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.
Verily
Alix Hart has been named chief marketing officer of Verily, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Hart had joined the company after five years at software and hardware design company Nvidia. There, she served as global head of digital marketing targeting growth across its gaming, enterprise artificial intelligence, healthcare, data center and pro visualization segments.
Hart’s résumé is also flush with marketing leadership roles with Best Buy, Time Inc., Dyson and PepsiCo.
She came to Verily for a head of content and digital strategy position that later swelled to included marketing responsibilities for Verily’s clinical studies platforms and Verily health platforms businesses. As chief marketing officer, she will take ownership of all brand, digital and product marketing efforts as well as overall marketing operations.
Cigna
David Brailer, M.D., will be joining Cigna as EVP and the payer’s first-ever chief health officer in early September, the payer shared Tuesday.
Brailer is no stranger to unprecedented titles, having served as the first national coordinator for health information technology under President George W. Bush in 2004.
Brailer is also a founder and chairman of healthcare investment firm Health Evolution Partners as well as a vice chairman of the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Center. He will continue to be involved with both organizations.
Cigna’s newly coined chief health officer position will task Brailer with reimagining the company’s existing products, technologies and services to improve the overall health of clients. He will report directly to Cigna CEO David Cordani and will serve on the company's enterprise leadership team.
Providence Health Plan
Michael Mathias has been tapped as chief information officer of Providence Health Plan, the regional nonprofit plan announced this week.
Mathias joined Aug. 29 and is hot off an EVP and chief information officer role at Blue Shield of California, where he had also held a dual role as EVP of customer service. He oversaw the organization’s IT delivery, strategy, operations and architecture with a responsibility for end-to-end service delivery during his nearly 10 years with the organization.
Prior to that, Mathias spent over 15 years at Aetna under a slew of titles including VP and chief information officer.
Providence Health Plan is charging the executive with driving IT system strategy and adoption. He’ll also oversee alignment of its business strategy with IT operations.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Stephanie Ebken was promoted to SVP and chief marketing and communications officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, per a Wednesday release.
She’s been with the pediatric care provider for nearly 20 years, having joined as a market analyst in business development back in 2004.
She took on increasing roles within Cincinnati Children’s business development and planning teams, eventually moving into organizational leadership and, for almost a decade now, serving as chief of staff to the president and CEO.
Despite the new title, Ebken has been providing oversight for the organization’s 50-person marketing and communications team since 2019. Here, she helped drive the children’s hospital’s brand and marketing strategy, media relations, social media, creative services, digital strategy and internal communications.
> Mass General Brigham’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital brought on Sonali Desai, M.D., as SVP and chief quality officer, effective Sept. 1.
> Centene unveiled Ashlee Knuckey as chief ethics and compliance officer.
> BHSH System tapped Tracie Morris as chief people officer.
> University of Connecticut Health reportedly named Rick McCarthy as chief information officer.
> LifePoint Health promoted Monica Bowman to SVP of physician services.
> Baptist Health announced Jeff Carrier as president of its western region.
> Cedars-Sinai chose Pasy Wang to the newly created role of VP and chief investment officer.
> Blue Shield of California announced Sandra Clarke as chief operating officer and Mike Stuart as chief financial officer.
> Altos Labs saw Herbert Virgin, M.D., step into his role as chief medical officer and head of the Altos Institute of Medicine on Sept. 1.
> Centura Health named Twilla Lee as CEO of its St. Catherine and Bob Wilson hospitals in Kansas, effective Sept. 19. The system also announced that Chad Hatfield began as CEO of Longmont United Hospital on Aug. 29.
> MedCrypt, a medical device cybersecurity company, added Food and Drug Administration vet Naomi Schwartz as senior director of cybersecurity quality and safety.
> Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will see Sarah Iselin enter as president and CEO when current head Andrew Dreyfus steps down at the end of the year.
> Cone Health’s Olu Jegede was named VP of clinical care-health equity at the system’s Center for Health Equity.
> Bon Secours Mercy Health will reportedly see Mike Lutes as president of its Richmond, Virginia, market, effective Oct. 10.
> UCare, active in Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin, named Tenbit Emiru, M.D., as EVP and chief medical officer.
> Broward Health, in Florida, announced Joshua Lenchus’ interim chief medical officer title was made permanent.
> Mon Health System, in West Virginia, promoted Mary Edwards, currently VP of medical affairs at Mon Health Medical Center, to chief medical officer.
> Linus Health, a brain-focused digital health company, named John Showalter, M.D., as its first chief product officer.