Korn Ferry announced Jena Abernathy has joined the firm as a senior client partner and sector leader of Healthcare Board Services in the firm’s Healthcare practice.

Abernathy joins Korn Ferry from a global search and advisory firm where she was a consultant in the firm’s CEO, Board, and Healthcare Services practices. Prior to this, Abernathy served as managing partner of the board services practice for a national executive search firm. In addition to her board experience, she has led CEO and C-suite executive searches for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, foundations, associations, private equity clients, and other healthcare-related organizations.

Before her leadership advisory career, Abernathy was Chief Administrative Officer for Premier, a performance improvement national alliance of hospitals and health systems. There, she was responsible for developing, implementing, and managing human resources services and solutions. 

Earlier in her career, Abernathy led change and transformation roles in senior executive management positions with McKesson General Medical Corporation and Fisher Scientific International. She started her career with senior-level executive management roles in finance, distribution, manufacturing, and healthcare services companies.