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.
Commonwealth Fund
David Blumenthal, M.D., will end a decade as president of the Commonwealth Fund with the close of 2022, the organization announced Wednesday.
He joined the organization in 2013 and headed it through several initiatives to tackle racial and ethnic disparity across healthcare. He expanded work to improve healthcare coverage and access, oversaw its traditional role as a source of nonpartisan policy analysis and tackled other challenges, according to the Fund.
Prior to joining the national philanthropic organization, he was a practicing primary care physician and a professor of medicine and healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital as well as the chief health information and innovation officer of Mass General Brigham (then Partners Healthcare System).
He was also no stranger to the public sector, having served as the U.S. national coordinator for health information technology under the Obama administration.
The Fund’s board will be conducting a search to recruit his replacement.
Care New England Health System
James Fanale, M.D., president and CEO of Care New England Health System, announced plans to retire during the early part of next year.
He led the Providence, Rhode Island-based system since early 2018. He had previously served as senior vice president for system development and chief operating officer of Massachusetts-based Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth (then Jordan Hospital).
The release announcing his retirement did not give any specific reason for his departure, although Fanale said in a statement that “it’s time to leave the office behind and be with my wonderful wife and children.”
News of the departure comes just a few months after regulators shut down a proposed merger with Lifespan, Rhode Island’s largest health system.
Fanale plans to stay with Care New England after his retirement in a consulting role, according to the announcement.
Intermountain Healthcare
Tiffany Capeles was tapped to serve as the first chief equity officer of Intermountain Healthcare, according to a Tuesday announcement.
She comes from a role as director of health equity, diversity and inclusion at Texas-based Christus Health, where she focused on improving patient health outcomes and promoting diversity and inclusion within the system.
Prior to that, she held positions at Texas-based Children’s Health and Maryland-based Adventist HealthCare. She also served as a city commissioner in Texas.
Intermountain will task her with leading its ongoing health equity, diversity and inclusion efforts across its newly expanded seven-state footprint. She’ll be working with the system’s office of equity and inclusion and take a specific focus on promoting equity and belonging for caregivers in the workplace.
Clover Health
Aric Sharp has joined Clover Health as CEO of value-based care, the company announced Monday.
Currently chair-elect of the American Medical Group Association, Sharp recently served as senior vice president and chief transformation officer at Integris Health. While there, he headed the system’s push into value based care by kicking off its participation in the Direct Contracting Model and launching a Medicare Advantage plan.
Prior to that, Sharp was vice president for accountable care at UnityPoint Health and held top roles at Quincy Medical Group and The Iowa Clinic.
Clover will be in the driver’s seat for value-based care efforts at Clover Health and its direct contracting entity, Clover Health Partners. He’ll begin by ensuring Clover Health Partners transitions to meet the requirements of the updated Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (REACH) model, which takes effect in 2023.
> Virta Health, a diabetes technology platform, announced Shane Henderson as its new chief technology officer.
> The National Institutes of Health selected Andrea Ramirez, M.D., as the chief data officer of its All of Us Research Program.
> NewYork-Presbyterian Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Laura Forese, M.D., plans to retire in June 2023.
> Butterfly Network, the maker of a handheld ultrasound device, announced Tamara Dillon as chief people officer, effective May 31, and Larry Weiss as chief legal officer, effective May 23.
> The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association unveiled Lynn Merritt as its chief human resources officer.
> Podimetrics, the maker of a smart mat for diabetes monitoring and management, announced four new hires: Matthew Scalo as chief financial officer, Kyle Bray as chief operating officer, Elizabeth Hogan Hamacher as vice president of clinical services and support and Kim Nguyen as vice president of financial planning and analysis.
> PhysIQ, a biosensor wearables and data analytics company, tapped John Wilson as senior vice president and general manager of life science as well as Chris Englerth as vice president of marketing.
> Palmdale Regional Medical Center in California announced that CEO Richard Allen is retiring.
> CareCentrix named Carmella Sebastian, M.D., as chief medical officer.
> Tomah Health, in Wisconsin, tapped Derek Daly to succeed its outgoing CEO Phil Stuart.
> Lark Health, a virtual healthcare counseling platform, announced Lynne Nowak, M.D., as chief medical officer and Shannon Marques as senior vice president of revenue operations.
> Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has reportedly made several new leadership transitions: Erin Maxwell as lead executive of customer service, David Jarnagin as lead executive of customer accounts and membership, Delena Hicks as director of corporate compliance, Anjenette Fenske as director of Medicare Advantage compliance and Sheila Colclasure as a newly elected member to its board.
> NovaSignal, a medical technology company focused on blood flow data, picked up Nancy Bush as its new chief financial officer.
> Trusted Health, a contract staffing platform for nurses, named former Bon Secours Mercy Health exec Danielle Bowie as vice president of clinical strategy.
> Women’s Hospital in Louisiana brought on Rene Ragas as president and CEO.
> Nava Benefits appointed Bryan Davis as national practice leader.
> Allina Health named Josh Shepherd as president of two hospitals, Buffalo Hospital and Cambridge Medical Center.
> Newtopia, a behavior change technology company, appointed Collin Swenson as chief financial officer.
> Garnet Health named Phillip Massengill, M.D., as the chair of its board of directors.
> Laguna Health, a digital home recovery platform, added Saul Weiner and Alan Schwartz to its advisory board.