California Health Care Personnel Update for January 2009
Blue Shield of California
In early January, Blue Shield of California announced several changes in leadership, the San Francisco Business Times reports. The changes include:
- Paul Markovich has been promoted to executive vice president and COO; he previously served as senior vice president of the company's Large Group Business Unit.
- David Joyner will serve as senior vice president for the restructured Mid/Large and Specialty Business Unit; he was senior vice president for network management.
- Juan Davila has been promoted from vice president of network management to senior vice president of network management.
- Janet Widmann will assume responsibility for oversight of Blue Shield's CalPERS business unit; she is vice president of Labor, Public and Strategic Accounts (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 1/9).
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) appointed Diana Toche as statewide dental director for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Â
Toche has been dental director for Central Valley Indian Health since 1991.
Compensation is $198,000 annually for the position, which does not require Senate confirmation (Office of the Governor release, 1/27).
California Medical Facility
Michael Knowles (D) has been named warden for the California Medical Facility. He has served as acting warden for the facility since 2007.
The position does not require Senate confirmation, and the annual compensation is $129,108 (Office of the Governor release, 1/20).
CalPERS
Patricia Clarey has been appointed to represent the state personnel board on the board of CalPERS, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Clarey currently works as senior vice president and chief regulatory and external relations officer for Health Net. She is a former chief of staff to Schwarzenegger (Lifsher, Los Angeles Times, 1/21).
California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
The governor appointed former Assembly member Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton) to the Worker's Compensation Appeals Board.
Senate confirmation is required for the position, for which the annual compensation is $128,109 (Office of the Governor release, 1/20).
First 5 California Children and Families Commission, Riverside County
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone has been named to the First 5 California Children and Families Commission for Riverside County, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
First 5 administers proceeds of a state tobacco tax to fund early childhood health care and education programs (Glick, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/12).
John Muir Health
Mike Thomas has been named president and chief administrative officer for John Muir Health's Concord hospital, the Business Times reports.
Thomas previously served as executive director of VHA West Coast, which provides supply chain management and other services to members (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 1/14).
John Muir Physician Network
Paul Swensen has been named president and CEO of the John Muir Physician Network, which includes 800 primary and specialty care physicians, the Business Times reports.
Swenson joined the organization three years ago as executive vice president of administration (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 1/12).
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto
Ed Kopetsky has been named CIO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports.
Previously, Kopetsky served as a partner and executive vice president at IBM-owned HealthLink (Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, 1/16).
Marin Healthcare District, Corte Madera
On Jan. 21, Marin Healthcare District approved a two-year contract for Executive Director Lee Domanico, the Business Times reports.
The new agreement could pay Domanico up to $779,000 annually, including bonuses and benefits (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 1/22).
State Compensation Insurance Fund
Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has appointed former Sen. Michael Machado (D-Linden) to the board of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, California's quasi-public workers' compensation insurance provider of last resort, the Stockton Record reports (Stockton Record, 1/15).
Gov. Schwarzenegger has appointed Daniel Curtin (D) and Steven Rank (D) to the board.
From 1999 to 2001, Curtin was chief deputy director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, and he has been director of the California Conference of Carpenters since 2001.
Rank currently works as director of the western region for the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust.
Annual compensation for Curtin and Rank is $50,000, and the positions do not require Senate confirmation (Office of the Governor release, 1/20).
In related news, Brian Watson has been tapped to serve as vice president of government affairs for State Fund, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
Watson has held a variety of positions at State Fund since being hired in 1986 (Johnson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/8).
State Fund also has hired Peter Guastamachio as chief investment officer, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. Guastamachio previously was vice president-assistant portfolio manager for Bank of the West in Walnut Creek (Johnson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/27).
Sutter Mental Health, Sutter Continuing Care
John Boyd has been named chief administrative officer for Sutter Mental Health and Sutter Continuing Care, the Bee reports.
Previously, he served as assistant administrator of operations support for Kaiser Permanente (Sacramento Bee, 1/26).
Yolo County
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors has appointed Joseph Iser county health officer, the Bee reports.
Iser previously served as director/health officer for the Nevada County Public Health Department.
The annual salary for a Yolo County Health Officer is $151,320 to $183,936 (Louey, Sacramento Bee, 1/13). 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.