Manifest MedEx Announces Erica Galvez as Chief Executive Officer

Former Chief Operations Officer brings more than 15 years of health information exchange and interoperability expertise to lead California’s largest nonprofit health data network

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manifest MedEx (MX), California’s leading health information network, announced today that Erica Galvez has been appointed as the new chief executive officer, assuming responsibilities as of July 1, 2022. An experienced business leader and health information exchange and interoperability expert, Galvez succeeds Claudia Williams, who will launch a new chapter of her career building transformative systems for healthcare change after her sabbatical.

Galvez has been with Manifest MedEx since 2017, previously serving as Chief Operations Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief of Staff. She has been instrumental in guiding the organization’s growth and expansion, helping MX achieve a 500% increase in health records shared across the health data network in the past five years, while ensuring MX provides increasing value to customers. MX combines and delivers crucial health information for 32 million Californians across more than 125 hospitals, 12 health plans, and 1,500 ambulatory providers throughout the state.

“With the passing of AB133, mandating health data sharing by 2024, and the implementation of CalAIM, California has made a lot of progress in recognizing the need for robust health data infrastructure to improve healthcare in our state,” said Jarrod McNaughton, CEO at Inland Empire Health Plan and Chair of the MX Board of Directors. “Erica is the perfect fit to lead Manifest MedEx in serving this critical function for Californians.”

Galvez came to the health information exchange (HIE) space through years of work in healthcare quality and patient safety research at The Joint Commission. Before joining MX, Galvez led the HIE efforts at Aledade that tripled the company’s hospital connectivity and evolved the use of health information to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and emergency department encounters. Prior to Aledade, she led the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Interoperability Portfolio, held a leadership position as one of the directors of ONC’s State HIE Program, and served as the program manager for AHIMA’s State-Level HIE Consensus Project.

“The Board is unanimously thrilled and very excited for Erica, a compassionate and knowledgeable force in health information technology, data integration, and data implementation,” said McNaughton. “She will continue to lead this organization’s trajectory, performance, and future in achieving health equity through data sharing.”

The appointment of Galvez follows a thorough recruitment process overseen by a special Hiring Committee of the Board using Heidrick & Struggles, a global recruitment company, which saw a wide variety of exceptional candidates vetted and interviewed.

“It is a true honor and privilege to serve as MX’s next CEO,” said Galvez. “I look forward to continuing our mission to connect healthcare in California to reduce costs, provide a better patient experience, and improve outcomes.”

Galvez received a master’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2004 and a Six Sigma Yellow Belt from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2013.

About Manifest MedEx

As California’s leading nonprofit health data network, Manifest MedEx delivers real-time information to help healthcare providers and health plans care for millions of patients every day. Together, we are transforming the healthcare landscape across the state, supporting California as a leader in affordable, proactive, and compassionate medical care.