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.
CommonSpirit Health
Catholic healthcare giant CommonSpirit Health has tapped Henry Ford Health's Wright Lassiter as its next CEO. Lassiter will succeed Lloyd Dean, who served as CommonSpirit's sole CEO since 2020, on Aug. 1. Dean announced late last year that he planned to retire this summer.
Lassiter served as CEO at Detroit-based Henry Ford since 2016, leading the system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, Henry Ford expanded its footprint and revenue significantly, and the system was recognized for its focus on employee well-being and diversity, equity and inclusion.
CommonSpirit Health operates 140 hospitals in 21 states and is among the largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S.
Amwell
Telehealth company Amwell, formerly American Well, appointed Susan Worthy as its new chief marketing officer. Susan joins Amwell from Optum and is a tenured marketing executive with more than 25 years of experience leading marketing for healthcare services and technology companies.
In her new role, Susan will be responsible for leading Amwell’s overall marketing strategy and will play a pivotal part in building upon the company’s market position to drive continued growth as well as shareholder and customer value.
Adventist Health promoted Jennifer Stemmler to chief digital officer. Stemmler joined the Roseville, California-based health system in 2013 as an IT project leader for clinical documentation systems. Her most recent role was as vice president of consumer digital strategy.
According to a LinkedIn post, Stemmler will focus on bringing together consumer digital, information technology and innovation teams and will lead IT transformation at the organization.
"Looking forward to leading the strategy and teams responsible for building and delivering our digital forward, consumer-centric transformation designed to create exceptional experiences for our providers, associates, patients and consumers across the full care continuum," she wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Moderna
Marketing executive Arpa Garay is jumping from Merck over to mRNA vanguard Moderna to serve as chief commercial officer, Fierce Pharma reported. As a member of the biotech’s executive committee, Garay will report to Moderna helmsman Stéphane Bancel.
At Merck, Garay served as chief marketing officer for the company's Human Health business. She brings extensive experience leading commercial teams at global biopharmaceutical companies in an evolving global healthcare environment and also has digital expertise and broad international experience, Moderna executives said in a press release.
Yale New Haven Health
After an extensive search, Yale New Haven Health tapped Pamela Sutton-Wallace as its chief operating officer, effective July 11. Sutton-Wallace has been with New York Presbyterian Hospital since 2019, most recently serving as group senior vice president and COO of the Weill Cornell Division providing strategic direction and operational oversight for four campuses.
As the system COO, Sutton-Wallace will be working closely with the presidents of the system's delivery networks as well as with the Yale School of Medicine to advance high quality care throughout the region. In addition, she will partner with CEO Chris O’Connor in setting strategic direction for the health system and all its entities.
> HelloSelf, a therapy and coaching platform for mental health and well-being, has hired former Headspace general manager, James McErlean as MD of Business.
> Fertility benefits provider Carrot Fertility brought on G. David Ball, Ph.D., as senior vice president, medical to further expand the company's team of medical experts.
> Health tech company Truepill announced a number of new hires. Doreen Bortel has joined the company its first chief growth officer. Bortel previously held various roles at Optum. She will serve as Truepill’s first CGO and report directly to CEO Sid Viswanathan. The company also unveiled John Foster as its first Chief People Officer. Foster also will report directly to Viswanathan.
> PathPresenter, a digital pathology workflow platform, tapped Patrick Myles, as CEO and chairman of the board. An experienced digital healthcare executive, Patrick will succeed Naghi Prasad.
> Foley & Lardner partner Nathaniel Lacktman, who oversees the firm’s national telemedicine and digital health industry team, joined the American Telemedicine Association's board of directors.
> iRhythm Technologies, a digital health care solutions company focused on the advancement of cardiac care, hired Mintu Turakhia, M.D., as its new chief medical officer and chief scientific officer.
> Teladoc named Vidya Raman-Tangella, M.D., as chief medical officer to focus on health equity, clinical evidence and best practice, and physician training.
> Post-acute technology company WellSky announced the hiring of Dale Zurbay as the company’s new chief growth officer to lead the next phase of the company’s evolution and expand its footprint in Kansas City.