Benefits pros on the move: Navitus Health Solutions, Vaco and Scripta Insights

July 14, 2020 11:51 AM

The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has not hindered some benefits professionals from making moves to advance their careers. Organizations including Navitus Health Solutions, Vaco and Scripta Insights have all recently made changes in leadership positions.

Below we’ve highlighted these and a few other promotions and new hires in the industry.

Do you have a new hire or promotion you would like to share? Is a key executive stepping down after years of service? Contact amanda.schiavo@arizent.com and let us know.

Please provide a high-resolution headshot along with the new job details.

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Navitus Health Solutions names David Fields next president and CEO

After serving as interim president and CEO for more than a year, David Fields was selected to serve as president and CEO on a permanent basis. During his time at Navitus Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits manager, Fields has expanded its footprint and led the process of bringing in Costco Wholesale as a minority owner.

“Navitus has experienced tremendous growth over the years and is well positioned for greater success,” Kris Zimmer, chairman of the Navitus board of directors, says. “I can’t think of anyone better to lead the organization into the future. His vision for how Navitus can serve as an alternative to traditional PBMs and drive down costs to make prescriptions more affordable for everyone is one that will propel the company forward as it works to meet evolving healthcare needs.”

Vaco names Chelsea Sanger managing partner of its San Diego office

Sanger has been with Vaco, a talent solutions company, since 2016, and previously served as managing director of the San Diego office. Sanger has 10 years of progressive audit and accounting experience, and will lead the organization’s growth and vision efforts going forward.

“Naming Chelsea as managing partner of Vaco’s San Diego office was an easy, strategic decision for Vaco,” Jay Hollomon, Vaco co-founder and chief operating officer, says. “She joined Vaco as an internal audit consultant and it quickly became clear that we needed her for the long haul. She is a visionary leader who has a gift of building teams, exceeding client expectations, leveraging opportunities, and delivering results.”

Scripta Insights appoints Joe O’Connor to board of advisors

Scripta Insights, a cloud-based healthcare IT solution that aims to reduce pharmacy benefits costs, appointed Joe O’Connor to its board of advisors. O’Connor has more than 25 years of experience leading organizations that aim to improve healthcare quality, while simultaneously reducing its cost. Most recently, he served as chief product officer at Apervita after its acquisition of Qcentive where he was executive vice president of product and strategy.

“We are thrilled to have Joe on our board of advisors. He brings decades of experience in the healthcare industry to the table, along with key leadership and technical skills that will be a tremendous asset to all of us at Scripta,” Eric Levin, CEO of Scripta Insights, says.

Enspira appoints Vickie Maurer senior vice president of life sciences practice and managing partner

Vickie Maurer, Senior Vice President and Managing Partner, Enspira

Hand-out/Enspira

Vickie Maurer was appointed senior vice president of Enspira’s life sciences practice and managing partner of the organization. Maurer has more than 15 years of experience in HR leadership positions, and previously served as HR director at Cardinal Health and Johnson & Johnson. She will be responsible for providing HR counsel and solutions to Enspira’s life sciences clients, the organization’s largest industry segment.

"Supporting the needs of life sciences companies is part of Enspira's DNA, given my previous HR experience at Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Biogen and the number of clients we currently serve in this industry," Kurt Landon, CEO and founder of Enspira, says. "Vickie is the perfect choice to take the helm of our Life Sciences practice and serve as managing partner of the firm, with her career-long focus in the industry and strong operational leadership.”

Y-mAbs appoints Laura Hamill to board of directors

Y-mAbs, a biopharmaceutical company, has appointed Laura Hamill to its board of directors. Hamill has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she served as executive vice president of worldwide commercial operations at Gilead Sciences.

”We are pleased to welcome Ms. Hamill as a board member. Laura will add significant commercial experience to our board, which will be of great value to our plans to augment our commercial organization and bring our product candidates to patients,” Thomas Gad, chairman and head of business development and strategy at Y-mAbs, says.

Vaco managing director Jeremy Darron to lead new New Jersey location

Vaco has expanded its New Jersey footprint by opening a new office in Holmdel and launching technology services for the tri-state area. Managing director Jeremy Darron, who has more than 10 years of experience in the recruiting industry, will lead the new technology services initiative.

“Opening the Holmdel office is a strategic decision that allows us to round out our presence in the state, while continuing to serve and grow our technology, accounting and finance, staffing, and consulting practices,” said John Curabba, managing partner for New Jersey. “This is especially critical during this COVID-19 pandemic. We want people to know we’re here for them.”

OneDigital appoints Tom Wimer to lead human resources consulting

OneDigital has appointed Tom Wimer as its national practice leader of human resources consulting. Wimer has 30 years of experience in human resources, and will lead OneDigital’s efforts to integrate HRC services into its existing employee benefits, retirement and financial service operations.

“With his passion, deep expertise and demonstrated ability to lead diverse teams of leaders across all segments of our business, we are pleased to elevate Tom to the role of National Practice Leader,” Bill Carew, chief operating officer at OneDigital, says. “Tom’s leadership has been especially impactful throughout this pandemic as he has built and mobilized our rapid response team of HR professionals across the country to quickly and efficiently address the thousands of urgent employer inquiries stemming from COVID-19.”

Vaco names Brian Herczeg as managing partner of new Milwaukee office

Vaco opened a new office in Milwaukee and appointed Brian Herczeg as the managing partner. Herczeg has more than 20 years of experience in business development, sales and information technology, and previously served as assistant vice president and branch manager at Robert Half’s Milwaukee office.

“We are thrilled to open our office in Milwaukee, and Brian and his team will advance our vision and strategic expansion as we continue our passionate pursuit to drive excellence for our clients, candidates, and consultants,” Kevin Witt, executive director at Vaco, says. “We are eager to grow our footprint and extend our services in one of the top markets in America.”

Fengate appoints Jennifer Honey Brannon executive vice president of human resources

Fengate Asset Management-Fengate welcomes Jennifer Honey Brannon

Jennifer Honey Brannon, Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Fengate Asset Management. (CNW Group/Fengate Asset Management)

Hand-out/Fengate Asset Management

Brannon has more than 20 year of experience as a human resources and corporate culture leader, and most recently served as vice president of human resources at Financeit. She will lead the firm’s people management and talent and culture development efforts.

"We are delighted to welcome Jennifer to Fengate and look forward to working closely with her in driving our vision and ambitious objectives forward," Lou Serafini Jr., Fengate CEO, says. "Her extensive experience leading and developing high performance teams and ensuring an enriching corporate culture will be of great benefit to Fengate and for our work to consistently deliver the very best service for our clients."

Alight appoints Stephan Scholl chief executive officer

Scholl was previously as a senior executive at Infor, a provider of enterprise resource planning software, for 8 years, including serving as president for 6 years. He will oversee Alight’s growth and expansion into new services.

“Stephan is a highly talented executive with deep experience helping build businesses into global leaders in the fast-growing cloud enterprise software and services sector,” Daniel Henson, chairman of the board of directors at Alight, says.

National Association of Vision Care Plans names Versant CEO Chairman of the Board

Versant Health CEO Kirk Rothrock was named chairman of the board of the National Association of Vision Care Plans. His goal in the role is to foster collaboration between NACVP’s member organizations, in an effort to improve the eye care experience.

“We as an association are navigating uncharted waters related to COVID-19 and the impact on the managed vision care industry,” Julian Roberts, NAVCP executive director, says. “NAVCP is fortunate to have senior leadership that will allow us to navigate this national emergency and emerge with a stronger voice ensuring that decision-makers understand that vision care is essential health care.”