Michele Hart-Henry Joins Connelly Partners Health as Managing Director

Integrated Agency Brings Its ‘Defiantly Human’ Approach to Healthcare Marketing

Independent agency Connelly Partners (CP) has hired Michele Hart-Henry as Managing Director of its Connelly Partners Health (CP Health) practice. Building off of the agency’s work in healthcare over the past two decades, CP Health launched in 2021 as a dedicated practice and part of the agency’s integrated offering. After early wins and work for clients like Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, FluidEdge, and the Public Health Institute’s Tracing Health COVID tracing initiative, Michele joins the team to lead the practice into its next phase of growth. Tapping into her expertise across healthcare delivery, health technology, ancillary health products and services, and health insurance, Michele will reshape CP Health’s strategic direction and expand opportunities for brands across the health and wellness spectrum, as well as internationally. 

“Based on all that COVID has wreaked around the world and in the marketplace, we are at the right time to bring Connelly Partners’ Defiantly Human approach to healthcare – to protect the the voice of the consumer and build relationships among brands and their audiences around shared values,” said Michele Hart-Henry. “Our goal is to engender good health by connecting people to what they need to ensure that their health isn’t a limitation, but rather, an asset.” 

Before joining CP Health, Michele was Director of JPL Health, creating its first-ever health care vertical for the mid-size independent agency with offices across the Northeast. In addition, Michele led Nashville-based Decode Health through a repositioning as it turned its AI and machine learning capabilities from chronic disease management to also predicting the risk of COVID-19 spread.  She also helped grow employer-sponsored onsite healthcare provider, CHD Meridian Healthcare, into a unique care delivery powerhouse. That company was eventually acquired by Walgreens. She has also held positions across Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Wilmington Trust Company (financial services); Ameritox (specialty lab services); Lingraphica (assistive technology, apps, software and tele-speech therapy); Blood Bank of Delmarva (blood products and testing services); and a long-term consulting role with Healthstat (onsite healthcare provider). 

“2022 was a great first year for formalizing our health practice and bringing all of our health, Pharma, and wellness experience together into one dedicated unit. CP Health grew to being ranked as one of the 100 top health agencies to watch in the country this year,” said Steve Connelly, president and copywriter, Connelly Partners. “Michele has the requisite energy, experience and vision to take CP Health to the next level and we are over the moon excited to have her join us.”

As the practice has grown, so too has the team. Mary McMahon, based out of CP’s European hub in Dublin, Ireland, has been named Group Strategy Director for the Connelly Partners global network. While she remains part of the Dublin leadership team overseeing strategy projects, Mary will also be leading strategy for CP Health, which will be soon expanding into Europe. 

CP Health provides a fully integrated healthcare marketing capability to holistically develop and measure strategy and creativity through implementation, optimizing campaigns with efficiency and effectiveness. With offices in Boston, Dublin and Vancouver, the agency provides global perspective and integration, while delivering local expertise based on clients’ needs.

“Nothing is more defiantly human than our need to be seen, heard and respected as individuals with unique care needs and unique life  goals,” Hart-Henry said. “We exist to facilitate connections among people and the products, services, providers and therapies they need to achieve those life goals. Connelly Partners, more than any agency I’ve known or worked with, understands that good health starts with recognizing the value of all of those in the vast healthcare ecosystem.”

Michele joining CP closes the loop on a relationship she started with the agency more than a decade ago when she selected the firm in a national search for a new agency for her then-employer, an international financial services organization.