California Health Care Personnel News Roundup for May 2015
Alameda Health System
On May 26, Alameda Health System appointed Delvecchio Finley as CEO, effective in August.
Finley currently is CEO at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/27).
Anthem Blue Cross
On May 26, Brian Ternan took over as president at Anthem Blue Cross.
Ternan replaces Mark Morgan, who stepped down in April (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/21).
California Board of Occupational Therapy
In May, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) made two appointments to the state Board of Occupational Therapy:
- Laura Hayth (D) (Office of the Governor release, 5/13); and
- Beata Draga-Morcos (D).
The positions do not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 5/21).
California Board of Optometry
On May 6, Brown appointed Glenn Kawaguchi to the California Board of Optometry.
The position does not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 5/6).
California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians
On May 7, Brown appointed Bernice Bass de Martinez to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians.
The position does not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 5/7).
California Department of Health Care Services
On May 29, Brown appointed Sarah Brooks (D) as deputy director for health care delivery systems at the state Department of Health Care Services.
The position does not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $132,984 (Office of the Governor release, 5/29).
California Department of Managed Health Care
On May 29, Brown appointed Rachel Arrezola as deputy director of communications and planning at the state Department of Managed Health Care.
The position does not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $99,360 (Office of the Governor release, 5/29).
California Department of Public Health
On May 29, Brown made several appointments to the state Department of Public Health:
- Claudia Crist as chief deputy director of policy and programs, with compensation of $152,808;
- Susan Fanelli as assistant director, with compensation of $131,244; and
- Brandon Nunes as chief deputy director of operations, with compensation of $145,536.
All of the positions require senate confirmation (Office of the Governor release, 5/29).
California Health and Human Services Agency
On May 12, Brown appointed Marko Mijic (D) as assistant secretary for program and fiscal affairs at the California Health and Human Services Agency.
The position does not require senate confirmation, and compensation is $105,000 (Office of the Governor release, 5/12).
California University of Science and Medicine
Robert Suskind has been named founding dean of the California University of Science and Medicine, a Colton-based not-for-profit medical school.
The school is financed mainly through a large donation from Prime Healthcare Services Foundation (Steinberg, San Bernardino Sun, 5/9).
California Wellness Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation has announced that Elizabeth Gomez will serve as chair and M. Isabel Becerra will serve as vice chair through December 2016.
Gomez is executive director of Sober College LLC, a private rehabilitation facility for young adults who misuse drugs or alcohol, and joined the board in 2005.
Becerra is CEO of the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers and has been a trustee for the California Wellness Foundation since 2009 (California Wellness Foundation release, 5/7).
Covered California
Lance Lang has been appointed to be the first permanent CMO of Covered California.
Jeffrey Rideout, a senior medical adviser, previously held the position on an interim basis.
Lang will receive an annual salary of $285,000 (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 5/22).
Local Health Plans of California
On May 18, Brianna Lierman became CEO of Local Health Plans of California.
Local Health Plans of California represents the 16 public, not-for-profit local health plans in California that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
Lierman previously served as vice president of government affairs at the California Health & Wellness Plan (Local Health Plans of California release, 5/8).
Sutter Health
Sutter Health CEO Patrick Fry has announced that he will retire on Jan. 4, 2016.
Sutter Health COO Sarah Krevans will take over the position after Fry leaves (Rubenfire, Modern Healthcare, 5/19).
UC-San Francisco Medical Center, John Muir Health
Joel Criste has been named CEO of the new health network created by UC-San Francisco Medical Center and John Muir Health, effective July 13.
The network, which does not yet have a formal name, aims to provide patients across Northern California "with a competitively priced health care option to access care, close to where they live or work," officials have said.
Criste's responsibilities will entail obtaining a state license to allow the network to assume some insurance-related risk, partner with health insurers and build the organization's infrastructure (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/5).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.