It’s an annual tradition for a cohort of people in suits and lanyards to flood Union Square in early January for the high-powered J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, now in its 43rd year.
But longtime attendees noticed a difference Monday: The overwhelming security presence at the venue — the Westin St. Francis hotel — was hard to miss.
“There was a lot of security, not just at the gate, but inside too — I was amazed,” said healthcare executive and investor Pankaj Singhal, who quipped that he’s attended the conference for “too many” years. “I’ve never seen armed police inside the hotel before.”
Conference organizers and the San Francisco Police Department ramped up security in the wake of the December shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The SFPD said in a statement that it had canceled some officers’ time off “to ensure that sufficient officers are on hand throughout the conference” and that the entirety of the four-day event will be “fully staffed.”
Singhal didn’t feel skittish about potential threats, in part because the conference isn’t focused on health insurance. He felt Union Square seemed slightly less crowded than usual — there were empty places to sit! — though he wasn’t sure if that meant fewer attendees or better organization.
Metal barriers lined the entrance to the Westin St. Francis, which was flanked by private security guards checking badges and watched over by clusters of cops across the street.
The suspect in Thompson’s killing, Luigi Mangione, has been lauded by some as a folk hero fighting back against the insurance industry. The specter of copycats has spurred some healthcare companies to heighten security for their execs.
Eleven large firms — including insurer Cigna, healthcare provider Centene, and pharmacy chain Walgreens — dropped out of the conference in the wake of the shooting, according to Stat News.
Some attendees are on higher guard. Bausch & Lomb CEO Brent Saunders told the Wall Street Journal he expects to travel by car between engagements at the conference, instead of walking.
“You’re paying for those guys to be there,” he said of his private security. “Let them do their job.”
The SFPD said it did not have information about “any credible threats to San Francisco” but was working with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to keep the event safe.
For biotech CEO Gjalt Huisman, who has been attending the event for more than a decade, personal security has rarely been top of mind. But this year was different.
“I didn’t initially feel nervous, but I got a message from a friend this morning saying, ‘Be vigilant,’” Huisman said. He spotted the increase in security around Union Square, but the biggest surprise to him Monday was the sunshine.
“I’ve been here when it’s pouring rain every day, so this is fantastic,” he said. A South Bay resident, he saw the beautiful day and clean square as evidence that San Francisco is a great place for conferences and other events.
JPM (as attendees call the conference) kicks off what looks to be a more robust year of convention bookings in San Francisco. Mayor Daniel Lurie has promised to make the city safer and cleaner, and this conference is a first test. It comes on the heels of a months-long hotel strike that threatened to derail the event.
While Unite Here Local 2 canceled plans to protest outside the conference upon winning a contract that included pledges around healthcare benefits, other groups gathered Monday afternoon in Union Square. The non-violent protest included speeches by healthcare workers and advocates.
“Our message is that J.P. Morgan, United, and the privateers who run the healthcare system are the cause of this healthcare crisis,” said Steve Zeltzer, a protest organizer and spokesman for the far-left United Front Committee for a Labor Party. His group aimed to make conference attendees question their complicity in the system.
“The majority of people in this country are fed up and angry, which is why a lot of them supported the action of Luigi,” he said of the shooting suspect. “We don’t think individual action is the solution, but the murder exposed that people in this country are fed up with a healthcare system that is basically denying people what they need to increase profits.”
On Day One of the conference, business seemed to be progressing as usual. The day started with deal announcements from Big Pharma companies Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi. One attendee, lawyer Matthew Hurd, said he expects that the usual slate of deals will be rolling out — and happening behind the scenes — as the conference continues.
“There’s more security in front of the conference, but the police are in a good mood, and no one seems tense,” he said. “Everyone’s happy. It helps that it’s a sunny day.”
The only somberness he sensed was the area’s empty storefronts.
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, a healthtech founder and professor who said he was within blocks of the site where Thompson was shot in New York, wasn’t surprised at the heightened security presence but didn’t feel jittery.
He had heard that attendance was down slightly but hadn’t noticed much of a difference from last year and found that the L.A. wildfires have been more of a topic of conversation than the killing.
“It was tragic when that happened, but it feels like the [industry’s] recovery from that was kind of fast,” he said. “There were some increased nerves and security, but you don’t want it to stay like that forever.”
For Ben Bradford, head of external affairs for trade association MassBio, the added security has been notable. “It’s certainly been a conversation,” he said. “Whether or not CEOs want additional protections, some boards of directors are mandating it.”
For him, the biggest question coming out of this conference will be whether the optimism that started to creep back into the industry last year will continue.
“2023 was, in many people’s eyes — mine included — the bottom for the healthcare industry,” he said. “There was incremental growth last year, and we’re hopeful that that continues this year.”
Singhal echoed that, noting that the tenor of the presentations he’d attended and conversations he’d had Monday had been as sunny as the weather: “There’s optimism this year, for sure.”