OAKLAND,
Calif., May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield
of California today announced the
appointment of two senior executives to help the nonprofit health
plan accelerate its ambitious plans to transform the healthcare
system and bolster its growth plans.
Lois Quam will join as president
of Blue Shield of California. She
will focus on providing leadership and management of the health
plan. Susan Mullaney will join as
executive vice president of strategic initiatives, leading special
projects that help to transform the broken healthcare system. Both
Quam and Mullaney will begin their new roles in August and report
to Paul Markovich, CEO, Blue Shield
of California.
"Lois and Susan are dynamic leaders who share our mission-driven
passion to think big and be fearless in solving the kinds of
complex problems we face in health care," Markovich said. "Our
current healthcare system is unsustainable and unacceptable. That's
why we are running hard and fast with talented leaders to make bold
moves that fundamentally change the way our healthcare system works
and make it worthy of our family and friends and sustainably
affordable for everyone."
Quam comes to Blue Shield from Pathfinder, where she served as
CEO of the global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving
healthcare access for women and girls, with a focus on maternal and
reproductive health care. Previously, she worked with
then-Secretary Hillary Rodham
Clinton at the U.S. State Department to lead then-President
Obama's Global Health Initiative serving Africa, Asia
and the Middle East. Prior to
those roles, she worked at UnitedHealth Group for nearly two
decades, including as a senior executive leading the company's
business division that served the federal government, states and
AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons).
Quam graduated from Macalester
College in Saint Paul,
Minnesota and later attended Oxford
University as a Rhodes
scholar.
"I believe California can lead
the nation in creative, enduring solutions in health care, and Blue
Shield of California is uniquely
positioned to lead that charge," Quam said. "I'm honored to join
this talented team in making that vision a reality."
Mullaney also has deep experience in health care and most
recently served as senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group.
Previously, she held various leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente,
including serving on their national executive team and later as
president of Kaiser Permanente Washington. Prior to those roles,
she held leadership positions at Fairview Health Services, a
hospital system in Minneapolis. In
addition, she mentors early-stage, science-based healthcare
technology companies through Creative Destruction Lab, a healthcare
accelerator that collaborates with leading universities across the
globe.
Mullaney earned her Bachelor of Arts at Eastern Connecticut State University and received a
Master of Health Policy and Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
"Health care needs courageous leaders — now more than ever —
because we have to do things differently to transform how it works
today," Mullaney said. "Clearly, Blue Shield of California has been doing that and I'm really
excited to be part of this team."
The executive appointments also highlight Blue Shield's
commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The health plan is
one of the largest companies in California to achieve gender balance on its
board and the senior executive staff has more women than men. Blue
Shield also maintains pay equity by both gender and ethnicity with
a balanced representation of women and men in leadership roles
(director and above).
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare
system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably
affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit,
independent member of the Blue Shield Association with more than
4.8 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than
$24 billion in annual revenue.
Founded in 1939 in San Francisco
and now headquartered in Oakland,
Blue Shield of California and its
affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare
healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more
than $97 million to Blue Shield of
California Foundation in the last three years to have an impact on
California communities.
For more news about Blue Shield of California, please
visit news.blueshieldca.com.
Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter,
or Facebook.
CONTACT:
|
Mark Seelig
|
|
Blue Shield of
California
|
|
510-607-2359
|
|
media@blueshieldca.com
|
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SOURCE Blue Shield of California