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.
Clover Health
CFO Scott Leffler has left Medicare Advantage insurer Clover Health to take the same position at Myriad Genetics, a genetic testing and precision medicine company. He will replace retiring CFO Byran Riggsbee.
Clover Health has named Terrance Ronan as interim CFO, effective Jan. 27, according to an 8-k filing. Ronan served as executive vice president and CFO for Purdue Pharma from 2021 to 2023 and Atlantic Power Corporation from 2012 to 2021. Clover will pay $195,000 monthly to a subsidiary of AlixPartners, LLP, where Ronan was serving as an independent contractor while its search committee looks for a permanent solution.
Before joining Clover, Leffler spent eight years with PolyOne. He most recently served as CFO for Sotera Health in Broadview Heights, Ohio. At Myriad Genetics, he will be tasked with leading the company’s financial strategy.
Oracle Health
Changes are taking place at Oracle Health, a health data management company.
On Jan. 4, healthtech studio Aegis Ventures announced Oracle chairman David Feinberg, M.D., as senior advisor. Feinberg will retain his role at Oracle and his senior advisor position at Aegis is expected to be "complementary and synergistic to his ongoing leadership role at Oracle," the company said.
Additionally, John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO Emeritus of Mayo Clinic, will chair the Digital Consortium, a group of health systems.
The same day, MultiPlan, a healthcare data analytics tech provider, named Travis Dalton as president and CEO, effective March 1. He replaces Dale White, who will now serve as executive chair. Dalton was previously general manager for Oracle. He spent 21 years at Cerner Corporation before the health IT organization was acquired in a $28 billion deal in June 2022.
UI Health Care
The University of Iowa and UI Health Care has hired Deborah Berini, a senior consultant for Chartis, as chief integration officer and interim chief administrative officer.
Her primary task will be integrating Mercy Iowa City, which was sold to the University of Iowa in bankruptcy court in November, with UI Health Care.
Berini has served for various universities. Notably, she was administrative director for the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, associate vice president for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, chief operating officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and president of the Penn State Health Milton Hershey Medical Center.
> CVS Health has named Tom Cowhey, its interim CFO, to the role permanently. The company is giving the full-time title to Oak Street Health CEO Mike Pykosz as well, Fierce Healthcare reports.
> Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a law practice based in Los Angeles, California, has welcomed Tracy Johnson, M.D., as the firm’s newest managing director for its health care group.
> Linkwell Health, a consumer engagement technology company in healthcare, has named Jim Polittle as chief growth officer.
> Healthy.io, an Israel-based medical device company for at-home kidney tests and wound care services, has named Geoff Martin as the company’s newest CEO. Former CEO Yonatin Adiri will serve as president.
> NextGen, a healthcare technology and data solutions company for ambulatory providers, has promoted Srinivas Velamoor to president and chief operating officer. James Hammerschmidt has been named CFO, replacing the retiring Jamie Arnold.
> Memorial Hospital in Guymon, Oklahoma announced that its CEO, William Ermann, and three board members would be resigning after as the hospital faces financial difficulty, according to a LinkedIn post.
> AMGA, an association representing medical groups and integrated systems of care, has appointed five members to its board of directors including: Alka Atal-Barrio, M.D., senior medical director for Optum West; Ed Curtis, CEO of Summit Medical Group and Todd Smith, M.D., senior vice president and chief physician executive of Sutter Health.
> Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank, is expanding its team and hiring Dudley Baker and Kerr Robertson as managing directors in the healthcare group. Baker will handle healthcare information technology while Robertson is covering behavioral healthcare.
> RWJBarnabas, an academic health system in New Jersey, has announced Victor Almeida as chief medical officer of the Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus.
> Icario, a digital healthcare engagement company, has tapped Aerste Howells as chief commercial officer.
> Align Surgical Associates, a California-based gender affirming care provider, has announced that founder and CEO Thomas Satterwhite, M.D., has been appointed to an editorial position with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Another surgeon, John Pang, M.D., will join the Guideline Development Panel with the Endocrine Society.
> Delta Dental of Tennessee, the state’s largest independent dental benefits carrier, has added CEO to president Jeff Bullard’s title.
> Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah has named Jim Guemple as market president.
> First Fertility, a network of reproductive endocrinology practices, has hired Alison Bartolucci as chief scientific officer.
> CitiusTech, a provider of healthcare technology services, has tapped Sudhir Kesavan as chief operating officer.
> Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, a division of Health Care Service Corporation, has named general counsel Lisa Kelley as president, replacing Collette Hanson.
> Frier Levitt, a healthcare-focused law firm, has promoted Harini Bupathi and Brandon Zarsky to partner.
> Bronson Healthcare, a nonprofit health system in Michigan, has appointed Martinson Arnan as senior vice president and chief physician executive.
> Law firm Foley Hoag has named partners Pat Cerundolo, Bryant Godfrey and Erin Estey Hertzog as co-chairs of the company’s healthcare department.
> Grand Island Regional Medical Center in Nebraska has promoted Drew Waterman from chief operating officer to CEO.
> CenterPoint Medical Center, a hospital in Nashville under the HCA Healthcare umbrella, has named its successor to retiring CEO Bret Kolman. HCA Healthcare has not yet responded to Fierce Healthcare about who the company has appointed.
> Emory University Hospital has named Robert Boesch as chief nursing officer. He will also oversee nursing for three hospitals under the university hospital umbrella.
> Sanford Health, a rural health system headquartered in South Dakota, has tapped First PREMIER Bank CEO Dana Dykhouse to its board of directors.
> Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Texas has named Sean Tinney as CEO, effective Jan. 22.
> HCA Florida Citrus Hospital, an acute care hospital, has selected Jordan Fulkerson as CFO. At HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, Vickie Magurean will serve as CFO.
> Noom, a digital health company that specializes in weight loss, will be looking to replace Matt Mouradian, who is leaving his position as general manager of healthcare. Mouradian will continue to serve as an advisor but is looking for new opportunities.
> PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington is saying goodbye to CEO Sean Gregory and naming CFO Tracey Fernandez as interim CEO.
> The hits keep coming for Walgreens, as they are losing Scott Malone, vice president of pharmacy engagement experience, to U.S. Bank.
> Northwell Health, a health care provider in New York, has named Beata Mastalerz as executive director of Phelps Hospital, replacing the retiring Eileen Egan.
> Kentucky Association of Health Plans, a trade group representing the state’s Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial health insurance providers, has named new officers to its board of directors including Ryan Sadler, plan president for Molina Healthcare; Paige Mankovich, CEO of Aetna Better Health of Kentucky; Corey Ewing, CEO of WellCare of Kentucky; and Jeb Duke, regional president for Humana.
> Centene, a Medicaid managed care organization, has poached Kristin Parker as senior director of strategic initiatives and growth for Fidelis Care of New Jersey from Cigna.
> The Alliance, a group of self-funded employers seeking to control healthcare costs for more than 38,000 providers across the Midwest, announced that Cheryl DeMars is retiring from her position as president and CEO.
> Rivers Health, a member of Marshall Health Network in Huntington, West Virginia, has announced Keith Biddle is retiring as chief operating officer to become a pastor.
> Fluent, a dental insights company, has hired former Arcardia Solutions CEO Sean Carroll as CEO to replace retiring executive Paul Sheils.
> HCA Florida St. Petersburg has appointed Maria Carus as interim CFO.
> Mayo Clinic has announced Vijay Shah, M.D., as Kinney Executive Dean of Research.