

Drawing on institutional best practices in strategic command and civil governance, we build capacity for adaptive, mission-oriented leadership in uncertain environments.

  • Foresight and scenario planning

  • Crisis and transformation governance

  • Health policy, mission clarity, and public-private strategy

Applied Across to built together Systemic Value: Sector Convergence as the Foundation for Lifecare Transformation: Academia · Providers · Insurers · MedTech · Digital Health · Service & Supply Chains

3. INNOVATION – Health Economy & Translational Acceleration

Leaders learn to scale scientific insight and entrepreneurial activity into sustainable value-based innovation that improves lives and strengthens systems.

  • Value creation through translational science

  • Entrepreneurship in complex health systems

  • Financing and scaling healthspan innovation

Applied Across to built together Systemic Value: Sector Convergence as the Foundation for Lifecare Transformation: Academic R&D · Providers · Investors · Biotech · AI & Big Data · Green & Digital Procurement

4. ETHICS – Values-Based & Planetary Health Leadership

We ground leadership in the ethics of medicine, technology, and ecology, aligned with the One Health movement and the moral imperatives of the Hippocratic tradition.

  • Health equity, access, and justice

  • AI, data ethics, and biomedical responsibility

  • Planetary boundaries and sustainable governance

Applied Across to built together Systemic Value: Sector Convergence as the Foundation for Lifecare Transformation: Research integrity · Fair care delivery · Responsible underwriting · Tech & biotech ethics · Digital trust

5. NAVIGATION – Multinational & Personal Leadership Development

Inspired by maritime leadership schools and multinational military academies, this pillar focuses on resilient self-leadership, cultural intelligence, and international collaboration.

  • Cross-border leadership

  • Crisis response and personal resilience

  • Mentorship and legacy development

Applied Across to built together Systemic Value: Sector Convergence as the Foundation for Lifecare Transformation: Global research leadership · International Health Finance · Regulatory Navigation · Cultural & Team Leadership

THE ROLE OF THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB is more than a network—it is the strategic membership platform that sustains the long-term impact of THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE. It offers a lifelong leadership journey that connects generations and sectors through shared purpose, curated chapters, and collaborative governance.

Key Features:

  • Twin-Chapters across global regions (e.g., Föhr–Kos-Islandchapter, Berlin–NY, EU–USA-Westcoastchapter, Munich-Brussels-Chapter, Francfort-Tel Aviv-Chapter, Zürich, Stockholm-Chapter, Genevea-Boston-Chapter – scaling from >5 towards >50 Twin-Chapter) for transatlantic and transcontential leadership and innovation exchange

  • Topic-Chapters focused on critical areas like One Health, Healthy Longevity, and Digital-Molecular Transformation

  • Talent-Chapters to cultivate emerging leaders and build a robust pipeline of future board members

  • Leadership Pipeline—graduates of the College are invited into the THCC Board System and impact coalitions

  • Intergenerational Network—bridging seasoned leaders and early-career pioneers for collective impact

The CLUB embodies positive value leadership: it is action-oriented, mission-driven, and designed to amplify trust, innovation, and influence across the entire health ecosystem.

CONCLUSION

THE HEALTH CAPTAINS COLLEGE, rooted in Europe and aligned with the mission of THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB, is building a global leadership movement for the transformation of health systems through 360° value-driven leadership.

“We do not simply train health leaders. We cultivate 360° Health Captains—strategic navigators, ethical stewards, and system architects—ready to lead the convergence of health, science, policy, and society into the era of LifeCare.”

“WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW”

EXPLORING THE UNEXPLORED

LEADERSHIP FOR EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE HEALTH

“360º NEXT GENERATION SUSTAINABLE VALUE-BASED LIFECARE POWERED BY NEW INNOVATIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE SUPER-CONVERGENCE IN MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES NAVIGATING US TOGETHER TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH INDUSTRY”

WELCOME ABOARD

Healthcare in Germany is funded by a long-standing solidarity system—but rising costs threaten its sustainability. Ensuring high-quality care requires efficiency, leadership, and training in both medicine and economics. The Healthcare Management program at the University of St. Gallen delivers exactly that—lifelong learning from top experts

PROFESSOR WOLFGANG HOLZGREVE

MD, PhD, MBA, Chair SG Healthcare Management Retreat

Trustee of THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB

AFFILIATES TO THE CLUB

OUR ALLIES