New corporate vice president at Scripps
Dr. Jim LaBelle, medical director of emergency and clinical quality at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, was recently named corporate vice president of quality, physician co-management and medical management at Scripps Health.
In this role, LaBelle will work with physicians to coordinate the management of clinical care, both inpatient and outpatient, and ensure participation of physicians in the design and development of care. He will also be responsible for quality, hospitalist and intensivist programs, and medical directorships across the Scripps system.
"This new position was created by Scripps to help add more value for patients and to continue Scripps' work of engaging our physicians more in the care and management of our patients," said Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps Health. "Dr. LaBelle's experience as a practicing physician, coupled with his expertise in medical management, made him the ideal choice for this position. The role Dr. LaBelle will fill is critical to continuing and expanding the partnerships we've built with our physicians, and will help us more closely link our hospitals and growing ambulatory network of care."
LaBelle's appointment follows a management and leadership restructuring that Scripps underwent in 0ctober 2010. The newly formed horizontal management team is focused on improving the quality and safety of patient care, reducing unneeded variation and cost, and working closer as care providers. This work will help Scripps change its systems and practices in anticipation of the many changes and innovations that are coming to health care delivery.
"We're at a crossroads in health care and that, of course, presents a number of interesting challenges and opportunities," Dr. LaBelle said. "The future is about working together in new and innovative relationships defined by business models that perhaps don't yet exist. I'm looking forward to exploring those options as part of this new position."
Prior to his new role at Scripps, Dr. LaBelle served as president and CEO of Coastline Emergency Physicians and vice president of Encinitas Hospitalist Associates. He is also a cofounder and past president and CEO of Connect the Docs Multi-Specialty Network, Inc., a 180-member IPA, as well as a cofounder and past chairman of Connect the Docs Medical Management LLC.
LaBelle attended medical school at the University of Washington and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He also holds a bachelor's of science degree in electrical engineering and a healthcare executive master's degree in business administration from the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. LaBelle has practiced emergency medicine for more than 24 years and has served as chair of numerous committees that dealt with running hospitals. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American College of Physician Executives.


Alphatec names Cross as non-executive Chairman
Alphatec Holdings, the parent company of Alphatec Spine, a Carlsbad-based medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders, with a focus on treating conditions related to the aging spine, has announced that its Board of Directors elected Leslie H. Cross the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Cross recently retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of DJO Global, a position he has held since 1995.
He continues to serve as a Director and Chairman of DJO Global.
DJO Global is a manufacturer and worldwide leading distributor of electrotherapy products, orthopedic implants and orthopedic rehabilitation products. During his tenure with DJO Global, the company's revenues grew from approximately $30 million to $966 million, with adjusted EBITDA in 2010 of $262 million. Mr. Cross has held principal executive roles at DJO Global and its predecessors since 1990.
Mortimer Berkowitz III, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, said, "I am pleased that Les Cross has agreed to serve as the Chairman of our Board of Directors. Les is a highly talented business leader who has repeatedly driven growth, profitability and shareholder value in the orthopedics industry. Having known Les for many years, we were pleased to recruit him to join the Board of Directors earlier this year and we believe that he will be an outstanding Chairman of the Board of Directors."
Dirk Kuyper, Alphatec Spine's President and CEO, said "I look forward to working closely with Les as we drive towards our goal of being a top-5 global market leader."


SkinMedica hires national sales director
Carlsbad-based SkinMedica has hired Thomas Pletkovich as national sales director. Pletkovich will lead the company's newly expanded national sales force and report to Joe Willis, vice president of sales and marketing.
Pletkovich joins SkinMedica from OrthoDermatologics, a Johnson and Johnson company, where he led specialty, direct-sales teams in dermatology with a focus on treatments for photo damage and acne. Previously, he led sales and corporate accounts for OraPharma, another Johnson and Johnson company. Earlier, he held sales and government affairs management positions with GlaxoSmithKline.
"Tom brings SkinMedica extensive sales leadership experience and has an admirable track record in our market," said SkinMedica President Ted Schwarz. "We're very excited to welcome Tom as well as all of our new additions to the SkinMedica sales team. I am confident this new expansion will allow us to continue to cultivate successful practice partnerships and better meet the needs of our physician customers."
SkinMedica is expanding its sales force to 88 people, a 20 percent increase over 2010, which was also an expansion year. The company has ranked fastest growing in its category for five consecutive years.
Highly regarded among medical professionals, SkinMedica is known for its diverse product offering and efficacious formulas, namely the exclusive, highly-coveted growth factor blend TNS.
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