Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Rhapsody
Sagnik Bhattacharya has been appointed as the newest CEO of Rhapsody, a leader in healthcare interoperability, succeeding former CEO Erkan Akyuz.
He will be tasked with enabling the “transmission, reconciliation and transformation of healthcare data” helping organizations break down silos and improve patient care, according to a press release.
Most recently, Bhattacharya served as executive vice president and general manager of HealthEdge, where he led the company’s product solutions for payers. He also worked at PatientPlug and Epic. Currently, he serves on the advisory board and board of directors for Carequality.
CareRev
CareRev, a technology platform that guides healthcare facilities in reimagining how they acquire and manage staff, has promoted Susan Pasley as the company’s first chief nursing officer.
She previously served nearly two years as vice president of clinical solutions and will now help shape CareRev’s overall strategy, including management of its new tool, Flexwork.
Pasley founded In The Business of Nursing earlier this year and has worked in leadership roles for PointClickCare, Bravado Health and Press Ganey Associates. She got her start as a pediatric RN at Memorial Hospital of South Bend.
Edifecs
Health IT solutions company Edifecs has named Summerpal Kahlon, M.D., as its chief medical officer.
Kahlon is expected to help all teams at Edifecs shape clinical strategies and policies, according to a news release. He has a strong background in improving value-based care through implementation of electronic health records, data interoperability and applied AI.
Previously, he served a vice president of value analytics at Change Healthcare and as vice president for clinical implementation and adoption at Jvion. He works part-time as a staff physician of infectious diseases at the Veterans Administration and has been an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Central Florida for nearly 13 years.
> Trinity Health Michigan has promoted Shannon Striebich from hospital president and senior vice president of operations to president and CEO of the Trinity Health Michigan market.
> Fivos, a data solution for specialty providers, medical registries and device manufacturers, has named Eric Nilsson as CEO as the company bids farewell to former CEO Jay Colfer.
> Scotland Health Care System in North Carolina has selected David Pope as the system’s newest president and CEO.
> AccentCare, a post-acute health care provider, has announced Laura Tortorella will join the organization as CEO once Steve Rodgers steps down beginning in 2024.
> HealthVerity, a technology company that provides tools for integration of patient data sets, has named John Eckhart as chief technology officer.
> Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has tapped Alan Wayne, M.D., as senior vice president of academic affairs and pediatrician-in-chief.
> GoHealth Urgent Cares, a consumer-centric healthcare company, has announced Sarah Arora as its new chief operating officer.
> Emory University has named Joe Dep as its inaugural chief data and analytics officer to support the university’s healthcare data infrastructure.
> MetroPlusHealth, a health plan in New York City, has tapped Mary DiGangi as the company’s chief people officer.
> Penn Presbyterian Medical Center has named Bob Russell as acting CEO, a position he has held in the interim since September 2022, succeeding Michele Volpe.
> Thirty Madison, a specialty care company, has welcomed Gil Shklarski as its newest chief technology officer.
> Jefferson Health – East, which oversees three acute care hospitals in New Jersey, has named Aaron Chang as president to manage daily operations.
> Community Health Systems, a network of providers for healthcare services across 15 states, has appointed retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess Jr. to its board of directors.
> Turquoise Health, a SaaS platform for price transparency, has hired Jenn Misora as vice president of customer success.
> Commonwealth Care Alliance, a healthcare services organization offering health plans and care delivery programs for people with significant needs, has named Thomas Glynn to the board of directors.
> athenahealth, a healthcare technology company, has announced Neville Zar as the company’s senior vice president of revenue cycle management.
> WellSpan Health, an integrated delivery system focused on value-based care, has named Aaron Gillingham as senior vice president and chief people officer.
> Brightside Health, a mental health service provider, has tapped Julia Bernstein as COO, previously holding leadership roles at Thirty Madison, Tempest, Beacon Health Options and Ginger.
> Phoenix Children’s Hospital has named Maegan Wallace, M.D., a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Herbert J. Louis Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
> Wellvana, a value-based care technology company serving physicians, specialists and health systems in 22 states, has appointed Elizabeth Canis as the company’s first COO.
> Maven, a virtual clinic for women’s and family health, has named Hiba Sher Khan, M.D., as the company’s newest medical director in the U.K.