A New Chief Medical Officer Joins Elara Caring; Enhabit Names General Counsel

Elara Caring adds Dr. Kevin Henning to its leadership team

Elara Caring — one of the largest home health providers in the U.S. — has named Dr. Kevin Henning as its chief medical officer.

“Dr. Henning joins Elara at an incredibly exciting time,” Elara Caring COO Ananth Mohan said in a press statement. “We are embarking on a momentous effort to align the historically conflicting interests of patients and payers and are thrilled to add such a seasoned, experienced medical leader with a focus on evidenced-based care to our expanding team.”

The Addison, Texas-based Elara Caring currently has roughly 200 locations across 16 states, where its 35,000 workers take care of around 60,000 patients daily.

Henning comes to Elara Caring with a background in post-acute and long-term care medicine. Prior to joining the company, he served as medical director at TeamHealth. Before that, he was the chief medical officer at US Post Acute Care. He also once served as chief medical director at Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED).

“I have been deeply impressed by Elara’s commitment to addressing the holistic needs of patients and clients, as well as the quality of their leadership team and their culture of caring, which is evident in every facet of the company,” Henning said in the statement. “I am looking forward to contributing to this vital organization that lives and promotes values I share, including service, integrity and innovation.”

Enhabit appoints general counsel

Enhabit Inc. (NYSE: EHAB) has appointed Dylan Black as the company’s general counsel.

The Dallas-based Enhabit is a home health and hospice provider. The company has 250 home health locations and 100 hospice locations across 34 states.

Black has more than 24 years of legal experience with publicly traded companies under his belt. His most recent role was as a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, where he represented a variety of industries, including health care.

“We are excited to welcome Dylan to the Enhabit team,” Enhabit President and CEO Barb Jacobsmeyer said in a press statement. “He has served as a trusted legal advisor to many organizations, and we look forward to the leadership and contributions he will bring to Enhabit.”

Best Life Brands promotes SVP to chief marketing officer

Best Life Brands LLC has promoted Jennifer LoBianco to chief marketing officer.

LoBianco originally joined Best Life Brands in 2021 as senior vice president of marketing.

“Jennifer has been outstanding as our senior vice president of marketing with her ability to juggle the direction and strategy of four brands,” Best Life Brands CEO J.J. Sorrenti said in a press release. “She has contributed massively to everything we have done since she joined our business in 2021. As our new CMO, she has huge potential to positively impact our growth, as well as play an important role interacting with our franchisees and with our executive leadership team.”

In the past, LoBianco was the chief marketing officer for Huntington Learning Center and the chief marketing officer for American Financial Resources.

“I recognize and deeply value the importance of Best Life Brand’s mission to serve seniors and their families on the continuum of care,” LoBianco said in the press release. “I look forward to creating new opportunities to expand our offerings, increase demand for our services, attract more franchisees and engage customers.”

Emily Cook takes the helm at SCAN Group’s Welcome Health

The SCAN Group — which includes SCAN Health Plan — has named Emily Cook CEO of Welcome Health, SCAN’s primary care in-home geriatric medical group.

In December, SCAN Group announced that it would be combining with CareOregon to eventually form “HealthRight Group.”

SCAN Group launched Welcome Health in 2021. At the time, Dr. Sachin Jain, president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan, said that it was another avenue to aid SCAN’s overall mission.

“With Welcome Health, SCAN is broadening our offerings in keeping with our mission to keep seniors healthy and independent,” Jain previously said in a press statement.

Cook brings over 35 years of experience, and a background in growing home-based care delivery systems, to the role.

“We are very excited to have Emily Cook’s expertise at the helm of Welcome Health,” Jain said in a new press statement. “Over the course of her impressive career, Emily’s passion for home-based care and expertise in scaling and growing healthcare organizations is exactly what we’re looking for to bring Welcome Health’s services to older adults across the nation.”

Previously, Cook served as COO of Alternate Solutions Health Network and chief clinical operations officer for CareMore and Aspire Health.

“I have always been drawn to mission-driven organizations that have the singular purpose of keeping people well and partnering with clinicians to serve patients in a very special way, which is what attracted me to Welcome Health,” Cook said in the statement. “Welcome Health’s approach to taking a primary care model and delivering it through the lens of geriatric care in the home is unique and I love the promise of what that means for our patients.”

Help at Home appoints market leader for Illinois

Help at Home has named James Quach as its new market leader for Illinois, a state that is responsible for one of its largest footprints.

“We’re excited to have Quach’s expertise and leadership, as well as his proven track record for managing and growing operations across complex, large-scale organizations,” Help at Home COO Ray Smithberger said in a press statement. “His clinical experience and large-scale operation background with companies like Walmart/Sam’s Club, for example, will further advance Help at Home’s long-tenured Illinois operations.”

Chicago-based Help at Home has over 200 brand locations in 13 states. The company offers a number of home-based care services.

In his new role, Quach will be focused on growth and innovation strategy centered around professionalizing the caregiver role. This includes the execution of the company’s upskilling and career advancement efforts for over 20,000 caregivers in Illinois.