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.
Adventist Health
(Adventist Health)
Kerry Heinrich will be the next CEO of Adventist Health, taking over for Scott Reiner who had announced his departure plans during the summer.
Heinrich is no stranger to the $5 billion nonprofit health system. He headed up Seventh-day Adventist Loma Linda University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital and the Behavioral Medicine Center as its CEO for over seven years and has been the organization’s legal counsel for more than 20.
Heinrich has also served on Adventist’s board for seven years and played a role in the formation of its 2030 strategic vision, according to the system.
Heinrich is expected to take the reins from Reiner before the end of the year, according to the announcement.
(LinkedIn)
Megan Jones Bell has been tapped by Google to serve as the tech company’s clinical director of consumer and mental health.
Bell is the former chief strategy and science officer of Headspace, a meditation app that recently merged with behavioral health company Ginger. During that time, she led the app maker’s enterprise business, which included product development, go-to-market and partnerships.
She is a clinical psychologist and researcher and also served as the former chief science officer and scientific founder at digital mental health company Lantern.
Bell is being brought into Google under Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo, M.D., where she will oversee the company’s mental and behavioral health efforts. Previously an adviser to the tech company, she will also lead a team of clinicians and other health experts who support Google’s other various consumer products.
HCA Healthcare
(HCA Healthcare)
Michael Cuffe, M.D., is being promoted to the roles of executive vice president and chief clinical officer of HCA Healthcare Jan. 1, the for-profit system announced this week.
Cuffe has been the organization’s president and CEO of physician service for the past decade. Under his tenure, HCA has become the largest sponsor of graduate medical education programs in the country with relationships with 61 teaching hospitals. Cuffe’s teams have also grown HCA’s urgent care operations.
Prior to joining in 2011, Cuffe held roles as the vice president for ambulatory services and chief medical officer at Duke University Health System as well as its vice president of medical affairs. He also spent time as vice dean for the Duke University School of Medicine.
Cuffe will be stepping in for Jonathan Perlin, M.D., who late last month was announced as the upcoming CEO and president of The Joint Commission. Perlin had been with HCA since 2006.
CitiusTech
(CitiusTech)
Bhaskar Sambasivan will take up the role of CEO at payer-focused healthcare technology provider CitiusTech Nov. 1.
The executive is relatively new to the company, having joined in May to serve as its president. Prior to that, he was the president of patient services and chief strategy officer at Eversana as well as the global head of life sciences at Cognizant.
Sambasivan will be succeeding Rizwan Koita, who, along with Chief Operating Officer Jagdish Moorjani, founded CitiusTech in 2005.
Both founders will be stepping away from their leadership roles but will remain on the company’s board and retain their shares in the company. Moorjani’s vacancy will be filled by Atul Soneja, who joined in July as president of operations.
> Kindred Healthcare CEO Benjamin Breier will be departing the company upon the completion of its acquisition by LifePoint Health.
> Providence’s Physician Enterprise team will see Daniel Carey, M.D. become chief medical officer while Prasanna Mohanty enters the chief operating officer position.
> CareAlign, maker of a task management system for providers, has appointed Bill Kinner as chief revenue officer.
> Cleveland Clinic has appointed Rishi Singh, M.D., as president of its Martin North and South hospitals in Florida.
> MultiPlan has announced Liz Longo as vice president of subrogation and arbitration solutions.
> Amino, a clinician matching and booking platform for employees, has added former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Eric Hargan, as its price transparency adviser.
> Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will see Dana Erickson become its next president and CEO effective Nov. 1.
> Cricket Health, a value-based kidney care provider, announced Ryan Jacobs as its new chief commercial officer.
> Regional One Health said it has brought on Manoucheka Thermitus as its chief operating officer.
> Temedica, a European health app maker, appointed Christina Wagner as chief financial officer.
> Harris Health System in Houston has announced Steven Brass, M.D., as executive vice president and chief medical executive.
> Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, part of HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division, will see Zach McCluskey enter as CEO effective Dec. 6.
> Southwestern Health Resources has named Shashi Vangala as its new chief data and value creation officer.
> AdventHealth has named Chris Self as the CEO of its Gordon hospital and its Murray hospital.
> Sharecare has added Evan Smith as senior vice president of finance and investor relations.
> Henry Ford Health System will see Eric Wallis as its senior vice president and chief nursing officer beginning Dec. 1.
> VisualDx, a clinical decision support software maker, has brought on J.T. Finnell, M.D., as its new chief medical officer.
> Patient Safety Movement Foundation has named Michael Ramsae, M.D., as CEO and Mike Durkin as chairman.
> Cook County Health shared Pamela Cassara’s appointment as chief financial officer, which went into effect in September.
> RWJBarnabas Health announced Richard Davis as CEO of its Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
> Nym, a revenue cycle management tech company, has appointed M*Modal founder Michael Finke to its board of directors.
> Myia Health, a virtual care company, has added Cityblock Health’s Sylvia Romm, M.D., to its board of directors.