OAKLAND, Calif., May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California today announced the appointment of two senior executives to help the nonprofit health plan accelerate its ambitious plans to transform the healthcare system and bolster its growth plans.

Lois Quam will join as president of Blue Shield of California. She will focus on providing leadership and management of the health plan. Susan Mullaney will join as executive vice president of strategic initiatives, leading special projects that help to transform the broken healthcare system. Both Quam and Mullaney will begin their new roles in August and report to Paul Markovich, CEO, Blue Shield of California.

"Lois and Susan are dynamic leaders who share our mission-driven passion to think big and be fearless in solving the kinds of complex problems we face in health care," Markovich said. "Our current healthcare system is unsustainable and unacceptable. That's why we are running hard and fast with talented leaders to make bold moves that fundamentally change the way our healthcare system works and make it worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable for everyone."

Quam comes to Blue Shield from Pathfinder, where she served as CEO of the global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare access for women and girls, with a focus on maternal and reproductive health care. Previously, she worked with then-Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton at the U.S. State Department to lead then-President Obama's Global Health Initiative serving Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Prior to those roles, she worked at UnitedHealth Group for nearly two decades, including as a senior executive leading the company's business division that served the federal government, states and AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons).

Quam graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota and later attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.

"I believe California can lead the nation in creative, enduring solutions in health care, and Blue Shield of California is uniquely positioned to lead that charge," Quam said. "I'm honored to join this talented team in making that vision a reality."

Mullaney also has deep experience in health care and most recently served as senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group. Previously, she held various leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente, including serving on their national executive team and later as president of Kaiser Permanente Washington. Prior to those roles, she held leadership positions at Fairview Health Services, a hospital system in Minneapolis. In addition, she mentors early-stage, science-based healthcare technology companies through Creative Destruction Lab, a healthcare accelerator that collaborates with leading universities across the globe.

Mullaney earned her Bachelor of Arts at Eastern Connecticut State University and received a Master of Health Policy and Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

"Health care needs courageous leaders — now more than ever — because we have to do things differently to transform how it works today," Mullaney said. "Clearly, Blue Shield of California has been doing that and I'm really excited to be part of this team."

The executive appointments also highlight Blue Shield's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The health plan is one of the largest companies in California to achieve gender balance on its board and the senior executive staff has more women than men. Blue Shield also maintains pay equity by both gender and ethnicity with a balanced representation of women and men in leadership roles (director and above).

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with more than 4.8 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $24 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $97 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last three years to have an impact on California communities.

For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. 

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SOURCE Blue Shield of California