California Health Care Personnel News Update for March 2010

Board of Behavioral Sciences

On March 18, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) named Janice Cone (D) to the state Board of Behavioral Sciences.

The position requires Senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 3/18).

Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians

On March 4, Schwarzenegger appointed Ling Ling Chang (R) and Victor King (D) to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians.

The governor also reappointed Kevin Baucom (D), Todd D'Braunstein (R), and John Vertido (R) to the board.

The positions do not require Senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of Governor release, 3/4).

CalPERS

The California Public Employees' Retirement System has appointed Janine Guillot as chief operating investment officer, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

Guillot previously served as a managing director at Barclays Global Investors. In her new role, Guillot will implement strategies related to CalPERS' real estate, alternative investment and public market portfolios (Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, 3/4).

Children's Hospital Central California, Madera

Gordon Alexander has been named CEO of Children's Hospital Central California, the Fresno Bee reports.

Alexander currently serves as president of the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital and University of Minnesota Medical Center.

He is expected to take over at Children's Hospital Central California this summer (Rodriguez, Fresno Bee, 3/17).

Consumer Services Agency

Schwarzenegger has named Bill Leonard (R) secretary of California's Consumer Services Agency, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports. Leonard will replace Fred Aguiar, who resigned from the post to become deputy chief of staff to the governor.

Leonard will step down from the Board of Equalization to take the role at CSA. Annual compensation for his new position is $175,000 (Van Oot, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 3/9).

Department of Health Care Services

Schwarzenegger has named Sara Granda (D) special assistant to the chief counsel for the California Department of Health Care Services.

Granda served as a graduate student intern at the department in 2008. The position does not require Senate confirmation, and compensation is $56,136 (Office of the Governor release, 3/18).

Department of Veterans Affairs

The governor also has appointed Stanley Jones (R) to a role as a skilled nursing facility administrator for the Yountville Veterans Home for the California Department of Veterans Affairs.

The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $103,608 (Office of Governor release, 3/4).

Scripps Mercy Hospital, Chula Vista

George Pérez has been named associate vice president of Scripps Mercy Hospital's campus in Chula Vista, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Previously Pérez served as president and CEO of St. Joseph's Health System in Sonoma County and president and CEO of St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley (San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/30).

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Dispensers Board

On March 18, Schwarzenegger named Sandra Danz (R), Rodney Diaz (D), Robert Green (D), Alison Grimes (D), Deane Manning (R), Carol Murphy (R) and Lisa O'Connor (R) to the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Dispensers Board.

The positions do not require Senate confirmation, and compensation is $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 3/18).

St. John's Hospitals

Michael Murray has resigned as president and CEO of St. John's hospitals in Camarillo and Oxnard, the Ventura County Star reports. Murray announced his planned departure in mid-January after serving more than eight years in the role.

The hospital system has yet to name a replacement for Murray. During the interim period, Tim Maurice -- vice president and CFO of the two hospitals -- will oversee the Oxnard facility, and John Bibby -- vice president of human resources for the hospitals -- will oversee the Camarillo facility (Lamb Gregory, Ventura County Star, 3/31).

Stanford Cancer Center

The Stanford University School of Medicine recently named Douglas Blayney medical director and associate director of the Stanford Cancer Center, the San Francisco Business Times reports.

The position has been vacant since the previous medical director Steven Leibel died in February 2008.

Blayney will take over July 1. He currently serves as medical director of the University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 3/17).

Stanford Hospital & Clinics

Martha Marsh has announced that she will retire as president and CEO of Stanford Hospital & Clinics on August 31, the San Francisco Business Times reports.

Marsh has held the position since April 2002. According to an internal announcement, the board will conduct a national search for her successor (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 3/2).

UC-San Francisco

UC-San Francisco has named Elazar Harel vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer, Modern Healthcare reports. Harel will assume his new role April 12.

Previously, Harel served as vice chancellor for computing and telecommunications at UC-San Diego. In his new role, Harel will provide leadership on IT policies for medical education and other disciplines at UCSF (Vesely, Modern Healthcare, 3/29).

Veterans Home of California, Barstow

Schwarzenegger has appointed Arthur Robles (D) administrator for the Veterans Home of California in Barstow.

Robles has served as assistant hospital administrator for the facility since 2009 and previously served as health facilities evaluator for the California Department of Public Health in San Bernardino.

The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $81,072 (Office of Governor release, 3/4).