Finding our way forward...

All staff message:

Greetings,

Being named as Chief Executive Officer of CCRMC has been a humbling experience. I will sorely miss Jeff Smith who has been my friend and mentor since the beginning of my career here. He leaves big shoes to fill. We are also saying farewell to Miles Kramer, Program Chief of Psychiatry and Detention Services – we will miss him, his breadth of knowledge and his unique ease of leadership. We wish them the very best as they pursue new opportunities.

My immediate priority is to create a smooth transition for the Operations Team, so together we can continue to fulfill our mission to care for and improve the health of all people in Contra Costa County with special attention to those who are most vulnerable to health problems, without interruption. We are fortunate to already have a strong Operations Team in place– Larry Carlson, Jaspreet Benepal, Linda Bates, Shelly Whalon, John Stanger, Olivia Stringer, and Julie Kelley. I am happy to announce that I will be adding Lynnette Watts who is taking a lead role in creating a Patient and Family Partnership to dynamically include the voice of those we serve in an advisory capacity. She will report directly to me, signaling the significance of this nascent and very important partnership. In addition, I have asked Julie Kelley to take on a portion of Miles assignments as the Interim Director of Communications and Program Chief of Detention Mental Health and CCRMC Psychiatry.

Finally, I am happy to welcome Lance Mageno (Ma-hay-no) into the role of Chief Operations Officer effective September 1.

Lance comes to CCRMC with an impressive background including his most recent assignment as the Senior Program Associate for Quality at the California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI), where he has served as a quality improvement partner of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH). Currently, Lance directs programs that improve the quality of care and services provided by California’s public hospitals and health systems with a focus on performance measurement and systems infrastructure, public reporting and transparency, pay-for-performance/value-based purchasing, patient loyalty and experience of care. Lance also holds credentials in Lean methodology – a healthcare management tool used as a system-wide strategy for eliminating waste, creating reliable and coordinated delivery systems, and increasing value to patients and their family members. Lance served for ten years at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC), where he helped build a world-class quality improvement program and was the Senior Administrative Manager of Quality Improvement. Before that, he worked as the Director of Patient and Family Relations, and Manager of Customer Satisfaction and Patient Experience, also at the University of Michigan Health System.

There has never been a more exciting time to work in health care nor a more challenging one. We are on the precipice of national health care reform while forced to work with a state budget that threatens medical coverage for the most vulnerable – those individuals served through our mission.

I look forward to working with all of you. I welcome and expect your feedback as I take on this challenging position. I do not fly solo and I want you to know that you don’t either.

Sincerely,

Anna