ST. LOUIS, March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene
Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today that Sarah London, Vice Chairman of Centene, has been
appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately,
succeeding Michael Neidorff. Mr.
Neidorff remains on a previously announced medical leave of absence
from his position on the Board of the Company.
Ms. London has spent her career at the forefront of innovation
in healthcare. Her focus has been advancing integrated, value-based
care models through the development and application of data-driven
insights and technology.
Prior to her appointment as CEO, Ms. London served as Vice
Chairman of the Centene Board of Directors. In her management role,
Ms. London led the Company's technology and digital strategy in
addition to running the Health Care Enterprises and Specialty
divisions, Corporate Strategy, Quality Operations, Internal Audit,
Compliance and Risk Management. Since Mr. Neidorff began a medical
leave of absence in February 2022,
she has been a member of the Office of the Chairman charged with
running the day-to-day management of the Company.
"I am delighted that the Board has appointed Sarah as CEO. Her
strategic thinking, fresh perspective and diverse experience make
her the natural leader to harness the potential of Centene," said
James Dallas, Acting Chairman of
Centene. "Sarah has infused an innovative mindset across the
enterprise in her relentless effort to improve Centene's
capabilities to provide the highest quality of care for our
members. I have been consistently impressed by Sarah's passion to
serve our members, who are often the most vulnerable amongst us.
The Board and I are confident that she is the right visionary
leader to increase value for our shareholders and author the next
chapter of Centene's growth."
"I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the next CEO
of Centene and to work alongside extraordinary colleagues to
provide quality healthcare to over 26 million Americans," said Ms.
London. "The healthcare landscape is rapidly changing, and
Centene's mission – to transform the health of our communities one
member at a time – has never been more relevant. We have a unique
opportunity to empower our members, providers, and their
communities in this transformation. Together, we can deliver
innovative, integrated, and equitable care that meets our members
where they live and exceeds their expectations. I'm excited by the
tremendous opportunity to leverage the size and scale of this
Company to create true, sustaining value for our members, state
partners, employees and shareholders."
"I also want to thank Michael
Neidorff, Centene's visionary leader for more than 25 years.
Michael built one of the great success stories in American
business, and his commitment to providing affordable, high-quality
healthcare to our fellow citizens will remain a bedrock of this
Company going forward," said Ms. London.
Brent Layton, President and Chief
Operating Officer of Centene, stated, "Sarah brings a tremendous
skillset to the leadership of Centene Corporation, and I'm excited
to partner closely with her as Centene begins our journey into the
next era of our history."
Drew Asher, Centene's Chief
Financial Officer, said, "Sarah brings a modern vision to the helm
of one of this country's most important healthcare companies.
I'm thrilled to be part of this management team, and I firmly
believe in the potential of this Company to continue its remarkable
history of accomplishment within the healthcare industry."
About Sarah London
Sarah London is the Chief
Executive Officer of Centene Corporation, a diversified healthcare
enterprise providing a portfolio of government-sponsored healthcare
programs focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals to
more than 26 million Americans.
Prior to her appointment as CEO, Ms. London served as Vice
Chairman of the Company, and in her management role was responsible
for a portfolio of companies independent of Centene's health plans,
designing differentiated platform capabilities, and delivering
industry-leading products and services to third-party customers.
Ms. London previously served as the Company's Senior Vice President
of Technology Innovation and Modernization, responsible for
enterprise-wide technology strategy and execution with a focus on
next-generation products and services.
Before joining Centene in 2020, Ms. London was a Partner at
Optum Ventures, the venture capital arm of UnitedHealth Group.
Prior to Optum Ventures, Ms. London served as Chief Product Officer
for Optum Analytics, the business unit responsible for driving
strategy and commercialization of Optum's integrated data and
analytics solutions into the provider, payer and life sciences
markets.
Ms. London previously served as Vice President of Client
Services & Operations with Humedica, a venture-backed
healthcare data and analytics company acquired by Optum in
2013.
Prior to joining Humedica, Ms. London was part of the team that
launched Accretive Health's Quality & Total Cost of Care
business, providing end-to-end population health strategy and
operational consulting to leading medical centers around the
country.
Ms. London began her healthcare career at Health Leads, a
nationally-recognized social enterprise that partners with
healthcare organizations to address social determinants of health
by connecting patients to the community-based resources needed to
support high-quality, cost-effective health outcomes.
Ms. London received an M.B.A. with High Honors from the
University of Chicago Booth School of
Business and a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in History &
Literature from Harvard College,
where she played Division I tennis.
About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 25 company, is a leading
healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live
healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local
brands and local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality,
and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial
healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured
individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to
nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid
and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans)
as well as individuals and families served by the Health
Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in
correctional facilities. The Company also serves several
international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and
commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services
focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term
growth and value creation as well as the development of its people,
systems, and capabilities so that it can better serve its members,
providers, local communities, and government partners.
Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important
information about the Company, including information that may be
deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about
Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor
relations website, https://investors.centene.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements, other
than statements of current or historical fact, contained in this
press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting
the foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as
"believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend,"
"seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could,"
"should," "can," "continue" and other similar words or expressions
(and the negative thereof). Centene (the Company, our, or we)
intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the
safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we are
including this statement for purposes of complying with these
safe-harbor provisions. In particular, these statements include,
without limitation, statements about our future operating or
financial performance, market opportunity, value creation strategy,
competition, expected activities in completed and future
acquisitions, including statements about the impact of our recently
completed acquisition of Magellan Health (the Magellan
Acquisition), other recent and future acquisitions and
dispositions, investments and the adequacy of our available cash
resources. These forward-looking statements reflect our current
views with respect to future events and are based on numerous
assumptions and assessments made by us in light of our experience
and perception of historical trends, current conditions, business
strategies, operating environments, future developments and other
factors we believe appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and
are subject to change because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future, including economic,
regulatory, competitive and other factors that may cause our or our
industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements
are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and assumptions. All forward-looking statements
included in this press release are based on information available
to us on the date hereof. Except as may be otherwise required by
law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise the
forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
after the date hereof. You should not place undue reliance on
any forward-looking statements, as actual results may differ
materially from projections, estimates, or other forward-looking
statements due to a variety of important factors, variables and
events including, but not limited to: our ability to
accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other
operating expenses and reserves, including fluctuations in medical
utilization rates due to the impact of COVID-19; the risk that the
election of new directors, changes in senior management and
inability to retain key personnel may create uncertainty or
negatively impact our ability to execute quickly and
effectively; uncertainty as to the expected financial
performance of the combined company following the recent completion
of the Magellan Acquisition; the possibility that the expected
synergies and value creation from the Magellan Acquisition or the
WellCare Acquisition (or other acquired businesses) will not be
realized, or will not be realized within the respective expected
time periods; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in
connection with the integration of the Magellan Acquisition or that
the integration of Magellan Health will be more difficult or time
consuming than expected, or similar risks from other acquisitions
we may announce or complete from time to time; disruption from the
integration of the Magellan Acquisition or from the integration of
the WellCare Acquisition, or similar risks from other acquisitions
we may announce or complete from time to time, including potential
adverse reactions or changes to business relationships with
customers, employees, suppliers or regulators, making it more
difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; a
downgrade of the credit rating of our indebtedness; competition;
membership and revenue declines or unexpected trends; changes in
healthcare practices, new technologies, and advances in medicine;
increased healthcare costs; changes in economic, political or
market conditions; changes in federal or state laws or regulations,
including changes with respect to income tax reform or government
healthcare programs as well as changes with respect to the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and
Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (collectively referred
to as the ACA) and any regulations enacted thereunder that may
result from changing political conditions, the new administration
or judicial actions; rate cuts or other payment reductions or
delays by governmental payors and other risks and uncertainties
affecting our government businesses; our ability to adequately
price products; tax matters; disasters or major epidemics; changes
in expected contract start dates; provider, state, federal, foreign
and other contract changes and timing of regulatory approval of
contracts; the expiration, suspension, or termination of our
contracts with federal or state governments (including, but not
limited to, Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE or other customers); the
difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of legal or
regulatory proceedings or matters, including, but not limited to,
our ability to resolve claims and/or allegations made by states
with regard to past practices, including at Envolve Pharmacy
Solutions, Inc. (Envolve), as our pharmacy benefits manager (PBM)
subsidiary, within the reserve estimate we have recorded and on
other acceptable terms, or at all, or whether additional claims,
reviews or investigations relating to our PBM business will be
brought by states, the federal government or shareholder litigants,
or government investigations; timing and extent of benefits from
strategic value creation initiatives, including the possibility
that these initiatives will not be successful, or will not be
realized within the expected time periods; challenges to our
contract awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security
incidents; the exertion of management's time and our resources, and
other expenses incurred and business changes required in connection
with complying with the undertakings in connection with any
regulatory, governmental or third party consents or approvals for
acquisitions; changes in expected closing dates, estimated purchase
price and accretion for acquisitions; the risk that acquired
businesses will not be integrated successfully; restrictions
and limitations in connection with our indebtedness; our ability to
maintain or achieve improvement in the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) Star ratings and maintain or achieve
improvement in other quality scores in each case that can impact
revenue and future growth; availability of debt and equity
financing, on terms that are favorable to us; inflation; foreign
currency fluctuations and risks and uncertainties discussed in the
reports that Centene has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. This list of important factors is not intended to be
exhaustive. We discuss certain of these matters more fully, as well
as certain other factors that may affect our business operations,
financial condition and results of operations, in our filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our annual
report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current
reports on Form 8-K. Due to these important factors and risks, we
cannot give assurances with respect to our future performance,
including without limitation our ability to maintain adequate
premium levels or our ability to control our future medical and
selling, general and administrative costs.
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SOURCE Centene Corporation