News Release

WALNUT CREEK, CA – The Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a statewide leadership group active in managed care issues, has elected the following officers for 1999:

Chair:              David J. Kears, 52, Director, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency,
                        San Leandro

Chair-Elect:   Henry Loubet, 47, CEO, United HealthCare, Western Region, San Francisco

Past Chair:    Shelley A. Horwitz, 41, Administrator, Bay Valley Medical Group, Inc., Hayward

Secretary:     Clark E. Kerr, 56, President, 21^st Century Consumer, Alamo

Treasurer:     Barton M. Wald, 46, MD, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs, UniMed                         Management Company, Burbank and president, Huntington Provider Group

David J. Kears has worked for Alameda County since 1974 and was named director of the Health Care Services Agency in 1986. From 1993 to 1997, he also held the dual title of president and chief executive officer of the Alameda Alliance for Health, the public-private HMO serving county Medi-Cal beneficiaries under the State’s Medi-Cal managed care initiative. A licensed clinical social worker, Kears received both his BA in sociology and his MA in social welfare from UC Berkeley. He is a member of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, County Health Executive Association of California, and other organizations representing health care systems in the State.

Henry Loubet is CEO of United HealthCare’s Western Region, covering 1.5 million members in ten western states and Hong Kong, and president of its California health plan. Previously, he was president and COO of Foundation Health, directing California health plan operations. He holds a master’s degree in Health Services Administration from the University of San Francisco and a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a board member of the California Association of Health Plans, California Business Roundtable, Bay Area Council, Adaptive Business Leaders, and several non-profit organizations. United HealthCare is one of the largest health care management services companies, serving almost 14 million members nationally.

Shelley A. Horwitz joined Bay Valley Medical Group in 1987 and has been its administrator since 1991. She also serves on the board of directors of the American Medical Group Association and in 1995 was recognized by weekly health care trade magazine Modern Healthcare as an "Up and Comer." She received her BA at Stanford University and Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Bay Valley, a multi-specialty group practice with offices throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties, has a network of 400 physicians caring for more than 40,000 patients.

Clark E. Kerr is president of 21^st Century Consumer, a not-for-profit public benefit corporation committed to engaging patients and their families as active partners with health professionals to improve quality. In 1997, he served as vice chair of the State Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force. He currently chairs the California Health Policy and Data Advisory Commission and the Committee to Advance Patient Privacy and Care. Kerr was previously vice president and manager of corporate health programs for Bank of America and has served on the boards of the Pacific Business Group on Health and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. He received his MBA from the Haas Graduate School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Barton R. Wald, MD, 46, is senior vice president, medical affairs for Burbank, CA-based UniMed Management Company, a physician practice management subsidiary of the UniHealth system. He also serves as president of Huntington Provider Group in Pasadena. He joined UniMed in July 1997, having served as regional medical director for Health Net in Southern California. Prior to joining Health Net, Wald was vice president, medical affairs and business development for Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. A pediatrician with a specialty in pediatric hematology-oncology, he received his medical degree from the State University of New York in Brooklyn and holds an MBA degree from Pepperdine University. UniMed manages medical groups and IPAs representing some 5,000 physicians and 600,000 capitated managed care enrollees in California.

IHA (www.iha.org) is a statewide leadership group of health plans, physician groups, and health care systems, plus at large academic, business/purchaser, and consumer representatives, committed to policy development, public dialogue, and special projects associated with the evolution of managed health care.

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