Health Care Personnel Update for January 2008
WellPoint on Jan. 9 named Leslie Margolin president and general manager of Blue Cross of California. Margolin also was named president of sister company Blue Cross Life & Health Insurance. She will begin the new position Feb. 11.
Margolin previously served as Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president for health plan and hospital operations, as well as the manager representative of its Labor Management Partnership (Girion, Los Angeles Times, 1/10).
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) made two appointments to the Department of Health Care Services. Senate confirmation is not required for either position.
The appointments include:
- Norman Williams (D) of Elk Grove as deputy director for public affairs, which provides compensation of $106,000 (Office of the Governor release, 1/2); and
- Eileen Kostanecki (D) of Sacramento as federal policy adviser, which offers compensation of $97,692 (Office of the Governor release, 1/25).
Schwarzenegger appointed James Burgard (R) of Monte Sereno to the California Board of Pharmacy. Since 1990, Burgard has served as president of Environetics Engineering.
Senate confirmation is not required for the position, which provides compensation of $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 1/2).
The governor made three appointments to the Committee on Dental Auxiliaries for the California Board of Dental Examiners. Senate confirmation is not required for the positions, which provide compensation of $100 per diem.
The appointments include:
- Debra Diaz (R) of Salinas, who has served as executive director for Community Oral Health Services since 2006;
- Marlene Jacobus (R) of Templeton, who has been a registered dental hygienist for 38 years; and
- Rita Weisberg (R) of Pacific Palisades, who has been a dentist in private practice since 1999 (Office of the Governor release, 1/15).
Susan Ryan resigned Jan. 28 as the top administrator of Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center following a recent CMS report that criticized the hospital administration's handling of complaints about a physician (Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 1/29).
Ryan, who worked for Kaiser Permanente since 1997, will be replaced in the interim by Linda Monte, a Kaiser executive from San Francisco, according to a Kaiser official (Correa, Fresno Bee, 1/28).
O'Connor Hospital on Jan. 9 named Bonnie Liang as CFO.
Liang previously served as vice president, controller and treasurer of Stanford Hospital and Clinics. She also has held management positions at Kaiser Permanente and UC-San Francisco Stanford Health Care (San Jose Business Journal, 1/9).
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Catherine Dodd as deputy chief of staff for health and human services.
Dodd, who previously served as district chief of staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also sits on the San Francisco Health Commission (Vega, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/5).
Craig McMillan was named interim leader of San Luis Obispo County's Public Health Department while officials search for a permanent replacement to Greg Thomas.
McMillan, who began the position at the end of January, previously served as health officer for Mendocino and Lake counties. He also practiced medicine for 11 years (Arnquist, San Luis Obispo Tribune, 1/7).