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.
Cayaba Care
Cayaba Care, a value-based maternal care company for underserved and high-risk populations, has appointed former associate director of health programs for the White House during the Obama administration Adaeze Enekwechi as CEO.
Enekwechi has extensive experience in healthcare. She has served in the Congressional Budget Office and for MedPAC, consulted for The Lewin Group, worked as vice president for McDermott, led IMPAQ International as president and is a board member for countless organizations include the Alliance for Health Policy.
Cayaba gives care to expectant mothers between OB-GYN visits. Enekwechi said her own experiences as an expectant mother nearly 20 years ago inspired her to join the company, in a LinkedIn post.
Georgetown Law
Anthony Fauci, M.D., has been named distinguished senior scholar for Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He has worked as a distinguished university professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and McCourt School of Public Policy since 2023.
(Wikipedia/Creative Commons)
He will add to the institute’s collection of voices speaking on national and global public health concerns. Fauci became a household name as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.
“It is a great honor and privilege to be chosen to join the O’Neill Institute, which has done remarkable work in addressing the many challenges to global health, endeavoring to make the right to health and well-being a reality for many more people around the world,” said Fauci in a statement.
Families USA
Healthcare advocacy organization Families USA has announced Anthony Wright as executive director, effective in July. He replaces Frederick Isasi, who stepped down in December.
He comes from Health Access California as an executive director of 22 years, where Amanda McAllister-Wallner will serve as interim director. Wright is credited with helping expand coverage to millions of people, reducing cost sharing, expanding Medi-Cal to all income-eligible Californians regardless of immigration status and eliminating surprise medical bills for ambulances, according to a news release.
“We could not be more excited to welcome Anthony Wright as our new executive director. Anthony brings a rare combination of impactful leadership and immense strategic, operational and advocacy experience to the helm of Families USA,” said Simone Campbell, Families USA board chair, in a statement.
"As once an inner-city mixed-race uninsured kid from the Bronx, I am excited to use the privilege of this position to elevate and empower the voice of health consumers and advance equity for all Americans, and to use my unique experience to both protect our progress and promote the next phase of health reform,” said Wright.
> Teladoc, a virtual care company, has announced Jason Gorevic has stepped down as CEO. CFO Mala Murthy will serve as acting CEO, Fierce Healthcare reported.
> Commonwealth Fund announced a new task force aimed at addressing affordability, Fierce Healthcare reported. Members include Andrew Dreyfus, former CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Robert Galvin, M.D., former CEO of Equity Healthcare, owned by The Blackstone Group; and LaJuanna Russell, founder and president of Business Management Associates.
> Vanderbilt University Medical Center has named Karen Keady as chief nursing officer, starting July 1.
> Aetna, a CVS Health Company, has poached Ali Khan, M.D., as vice president and Medicare chief medical officer from Oak Street Health, where he was chief medical officer of value-based care strategy.
> Acadia Healthcare, a behavioral health care services provider, has tapped Stephanie Eken, M.D., as chief medical officer.
> Luminis Health, a nonprofit health system in Maryland, has appointed Stephanie Schnittger as CFO.
> Ardent Health, a healthcare provider, has named David Schultz as president of hospital operations in a permanent capacity.
> CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit Catholic health system, has named Ryan Tobin as market president for the greater Denver market, starting May 6.
> Verato, a digital engagement and data management company for providers, has announced Andy De as chief marketing officer.
> Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has named Mehul Raval, M.D., as head of the division of pediatric surgery.
> Nabla, an AI assistant for practitioners, has named Andrew Lundquist as clinical director.
> Parsley Health, a digital health company working to lower costs for patients with chronic conditions using root cause medicine, has named Paul Martino as board chair.
> Hims & Hers, a health and wellness platform, has appointed Christopher Payne to its board of directors.
> UnitedHealthcare has named Robert Hunter as president of Medicare.
> Zing Health, a Medicare Advantage plan in Chicago, has hired Brian Fellner as CFO.
> Tomorrow Health, a home-based healthcare platform, has selected Gabriela Perez as chief growth officer, Craig Thompson as general manager and senior vice president of sales and Peter Saul as director of provider growth.
> Universal Brain, a company developing treatments for depression and mental health conditions, has announced Greg Hajcak as chief scientific advisor, Vangelis Lympouridis as chief product officer and K.T. Venkateswara-Rao as head of operations.
> PatientPoint, a digital health company in Cincinnati, has appointed former Avesis, Walmart and Humana exec Sean Slovensky as president.
> University of Utah has announced that Michael Good has stepped down from his role as senior vice president for health sciences.
> Reveleer, a company using AI to help plans and providers manage their risk adjustment and member programs, has named Alan Tam as chief marketing officer.
> Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a RWJBarnabas health facility, has tapped Christopher Gilligan, M.D., as senior vice president, chief medical officer and chief quality officer.
> Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln, Maine, has announced Crystal Landry is stepping down as CEO.
> NRC Health, a provider of healthcare solutions and data-driven insights, has tapped Jennifer Baron as chief experience officer.
> Verily, an Alphabet healthtech company, has poached long-time Microsoft exec Bharat Rajagopal as chief revenue officer.
> Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has tapped Jeffrey Stone to its board of directors.
> Rady Children’s Hospital, a pediatric healthcare system, and the University of California, San Diego has named Praveen Raju, M.D., Ph.D., as medical director of the neuro-oncology program.
> Southwest Health System in Cortez, Colorado, has named Adam Conley as CFO.
> Antioch Medical Center, a Kaiser Permanente hospital, has announced Christina Geis as chief nurse executive.
> Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center in Marietta, Georgia, has appointed Lorrie Liang as senior vice president and hospital president.
> CVS Health's president of clinical trial services and senior vice president Tony Clapsis has stepped down from his role, choosing to focus his efforts on the board for ixlayer and Hawthorne Effect. He said in a LinkedIn post he is working on a stealth company in complex chronic and rare disease.
> Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford, North Carolina, has selected David Santoemma as CEO and Connette Gil as chief nursing officer in a permanent capacity.
> Centivo, an insurer in Buffalo, New York, that partners with local health systems and is backed by Morgan Health and Bain, has hired Ryan Moore as its first chief revenue officer.
> Ballad Health, a healthcare system spanning 21 hospitals, has named Bo Wilkes as its chief growth officer.
> Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has announced Jeff Connolly, senior vice president and president of West Michigan and Upper Peninsula, is retiring at the end of the year.
> Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, a health maintenance organization, has named Rena Sheehan as vice president of clinical strategy and implementation and Mark Lorson as vice president of pharmacy.
> Forge Health, a company focused on mental health and substance use care, has added Alisa Bahl, Alan Muney, M.D., and Richard Snyder, M.D., to its board of directors. It also formed an advisory board with nine members, chaired by Bahl.