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.
Noom
Geoff Cook has been tapped to lead digital health company Noom as its new chief executive officer and will join the company’s board of directors.
During Cook’s 18-year tenure as co-founder and CEO of The Meet Group, he took the company public and sat at its helm until its sale in September 2020. He led the charge as the company claimed eight years of revenue growth, integrated four social dating companies and built an enterprise economy platform. Following the company’s sale, he stayed on as co-CEO of The Meet Group’s parent company ParshipMeet Group, which owns eharmony.
Noom’s co-founder Saeju Jeong, who had led the company for the last 16 years, will stay with the company as executive chairman of the board. Noom recently launched its healthcare program Noom Med, which provides obesity care. The company’s suite of products includes Noom Weight, Noom Mood, Noom Diabetes Prevention Program and Noom for Work.
Emory Healthcare
Amaka Eneanya, M.D., has been named as the chief transformation officer for Emory Healthcare.
The newly created position will focus on patient and clinician experience enhancement. Eneanya will work to improve patient access, expand community engagements and outreach while improving the experience of clinicians. She will do so while collaborating with Emory’s diversity, equity and inclusion office to prioritize health equity in care delivery strategies.
Most recently, Eneanya filled the position of head strategy and operations in the global medical office at Fresenius Medical Care based in Bad Homburg, Germany. Previously, she sat on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as an National Institutes of Health-funded researcher, health equity leader and patient advocate.
Wellinks
Stacie Bratcher has been named the new chief executive officer of digital healthcare company Wellinks, which focuses on cardiopulmonary care.
Bratcher brings over two decades of experience to the company, most recently in the same position at home health and hospice company Jet Health. Previously, she also led Alana Healthcare, a value-based chronic condition management company focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and congestive heart failure.
In addition to being a healthcare executive, Bratcher is a licensed physician therapist who has worked in rehabilitation care in various settings including outpatient and skilled nursing in public and privately held companies. Wellinks recently announced an agreement with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware to provide integrated COPD care for their members.
Stanford
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D., will step down from his current position as president of Stanford University on Aug. 31 after an investigation into his past research drew scrutiny.
Tessier-Lavigne alleges that he was cleared of any fraud in relation to his previous research as a neuroscientist. In a statement, he wrote that while he was cleared of “any fraud or falsification of scientific data” he would step down “for the good of the university.”
However, a Stanford special committee concluded that in five papers on which the president was a principal author, some members of the related lab manipulated data or “engaged in deficient scientific practices” that resulted in “significant flaws” in the papers in question.
> UnitedHealth Group welcomed Wyatt Decker, M.D., as chief physician who most recently served as Optum Health's chief executive officer.
> Cleveland Clinic named Sarah Hatchett as its new interim chief information officer as the company’s current CIO Matthew Kull will become chief information and digital officer of Inova.
> Providence Health Plan has named Jack Hallmark as vice president of plan operations.
> Medica's president and chief executive officer John Naylor is stepping down after leading the payer for six years.
> American Hospital Association tapped Corewell Health President and CEO Tina Freese Decker as its next chair.
> The Joint Commission enterprise, an organization focused on healthcare quality improvement and patient safety, announced James Merlino, M.D., as executive vice president and chief innovation officer.
> Hyperfine, a medical device company, promoted Tom Teisseyre, Ph.D., to chief operating officer.
> Community Health Plan of Washington, a not-for-profit managed-care organization, has hired Demetria Malloy, M.D., as the new chief health officer and chief medical officer.
> Alignment Health, a consumer brand name of Alignment Healthcare, appointed Christopher Joyce as its new chief legal and administrative officer.
> Avertix Medical, a healthcare technology company, welcomed Ian Meredith to the company’s board of directors.
> EyeCare Partners announced that Daniel Miller, M.D., Ph.D., will take on the newly-created role of executive medical officer.
> Symplr, a provider of enterprise healthcare operations software, appointed Hugo Doetsch as chief financial officer.
> MemorialCare Medical Foundation, MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians all welcomed new chief executive officer David Kim, M.D., who will also fill the position of executive vice president of MemorialCare Health System’s parent entity.
> Opentrons, a provider of lab automation and maker of accessible lab robotics, appointed Gautam Prabhu as chief technology officer.
> Synergen Health, a provider of solutions for healthcare organizations, hired Robert Marinich as senior vice president of sales.
> Better Health Group, a value-based management services organization, unveiled Meghan Speidel as chief growth officer.