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.
Massachusetts General Hospital
(MGH)
Rochelle Walensky, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital is President-elect Joe Biden's pick to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky is the infectious disease chief at MGH and a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Walensky is also a practicing infectious disease physician at MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital. She serves as chairwoman of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council, part of the National Institutes of Health, and as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents.
Walensky will replace Robert Redfield, M.D., who has been a key figure on President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force.
Walensky is a well-respected public health and infectious disease expert who also has a reputation for speaking her mind, The Washington Post reported.
In June, Walenksy led a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that found nearly two-thirds of Americans live in areas with little or no access to infectious disease specialists. It also found 80% of counties with the highest numbers of people diagnosed with the virus have below-average access to infectious disease physicians.
“The deficits in the [infectious diseases] workforce today have left us poorly prepared for the unprecedented demand ahead," Walensky said in a statement at the time.
Michigan Medicine
(Michigan Medicine)
David C. Miller, M.D., will become the new president of the University of Michigan Health System starting Jan. 1.
Miller has been the chief clinical officer for University Hospital and the Frankel Cardiovascular Center since 2018, officials said in an announcement. In the new role, he will provide strategic and operational leadership of the clinical enterprise of Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan.
Miller also was named executive vice dean of clinical affairs for the university's medical school.
Miller replaces David A. Spahlinger, M.D., who is stepping down from the position at the end of December. Spahlinger has served in these roles since 2016. After 26 years of leadership at Michigan Medicine, Spahlinger will continue as a member of the faculty.
Miller, a urologist and surgeon, is a nationally recognized expert in urological oncology, quality improvement and health services research and served as a founding director of the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative, an internationally recognized consortium of urology practices that has achieved statewide improvements in the quality and outcomes of prostate cancer care.
(Providence)
Providence
Michelle L. Edwards was named the new chief experience officer at Providence.
Officials announced she would begin the role Jan. 11. The role is a new position at Providence.
Edwards is a family and acute care nurse practitioner and was appointed the first advanced practice executive leader for Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) in 2013, now part of CommonSpirit Health. That was also an inaugural role for CHI and a first for the U.S. healthcare sector.
Edwards received a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from the University of Texas Health Science Center. She also received her Master of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alabama. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
> Aledade has a number of executive moves recently, including the appointment of Mat Kendall as president after he served as the company’s executive vice president. As well, the company promoted Dan Bowles to chief growth officer, Ahmed Haque to chief performance officer and Sean Cavanaugh to chief policy officer and chief commercial officer.
> NovaSignal added two prominent board members with the appointment of Richard Carmona, M.D., who is a former U.S. surgeon general, as well as Lynne Doughtie, who is the former chairman and CEO of KPMG.
> Digital health company GoHealth announced the appointment of Paul Hain, M.D., as chief medical officer. He is formerly the CMO and divisional senior VP of market delivery for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
> Breck Garrett joined Southwestern Health Resources, a Texas-based Next Generation ACO, as its VP of strategic growth. He was formerly a market head of sales at Aetna.
> CHG Healthcare, the nation’s largest privately held healthcare staffing company, named Leslie Snavely the company’s new chief sales officer, replacing Mark Law, who recently retired after 31 years with the company. CHG also named Scott Boecker its new chief digital officer.
> RWJBarnabas Health, the most comprehensive academic healthcare system in New Jersey, appointed Ami Sparano to the position of vice president of corporate compliance.
> Rite Aid hired Texanna Reeves as its vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.
> Strive Health hired Brandi Riddle as its chief financial officer.
> Everside Health, which was created from the merger of Paladina Health, Activate Healthcare and Healthstat, appointed Gaurov Dayal, M.D., as the company’s new president and COO.