Chutes & Ladders—Mayo Clinic taps IT vet Halamka for digital health; NBGH chief to retire

Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.


John Halamka, M.D.
(Mayo Clinic)

Mayo Clinic

John Halamka, M.D., executive director of Beth Israel Lahey Health's technology exploration center, is leaving to lead Mayo Clinic's digital health and artificial intelligence projects. 

He will begin the role Jan. 1.

Halamka served as chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for more than 20 years. He also was an International Healthcare Innovation Professor at Harvard Medical School.

He remains chairman of New England Healthcare Exchange Network and is a practicing emergency medicine physician.

The Mayo Clinic Platform is a strategic initiative to improve healthcare through insights and knowledge derived from data. The technology platform will elevate Mayo Clinic to a global leadership position within digital healthcare, the health system said. 

Mayo Clinic also named Clark Otley, M.D. as chief medical officer, Mayo Clinic Platform. Otley joined Mayo Clinic in 1999.


National Business Group on Health

Brian Marcotte
Brian Marcotte
(NBGH)

Brian Marcotte is retiring as president and chief executive officer of the National Business Group on Health May 1, it was announced this week. Ellen Kelsay, who is NBGH's chief strategy officer, was named his successor 

Marcotte joined the business group as president and CEO in May 2014 from Honeywell. 

Ellen Kelsay 
(NBGH)

During his tenure, NBGH launched several initiatives including the Health Innovations Forum, the Executive Committee on Value Purchasing, the Leave Optimization Forum and the Leadership Forum on Employee Experience.

Kelsay joined NBGH as chief strategy officer in April 2017. She was previously a senior partner at Mercer where she held several leadership roles during her 20-year tenure.

At NBGH, she has been responsible for shaping the strategy and overall impact of the organization through a number of strategic initiatives.


Daniel Post 
(Banner Health)

Banner Health

Daniel Post was named CEO of Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. He succeeds Steve Narang, who left Banner Health earlier this year to join Inova Health System outside Washington, D.C. Banner was previously a regional executive vice president of strategy and business development at Loyola Medicine in Illinois.

Post begins his new role Jan. 27. Previously, he served as senior vice president of clinical programs and chief business development officer. Post is credited with developing Loyola’s ambulatory network of more than 30 locations. 

Post has a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. He serves on the board of the American Orthopedic Association and South Campus Partners.


Steve Littleson 
(Penn Medicine)​​​​

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health

Steve Littleson was hired as Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health's chief operating and integration officer.

As LNP Media reported, Littleson is filling a new position that was created after state regulators in February cited the health system's flagship hospital for the third time in a year.

Littleson has a doctorate in business administration from Walden University, a master’s of health administration from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gettysburg College.

He was previously regional president of the Jefferson Health System. He also served as president, hospitals division, and chief operating officer with Hackensack Meridian Health, a network of 13 hospitals and related services in New Jersey, and as president of the 640-bed Jersey Shore University Medical Center.


RWJBarnabas Health appointed Robert Greenberg, M.D., as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) medical director of the RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Network. Greenberg’s new role is part of a systemwide initiative to broaden its behavioral health services and end the stigma associated with ECT, officials said

> Pharmacy benefit manager Capital Rx appointed Josh Golden as senior vice president of strategy. Golden will assess market trends, evaluate business initiatives and develop strategic partnerships to support the continued growth of Capital Rx.