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.
Nomi Health
Amy Wykoff was hired as Nomi Health’s first chief product officer. She will report to Nomi co-founder and CEO Mark Newman.
The new role reflects the company’s new model of operations and care delivery, according to a press release. Wycoff will lead the company’s customer experience while also developing health programs to provide critical care, access and platform solutions.
Previously, Wycoff led health tech innovation at IBM Watson Health for over a decade. During her tenure at the tech giant, she negotiated with global government and payers to develop products reflecting novel models of healthcare. She also held the positions of vice president of strategy and product management at Curam Software and director of product management at Oracle.
This past summer, the Utah-based direct healthcare purchasing and delivery business acquired sister companies Everyone Health and Sano Surgery for $26.5 million. Nomi also welcomed Sara Ratner as the president of government programs in October.
UC Health
Carrie Byington, M.D., will step down from her post as the executive vice president of the University of California Health system effective June 20, 2023.
The news was announced Dec. 20 after Byington spent three years leading UC Health's six academic medical centers and 20 health professional schools. She stepped into the position in October 2019, leading the health system through the COVID-19 pandemic, a task aided by her infectious disease and pediatric expertise, according to a public letter by UC President Michael Drake.
Drake also highlighted Byington’s success at organizing temporary shelters for unaccompanied minors at the California-Mexico border. Following her exiting of the position, Drake has asked Byington to remain as special adviser.
A national search for Byington’s replacement began in early January.
Centene
Ken Fasola has been promoted to president and Jim Murray to chief operating officer with news that current president and COO Brent Layton plans to retire from Centene.
Layton holds over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and public policy sectors. He has been at the St.Louis-based payer since 2006 and will remain as senior adviser to the president through a transition period.
Fasola will report directly to CEO Sarah London. Fasola most recently held the position of Centene's executive vice president of healthcare enterprises after Magellan Health was acquired by the payer, a company he ran as CEO.
Murray most recently held the position as chief transformation officer while leading Centene’s value creation office and its behavior health business. He previously filled the role of COO at Magellan.
Further executive moves include Dave Thomas stepping into the role of chief executive officer of markets and Medicaid, Alice Chen, M.D.'s appointment as chief health officer and Brian LeClaire's acceptance of the role as chief information officer.
Government Accountability Office Health Information Technology Advisory Committee
Comptroller general of the U.S. and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Gene Dodaro, revealed the appointment of seven members to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). Congress and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services are also responsible for appointing members to the currently 25-person committee.
HITAC was enacted in 2016 in accordance with the 21st Century Cures Act. The group is tasked with offering recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health IT related to health tech infrastructure throughout the country.
Medical Officer Kikelomo Belizaire, M.D., will bring experience from her current position at the software company Pegasystems. Health Information Technology Director of the North Dakota Health Information Network Shila Blend currently also holds the role of subject matter expert with the Rural Emergency Medical Services Counts project. Hannah Galvin, M.D., is chief medical information officer of Cambridge Health Alliance, an academic public safety net health system.
Bryant Thomas Karras, M.D., is the chief medical informatics officer and senior epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health. Anna McCollister is a patient advocate who serves on a number of national committees including the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on endocrinologic and metabolic drugs and the National Quality Forum committee on quality measures for primary care and chronic illness.
Deven McGraw is lead for data stewardship and data sharing at medical genetics company Invitae Corporation. Naresh Sundar Rajan is chief data officer at CyncHealth. Members are appointed for three-year terms and may be reappointed.
> Garnet Health selected Jerry Dunlavey as interim president and chief executive officer for Garnet Health and Garnet Health Medical Center after former President and CEO Alfred Pilong Jr. left the position.
> MetroHealth executive vice president and chief administrative officer Jane Platten has exited her role at the health system.
> Cleveland Clinic appointed Sheila Miller as chief nursing officer of Cleveland Clinic London.
> Ixlayer announced that Bernard Esquivel, M.D., is the new head of clinical innovation for the health testing platform.
> RecoveryOne, a virtual physical therapy provider, promoted Sean Kinsman to chief clinical officer and John Araki to chief financial officer. Josh Kaffee joined the digital health company as vice president of client implementation.
> Aledade announced the expansion of its senior leadership team by adding Ananya Banerjee as chief commercial officer. Sean Cavanaugh will remain at Aledade in the sole role of chief policy officer.
> Tomorrow Health, an at-home healthcare provider, welcomed Heidi Nicoll as vice president of talent management.
> Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has appointed Claudia Gidea to the role of medical director of heart transplant, mechanical circulatory support and advanced heart failure.
> XSOLIS, an AI platform provider for healthcare organizations, hired Mallika Edwards as chief product officer.
> SafeRide Health, a nonemergency medical transportation company, promoted Debi Lindquist to chief financial officer and Jonathan Wheeler to general counsel.
> Corewell Health East hired Kelli Sadler as chief nursing officer.
> LeanTaaS announced the hiring of Mark Fidow as the software provider’s first chief technology officer.
> Health benefits provider Gravie named Greg Burrell as the company’s first-ever chief medical officer.
> Ingenovis Health tapped Robin Geiger for role of senior vice president of clinician advocacy.
> Experity, a healthcare software provider, announced the appointment of Brian Berning as chief financial officer.
> Klick Group chose Brian Fox as the life sciences company’s new president.
> Sovah Health named Steve Heatherly as market president and CEO of the Danville campus.
> Catalyst Advisors, a life sciences recruitment firm, welcomed Cissy Young as a partner.
> Macquarie Capital, the investment arm of Macquarie Group, hired Eric Jacobs and Vince Lambert as managing directors and co-heads of U.S. healthcare.
> Ardent Health Services named Brad Hoyt, M.D., chief medical information officer.