CareAcademy Hires 3 New Executives; Interim HealthCare CEO Joins RIHC Board

CareAcademy makes new leadership hires

A few months after making its first acquisition, the caregiver training platform CareAcademy is adding to its leadership team to support its next stage of growth.

CareAcademy announced that Laura Bottino will serve as the company’s CFO; Kristin Relyea will serve as the vice president of product, design and engineering; and Tracy Huckabee will serve as the vice president of content and quality.

The Boston-based CareAcademy’s platform provides home care agencies with professional development training and upskilling for direct care workers. This past summer, it secured a Goldman Sachs-led $20 million funding round.

“Our new leaders bring decades of collective experience in scaling high-growth companies in health care, e-commerce, SaaS and education, that offer both mission and margin,” Helen Adeosun, CEO and founder of CareAcademy, said in a statement. “As we double down on product development and user experience within our platform, Laura, Kristin and Tracy will be instrumental in our next stage of growth as a product company.”

CareAcademy is used by over 2,000 home care, home health and assisted living providers.

Interim HealthCare’s CEO named home care board chairperson

The leader of Interim HealthCare Inc. has been named chairperson of the Research Institute for Home Care’s (RIHC) board of directors.

Jennifer Sheets, CEO and president of Interim, will begin a two-year term on the board in February. She has been a member of the board since 2019.

Based in Sunrise, Florida — and a part of Caring Brands International — Interim is a franchise that provides home health, hospice, palliative care and other services across 330 locations in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

“I’m honored to guide this organization in its commitment to elevating home health care as the patient-preferred care option,” Sheets said in a statement. “We are at a pivotal point in our fight for enhanced recognition and federal funding for home health care services and the work Research Institute for Home Care does is integral to the industry’s continued growth.”

RIHC is a nonprofit group of home care providers and organizations that invests in research and education regarding home health care.

CVS Health exec returns to UnitedHealth Group

The former president of health care delivery at CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) has rejoined his former company.

Amar Desai — after six months with CVS Health — will return to UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) where he will reportedly advise CEO Andrew Witty.

Desai joined CVS Health in October 2022 to lead its clinical delivery strategy for retail health, chronic disease management and behavioral health.

Desai previously served as president and CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Pacific West.

CVS Health recently completed its $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health (NYSE: SGFY). The deal was completed just weeks after UnitedHealth Group – and its subsidiary Optum – completed the $5.4 billion acquisition of LHC Group.

PopHealthCare names former Optum exec as new chief administrative officer

The Franklin, Tennessee-based PopHealthCare has named Nick Snoply as its new chief administrative officer (CAO) where he will lead human resources, growth and strategy initiatives.

PopHealthCare is a subsidiary of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation. The company offers home-based primary care, risk-adjustment solutions and in-home assessments.

Snoply will also focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at PopHealthCare and its value-based national medical group, Emcara Health.

“Nick’s leadership experience is well-aligned for PopHealthCare and Emcara Health’s long-term growth,” PopHealthCare CEO Eric Galvin said in a statement. “The focus and energy Nick brings to this role are invaluable to enhancing our position as an employer of choice and enabling us to deliver more care to more of the patients who need us.”

Before joining PopHealthCare, Snoply served as CAO for the American Health Network at Optum and has more than 15 years of executive experience.

“Given the momentum that PopHealthCare and Emcara Health have experienced, we have an opportunity to strengthen our human resources and development infrastructure,” Snoply said in a statement. “I’m inspired by our mission to reimagine how health care is delivered and most importantly in the people who are delivering on this mission every day.”

Sutter Health names new COO

The nonprofit health system Sutter Health has named Mark Sevco its new chief operating officer.

Based in Sacramento, Sutter Health is a nonprofit health system with 24 acute care hospitals and over 200 clinics in Northern California.

Its network and service offerings include hospitals, medical foundations, ambulatory surgery centers, walk-in care centers, as well as home health and hospice care.

“Mark has proven operational experience integrating and aligning care delivery models and teams across large health systems, and in both hospital and ambulatory settings,” Sutter Health President and CEO Warner Thomas said in a statement.

Sevco will officially join Sutter in June.