Movers & Shakers: AlayaCare, Home Care Assistance

AlayaCare Names New Board Advisor

Home health care software developer AlayaCare has named Will Falk a member of its board of directors.

Falk is a retired partner with multi-national accounting and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He joined PwC in 2012 and led the Canadian health care practice for five years. He has spent 25 years as a strategist and management consultant in New York and Toronto advising academic centers, governments and health care companies.

Over his career Falk has had several formal and informal advisory roles within government, including first ministers’ meetings, departmental reviews, expert panels and bargaining teams. His board experience has included the Children’s Aid Foundation, the William Osler Health System and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

Falk began his career in New York in 1991 with APM Management Consultants (later CSC Healthcare) joining the partnership in 1997. He joined Capgemini, Ernst and Young in 2003, returning to Canada to build the national health care practice. The company was acquired by Accenture, where Falk became the Canadian managing partner for health care, leading the health practice in Canada, and was part of the global health leadership team.

In addition, Falk is an executive fellow at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto where he teaches a course on innovation in healthcare and at the Mowat Centre. He is also a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, and is a frequent speaker and writer on health policy and innovation.

Hubenette Retires from Ensign Board; Company Appoints New Members

Antoinette T. Hubenette has retired from The Ensign Group, Inc.’s board of directors, effective immediately. She leaves her post to pursue other interests, according to a company press release.

Hubenette recently retired as a practicing physician from Cedars-Sinai Medical Group in Beverly Hills, California. She has served as a member of Ensign’s board since June 2003. At the time of her resignation, she was serving as the chair of the quality and assurance committee.

To fill this vacancy, Ensign’s board has appointed Malene Smith Davis following Hubenette’s resignation.

Davis is currently serving as president and CEO of Capital Caring and West Virginia Caring, both of which are hospice and palliative care providers servicing Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Capital Caring, Davis served as president and CEO of Hospice Care Corporation (HCC)—now known as West Virginia Caring—in Arthurdale, West Virginia. Last year, Capital Caring and West Virginia Caring entered into a partnership where Davis led both companies.

Davis also serves as chair of the West Virginia University Alumni Association board of directors.

ResCare Taps Former Kindred Executive as New CFO

Louisville, Kentucky-based ResCare Inc. has hired Jim Mattingly to be the company’s CFO and executive vice president.

Mattingly replaces Ross Davison, who has served in the role since 2013. Davison left the company to become the CFO of Springfield, Illinois-based H.D. Smith LLC, a health care product distribution firm, in November 2016.

Prior to joining the company, Mattingly was CFO of Kindred Rehabilitation Services, a division of Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) that manages the company’s rehabilitation services and facilities. In this post, Mattingly oversaw all accounting, reporting, analytics and strategic planning.

He joins another Kindred alumnus in the C-suite, Jon Rousseau, ResCare’s CEO, who joined the company in September 2016.

Mattingly started working for Kindred in 2014. Before that, he held leadership roles in finance for Jasper, Indiana-based Masterbrand Cabinets Inc., and Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM).

VNA Care’s Mary Ann O’Connor Stepping Down from CEO Post

Mary Ann O’Connor, president and CEO of VNA Care, will be retiring in January 2018 after more than 40 years of service in the home health and hospice industries.

Since joining VNA Care in 2012, O’Connor has led the non-profit in establishing new services and partnerships. She most recently led VNA Care in a partnership with Atrius Health and Medically Home Group in the exploration and implementation of a new acute care at home program. Known as Medically Home, the service combines in-home, hands-on care, remote monitoring and video visits.

Under O’Connor’s leadership, VNA Care has obtained the Home Care Elite designation as well as received high marks in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospice Compare. In addition, she has presented at Medicine X 2017, Stanford’s program on emerging technology and medicine, as well as Remington’s Think Tank Summit, among others.

Remedy Partners Appoints Alaigh as President of Commercial Business Lines

Remedy Partners, a Darien, Connecticut-based bundled payment company, has named Poonam Alaigh, M.D., MSHCPM, FACP as executive vice president of the company’s commercial business lines. In this role, she will assist in leading Remedy Parters’ diversification into new lines of business, serving commercial insurers and self-funded employers.

Alaigh brings many years of experience within the private and public health care sectors, including clinical and hospital practice administration, managed care and health care policy. As acting under secretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, she helped oversee a healthcare system of more than 9 million enrolled veterans, and an annual budget of more than $61 billion.

In her new role with Remedy Partners, Alaigh will oversee the growth of the company’s proprietary bundled payment network and spearhead the commercialization of its bundled payment solutions. She will also lead the roll-out of Remedy Partners’ software platforms.

Prior to joining the Department of Veteran Affairs, Alaigh co-founded the Atlantic Accountable Care Organization (ACO), and served as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Additionally, she has held executive leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Home Care Assistance Hires Neal as VP of Corporate Development

Home Care Assistance has appointed industry veteran Matt Neal as vice president of corporate development.

Neal joins the company’s executive team bringing more than decade of experience in health care, corporate development and strategic planning. In his new role, Neal will oversee the execution of the company’s growth initiatives, with an emphasis on acquisitions.

Prior to joining the company, Neal served as the regional vice president of business development within San Francisco-based McKesson Specialty Health, where he led investments to scale oncology practices. Prior to that, Neal served as a management consultant with Chicago consulting firm Bain & Company where he developed and implemented strategies for a range of health care and technology clients.

Ford Assumes Presidency of BVNA Following Pavasaris’ Retirement

Brockton Visiting Nurse Association (BVNA), a home health provider servicing more than 30 communities in Southeastern Massachusetts, has named Robert Ford, PT, MBA as its new president. He succeeds Beverly Pavasaris, RN, MPH, who retired from the company on October 31.

Ford joins BVNA after several years at All Care VNA, Hospice & Home Care in Lynn, Massachusetts, serving as its vice president of clinical services.

During his tenure with All Care, Ford was involved in innovation, including the agency’s IM Lasix program for patients with congestive heart failure, the organization’s preferred provider relationship with the Cambridge Health Alliance and a CMS Community-based Care Transition Program.

Pavasaris was a long-time employee of BVNA and had been the President since 2005.

One of the most significant relationships brokered by Pavasaris during her tenure was the formalized association of BVNA with Signature Healthcare, parent organization of Brockton Hospital and the Signature Medical Group, as their preferred provider for home health care services.

Written by Carlo Calma