MIAMI

Chutes & Ladders—Express Scripts gets new president; GE Healthcare names CTO

Tenet Health and its subsidiaries Conifer Health Solutions and United Surgical Partners International (USPI) announced key leadership changes.

Deepali Narula has been promoted to chief operating officer of Conifer. Deepali was previously senior vice president of HRCM operations, where she converted operations and established new capabilities that allowed several of Conifer’s recent commercial successes. Bryan Forry has been promoted to chief financial officer of Conifer. Maggie Gill, Matthew Stone and Nicholas Tejeda have all been tapped as group presidents of the company’s hospital segment.

Tenet Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Daniel Cancelmi and President and CEO of Conifer Health Solutions Roger Davis shared their plans to retire at the end of 2023 and the end of the first quarter in 2023, respectively. National searches for their replacements are ongoing.

President and CEO of USPI Brett Brodnax also voiced his plans to retire at the end of the year. Andy Johnston has returned to USPI as its chief administrative officer with his promotion to Brodnax’s position being anticipated.

Tenet Health also announced that it expects to exceed the midpoint of its adjusted EBITDA outlook range.

Trusted Health

LinkedIn
(LinkedIn)
Trusted Health, a labor marketplace for healthcare professionals, welcomed Kate Kline as president.

Kline most recently held the position of president at ZocDoc, where she grew the company’s healthcare provider network by 50% during her tenure. Previously, she spent 14 years at a consulting firm focused on healthcare, Advisory Board Company, where she held the position of executive vice president of consulting and management.

Kline’s primary goal in the position will be to progress the company’s go-to-market strategy for its Trusted Works platform, according to a company press release. She will work to bring clinical workforce management to health systems in order to match clinicians to the ideal role. One of such health systems where the platform has already been implemented is Missouri-based Mercy, comprised of 45 hospitals in four states employing over 40,000 employees. The system reported saving $5 million within the first months of systemwide implementation of Mercy Works On Demand.

Kline’s hiring follows that of Trusted’s first chief financial officer, Beatrice Pang, in 2022.

GE Healthcare

LinkedIn
(LinkedIn)
Taha Kass-Hout, M.D., has been named as GE Healthcare’s first chief technology officer.

The recently spun out company announced the hire within days of opening business. Kass-Hout will work across the entire company to expand its clinical research and innovation efforts while building out its digital platforms and digital and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Kass-Hout spent the last six years at Amazon where he served as vice president of machine learning and chief medical officer for Amazon and its web services cloud computing offshoot. While in the position, he helped develop the Amazon Lab COVID-19 testing initiative, Amazon HealthLake data storage service and Amazon Omics analytics service for sequencing data, among other projects.

He also boasts two appointments at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration. From 2009 to 2013, he served as director of health informatics solutions and operations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Evernorth

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(LinkedIn)
Evernorth, the health services business of Cigna, promoted Adam Kautzner to president of Express Scripts.

Kautzner filled the role of senior vice president of supply chain where he led pharmaceutical and retail network contracting, retail network contracting and drug sourcing for Express Scripts Pharmacy and Accredo Pharmacy. Also at the pharmacy benefits manager, he has worked as chief pharma trade relations officer and vice president of supply chain product and strategy.

Kautzner follows Amy Bricker, who has been with the PBM for almost a decade. Bricker helped direct the company’s supply chain in previous positions at Express Scripts

LinkedIn
(LinkedIn)
and was named regional vice president of account management at Walgreens. She was also named a Fierce Healthcare Woman of Influence.

Express Scripts announced in early December that it would be adding biosimilars to its largest formularies as preferred products to treat inflammatory conditions.

> Oak Street Health announced the appointment of Deb Edberg, M.D., as the primary care provider’s first chief wellness officer.

> The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute tapped Julie Panepinto, M.D., a pediatric hematologist, for the role of director of the division of blood diseases and resources.

> Greenphire welcomed Owen Newman as the chief financial officer of the clinical trial financial process automation company.

> Capital Caring Health, a Falls Church, Virginia-based provider, is pleased to announce Melissa “Missy” Ring as its newest chief of compliance and quality.

> Morehouse School of Medicine has named Walter Douglas as executive vice president of operations and business affairs.

> Compile unveiled Norman Pai as head of sales, Ruth Berkowitz as chief marketing officer and Jayant (Jay) Sood as head of finance of the life sciences company.

> FTI Consulting announced the appointment of Juan Montanez as a senior managing director and Cindy Ward as a managing director within the firm’s health solutions practice.

> Norwest, a venture capital growth equity firm, hired Irem Rami as the principal of the healthcare investment team.

> University of Vermont Health Network promoted Lori Boisjoli to the roles of senior vice president and chief information officer.

> Found, a weight care platform, added Dianna Budgeon as executive vice president and head of clinical operations.

> Trinitas Regional Medical Center announced that Gary S. Horan will be retiring from his position as president and CEO.

> Accra, a nonprofit organization providing individualized home care services to people with disabilities and older adults throughout Minnesota, promoted Timothy Jones to chief technology officer.

> Transcarent, a healthcare platform for employers, has unveiled Janine Gianfredi as chief marketing officer.

> Dartmouth Health named Jennifer Gilkie as chief marketing officer.

> Hospital for Special Surgery welcomed Tara McCoy as chief executive officer of HSS Florida.

> CalvertHealth promoted Melissa Hall to the position of chief nursing officer.

MIAMI

How to watch the 2023 ACC women’s basketball tournament

The ACC women’s basketball tournament runs Wednesday-Sunday at Greensboro Coliseum, with Notre Dame holding the top seed as the regular-season champion.

Here’s the complete schedule and TV information for the tournament:

ACC women’s tournament TV schedule
Greensboro Coliseum

First Round – Wednesday, March 1

No. 12 Wake Forest 68, No. 13 Virginia 57

No. 10 Clemson 71, No. 15 Pitt 53

No. 11 Boston College 62, No. 14 Georgia Tech 57

Second Round – Thursday, March 2

No. 12 Wake Forest 65, No. 5 Florida State 54

No. 8 NC State 83, No. 9 Syracuse 58

No. 7 North Carolina 68, No. 10 Clemson 58

Game No. 7 – No. 6 Miami vs. No. 11 Boston College, 8 p.m. (ACC Network)

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3

Game No. 8 – No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 12 Wake Forest, 11 a.m. (ACC Network)

Game No. 9 – No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 NC State, 2 p.m. (ACC Network)

Game No. 10 – No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 North Carolina, 6 p.m. (ACC Network)

Game No. 11 – No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. Winner of Game No. 7, 8 p.m. (ACC Network)

Semifinals – Saturday, March 4

Game No. 12 – ACC Semifinal No. 1, Noon (ACC Network)

Game No. 13 – ACC Semifinal No. 2, 2:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

Championship – Sunday, March 5

Game No. 14 – Championship Game, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

MIAMI

klahoma voters will reject legalization of recreational marijuana,

Voters in Oklahoma will reject a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state for adults ages 21 and older, CNN projects.

The ballot measure at stake in Tuesday’s special election was one of several such measures on cannabis use that has been considered by voters in recent months.

Oklahoma’s measure would have allowed for possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana and the growth of up to six mature marijuana plants and up to six seedlings. If it had passed, there would also have been a 15% tax of sales for recreational marijuana in the state.

Supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana in the Sooner State had pushed to see this measure on the ballot for years. Due to legal challenges and ballot inclusion deadlines, State Question 820 was left off the ballot in November.

During the midterms, voters in five states considered legalizing recreational marijuana. Ballot measures in November failed in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota, while voters in Maryland and Missouri were able to pass similar ballot measures.

s medical marijuana legal in Oklahoma?
Yes. In 2018, Oklahoma approved a ballot measure legalizing the use, sale and growth of medical marijuana. Recreational use of marijuana, however, remains illegal in the state.

MIAMI

Rangers’ Jacob deGrom ‘felt really good,’ takes massive step toward injury recovery

Jacob deGrom’s tenure with the Texas Rangers got off on the wrong foot as he was already dealing with an injury. However, deGrom now seems to be on the right track and ready to help the Rangers make a postseason push.

deGrom dealt with left side tightness on the onset of Spring Training. However, the Rangers’ new ace was able to throw his first bullpen session on Thursday. After throwing 22 pitches, deGrom seemed to be past the side tightness that originally derailed him, via MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry.

“I felt really good,” deGrom said of his bullpen session. “The past few days it felt really good and back to normal. So we just took four days off without throwing before I got back to normal. It was a step in the right direction. The plan moving forward is to keep progressing and build up pitch count and get in some games.”

Before even coming to Spring Training, deGrom said he threw at least five bullpen sessions on his own. While he may have been shut down, he said it was more precautionary and that he didn’t feel behind any other of the Rangers’ pitchers.

Texas will be elated to hear of Jacob deGrom’s quick recovery. Injuries have been the one thing holding the right-hander back. Over the past three years, deGrom hasn’t made more than 15 stars in a season and was limited to just 11 in 2022.