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.
Elevance
Kofi Essel, M.D., has been named food as medicine director at Elevance as a part of the payer’s whole health approach to care.
Essel comes to Elevance by way of Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., where he spent more than a decade as a practicing pediatrician. Concurrently, he has worked at The George Washington University of School of Medicine and Health Sciences for the last decade. Most recently, he served as the director of the GW Culinary Medicine Program and previously as the director of the Clinical Public Health Summit on Obesity and the Community and the Urban Health Scholarly Concentration.
The Elevance Health Foundation recently committed $22.8 million to food as medicine grants. Funds were offered to organizations working toward preventing or managing chronic conditions through food interventions, improving access and distributing food while providing long-term solutions for food insecurity and providing nutrition and health education. Recipient organizations included the Feeding America network, Meals on Wheels West and the Thai Community Development Center.
Medline
CEO Charlie Mills, President Andy Mills and Chief Operating Officer Jim Abrams have all announced their intentions to retire from Medline. Jim Boyle has been promoted as the next CEO. Jim Pigott will be the next president and COO. Both will step into their roles Oct. 1.
The retiring trio will continue to sit on the company’s board of directors. Charlie Mills will lead as chairman of the board while Andy Mills and Abrams will fill the roles of vice chairmen. Boyle has filled various roles at Medline including executive vice president, senior vice president of national sales and SVP of the southwest division. Pigott also held the position of EVP along with the role of president of Medline Asia.
“Jim Boyle and Jim Pigott have been instrumental in Medline’s growth and success during their nearly 60 years combined within the organization, and we are excited for them to lead us into the future,” said Charlie Mills in a press release. “In blending Medline’s high-performance culture and customer-centric approach with their extensive understanding of healthcare, they are perfectly suited to propel Medline forward while continuing to build upon our rich legacy.”
Mass General Brigham
Erica Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D., has been tapped as the inaugural chief of infection control at Mass General Brigham.
Shenoy was also appointed to the National Infection Control Advisory Committee, a federal body that provides advice and guidance to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recently, she served as the system’s medical director for infection control.
In her new expanded role, Shenoy will integrate infection control into MGB’s practices and be responsible for the development and implementation of infection control strategies, policies and measurement. Currently, Shenoy also serves as medical director of the Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Health Monitor Network
Kelli Vincent-Rodriguez has been hired as senior vice president for over-the-counter and consumer packaged goods at Health Monitor Network.
In the new leadership role, Vincent-Rodriguez will report to Executive Vice President of Sales and Key Accounts Augie Caruso. She will recruit brands to the HMN omnichannel platform, which includes 200,000 physician office networks and 450,000 physicians.
Before joining HMN, Vincent-Rodriguez was head of sales and business development of North America at Megalabs. She also spent time as senior vice president of sales, marketing and business development at One Innovation Labs and U.S. sales and marketing leader at Kamedis.
> Fortis Home Health and Hospice announced that Rob Radics has joined as chief executive officer.
> DexCare, a platform-as-a-service provider, has appointed Robin Borg as chief people officer.
> Bend Health, a virtual pediatric behavioral care provider, promoted Amit Parikh, M.D., to chief medical officer.
> Sevita, community and support services provider, welcomed Philip Kaufman as its new chief executive officer.
> Privia Health Group announced that Adam Boehler, founder and managing partner of Rubicon Founders, will join the company’s board of directors.
> Independence Blue Cross promoted Daniel Brown to vice president of provider reimbursement analysis and administration and Michael Hébert to vice president of provider contracting.
> Laguna Health, an AI-powered contextual care management platform, announced that Evelyn Daniels has joined as vice president of business development.
> USC Health System welcomed Paul B. Rothman, M.D., former CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, as a member of the health system’s board.
> Homeward announced that Centene executive Brent Layton is joining the company’s board of directors.
> Verily appointed Laura O’Donnell as general counsel.
> InflaRx, a biotech company, welcomed Camilla Chon, M.D., as chief medical officer.
> MultiPlan Corporation, a provider of technology and data-enabled cost management, welcomed John Prince to its board of directors.
> The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations named Colleen McCarthy as president.
> System announced that Paul B. Rothman, M.D., and Andrew Trister, M.D., deputy director of digital health and innovation at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have joined as the public benefit corporation’s first healthcare advisers.
> McCarter & English’s Newark office welcomed Joseph Braunreuther as a partner.
> Abacus Insights, the data usability company for payers, added John Pyhtila, Ph.D, to its management team as chief product and strategy officer.
> Ichnos Sciences, a biotech company, named Lida Pacaud, M.D., as chief medical officer.
> Solera Health, a health tech platform, will appoint Zachary McBride as general counsel.
> QuantHealth, a biotech company, has tapped David Dornstreich as chief commercial officer and general manager of U.S. operations.