PROVIDENCE – Dr. Farah Shafi has been appointed chief medical officer of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island following a national search.
Shafi began her new position in June and brings demonstrated leadership and results in key areas of community and member health, including maternal health, health equity and behavioral health, Blue Cross said.
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Shafi comes to Blue Cross from Mass General Brigham Health Plan, where she worked for seven years, most recently as deputy chief medical officer. She is an obstetrician-gynecologist who has served as an attending physician at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and Atrius Health in Massachusetts and was on staff at Mount Auburn Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
She was born in Providence at the former Lying-in Hospital. She also completed her residency at its successor, Women & Infants Hospital. She was elected to serve as a chief resident and also was an assistant instructor in obstetrics and gynecology at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Shafi join BCBSRI,” said Martha L. Wofford, the insurer’s CEO and president. “She brings extensive experience as a clinician and a physician leader, which equip her to both lead our clinical team and to partner with providers throughout Rhode Island. We specifically sought a hands-on physician leader with expertise in two key areas of focus: health equity and behavioral health. We are ecstatic to have found Dr. Shafi, whose deep experience is matched only by her passion for addressing disparities.”
As the chief medical officer at Blue Cross, Shafi will take the helm of clinical affairs, overseeing the insurer’s efforts to help members manage their health, prevent disease and navigate the health care system to receive critical services. Among her areas of focus will be youth behavioral health and initiatives to address health care disparities such as colorectal cancer screening and maternal health outcomes.
“I’m excited to join this wonderful organization and to return to my personal and professional roots in Rhode Island,” said Shafi, whose family lived in Newport and Providence. “I’m eager to lead BCBSRI’s outstanding clinical services on behalf of members, which have contributed to the organization winning best-in-class service recognition. Given my clinical background, I am also passionate about advancing BCBSRI’s critically important work to respond to the nationwide adolescent behavioral health crisis and to end persistent health inequities.”
Shafi was raised in Chicago and Kentucky. She received her medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and completed her residency at Women & Infants Hospital. She received a master’s of business administration from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
She lives in Arlington, Mass., with her husband and two children.
