Optum Health names Caitlin Zulla new regional CEO
Zulla will oversee the healthcare delivery services that Optum Health provides across the northeastern quadrant of the U.S.
Photo courtesy of Optum Heath
Optum Health has named Caitlin Zulla CEO of the company's East Region, promoting her after a three-year stint as CEO of SCA Health, a surgery center chain owned by Optum.
Since joining in 2015 to lead revenue cycle operations, Zulla advanced to be Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer prior to being CEO.
Optum lauded her leadership in building teams, aligning resources, and "evolving our organization from an ambulatory surgical care business into a leading national specialty care provider."
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
As the CEO of the East Region of Optum Health, Zulla will oversee healthcare delivery services that Optum Health provides across the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. – including primary, specialty, surgical, home-based, virtual, urgent, behavioral and community care.
She will lead efforts to unify and deploy the various assets across the region to improve accessibility and affordability of care
Zulla has a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton, a master's of public health and health management from Columbia University, and a master's in health care delivery science from Dartmouth.
Her former role at SCA Health will be filled by Jason Strauss, having served as the chief operating officer, as a group president leading surgical centers and growth in multiple states, and in finance over the course of 15 years with SCA. Most recently, Strauss served as president of SCA Health focused on surgical center operations and developing business lines.
THE LARGER TREND
Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, partnered with Northern Light Health in February to manage revenue cycle management, information systems, inpatient care management, analytics, project management office and supply chain for the Maine health system.
As part of this relationship, select Northern Light Health employees will become part of Optum. The companies intend to work together to improve business processes through investment in technology and innovation. This, said UHG, will enable Northern Light Health to access new tools and more resources, ultimately enabling providers to focus more on patient care.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
