California Health Care Personnel News Roundup for August 2014
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
State Controller John Chiang (D) has appointed David Higgins to the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee, which oversees the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Higgins, who is the president of the board for the Parkinson's Association of San Diego, will be the committee's patient advocate for Parkinson's disease (Fikes, U-T San Diego, 8/14).
California Office of the Patient Advocate
On Aug. 13, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Elizabeth Abbott (D) as the director of the state Health and Human Services Agency's Office of the Patient Advocate (Office of the Governor release, 8/13).
The position requires Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $120,000 (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 8/14).
California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
On July 31, Brown appointed Troy Rathburn (R) to Area Board II of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and there is no compensation (Office of the Governor release, 7/31).
Covered California
Covered California has appointed Kirk Whelan as director the health insurance exchange's individual and small business sales division. He will receive annual compensation of $170,000.
Whelan previously was the sales manager for Kaiser Permanente's Northern California valley territory.
The exchange also has appointed Amy Palmer as director of communications and public relations. She will receive annual compensation of $160,000.
Palmer previously was associate secretary of external affairs at the state Health and Human Services Agency (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 8/22).
Scripps Research Institute
On Aug. 11, the board of La Jolla-based Scripps Research Institute announced that faculty leader James Paulson will immediately take over as the center's interim president and CEO.
Paulson is replacing Michael Marletta, who resigned after plans to merge or sell SRI to the University of Southern California sparked backlash from faculty members (Fikes, U-T San Diego, 8/11).
Sutter Health
On Aug. 8, Sutter Health announced that CFO Bob Reed will retire in January 2015.
Jeff Sprague, Sutter's senior vice president of financial operations, will replace Reed (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 8/8).
Veterans Home of California, Chula Vista
On July 31, Brown appointed Lael Hepworth (R) as the administrator of the Veterans Home of California in Chula Vista.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $125,004 (Office of the Governor release, 7/31).
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