Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region has a new chief. Michelle Gaskill-Hames, who had been interim head since April, last week was named regional president. She replaces Julie Miller-Phipps, who retired recently after seven years in the post.
It’s a huge job. Kaiser Permanente is not only L.A. County’s biggest health care provider, it is also the county’s largest nongovernment employer with nearly 44,800 employees locally, according to the Business Journal’s list of Largest Private Sector Employers, published last month. Gaskill-Hames is now in charge of a district that not only includes Southern California but Hawaii as well; it provides coverage for 5.2 million members.
Gaskill-Hames joined Kaiser in 2016 and served in various leadership roles in Northern California before moving to this region last year.
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Speaking of new positions, Debora Vrana, the longtime and familiar chief communications officer with City National Bank, has joined Banc of California in a similar role.
It may be a big culture change. City National is well fixed as L.A.’s largest locally headquartered bank. But Banc of California is going through what it describes as transformational change; Vrana called it “in full growth mode.”
In July, the Banc of California agreed to have the deeply troubled PacWest Bancorp of Beverly Hills merge into it as part of a bigger transaction. Following the closing, the combined bank will have more than 70 branches in California as well as others in Colorado and North Carolina.
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When David Betancourt was growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, he always aspired to succeed. A pivotal moment occurred during his college years when he took part in a program called Caps, or Creating a Path to Success, put on by the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce. He said it helped him focus on his goals.
Afterwards, Betancourt, who now is community affairs senior manager for CVS Health’s Western region and who lives in Baldwin Park, wanted to pay it back. He volunteered at the organization and now serves as the Caps chair.
Meanwhile, the Caps program decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year by creating an alumni award to honor a graduate who has demonstrated success and leadership. Perhaps not surprisingly, Betancourt was given that inaugural award last month.
If it weren’t for the learning experiences he got from the program during those college days, he said, “I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that helped me get to the position I’m in.”
The Insider is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
