New members join AMGA board

Four new members have begun their tenure of the board of directors for the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), while the group’s consulting arm named a new president and chief operating officer.

The new members included:

• Beth Averbeck, MD, senior medical director of primary care at HealthPartners Medical Group in Minneapolis. Averbeck is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Minnesota medicine department and a former chair of the quality council at the American Medical Association.
• Mark Briesacher, MD, senior vice president and chief physician executive at Intermountain Healthcare, as well as president of Intermountain Medical Group in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Scott Hines, MD, chief quality officer and medical director at Crystal Run Healthcare in Middletown, New York.
• Karen Weiner, MD, CEO of Oregon Medical Group in Eugene, Oregon.

Several board members saw their terms expire on Dec. 31, 2017, including Jeffrey W. Bailet, MD, executive vice president of healthcare quality and affordability at Blue Shield of California; Sharon R. Gabrielson, MHA, chair of Mayo Clinic global business solutions; Matthew D. Gibb, MD, chief medical officer and executive senior vice president of Carle Physician Group; C. Todd Staub, MD, senior vice president of physician relations at OptumCare; and Don L. Wreden, MD senior vice president for patient experience at Sutter Health.

AMGA Consulting also announced changes to its leadership to begin 2018. Effective on Jan. 5, COO Fred Horton, MHA, was promoted to president of the organization. Vice President Wayne Hartley, MHA, was named COO.

“Fred’s experience at AMGA Consulting as a valued advisor and his extensive market knowledge have positioned him well for his new role as president,” Jerry Penso, MD, MBA, AMGA’s president and CEO. “I am confident under his leadership, AMGA Consulting will continue to deliver to our members services that lead to the high performance necessary to succeed in today’s market.”

Penso himself is relatively new to the position. He was named president and CEO after longtime leader Donald Fisher, PhD, died of cancer at the age of 71 in March 2017.