By now, Jack Friedman, CEO of Providence Health Plan, had expected to turn over the reins to his successor, after 15 years at the helm. That’s what he anticipated last May when he made the announcement to his colleagues.
“The timing seems right. We're growing our membership again, and the plan's financial position has never been stronger." He added that the plan's "young leaders are "ready to assume more responsibility, and we need to advance them."
But Friedman’s successor still hasn’t been chosen, he told The Lund Report, and should happen later during the first quarter. Friedman’s agreed to stay on as needed during the transition. Speculation’s also running high that Samaritan Health Services in Corvallis is preparing to ink a deal with Legacy Health, but nothing definitive is being said – at least publicly.
In an earlier interview late last fall, CEO Larry Mullins told The Lund Report,
“It’s certainly fair to say that Legacy is one of the parties that we’re having conversations with. I like Legacy, and I like George Brown, It’s a great organization, but it’s premature to say we’re merging. There’s always a possibility but we’re also working with other organizations on other projects, and are having a robust conversation with PeaceHealth on bio-preparedness and Ebola. We talk to a lot of great people all the time on how we can work better to improve healthcare services in our community, and Legacy is a party I could certainly work with. We are constantly evaluating our positon and capability to serve this community. Several years back there was a hot rumor we were selling to Dignity Health but that didn’t happen.
“There’s a likelihood of several announcements coming out on multiple fronts in 2015 – maybe even some by year end but again it’s premature right now. Certainly on the operational side of the house Legacy is a friend of ours, and George is a friend of mine-- so stay tuned.”
Samaritan’s also eager to join the commercial insurers, Mullins added..
“Yes, we’ll be competing with all the commercial plans – the usual cast of characters– Regence, Providence, PacificSource, and we’ll offer a unique combination of a health plan and delivery network. Over the years we’ve learned a lot from our CCO development, and want to share the lessons with the commercial side of the house. We’re positioning ourselves right now, and will have a much more robust approach to the health plan market with the use of brokers.”
The insurance world is also eager to learn more about their newest competitor, ZoomCare, which is preparing a major announcement, according to inside sources. Recently Kathy Prosser joined their team as vice president of sales, and shared her enthusiasm with The Lund Report. .
“We’ve been defined as a neighborhood clinic on demand for injury and illness and have been very
successful, but now we’re building a movement,” she told The Lund Report. “You could call it Zoom 2.0 where we’re taking it across the health plan, looking to bring on a whole array of specialty services and surgical procedures. We want to think about the outpatient side beyond illness. It’s going to be a continuum, a complete care model and our members, our employers can come to expect these other services. We need to go end to end and look at all the aspects of healthcare. That’s going to take more infrastructure, and we have a lot to do, but I’m excited about where we’re headed. The vision is very big, very direct and very innovative. You’ll see new relationships formed and new structures built in the ZoomCare way. That’s really the next stage.”
Diane can be reached at [email protected].
