California Health Care Personnel News Update for October 2012
California Medical Association
On Oct. 14, the California Medical Association's House of Delegates elected Paul Phinney as the association's new president, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
Phinney -- a Sacramento pediatrician working at Kaiser Permanente and a CMA member since 1988 -- served as CMA president-elect for the past year.
Previously, he served as chair of the CMA Board of Trustees (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 10/15).
CalOptima
On Oct. 22, CalOptima -- Orange County's Medi-Cal managed care plan -- named Michael Ewing as its new CFO. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.
Ewing has served as the interim CFO for the past six months (CalOptima release, 10/22).
In related news, the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 2Â appointed two people to positions on the 11-member Cal-Optima Board of Directors.
The two new members, who are expected to serve until Sept. 30, 2016, are:
- Peter Agarwal -- vice president of Citizens Business Bank -- who will serve as the representative of the county's for-profit business sector; and
- Tricia Nguyen -- CEO of Vietnamese Community of Orange County -- who will serve as the representative of a community clinic that serves CalOptima members (CalOptima release, 10/2).
CalPERS
CalPERS has named Cheryl Eason to its newly created position of CFO, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
Eason most recently served as vice president of financial and plan board services for British Columbia Pension, one of Canada's largest pension administrators (Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, 10/17).
Dignity Health
In October, Dignity Health hired two new executives, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
The health system hired:
- Edmundo Castaneda -- who previously served as CEO of the 351-bed Sierra Medical Center in El Paso, Texas -- to serve as president at Mercy General Hospital; and
- Karl Ulrich -- who served for the past six years as president and CEO of Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin -- to serve in the newly created position of chief physician executive for the Greater Sacramento-San Joaquin area (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 10/31).
Institute of Medicine
Two scientists from UC-San Diego have been elected to the Institute of Medicine, U-T San Diego reports.
The scientists are:
- David Brenner -- a vice chancellor of health sciences and dean of the UCSD School of Medicine -- who has worked in the field of gastroenterological research; and
- Donald Cleveland, a neuroscientist who has studied Huntington's disease and other disorders (Robbins, U-T San Diego, 10/15).
L.A. Care Health Plan
On Oct. 11, L.A. Care Health Plan announced that Gertrude Carter has been named its new chief medical officer.
She will join the organization on Nov. 19.
Carter currently serves as CMO of CalOptima, Orange County's Medi-Cal managed care plan (L.A. Care Health Plan release, 10/11).
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose
On Oct. 10, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center named Paul Lorenz -- the chief deputy director for the Ventura County Health Care Agency -- as the hospital's new CEO, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
He will begin the new position Nov. 19, replacing former CEO Linda Smith.
His annual compensation will be $251,535 (Kurhi, San Jose Mercury News, 10/10).
Veterans Home of California, Yountville
On Oct. 12, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Monica Diaz as administrator of the skilled nursing facility at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville.
She has served as an instructor of skilled nursing administration at Ascend Learning since 2012.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $95,808 (Office of the Governor release, 10/12).
Vista Community Clinic
Last week, Barbara Mannino, who has served as CEO of Vista Community Clinic for 30 years, announced that she will retire at the end of this year, U-T San Diego reports.
Mannino said she plans to continue being involved with the clinic by serving as an adviser for one year and then joining the board of directors.
On Jan. 1, Mannino will be replaced by Fernando Sanudo, who currently serves as clinic administrator (Lavelle, U-T San Diego, 10/9). 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.