For Harry R. Jacobson, MD, life after Vanderbilt has involved scouting out and evaluating investment opportunities in healthcare—locally, nationally and now globally. As part of his new executive role as chairman of MedCare Investment Funds, a private investment firm, Jacobson recently traveled to Dubai in the Middle East, and he plans to visit India as MedCare sets up a company to help other nations build and manage their healthcare systems. "We want to help decide what's needed, where, and facilitate the construction and financing," said Jacobson, vice chancellor for health affairs and chief executive of Vanderbilt University Medical Center before retiring nearly two years ago. "What we really want to do is operate these facilities and manage them." Jacobson's latest venture reflects how more players in Nashville's healthcare industry are looking at opportunities to export business models such as the private management of hospitals, disease management and outpatient surgery centers to other countries.
