April 15, 1998 Contact: (925) 847-9334

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION ELECTS 1998 OFFICERS

PLEASANTON, CA – The Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a statewide leadership group active in managed care and integrated health care issues, has elected the following officers for 1998-99:

Chair:        Arthur M. Southam, MD, 41, president and CEO, Health Net, Woodland Hills
Chair-Elect:    David J. Kears, 51, director, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, San                          Leandro
Past Chair: Shelley A. Horwitz, 40, administrator, Bay Valley Medical Group, Inc., Hayward
Secretary: Clark E. Kerr, 55, president, 21st Century Consumer, Alamo
Treasurer: Henry Loubet, 46, CEO, United HealthCare, Pacific Region, San Francisco

Arthur M. Southam, MD was named president/CEO of Health Net on July 1, 1996, following three years as president/CEO of CareAmerica Health Plans. He just finished a two-year term as chair of the Board of Directors of the California Association of Health Plans. He earned his MD degree and a master's degree in public health from UCLA, as well as an MBA from Pepperdine University. In 1996, he received an Emerging Leaders in Health Care award from Healthcare Forum/Korn-Ferry. Health Net is the third largest HMO in California, serving 2.3 million members. Its parent company completed a merger with Foundation Health Corporation last year to form Foundation Health Systems, Inc.

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 1998, 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.

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 310 physicians caring for more than 40,000 patients.

Clark E. Kerr is president of 21st Century Consumer, a public benefit corporation committed to advancing consumer choice, information, and quality. Last year, 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, as well as the California Health Information Committee created by the legislature. Kerr was previously 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, and as a member of the CalPERS Health Benefits Advisory Council. He received his MBA from the Haas Graduate School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Henry Loubet is CEO of United HealthCare's Pacific Region, covering approximately one million members in seven 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 two master's degrees - one in Health Services Administration from the University of San Francisco and one in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. Loubet serves on the board of the California Association of Health Plans, the 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 13 million health plan members nationally.

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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