California Health Care Personnel News Update for June 2009
Blue Shield of California
On June 2, Blue Shield of California named Meredith Mathews senior vice president and chief medical officer, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Mathews will oversee all of the insurer's health care services.
Previously, Mathews supervised care and disease management as CMO for DaVita Village Health (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 6/2).
California Association of Health Plans
On June 3, the California Association of Health Plans announced that former state Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton) will serve as its next president and CEO, the Business Times reports.
Johnston served in the Assembly for 10 years and the state Senate for another decade. He was scheduled to begin his new role with the trade group on July 1 (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 6/3).
California Commission on Emergency Medical Services
The California Senate has appointed Dev GnanaDev to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services, the San Bernardino County Sun reports. The commission advises the state Emergency Medical Services Authority on all aspects of California's emergency system.
GnanaDev currently serves as medical director of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and president of the California Medical Association (San Bernardino County Sun, 6/16).
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has named Christopher Lee deputy chief for safety for the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Lee previously served in several positions with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The position does not require Senate confirmation. Annual compensation is $108,636 (Office of the Governor release, 6/25).
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, San Francisco
Marie Csete has announced her resignation as chief scientific officer of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Business Times reports. The resignation will go into effect Aug. 1.
The agency, which funds embryonic stem cell research, hired Csete in March 2008. Csete did not offer a reason for her resignation (Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, 6/24).
Contra Costa Regional Medical Center
Jeffrey Smith has announced plans to step down as head of Contra Costa Regional Medical Center effective Sept. 1, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Smith has accepted a new position as chief executive of Santa Clara County (Banerjee, San Jose Mercury News, 6/29).
William Walker, director of Contra Costa Health Services, said officials will begin discussing possible replacements for Smith in early July (Kleffman, Contra Costa Times, 6/25).
First 5 Commission of San Diego County
On June 2, Charlene Tressler resigned from her post on the board of San Diego County's First 5 Commission for early childhood health care and education services, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Tressler announced her resignation amid emerging allegations that she voted to grant commission funds to an organization she runs and a pre-school she co-owns. In her letter of resignation, Tressler cited health reasons for her departure (McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/3).
Livingston Medical Group
Livingston Medical Group has named John Alexander CEO, the Merced Sun-Star reports.
Alexander previously was executive director of the Merced County Health Care Consortium. He also has served as chief operating officer for Clinica Sierra Vista in Bakersfield (Gaines, Merced Sun-Star, 6/23).
UC-San Francisco Medical School
On June 19, the U.S. Senate confirmed Eric Goosby as the new U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administrator of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The ambassador-level position is based at the State Department.
Goosby previously served as CEO and CMO of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation and medical professor at UC-San Francisco (Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/20).
Valley Health System
On June 22, Darren Magness announced his resignation as chair of Valley Health System's board of directors, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The resignation took effect on June 26.
The board will have 60 days to replace Magness, whose term was scheduled to end in 2010. If the board does not appoint a replacement, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors will do so (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/23). 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.