In this recurring article, we track the career moves of the Health Evolution community. For this version, we’re looking at who’s been on the move in July and August. If you recently made a career change, let us know here.
Providers
It was a big month for CEO transitions at major health systems. UPMC, the large integrated health system based in Pittsburgh, kicked off a flurry of CEO transitions when chief Jeffrey Romoff announced in mid-July that he was retiring. Romoff was the CEO of UPMC since 1992, overseeing the transition from an academic medical center to a fully integrated $23 billion global integrated health care delivery system. Taking his place will be Leslie Davis, who was president of the Health Services Division at UPMC before taking over as CEO on August 1. She has been with the organization since 2004 when she was president of UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.
In Early August, California-based Adventist Health announced that CEO Scott Reiner was stepping down at the end of 2020 to establish a family foundation for global health and wellbeing. Reiner has been the head of the 24-hospital Californian, faith-based system since 2014. He has been with the organization for 30 years, rising through the ranks as president and CEO of the 515-bed Glendale medical center and executive vice president/chief operations officer of Adventist Health. His career started as a registered nurse. A successor has yet to be announced.
One week after Adventist announced this CEO transition, Tenet Healthcare, one of the biggest hospital chains in the country, said that CEO Ron Rittenmeyer is stepping down and COO Saum Sutaria, MD will replace him on September 1. Rittenmeyer’s four-year tenure at the Dallas-based, $17 billion health system, which operates 60 hospitals and approximately 460 outpatient centers across the country, began in 2017. He will stay on as executive chairman of the publicly traded company through 2022. Sutaria joined the company in 2019 after previously working at McKinsey & Company. He has been one of the key executives driving the system’s efforts to increase its ambulatory surgical centers in the country, primarily through its acquisition of United Surgical Partners International (USPI). At an event earlier this year, Sutaria said that becoming the leading ASC provider in the country was one of the company’s top strategical commitments for 2021 and beyond. (Related: As investments into ASCs soar, health care leaders must navigate a new landscape).
Beaumont Health, which announced a merger with Spectrum Health in the Spring (See: Health care M&A report: The deals are coming fast and furious), said the departure of three executives including COO Carolyn Wilson, CMO David Wood, MD and Chief Quality Officer Sam Flanders, MD is part of the process for this merger. 7/21
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, an HCA Healthcare hospital in Florida, announced that CEO Mitch Mongell is retiring after eight years in the role. 7/21
Tiffany Caster was named COO of Dignity Health, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. 7/28
Mountain Health Network announced Kevin W. Yingling, MD has been selected as CEO of the health system. 7/28
Premier Health announced that Mary Boosalis, President and CEO, plans to retire around the end of the first quarter in 2022. 8/2
Hartford HealthCare announced the appointment of Chibueze Okey Agba as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. 8/5
Russell E. Armistead has been named chief executive officer of UF Health Jacksonville. He replaces Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, who tragically passed away on July 24 from a jet ski accident. Armistead steps into the role after having been retired for a few years. “Russ has an excellent track record leading UF Health Jacksonville to new heights,” said David R. Nelson, MD, senior vice president for health affairs at the University of Florida and president of UF Health. “We’re excited to welcome him back and look forward to what we’ll accomplish together.” 8/6
University of Iowa Healthcare named Mark Henrichs as its interim CEO. 8/7
Iowa Hospital Association named Christopher Mitchell as its next CEO. The Missouri Hospital Association named Jon D. Doolittle as its next president and CEO. 8/11
Payers
Former Premier CEO Susan Devore was named to the Anthem board of directors. She currently serves on the board for the UNUM Group and previously chaired the Healthcare Leadership Council and co-chaired the National Academy of Medicine’s Value and Science Driven Health Care Collaborative. 8/4
Independence Health Group named Crystal E. Ashby as its new executive vice president and chief people officer. 7/21
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin announced that Ted Osthelder has been named president of the health plan. 7/26
Blue Shield of California has hired Sarah Iselin to be executive vice president of strategy and public affairs. Iselin was previously at Guidewell, the Jacksonville, Florida-based parent of Florida Blue. 7/30
Humana named Sue Schick as the President of its Group, Military and Specialty business. 8/2
Manny Lopes, CEO of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, has left that role to join Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts as an executive. 8/11
Life Sciences
Former Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier is joining venture capital firm General Catalyst in the role of Chairman, Health Assurance Initiatives. “I have always believed in investing with purpose and General Catalyst is a firm that understands and embraces its responsibility to create meaningful outcomes for people everywhere. I am thrilled to be in a position to help bring that purpose to life at a time when people are acutely aware of the need for better, more affordable and accessible care,” Frazier said in a statement. 7/21
BlueRock Therapeutics promoted Chief Scientific Officer to the role of Seth Ettenberg, PhD taking over for Emile Nuwaysir, PhD, who is becoming the board chair. 7/26
SCA Pharma, which provides sterile admixture services to hospitals and health-care facilities nationwide, has named Scott Luce as CEO. 7/27
Landmark Bio announced the appointment of Ran Zheng as CEO. Zheng is a biotechnology industry veteran who brings more than 25 years of experience in biotechnology operations across multiple geographies to Landmark Bio. The company was previously known as the Center for Advanced Biological Innovation and Manufacturing. 7/29
Chris Takimoto, MD, PhD departed Gilead to join IGM Biosciences as chief medical officer. 7/30
HeartFlow, fresh from a $2.4 billion SPAC deal, named John Farquhar as Chief Operating Officer. He comes from Medtronic 7/4
Kalloype, a biotechnology company focused on identifying and pursuing novel therapeutics involving the gut-brain axis, appointed Jay Galeota as President and he will succeed Nancy Thornberry as CEO in October. 8/5
Kara Bickham, MD left Merck to be the CMO of Affinivax to develop a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. 8/9
Grant Bogle was named the new CEO of Epizyme taking the reins from Robert Bazemore. Bogle has been on the company’s board since 2019 was one-time chief commercial officer at Tesaro. 8/9
Tech
Signify Health, a value-based health care platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology and nationwide health care provider networks, announced the appointment of Sam Pettijohn as Chief Growth Officer and Erin Kelly as Chief Compliance Officer. 7/19
Amwell named Brandon O’Grady as its Chief Commercial and Growth Officer. He was previously at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he was President and CEO of the North American business. 7/22
Softheon, a cloud-based health insurance exchange and private exchange technology provider based in New York, announced Robert Mosquera as its new CIO and Howard Nolan as its new CFO. 7/23
Ludi added Megan Heim to its leadership team as Senior Vice President of Business Development.
Caravan Health announced the appointment of Fred Wallisch, MD as Medical Director of ACO Programs 7/27
Propsero named Bill Kayser as its new CFO and Robert Machen as its CIO. 7/27
Omada Health named Steve Cook as its new CFO. 8/2
HST Pathways, which provides cloud-based software for ambulatory surgical centers, announced it has appointed David Thawley as CEO, effective immediately. 8/4
Thirty Madison, a digital heatlh company for people with chronic conditions, announced Neil Parikh, MD will join as President of Medical Services, coming from his role as President of Oscar Medical Group.
Hydrogen Health, a joint venture between Anthem, Blackstone Growth and K Health, named Brad Kirkpatrick as the Chief Commercial Officer. He was previously serving in that role for Anthem. 8/12
