Thursday, October 29, 2026
Conference Theme: Bold Bets at Healthcare's Tipping Point
The Wharton Healthcare Alumni Association Annual Conference returns to The Inn at Penn and Huntsman Hall on October 29–30. This year's theme — Bold Bets at Healthcare's Tipping Point — reflects a defining moment of reckoning for the industry. U.S. healthcare spending has reached $5.3 trillion, now consuming 18% of GDP — a trajectory no one credibly defends as sustainable. At the same time, the healthcare consumer has fundamentally changed: more informed, more activated, and less willing to accept the friction and opacity that legacy systems were built around. An aging population is compressing the timeline, demanding that care delivery, population health, and access models evolve faster than the institutions designed to serve them. And AI is not waiting — it is already accelerating how we think about diagnostics, care delivery, population management, and drug development, while raising urgent and unresolved questions about ethics, bias, and responsible adoption. Political headwinds and intensifying government scrutiny are simultaneously redrawing the rules of engagement across payers, providers, and life sciences.
This is not a moment to optimize incrementally or wait for clarity that may never come. The responsibility falls on us — as Wharton & Penn-trained healthcare leaders — to place deliberate, informed bets that shape what comes next, not scramble to catch up after AI, policy, and consumer expectations have already moved on. If you have a bold perspective on where healthcare must go, we want you in the room.
Registration:
Early-bird discount of $50 off available through September 16, 2026
-
WHAA Current Member:
- $300 - Early-Bird
- $350 - Regular price after Sept. 16
-
WHAA Current Member: Recent Grad (Class of ’26, ’25, ’24, ’23) /Fully Retired/Patron Member
- $150 - Early-Bird
- $200 - Regular price after Sept. 16
-
Penn/Wharton Student - Master's and PhD only
- $150 - Early-Bird
- $200 - Regular price after Sept. 16
-
WHAA Non-Member and guest of conference attendee*
- $400 - Early-Bird
- $450 - Regular price after Sept. 16
Note that the Conference ticket includes Thursday reception and Friday breakfast & lunch, but does not include registration for the Alumni Dinner on Thursday evening. Please purchase a separate ticket for the dinner.
*Guests of conference attendee: Please email our club administrator at [email protected] with the name of the Wharton alum conference attendee who is sponsoring your attendance
Alumni Dinner:
- $130 per person
The Thursday evening dinner fosters meaningful networking and relationship-building among alumni, speakers, and industry leaders before the formal conference program begins.
Lodging:
A Room Reservation Block is available at The Inn at Penn
Contact Information:
For more information, contact the 2026 WHAA Alumni Conference Chairs:
Ryan Berger, WG’06: [email protected]
Hailey Ji, WG’24: [email protected]
** Registration to the conference is limited to Wharton and University of Pennsylvania alumni who work in health care, current Wharton and Penn Master & PhD students, and guests invited by a conference attendee or the Wharton Healthcare Alumni Association.
