Signature, Kindred CEOs Help Create Louisville Health Care Group

On the heels of opening the industry’s first-ever technology innovation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, some of the health care leaders involved with the project are banding together with CEOs from other Louisville-based health care companies—including Signature HealthCARE, Humana and Hosporus. The group’s mission: to transform the city’s health care economy by establishing the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, according to a report in the Louisville Business Journal.

In addition to uniting the city’s health care organizations and their respective leadership, another goal of the CEO Council is to promote Louisville’s reputation as a “wellness and optimal aging center.”

The council was formed through an official filing with the Kentucky Secretary of State on October 12, featuring the names of 10 health care executives as directors of the organization, including:

• Benjamin Breier, CEO of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND);
• Bruce Broussard, CEO of Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM);
• Randall Bufford, CEO of Trilogy Health Services LLC;
• Mark Carter, CEO of Passport Health Plan;
• Russell Cox, CEO of Norton Healthcare Inc.;
• Phil Marshall, CEO of Hosparus, Inc.;
• Joe Steier, CEO of Signature HealthCARE, Inc.;
• Mark Vogt, CEO of Galen School of Nursing;
• Greg Weishar, CEO of PharMerica Corp. (NYSE: PMC); and
•  Kennan Wethington, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky.

Humana’s National Sales and Distribution Executive Leader Rick Remmers is listed as the council’s incorporator.

In-home health care provider Almost Family Inc. (Nasdaq: AFAM), was the only Louisville-based publicly traded health care company not included in the filing.

David Buschman, managing director for Health Enterprise Network, confirmed the formation of the council to The Louisville Business Journal, but said the council will not be ready to comment until early 2018.

Skilled Nursing News reached out to Kindred, but the company declined to comment.

The group, however, is already conducting a search for a president and CEO, according to a job posting by Louisville-based H2R Consulting, LLC, which is handling the process for the council.

Atria Senior Living and Elmcroft Senior Living are among other prominent senior housing and care companies headquartered in Louisville.

Written by Carlo Calma