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.
Tenet Health Corporation
Tenet Health and its subsidiaries Conifer Health Solutions and United Surgical Partners International (USPI) announced key leadership changes.
Deepali Narula has been promoted to chief operating officer of Conifer. Deepali was previously senior vice president of HRCM operations, where she converted operations and established new capabilities that allowed several of Conifer’s recent commercial successes. Bryan Forry has been promoted to chief financial officer of Conifer. Maggie Gill, Matthew Stone and Nicholas Tejeda have all been tapped as group presidents of the company’s hospital segment.
Tenet Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Daniel Cancelmi and President and CEO of Conifer Health Solutions Roger Davis shared their plans to retire at the end of 2023 and the end of the first quarter in 2023, respectively. National searches for their replacements are ongoing.
President and CEO of USPI Brett Brodnax also voiced his plans to retire at the end of the year. Andy Johnston has returned to USPI as its chief administrative officer with his promotion to Brodnax’s position being anticipated.
Tenet Health also announced that it expects to exceed the midpoint of its adjusted EBITDA outlook range.
Trusted Health
Trusted Health, a labor marketplace for healthcare professionals, welcomed Kate Kline as president.
Kline most recently held the position of president at ZocDoc, where she grew the company’s healthcare provider network by 50% during her tenure. Previously, she spent 14 years at a consulting firm focused on healthcare, Advisory Board Company, where she held the position of executive vice president of consulting and management.
Kline’s primary goal in the position will be to progress the company’s go-to-market strategy for its Trusted Works platform, according to a company press release. She will work to bring clinical workforce management to health systems in order to match clinicians to the ideal role. One of such health systems where the platform has already been implemented is Missouri-based Mercy, comprised of 45 hospitals in four states employing over 40,000 employees. The system reported saving $5 million within the first months of systemwide implementation of Mercy Works On Demand.
Kline’s hiring follows that of Trusted’s first chief financial officer, Beatrice Pang, in 2022.
GE Healthcare
Taha Kass-Hout, M.D., has been named as GE Healthcare’s first chief technology officer.
The recently spun out company announced the hire within days of opening business. Kass-Hout will work across the entire company to expand its clinical research and innovation efforts while building out its digital platforms and digital and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Kass-Hout spent the last six years at Amazon where he served as vice president of machine learning and chief medical officer for Amazon and its web services cloud computing offshoot. While in the position, he helped develop the Amazon Lab COVID-19 testing initiative, Amazon HealthLake data storage service and Amazon Omics analytics service for sequencing data, among other projects.
He also boasts two appointments at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration. From 2009 to 2013, he served as director of health informatics solutions and operations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Evernorth
Evernorth, the health services business of Cigna, promoted Adam Kautzner to president of Express Scripts.
Kautzner filled the role of senior vice president of supply chain where he led pharmaceutical and retail network contracting, retail network contracting and drug sourcing for Express Scripts Pharmacy and Accredo Pharmacy. Also at the pharmacy benefits manager, he has worked as chief pharma trade relations officer and vice president of supply chain product and strategy.
Kautzner follows Amy Bricker, who has been with the PBM for almost a decade. Bricker helped direct the company’s supply chain in previous positions at Express Scripts
and was named regional vice president of account management at Walgreens. She was also named a Fierce Healthcare Woman of Influence.
Express Scripts announced in early December that it would be adding biosimilars to its largest formularies as preferred products to treat inflammatory conditions.
> Oak Street Health announced the appointment of Deb Edberg, M.D., as the primary care provider's first chief wellness officer.
> The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute tapped Julie Panepinto, M.D., a pediatric hematologist, for the role of director of the division of blood diseases and resources.
> Greenphire welcomed Owen Newman as the chief financial officer of the clinical trial financial process automation company.
> Capital Caring Health, a Falls Church, Virginia-based provider, is pleased to announce Melissa “Missy” Ring as its newest chief of compliance and quality.
> Morehouse School of Medicine has named Walter Douglas as executive vice president of operations and business affairs.
> Compile unveiled Norman Pai as head of sales, Ruth Berkowitz as chief marketing officer and Jayant (Jay) Sood as head of finance of the life sciences company.
> FTI Consulting announced the appointment of Juan Montanez as a senior managing director and Cindy Ward as a managing director within the firm’s health solutions practice.
> Norwest, a venture capital growth equity firm, hired Irem Rami as the principal of the healthcare investment team.
> University of Vermont Health Network promoted Lori Boisjoli to the roles of senior vice president and chief information officer.
> Found, a weight care platform, added Dianna Budgeon as executive vice president and head of clinical operations.
> Trinitas Regional Medical Center announced that Gary S. Horan will be retiring from his position as president and CEO.
> Accra, a nonprofit organization providing individualized home care services to people with disabilities and older adults throughout Minnesota, promoted Timothy Jones to chief technology officer.
> Transcarent, a healthcare platform for employers, has unveiled Janine Gianfredi as chief marketing officer.
> Dartmouth Health named Jennifer Gilkie as chief marketing officer.
> Hospital for Special Surgery welcomed Tara McCoy as chief executive officer of HSS Florida.
> CalvertHealth promoted Melissa Hall to the position of chief nursing officer.