I am honored and excited to transition into the role of chief executive officer (CEO) for the Tri-State Region as Dr. Scott Hayworth moves into his new role on Optum Health’s national leadership team.
Scott has been an incredible leader for CareMount Medical and the Tri-State region, guiding us through remarkable growth and change, including our ongoing efforts to become One Optum Tri-State. With this transition, I am pleased to welcome two new leaders to our team.
Manu Kuppalli has accepted the role as Tri-State’s chief financial officer (CFO). He will join us from Optum Rx, where he serves as chief of staff to CEO Heather Cianfrocco and leader of multiple executive level strategy imperatives. Prior to his leadership in the evolution of Optum Rx, Manu was the vice president (VP) of Strategy for Optum Health Solutions. Previously, he worked across varied organizations with a focus on health care, supporting business development, mergers and acquisitions, and financial management. Manu will transition to his new role with us in February, reporting to me and Selemon Asfaw, CFO for Optum Care.
The Tri-State finance, accounting and revenue cycle teams led by Robert Brown, Aaron Halbe, Brett Kobren, Max Mohagen, Avi Rafalson and Tara McDonough will report to Manu. To further align the Tri-State finance team with Optum, Aaron and Tara will continue to work closely with their respective leaders, Dan Steel, VP of Finance, Optum, and Vicky Stenslie, VP of Accounting, Optum.
In addition, Jeffrey Short will join Tri-State in the role of chief operating officer, effective Jan. 9. He will report to me.
Jeff comes to us from the Montefiore Health System where he held a number of leadership roles. Most recently, he served as chief transformation officer, responsible for systemwide strategic and operational transformation, as well as chief executive of Montefiore’s Faculty Practice Group with responsibility for overall clinical operations, including more than 2,000 physicians, 5,000 employees and 70 locations. He also led digital health, the patient call center, and professional billing services, and served in prior roles as chief of staff and VP of operations.
The clinical operations, ancillary services, urgent care operations and information technology functions led by Nick Korchinksi, Amit Mody, Maureen Saleeb, and Rodney Plante will report to Jeff.
Please join me in welcoming Manu and Jeff to Tri-State.
Kevin
