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.
Teladoc
Virtual care giant Teladoc Health tapped a new CEO two months after longtime leader Jason Gorevic stepped away.
The company hired Charles “Chuck” Divita III as its new CEO, according to an announcement. Concurrent with his role as CEO, Divita also joined Teladoc Health’s board of directors.
Divita joins Teladoc Health from GuideWell, a health solutions organization and parent company of Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross Blue Shield plan. At GuideWell, Divita served as executive vice president of commercial markets.
American Medical Association
Bruce Scott, M.D., was sworn in as the next president of the American Medical Association (AMA). He took the reins of the AMA for his first full day on Wednesday, June 12, succeeding immediate past president Jesse Ehrenfeld, M.D.
Though Wednesday marks Scott’s first day at the helm, he is no stranger to AMA leadership. Scott led the AMA’s House of Delegates as speaker for the last four years.
“It's an interesting and great transition to go from being the person who is leading the making of the sausage, if you will, to the person who is then trying to sell the sausage,” Scott said. “The policies that we develop within the house are in the best interest of our profession and of our patients."
Optum
Sanji Fernando is stepping down from his senior vice president of AI products role at Optum. He will join Frazier Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm, as operating partner of the Center of Excellence Data & AI team.
Fernando led many efforts in AI innovation and deployment across Optum and UnitedHealthcare, including its United AI studio for experimentation with advanced machine learning. A press release by Frazier says that Fernando’s work at Optum launched the company to the forefront of healthcare technology.
> Virtual care company Amwell announced that co-founder Roy Schoenberg is transitioning from his role as president and co-CEO to become executive vice chairman of Amwell’s board of directors. Ido Schoenberg will assume the role of CEO of Amwell.
> RhythmX AI tapped former HCA Ambulatory Chief Health Information Officer Ed Glynn, M.D., as chief clinical officer.
> Justin Bradshaw has been named chief operating officer at Phoenix Children’s. Bradshaw moves to Phoenix Children’s from Intermountain Medical Center in Utah.
> Healthcare IT company mPulse hired Kate Shields as its chief customer officer.
> Ingenovis Health, parent company for a slew of healthcare staffing organizations including Trustaff and Fastaff, named Robin Geiger as its first chief nursing officer.
> Cedars-Sinai has appointed Andrew Geller, M.D., and Michael Nurok, Ph.D., as co-chairs of the Department of Anesthesiology.
> Lifepoint Health announced Casey Willis has been named CEO of Saint Mary's Regional Health System.
> Jenny Reed has been appointed senior executive officer of Southwestern Health Resources.
> The Healthcare Supply Chain Association, a collection of healthcare group purchasing organizations, announced that Angie Boliver will become its president and CEO, taking over for former President and CEO Todd Ebert.
> UnityPoint Health appointed a new chief medical officer, Gregory R. Johnson, M.D.
> Robert Grossman, M.D., will retire as CEO of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine in August 2025.
> Children's National Hospital has appointed Gina Cronin as senior vice president and chief people officer. She currently serves as chief talent officer and director of the administrative fellowship program at Cleveland Clinic.
> Episcopal Health Services tapped Jameela Yussuf as senior vice president and chief medical officer, and Jennifer Newburger as vice president and chief quality officer.
> Benjamin Abella, M.D., has been named chair of the department of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Health System and Icahn School of Medicine.
> Holy Name appointed Amit Mody as executive vice president of business development.
> Antoine Poythress is stepping down as CEO of Jenkins County Medical Center in Georgia to become COO and CFO of Effingham Health System.
> Mount Sinai Health System has tapped Vincent Tammaro as its new executive vice president and CFO, effective in October.
> Steven Packer, president and CEO of Montage Health, will retire in 2025 after 25 years.
> David McFadyen has been appointed president and CEO of Trinity Health’s West Region. He will take over for Odette Bolano starting July 1.