Health Care Personnel Update for June 2007

Antelope Valley Hospital's board of directors on June 15 terminated CEO Les Wong and named Ed Mirzabegian as acting CEO, pending contract negotiations. Mirzabegian formerly served as chief operating officer of the hospital.

Wong agreed to step down after hospital board members determined they needed a CEO with a different skill set, according to officials (Maeshiro, Los Angeles Daily News, 6/15).

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) appointed Deborah Hysen (R) of Granite Bay to serve as chief deputy secretary of facilities, planning and construction for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Senate confirmation is not required for the position, which offers annual compensation of $147,576.

Hysen previously served as chair of the AB 900 Facilities Strike Team, which is responsible for expediting the planning and building of new prison space dedicated to improving inmate medical care (Office of the Governor release, 6/8).

Schwarzenegger appointed Mareva Brown (D) of Sacramento to serve as assistant director of communications for the Department of Developmental Services. Senate confirmation is not required for the position, which offers annual compensation of $98,004.

Brown previously worked as director of communications and outreach for the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

Schwarzenegger made four appointments to the Department of Health Care Services. None of the positions requires Senate confirmation. Summaries appear below.

• Michael Bowman (R) of Sacramento was appointed deputy director of public affairs, which offers annual compensation of $101,400. Bowman since 2006 has served as assistant associate secretary of communications for HHS.
• Toby Douglas (D) of Davis was appointed deputy director of medical services, which offers annual compensation of $122,424. Douglas since 2005 has served as assistant deputy director of medical care services for the Department of Health Services (Office of the Governor release, 6/21).
• Sharon Stevenson (D) of Davis was appointed chief counsel and deputy director of the office of legal services, which offers annual compensation of $140,000. Stevenson since 1991 has held several positions at the Department of Health Services (Office of the Governor release, 6/28).

Schwarzenegger appointed Nancy Kincaid of Elk Grove as assistant director of external affairs for the Department of Mental Health. Senate confirmation is not required for the position, which offers annual compensation of $105,216.

Kincaid since 2003 has served as director of communications, public policy and mitigation for the California Earthquake Authority.

Schwarzenegger made four appointments to the Department of Public Health. None of the positions requires Senate confirmation. Summaries appear below.

• Suanne Buggy (D) of San Francisco was appointed deputy director of public affairs, which offers annual compensation of $105,000. Buggy previously worked in senior communications positions at the Bechtel Corporation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (Office of the Governor release, 6/21).
• Bonita Sorensen (R) of Tallahassee, Fla., was appointed chief deputy director of policy and programs, which offers annual compensation of $175,000. Sorensen since 2002 has served as deputy state health officer for the Florida Department of Health.
• Mary Winkley (D) of Sacramento was appointed chief deputy director of operations, which offers annual compensation of $133,968. Winkley since 1999 has been a partner in the Sacramento office for the consulting firm MGT of America (Office of the Governor release, 6/21).
• Kathleen Keeshen (D) of Davis was appointed chief counsel and deputy director, which offers annual compensation of $140,000. Keeshen since 1999 has held several positions at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Office of the Governor release, 6/28).

Schwarzenegger appointed Anthony Sauer (D) of Grass Valley as director of the Department of Rehabilitation under the Health and Human Services Agency. The position requires Senate confirmation and offers annual compensation of $142,965.

Sauer since 2003 has served as executive director for the Nevada-Sierra Regional In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority. He also serves as chair of the Assessment and Transition Workgroup under the Human Services Agency Olmstead Advisory Committee (Office of the Governor release, 6/12).

Schwarzenegger made five appointments to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. None of the positions provides compensation or requires Senate confirmation. Summaries of the appointments appear below.

• Linford Gayle of Pacifica has served as vice chair of the commission since 2005. Gayle since 2003 has worked for San Mateo County Mental Health Services, where he currently serves as consumer affairs coordinator.
• Patrick Henning (D) of West Sacramento has served on the commission since 2005 and has been a legislative advocate for the California Council of Laborers since 2003.
• William Kolender (R) of San Diego has served on the commission since 2005. Kolender has been San Diego County Sheriff since 1995.
• Maria Minon (I) of Villa Park since 1998 has served as chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs for the Children's Hospital of Orange County.
• David Pating (D) of San Francisco since 2001 has served as chief of addiction medicine and medical director of the chemical dependency recovery program at San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.
• Andrew Poat (R) is vice president of public policy for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. He has served on the commission since 2005 (Office of the Governor release, 6/12).

Michelle Roland (D) of Oakland was appointed chief of the Office of AIDS, which offers annual compensation of $172,000. Roland will oversee the state's HIV/AIDS budget and help set policy guidelines (Bajko, Bay Area Reporter, 6/28).

Schwarzenegger appointed Shelia Young (D) of San Leandro to the Physician Assistant Committee. Young served as mayor of San Leandro from 1998 to 2006.

Senate confirmation is not required for the position, which offers compensation of $100 per diem (Office of the Governor release, 6/21).

The West Contra Costa Healthcare District board on June 26 confirmed Joseph Stewart as CEO of Doctors Medical Center.

Stewart was chosen by Wellspring Management, the consultant running the hospital. He will report to the health care district board but will be on the Wellspring payroll (Lochner, Contra Costa Times, 6/26).

UC-Berkeley professor James Robinson on June 4 was named editor-in-chief of the journal Health Affairs. Robinson will succeed founding editor John Iglehart, who is stepping down on Sept. 4 after a 25-year tenure.

Robinson is a contributing editor to the journal and the Kaiser Permanente distinguished professor of health economics at UC-Berkeley's school of public health (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 6/4).

San Diego County officials June 4 promoted Wilma Wooten from interim to permanent public health officer after rescinding their appointment of Babatunde Jinadu for the role. Jinadu was scheduled to begin the position on June 8 (Clark, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/5).

County officials decided not to appoint Jinadu after discovering allegations of improper billing and a debt of more than $350,000 to the state (Mayer/Wenner, Bakersfield Californian, 6/4). According to the Department of Health Services, three clinics Jinadu owned allegedly overbilled Medi-Cal more than $500,000 (San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/5).

Chet Hewitt on June 27 was named president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation by its board of directors.

Hewitt is the former director of the Alameda County Social Services Agency (Ortiz, Sacramento Bee, 6/28).