Randall L. Rutta

Chief Executive Officer  |  [email protected]

Randall “Randy” Rutta is a senior health care executive dedicated to policy-to-practice solutions that interpret, influence, and improve federal and state health care policies to enhance public and private sector health care innovation, outcomes, and efficiency.  

 Rutta joined the National Health Council (NHC) in February 2021 as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Rutta leads the NHC, as it enters its second century, with the goal of affecting change across the entire health system and promote increased access to affordable, high-value, sustainable health care. The NHC brings diverse organizations together to forge consensus and drive patient-centered health policy, and Rutta inspires the NHC staff to implement a Board-driven strategic plan and public policy and advocacy efforts.

Prior to joining the NHC, Rutta was the President & CEO of the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association (AARDA), a national organization dedicated to addressing the problem of autoimmunity, the major cause of more than 100 serious chronic diseases. AARDA initiated and hosts the 40-member National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups and is a longtime member of the NHC. Prior to his role as President & CEO, he served as AARDA’s Federal Policy Consultant since March 2018.

Rutta served as Principal at ConnectHealth, LLC a Washington, DC-based consulting services company that he established in 2017 to provide strategic insight and support in achieving objectives across the health care eco-system. 

In 2017, Rutta transitioned from the position of President and CEO at Easterseals, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the health, well-being, and success of people with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and families. For most of his 36 years at Easterseals, he was located in Washington, DC, at the organization’s Office of Public Affairs, overseeing federal and state legislative and regulatory activities, federal grant development, and international knowledge exchange. His career experience has been in acute care, health care quality assurance, and health policy development and implementation.  

Rutta is currently a Board member of Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD), a not-for-profit collaborative initiative benefiting patients and health stakeholders by designing a patient-centered health care system WITH patients and all stakeholders. He is also a member of the Board of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), a public-private partnership developed to work with government and industry stakeholders in an effort to advance solutions that promote patient access to innovative medical technologies. 

Rutta holds a Master of Arts in Politics, focusing on international health policy, from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.