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Group Health Executive Leadership Team

ON THIS PAGE

Scott Armstrong Michael Soman
Brenda Bruns Robert O'Brien
James Hereford Pam MacEwan
Richard Magnuson Peter Morgan
Marc West Rick Woods

Group Health's Executive Leadership Team provides senior leadership at Group Health. Responsibilities include setting long-term strategy, monitoring performance, and overseeing day-to-day functions.

  Scott Armstrong, president and chief executive officer, Group Health Cooperative
Scott Armstrong Scott Armstrong is accountable to the consumer Board of Trustees for setting goals that improve the overall performance of Group Health. Armstrong has 20 years of experience in health care, and was a vice president at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, before joining Group Health in 1986. Armstrong is on the Board of Directors for the Washington State Hospital Association, and a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He holds a master's in business, with a concentration in hospital administration, from the University of Wisconsin.
 
  Michael Soman, president and chief medical officer, Group Health Permanente; executive medical director, Group Practice Division
Michael Soman In July 2008, Michael Soman, MD, became the president and chief medical officer of Group Health Permanente, a professional corporation of more than 900 physicians and clinicians who provide and manage medical services for Group Health Cooperative. He continues to serve as the executive medical director of the Group Practice Division, overseeing the care of nearly 400,000 patients in Group Health-operated medical facilities. Soman earned his medical degree from University of California, Davis in 1978 and has been with Group Health since 1984, when he joined Group Health as a family physician in Burien. He has been a volunteer teacher for the Bainbridge Island schools and was a long-time member of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
 
  Brenda Bruns, executive medical director, Health Plan Division
Brenda Bruns Brenda Bruns, MD, plays a pivotal role in Group Health's drive toward growth and affordability. She leads the process to optimize our health plan and care-delivery capabilities. Bruns has more than two decades of experience encompassing health plans, hospitals, and academic medicine. A native of Eastern Washington, Bruns completed her undergraduate work at Stanford University and received her MD from the University of Washington Medical School. She received her advanced training at Virginia Mason, Boston's Faulkner Hospital, and California Pacific Medical Center and served as a clinical professor at Stanford and San Francisco General Hospital.
 
  James Hereford, executive vice president, Strategic Services and Quality
James Hereford James Hereford is responsible for strategic oversight of technology, quality, and human resources to support operational and clinical improvements. Hereford is a faculty member at the University of Washington, where he teaches operations management in the Master of Health Administration program. He serves on the Washington State Health Care Authority Health Information Infrastructure Advisory Board, commissioned to create a statewide clinical data sharing infrastructure, and on the board of OneHealthPort, a shared security service.
 
  Pam MacEwan, executive vice president, Public Affairs and Governance
Pam MacEwan Pam MacEwan is responsible for communications, public policy, and the Governance Services office, which supports the Board of Trustees and consumer participation. She has been with Group Health since 1995, and was the senior executive director of governance prior to assuming her current position. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Evergreen State College and a Master of Arts and Teaching, social studies, from Brown University.
 
  Richard Magnuson, chief financial officer
Richard Magnuson Richard Magnuson joined Group Health in May of 2007 and has more than 21 years of experience in health care. Most recently, he was chief financial officer for three years at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt. His time there was preceded by six years as vice president of finance and operations and chief financial officer at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn. Magnuson received a Bachelor of Arts in accounting and finance from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., and a Master of Business Administration from University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minn.

 
  Peter Morgan, executive vice president, Group Practice Division
Peter Morgan Peter Morgan was an independent health care consultant (with Group Health as a client) before joining the staff in 1992. He served in several management positions and then became primary care administrator in 2002. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Colorado College in 1974 and an Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver in 1980. He also rides regularly in the Group Health Seattle to Portland (STP) Bicycle Classic.
 
  Robert O'Brien, executive vice president, Health Plan Division
Robert O'Brient Robert O'Brien is responsible for Group Health's market analysis, new product development, health plan marketing and sales, care-network management, and health plan administration and operations. O'Brien was previously with Mercer, a global consulting subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Based in Seattle, he led Mercer's health and benefits consulting business. There he advised the Care-Focused Purchasing Governance Committee, an employer-led effort to accelerate cost-and-quality transformation of the nation's health care system. O'Brien has also served as adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark College's Northwestern School of Law.
 
  Marc West, executive vice president, Group Health Permanente
Marc West Since 1999, Marc West had served as the chief financial and administrative officer for Group Health Permanente. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Washington in 1990, and became a certified public accountant in 1992.
 
  Rick Woods, executive vice president and general counsel
Rick Woods Rick Woods directs areas of legal, risk management, compliance, and ethics. He has been with Group Health since 1988, and served as associate general counsel prior to assuming his current position in 1997. Prior to working for Group Health, Woods was an assistant attorney general for the state of Washington, advising public institutions of higher education. He holds a law degree from the University of Idaho and a bachelor's degree in economics from Oregon State University.
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