Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Babylon Health
(LinkedIn)
Darshak Sanghavi, M.D., has joined digital health triage, coordination and virtual care company Babylon Health as its global chief medical officer.
Formerly the director of preventive and population health for the Obama administration’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Darshak comes to Babylon directly from the executive team of UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement.
There, he helped the payer build and execute programs targeting care quality and costs while supervising its national clinical and strategy teams. He also spent time as the chief medical officer at OptumLabs and as a pediatrician for the U.S. Indian Health Service.
Sanghavi’s new employer will task him with leadership of its global clinician network and other clinical efforts, such as its Babylon 360 platform. The position places him directly in charge of hundreds of in-house providers and thousands of other clinical partners spread across multiple countries.
UnityPoint Health
(UnityPoint Health)
Lorenzo Suter will become the next senior vice president for UnityPoint Health as well as the regional president and CEO of its UnityPoint Health – Sioux City area, the system announced this week.
Suter comes from a CEO position at 131-bed Dupont Hospital, part of the CHS Lutheran Health Network in Indiana.
Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer at Baptist Medical Center in San Antonio and as the vice president of operations at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois. He received his bachelor’s degree in nursing nearly 20 years ago and followed it up with master’s and doctorate degrees in healthcare administration in 2005 and 2008.
The system said Suter stood out from other national candidates due to his experience in profit and nonprofit organizations and his focus on care quality, among other factors.
He will begin his new role July 19.
Cleveland Clinic
(Cleveland Clinic)
D. Geoffrey Vince has been named as the new executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the commercial arm of the high-profile academic medical center.
Vince’s career has been intertwined with academia and the medical device industry. He served as chair of the Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Biomedical Engineering for a decade and holds another biomedical engineering chair at Cleveland Clinic. He’s had 12 patents and multiple U.S. Department of Defense grants as well as virtual histology technology currently licensed by Philips.
His research has focused on vascular imaging, image and signal processing and other areas related to heart disease and stroke. He recently received an award from Cleveland Clinic for his concept of a rapid COVID-19 “breathalyzer” diagnostic.
In the newly formed role, Vince will be leading Cleveland Clinic Innovations’ work to convert promising medical technologies into proven and marketable products. Since its founding in 2000, the unit has supported the launch of more than 80 startups.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
(Methodist Le
Bonheur Healthcare)
Ocpivia Stafford has been named the president of 156-bed Methodist South Hospital, part of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. She had served as the interim president since November.
Stafford first joined the Memphis system in 2006 as a staff pharmacist and moved her way up the ladder across its Methodist University Hospital and Methodist Olive Branch Hospital.
She came to Methodist South Hospital in 2018 as its pharmacy director and later served as vice president of support and professional services.
The decision came after a nationwide search for a permanent replacement, with system president and CEO Michael Ugwueke noting that Stafford spearheaded “numerous” community engagement initiatives during her short time in the interim president position.
> Mountain Health Network CEO Mike Mullins has departed his top role at the small West Virginia system.
> Huntsville Memorial Hospital, part of Community Hospital Corporation, announced CEO Steven Smith will be retiring June 1.
> Allina Health has announced Lawrence Cho as its senior vice president and chief strategy and growth officer.
> Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, part of Mass General Brigham, has named interim president and CEO Jeffrey Hughes as the permanent successor to those positions.
> Icario, a member engagement tech platform, has named Craig Wigginton as chief technology officer.
> Atrium Health Navicent has announced Cydney Busbee as its chief of staff and senior vice president for communications, public affairs and community engagement; Luis Fonseca as its president of hospitals and clinics; and Jon-Michael Williams as assistant vice president of strategy, innovation and planning.
> BioStar Capital, a health tech venture capital firm, has tapped Walmart vet Jeffrey Yau as its new entrepreneur in residence.
> NovaSignal, a cerebral blood flow technology company, has named Eric Williams as chief financial officer and Raaj Venkatesan as senior vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
> Adair County Health System, an Iowa-based affiliate of MercyOne, will see Catherine Hillestad take on the role of CEO starting July 7.
> Caravan Health, a population health company, added LeeAnn Scheer as its chief pharmacy officer.
> Carrot Fertility, a global fertility benefits provider, has added Bill Friedman as its new vice president of health plan partnerships, Julie Chavez as its vice president of strategy and alliances, Brooke Bartholomay Quinn as senior vice president of customer success and Leslie Neitzel as vice president of people.