WellPoint's board of directors have selected Joseph Swedish to head the company after last August's investor-stoked departure of Angela Braly.
[See also: Angela Braly out as WellPoint CEO.]
Swedish, who'll take over as WellPoint CEO on March 25, is currently president and CEO of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, the country's fourth largest Catholic health system, with 47 not-for-profit hospitals in 10 states.
John Cannon, WellPoint's executive vice president for legal and public affairs, has been serving as interim CEO.
The nation's second largest insurer by membership, WellPoint operates for-profit Blue Cross plans in 14 states and recently acquired managed care firm Amerigroup. The insurer is turning to Swedish as traditional payer-provider lines blur and business models evolve and go extinct amid health reform.
Swedish has "an extensive track record leading large, complex healthcare organizations through diverse challenges in difficult market and regulatory environments, and his experience will be invaluable to WellPoint as we continue to find innovative ways to collaborate with providers," said Jackie Ward, chair of the WellPoint board, in a press release announcing the appointment.
Swedish worked at the Colorado health system, Centura, and the Hospital Corporation of America prior to joining Trinity in 2004, and has also served on the board of Coventry (being acquired by Aetna) since 2010.
"I have a strong sense of the market," Swedish, aged 61, said in the press release, "and I am energized by the dynamic changes currently taking place in the industry."
At Trinity Health, Wellpoint noted in its press release, Swedish "accelerated financial and operational performance," with revenue growing from about $6 billion in 2005 to $9 billion in 2012 and operating margins doubling. He "vastly streamlined" Trinity's healthcare delivery by redesigning clinical and business processes and by integrating IT platforms "hard wired in evidence-based best practices."
Swedish "has had tremendous success growing and advancing health care systems by improving core operations, initiating financial restructurings, and expertly integrating strategic mergers and acquisitions," added Ward in the press release. "He is an agile leader at a time when major transformations are requiring health benefit companies to examine new ways to better serve our stakeholders."
The company recently beat investor estimates in its fourth quarter 2012 earnings,, but investor reception appeared cool Wednesday. The Los Angeles Times reported that WellPoint's shares dropped nearly 5 percent, to $63 in trading on Wednesday.
[See also: WellPoint earnings beat estimates.]