Health IT, Policy

West Health CEO retiring; here’s what he’s accomplished

Nick Valeriani will retire as CEO of West Health in September, and be replaced by current COO Shelley Lyford, who also is president and CEO the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the entity that sponsors West Health.

Nick Valeriani will retire as CEO of West Health later this summer, the organization announced Tuesday. He will be replaced by current COO Shelley Lyford, who also is president and CEO the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the entity that sponsors West Health.

La Jolla, Calif.-based West Health includes research organization the Gary and Mary West Health Institute and the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington.

“I am deeply honored to have led this wonderful organization in its mission to improve healthcare, which has been one of the best experiences of my 37-year career,” Valeriani said in a press release. “It is the right time for me to relinquish my day-to-day leadership responsibilities to Shelley, as we have worked to further clarify and focus our work on enabling successful aging. We have laid out a vision for West Health that builds upon our research to date to make successful aging a reality for all seniors; it will be our North Star.”

Valeriani, formerly a Johnson & Johnson executive, joined West Health in September 2012. His last day will be Sept. 4. Lyford has been part of West Health since its establishment in 2009, and she also was on the founding team of the West Foundation in 2007.

“Her extensive experience in aging initiatives make her the best-qualified person to lead West Health to transform healthcare so seniors can live their life on their own terms while preserving and protecting their dignity, quality of life and independence,” Gary West said of Lyford. “Our boards of directors share my confidence in Shelley’s leadership as we embark on the next phase of our mission-driven work.”

Here are some highlights of Valeriani’s three years at the helm:

  • September 2013: The West Foundation and West Health Institute create the Center for Medical Interoperability to improve communication between medical devices.
  • December 2013: West Health Institute announces a collaboration with West Corp. — where Gary West made his fortune — and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to study automated patient monitoring outside of traditional healthcare settings. The institute later released a white paper and issued a call to action on device interoperability, in conjunction with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
  • March 2014: West Health successfully spins off pregnancy monitor Sense4Baby to mobile health technology vendor AirStrip.
  • May 2014: The West Health Policy Center report that greater price transparency in healthcare could save the U.S. $100 billion over a 10-year period.
  • February 2015: The West Health Policy Center and the All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) Council publish a manual to help states develop their own APCDs, with an eye on improving price transparency.

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