LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SCAN Group, whose holdings include SCAN Health Plan, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, is launching Welcome Health, an independent primary care medical group that will treat older adults through a combination of virtual and in-home visits.
“With Welcome Health, SCAN is broadening our offerings in keeping with our mission to keep seniors healthy and independent,” said Dr. Sachin Jain, president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan.
Welcome Health’s care model will be based around the philosophy of geriatrics, which prioritizes care and treatments that align with patients’ goals. Welcome Health will provide affordable, high quality care to members of SCAN Health Plan as well as other Medicare Advantage health plans.
Welcome Health will begin enrolling patients in 2022.The group’s clinicians will have experience and expertise in providing care to older adults, which requires its own body of knowledge. They’ll be expert in addressing dementia, falls, frailty, polypharmacy and loneliness, which are common features of senior care.
“Our team of experienced clinicians will focus on delivering the best possible care consistent with the science of aging,” said Scott Weingarten, the CEO of Welcome Health. “Our care model is based around the simple idea that care should revolve around the patient, not their doctor.”
To achieve that vision, Weingarten has assembled a leadership team with clinical and executive experience and a proven track record in driving change and innovation in order to transform the delivery of healthcare for older Americans.
Introducing the Welcome Health Leadership Team
Scott Weingarten, MD, chief executive officer. Dr. Weingarten served as senior vice president, chief clinical transformation officer and professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai, where he helped lead clinical transformation efforts that resulted in improved quality and clinical efficiency. Dr. Weingarten also co-founded, served as CEO of, and had successful exits from two different digital health companies. Zynx was the market leader in clinical decision support, order sets, and care plans, and Stanson is a leading artificial intelligence, analytics, and clinical decision support company.
Deena Goldwater, MD, PHD, vice president of Care Delivery and chief science officer. Dr. Goldwater will develop innovative ways to provide in-home and virtual care for older adults. Dr. Goldwater joins Welcome Health from the VA of Greater Los Angeles and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where Dr. Goldwater was an assistant clinical professor of Cardiovascular and Geriatric Medicine.
Anthony Nguyen, MD, vice president and chief product officer. In this role, Dr. Nguyen will design healthcare offerings custom-tailored to the needs of older adults. He most recently served as Sitka’s chief clinical operations officer, ensuring its virtual specialty network’s clinical quality and outcomes. Dr. Nguyen also served as clinical implementation officer for CareMore Health and Landmark Health. He has extensive experience designing, implementing, and operating programs to effectively manage patients with complex comorbidities.
Stephen Valderrama, MBA, vice president of Clinical Operations. Mr. Valderrama comes to Welcome Health from Point B Management Consulting, where he worked closely with cutting-edge healthcare organizations, including prominent medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, payers, physician services companies, and dialysis providers. Previously, he served in a variety of strategy and operations roles at DaVita Kidney Care.
Michael Wang, MD, vice president of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Wang, a geriatrician, most recently served as director of the Hospital Medicine Program at USC’s Keck Medical Center. He holds a Master’s of Science, Social Entrepreneurship from USC’s Marshall School of Business.
David Brown, chief of staff. Brown previously worked at McKinsey & Company in its Social, Healthcare, and Public Entities (SHaPE) practice, where he advised clients on a range of matters including marketing, sales and implementation, in addition to his core focus of strategy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience from Claremont McKenna College, where he serves on the advisory board of the Randall Lewis Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
About SCAN Group
SCAN Group is a mission-driven organization that is tackling some of the biggest issues in health care for older adults. The core of SCAN Group is SCAN Health Plan, one of the nation’s foremost not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, serving more than 220,000 members in California. Independence at Home, a SCAN community service, provides vitally needed services and support to seniors and their caregivers regardless of plan membership. SCAN Group also invests in new companies to support healthier aging, offers education programs, community funding, volunteer opportunities, and other community services in support of its mission—keeping seniors healthy and independent. To learn more, visit scanhealthplan.com or follow us on Twitter @scanhealthplan.
