California Health Care Personnel News Update for April 2012
American Burn Association
Tina Palmieri, assistant chief of burns at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Northern California, has been named president of the American Burn Association, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Palmieri said the new position will allow her to "shape the future of burn care, including clinical practice, prevention, research and teaching" (Glover, Sacramento Bee, 4/27).
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton
Dev GnanaDev has announced that he plans to resign from his position as medical director of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, effective at the end of June, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
He has served in the role since 2000. GnanaDev said that he decided not to renew his contract as medical director because of a mutual agreement with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to change the position from part-time to full-time.
GnanaDev will continue to serve as chair of the hospital's surgery department.
Josie Gonzales -- chair of the ARMC's Board of Supervisors -- said the board will begin a nationwide search to find a replacement (Ghori, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 4/6).
Meanwhile, Patrick Petre -- director of ARMC -- has been appointed to the Bureau of Hospitals Executive Committee of the American Osteopathic Association, one of three agencies that the federal government has approved to provide accreditation to U.S. hospitals (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/31).
Brown & Toland Physicians
Brown & Toland Physicians -- which represents about 1,500 physicians in San Francisco and the East San Francisco Bay Area -- has named Andrew Snyder as its new CMO, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Snyder succeeds Stan Padilla, who is stepping down from the position after nearly 12 years.
Snyder most recently served as the founder, president and CEO of Stamford Health Integrated Practices in Stamford, Conn. (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 4/23).
California Department of Aging
On April 3, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Lora Connolly (D) as director of the California Department of Aging.
Since 2002, Connolly has served as CDA's chief deputy director. She also served as acting director of the department from 2004 to 2007 and from 2011 to 2012.
The position requires Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $129,796 (Office of the Governor release, 4/3).
California Department of Health Care Services
On April 12, Brown appointed Jonathan Wunderlich (R) as assistant deputy for health care financing at the state Department of Health Care Services.
Since 2009, Wunderlich has served as a principal program budget analyst at the California Department of Finance.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $122,196 (Office of the Governor release, 4/12).
John Muir Health
John Muir Health has named Irving Pike as its new chief medical officer, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Pike has worked for the last 12 years as a physician executive at Sentara Healthcare, a Virginia-based health care system that has 10 acute care hospitals and is affiliated with a 400-doctor medical group. He served as vice president for medical affairs for much of that time (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 4/9).
Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
Brown has appointed Robert David (R) as director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, effective May 7, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 4/17).Â
Since 2010, David has served as regional executive at the American Hospital Association. He served as chief deputy director of OSHPD from 2005 to 2010.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $150,109 (Office of the Governor release, 4/12).
Seton Medical Center, Daly City
James Schuessler has been named interim president and CEO of Seton Medical Center, which is part of the Daughters of Charity Health System, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
He most recently served as president and CEO of Savoy Medical Center in Mamou, La. (Kleffman, San Jose Mercury News, 4/3).
Tulare Regional Medical Center
Shawn Bolouki stepped down from his post as CEO of Tulare Regional Medical Center on April 27, the Fresno Bee reports.
Kris Pederson -- an attorney for the hospital -- declined to say whether Bolouki resigned or was asked to leave.
Patricia Mathewson -- the hospital's chief clinical officer -- has assumed full responsibility and authority for hospital operations in the absence of a CEO (Anderson, Fresno Bee, 5/1).
UC-San Diego Health System
Recently, UC-San Diego Health System announced that it has named Paul Viviano as its new CEO, effective June 1, U-T San Diego reports.
Viviano will replace Thomas McAfee -- dean for clinical affairs at UC-San Diego Health System -- who has served as interim CEO since December 2011.
Viviano is leaving his role as CEO of Alliance Healthcare Services, a diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy provider. He previously served as CEO of the University of Souther California University Hospital and USC/Norris Cancer Hospital (Lavelle, U-T San Diego, 5/1).
West Wireless Health Institute, La Jolla
Don Casey has been named CEO of Ohio-based Cardinal Health's medical and product services division less than a month after stepping down as CEO of West Wireless Institute in La Jolla, U-T San Diego reports.
According to Cardinal, Casey will have full management responsibility for the company's medical-surgical products and services for hospitals, clinical laboratories, physician offices and ambulatory surgery centers (Robbins, U-T San Diego, 4/10).
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