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.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Dara Mize has been named chief medical officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In her new position, Mize will sit on the HealthIT executive team as the primary liaison to clinical leadership. She will lead the team of clinical directors to work with HealthIT experts in order to optimize the use of technology and its impact on patients.
Mize began with the medical center in 2012 while completing her fellowship in endocrinology. In 2016, she began her work in health IT in the EpicLeap Project which designed and implemented how clinicians would be trained in the electronic health record system, eStar.
Upon taking on her new role, Mize will participate in ongoing efforts to reduce the burden of clinicians, nurses and other staff through novel tech usage. She will also help address capacity challenges.
Boston Children’s Hospital
Wendy Chung joins Boston Children’s Hospital as the next chief of the department of pediatrics.
Chung’s responsibilities will include the overall strategy and oversight of the department of pediatrics and steering the department's goals toward the priorities and mission of Boston Children's, the Physician's Organization and Harvard Medical School. She will also serve as the Mary Ellen Avery professor at Harvard Medical School and president of the Children's Hospital Pediatric Associates.
Chung comes to Boston by way of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. She most recently served as chief of the division of clinical genetics within the department of pediatrics, the associate director for education at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, the medical director for the Columbia Genetic Counseling Graduate Program and the Precision Medicine Resource Leader at the Irving Institute.
She holds two decades of experience as a clinical and molecular geneticist including directing NIH-funded research programs.
Inland Empire Health Plan
Lorena Rodriguez Chandler hopped on board with the Inland Empire Health Plan as its first chief health equity officer.
Chandler will work to implement policies, procedures and programs to improve health equity as it applies to race, ethnicity, language, gender identity, sexual orientation and access to care and positive health outcomes. Part of her work will include improving and providing culturally appropriate services and initiatives to address health disparities.
Most recently, Chandler was the director of Medicare growth strategy and associate vice president of strategic planning and performance at Blue Shield of California. She also helped develop a Medicare Advantage Plan for Latino seniors in Los Angeles County.
She previously served as the director for the Center for Latino Community Health at the country's largest Hispanic civil rights organization, Unidos US.
Vista Staffing Solutions
Andrea Nelson will lead Vista Staffing Solutions as its new president.
Nelson has over two decades of healthcare leadership under her belt including time as chief operating officer for the healthcare staffing solution. In the new role, she will work to garner top NPS scores, develop new business pipelines and ensure an optimal employee experience.
In her previous work at Vista, Nelson helped the company launch new service lines to address the demand for healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and address the lack of seasoned professionals in healthcare deserts.
Nelson most recently helped aid in Vista's acquisition of Ingenovis Health.
> Ria Health, a telehealth provider specializing in alcohol use disorder treatment, tapped Aimee Peters as chief clinical officer.
> MetroPlusHealth, an affordable health plan for New Yorkers, appointed Dahlia Philips as medical director of the plan's partnership in care special needs plan.
> IncludeHealth, a provider of musculoskeletal technology solutions, added Grant Koster to its board of directors and Ray Shealy as its new chief operating officer.
> PersonalRX, the home delivery pharmacy, welcomes Prudhvi Kopparapu as its vice president of pharmacy operations.
> VillageMD announced that Bryan Becker will join the organization as a national medical director of the Texas region.
> VyncaCare, a serious illness management platform, unveiled Angela Poppe Ries as chief medical officer.
> Holon Solutions, a health IT company, appointed Brad Nichols as its new chief customer and digital officer.
> Garnet Health System announced that Andrey Dovletov joined the organization as corporate compliance officer and director of audit and HIPAA privacy.
> Velentium, an engineering firm specializing in medical devices, hired Mario Garcia as vice president of manufacturing.
> Alice L. Walton School of Medicine welcomed Sharmila Makhija as the founding dean and chief executive officer.
> Goodroot, a healthcare startup accelerator, has promoted Liz Chasse to chief marketing officer, Ben Callaghan to vice president of launch and Scott Wilson to vice president of product development and strategic alliances.
> Nuwae Health, a health solution provider aimed at decreasing drug prices, has appointed Ralph Pisano to president.
> RemedyOne, a rebate optimization company, has promoted Kim Laurazon to general manager.
> Sola Health, a health benefits consultant, appointed Steve Palma to president.
> Tell Health, the creator of health-focused social media app Tell, announced the first five members of its medical advisory board: Heather Giannini, Peter Kahn, Vivek Moitra, Marilynn Parker and Christopher Worsham.
> SelectHealth, the nonprofit insurance arm of Intermountain Health, has named Rob Hitchcock as president and chief executive officer.
> AdventHealth Carrollwood has named Amalie—a 6-month-old Australian Labradoodle puppy—its new chief happiness officer.