Meet Jonathan Bush

Jonathan’s family first came to Maine in the 1870s. His wife Fay’s family has been in Maine since the 1600s. Those Maine roots have shaped who Jonathan is, and have guided him throughout his life. As he likes to say, “Even when my ass is somewhere else, my heart is always in Maine.”

Jonathan served as an EMT in inner-city New Orleans during college

Jonathan drove an ambulance and served as an EMT in New Orleans during college. He took a break from his studies at Wesleyan University to enlist as a combat medic in the U.S. Army during the first Gulf War. The war ended before he was deployed, and he went back to school to earn his BA in Social Studies, and later his MBA from Harvard Business School.

During the first Gulf War, Jonathan joined the US Army as a medic

Jonathan’s experience as an EMT and Army Medic were the sparks for what became a lifelong passion for improving the American health care system. He and his cofounder started Athena Women’s Health in 1997, literally in his basement. The company evolved into athenahealth and specializes in healthcare technology. Jonathan’s company literally brought thousands of doctors onto the internet, and forever changed the industry.

In 2008, Jonathan moved the corporate operations center for athenahealth to Belfast, Maine. Starting with six employees in the vacated MBNA credit card processing building, Jonathan and his team built the operation up to eventually employ 1,000 Mainers.

athenahealth took over an abandoned credit card office in Belfast and grew to employ 1,000 Midcoast Mainers

athenahealth grew from that basement startup to a multi-billion dollar public company with Jonathan at the helm. He has been credited with visionary change in the health care technology world, and was named “CEO of the Year” by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council in 2013, as well as the Ellen M. Zane Award for Visionary Leadership from the Tufts Medical Center in 2016.

In 2020 Jonathan founded Zus Health, a “next-generation shared health data platform.” Zus provides a platform that helps doctors and clinics see all of a patient’s health information in one place — including their insurance, care team, and medications. 

Jonathan has been active in recruiting dozens of businesses to Maine. He’s been an outspoken advocate for Maine, and launched a non-profit called Maine for Keeps to dig into the root causes of Maine’s economic challenges. He hosts a weekly podcast called “Maine for Keeps with Jonathan Bush,” featuring interviews with a wide array of Maine business owners and community leaders, as well as national figures who have ideas to share about getting Maine back on track.

Jonathan’s five oldest kids are grown up now, but he and Fay are still busy with the two youngest kids, Willa (6) and Jonny (4), at home in Cape Elizabeth.