California Health Care Personnel News Update for September 2011
California Department of Veterans Affairs
On Sept. 12, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Eric Worthen (D) as assistant deputy secretary for administration at the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Worthen previously served as legislative director for Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and annual compensation is $95,000 (Office of the Governor release, 9/12).
Enloe Behavioral Health, Chico
Samuel Brown has been named the new director of Enloe Behavioral Health, a program of Enloe Medical Center, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports.
Brown, who is a psychiatrist, has served as interim director of the program since August. Brown previously worked as medical director of hospice for Butte Home Health and Hospice (Mitchell, Chico Enterprise-Record, 9/16).
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan
Meg Porfido has been named to the board of directors of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Porfido has served as chief human resources officer at Level 3 Communications, a Colorado-based global telecommunications company. She also was legal counsel and chief of staff to former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer (D) (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 9/30).
Mercy Medical Group, Sacramento
Gregory Cooper -- who has served as chief medical officer of Mercy Medical Group for the last nine years -- has been named CEO of the organization, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Cooper has overseen Mercy's expansion from 93 health care providers to nearly 300 clinicians in the Sacramento area. Sandra Meyers, a Mercy spokesperson, said that as CEO, Cooper will continue his former duties in a "newly expanded and elevated role" (Buck, Sacramento Bee, 9/9).
Riverside County Community Health Agency
On Sept. 29, Eric Frykman resigned from his post as Riverside County Community Health Agency's director and public health officer, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
Frykman sent a letter to Bob Buster -- chair of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors -- announcing his resignation. The letter did not indicate why Frykman was leaving the post.
Marion Ashley, a county supervisor, said the resignation was not tied to recent staff changes in the county government, such as the resignation of Riverside County CEO Bill Luna (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/29).
SCAN Health Plan, Long Beach
SCAN Health Plan has named Bill Roth as its new CEO, effective immediately, Payers & Providers reports.
SCAN Health Plan provides coverage for about 130,000 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in California and Arizona. Previously, Roth served as president of the small business and individual markets at Cigna (Payers & Providers, 9/15).
Stanford Hospital & Clinics
Kevin Tabb -- CMO at Stanford Hospital & Clinics -- has been named president and CEO of Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
During his tenure at Stanford, Tabb has overseen physician network strategy, clinical quality and patient safety initiatives. He also previously served as chief quality and medical information officer at Stanford.
In his new role, Tabb will replace Eric Buehrens, who has served as Beth Israel Deaconess' interim president and CEO since January (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 9/6). Tabb will start in his new role on Oct. 17 (Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 9/7).
UC-Davis Medical Center
University of California Regents have approved raises for two UC-Davis executives, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports.
UC-Davis Medical Center CEO Ann Madden Rice will receive a raise of nearly $259,000 to bring her annual compensation to $960,000. UC officials said Rice was being recruited by another academic hospital that offered her an annual salary of $1.5 million. Rice's raise is contingent on her withdrawing her application to the other hospital.
Meanwhile, Claire Pomeroy -- Dean of UC Davis School of Medicine -- will receive a raise of nearly $27,000 to bring her annual compensation to $664,275. UC officials praised Pomeroy for managing the medical school while it doubled the amount of federal research funds it receives (Rosenhall, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 9/15).
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