Beyond the Board: Joshua Bershad, MD, MBA

Even with all the leadership roles he holds today, Dr. Joshua Bershad still practices medicine. He sees patients, makes diagnoses, and manages all the details of clinical care. But over the course of his career, he became increasingly interested in another question: how can healthcare systems improve care, not for one patient at a time, but for thousands?

That perspective has defined a career that spans medicine, healthcare leadership, education, and board service. Today, Dr. Bershad serves as Executive Vice President of Physician Services for RWJBarnabas Health, Chief Medical Officer of Rutgers Athletics, and Chairman of the Board of Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurses. Through that role, he also serves as a member of VNA Health Group’s Board of Trustees.

For Dr. Bershad, those roles are connected by a common goal.

“As a physician, when I’m seeing patients, I focus solely on impacting the patient in front of me,” he said. “But as a systems leader, I am focused on the structural elements of organizations which allows me the opportunity to impact multiple patients. Sometimes I treat one patient with one disease and sometimes I work to improve the care for 100,000 people. Together it is incredibly rewarding.”

That idea—improving care at scale while remaining connected to individual patients—has guided much of his professional journey. In addition to practicing as a hospitalist, Dr. Bershad helps lead services across one of New Jersey’s largest healthcare systems. While the work looks different from direct patient care, he sees it as an extension of the same mission.

“For example, can we recruit and hire the right physicians and APPs? What are the principles we use to be successful in hiring?” he said. “It’s about organizing compensation, setting appropriate goals, and providing clinicians with the support they need to be able to serve patients while enjoying their careers. That’s the prescription for a lot of people versus the individual patient.”

Even as his responsibilities have grown, he has remained committed to practicing medicine. That connection, he believes, makes him a better leader. “I hope that physician leaders continue to practice,” he said. “You can maintain your medical knowledge if you keep up with it.”

Healthcare delivery is constantly evolving, and continuing to care for patients allows him to experience those changes firsthand. “The how of patient care changes, and changes quickly,” he explained.

As Chairman of Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurses, the joint venture between RWJBarnabas Health and VNA Health Group, Dr. Bershad has spent more than a decade helping guide the partnership. He believes its success comes from recognizing where expertise resides and empowering the right people to lead.

“As a business leader, you always want to have experts run things,” he said. “You want to have control to ensure organizational goals are accomplished, but you want to transfer tactical leadership to the best people to run it.”

That community focus is one reason Dr. Bershad has remained deeply connected to the organization. His perspective is informed not only by leadership roles, but by firsthand experience as both a physician and a user of VNA Health Group’s services.

“My family has been users of both our home care and hospice services, and my patients have been users on hundreds of occasions,” he said. “I send patients to the VNA all the time. I’m comfortable and confident in what we’re offering.”

As a physician, he has seen how important home-based care can be in helping patients recover, manage chronic conditions, and remain independent. 

“A home visit is a unique opportunity to meet a patient where they are,” he said. “There’s something special about being in a person’s sacred space, especially when you are invited in to provide care.” Those visits often provide insights that aren’t possible in other clinical settings. “There’s real power in those interactions,” he said. 

Home care also requires a unique kind of clinician. “In home care, there’s no one to call over,” he explained. “You’re the only one there. There’s a confidence required.”

He sees a similar sense of purpose among hospice clinicians, whose work often centers on helping patients and families navigate some of life’s most difficult moments.

“I find some of the most rewarding work I do is directly communicating with patients when the clinical circumstances are challenging and helping people choose the best approach to goals of care. You feel and are invited into these moments of real deep emotional challenges, and you get to help, which is an honor and a privilege.”

That ability to help—whether through direct patient care, organizational leadership, or board service—remains a constant throughout his many responsibilities.

In addition to his healthcare leadership roles, Dr. Bershad teaches at both Rutgers Medical Schools and the Rutgers Business School. He recently joined the Rutgers Business School Board of Advisors and also serves on the Board of Directors of Middlesex Water Company, a publicly traded Nasdaq company. While his schedule spans hospitals, physician practices, board meetings, classrooms, and athletic facilities, he approaches those commitments with a simple philosophy: only to stay involved where he can contribute meaningfully.

“I’ve stepped off boards when an organization needed to move in a different direction or when I did,” he said. “Overall, I’m only involved because I’m passionate about it.”

For Dr. Bershad, VNA Health Group is one of those organizations.

“I really believe in the mission,” he said. “We provide outstanding services to patients, across NJ, in many different venues, and during all phases of their lives.”

That belief is rooted in every perspective he brings to the table—as a physician, healthcare executive, educator, board leader, patient advocate, and community member. Across each role, his focus remains the same: helping create systems that enable exceptional care, while never losing sight of the people they serve.