Beecher Carlson Expands Health Care Practice; Adds Seven Executives

Beecher Carlson, an insurance and risk management company, announced that it has expanded its National Health Care Practice with the appointment of seven industry professionals.

The team expansion increases Beecher Carlson’s presence across four of its offices – Irvine, California, Nashville, New York, and Minnesota. Beecher Carlson formed its National Health Care Practice in May. The Practice is run by industry veterans Frank McKenna and Steve Harri, who previously co-chaired Aon’s health care practice. McKenna serves as Executive Managing Director and operates from Irvine. Harri serves as Managing Director and operates from Beecher Carlson’s New York office.

Beecher Carlson’s National Health Care Practice focuses exclusively on the health care provider and payer industry, working with clients throughout the United States to protect and enhance their capital through the mitigation of risk and provision of innovative client-centric services. Combined, the team has delivered comprehensive risk management, human resources and benefits services for every type of business affiliated with the healthcare industry, which includes physician groups, clinics, hospitals, long-term care facilities and managed care organizations.

Beecher Carlson has added the following individuals to its National Health Care Practice:

Irvine, California:
Blake Kirk, Senior Vice President
Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Kirk served as Vice President with Aon Risk Services, where he worked exclusively in the Healthcare industry with a focus on HMO reinsurance and provider excess of loss. He began his career working for a large Management Service Organization (MSO) in Northern California. He has years of managed care contracting experience, both hospital and physician, and was involved in the preparation and filing of a limited Knox-Keene HMO license application. Kirk holds a Master’s Degree in Health care Administration from the College of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Chico.

Kristin Klug, Vice President
Klug has 25 years experience in the insurance industry. She joins Beecher Carlson after spending 13 years with Aon. Klug has extensive experience with employee benefits and director & officers liability insurance and has been focused exclusively in the healthcare industry, assisting managed care companies (physician groups, hospitals and health plans) with their provider stop loss needs. At Beecher Carlson, Klug will be responsible for client services, including marketing of new and renewal business as well as on-going customer services issues.

Joseph Mack, Senior Vice President
Mack is responsible for business and product development, sales, and the delivery of comprehensive insurance and risk management consulting for hospitals and health systems, physician groups, and managed care organizations. Mack has over 21 years experience and has held several executive positions at hospitals, medical groups, management consulting, and insurance brokerage firms. Mack is an adjunct professor in the Health Administration Program at the University of Southern California. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Mack received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a certificate in Executive Management in Medical Group Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent speaker at healthcare events and has written extensively on restructuring the healthcare enterprise, strategic planning, and administering managed care products.

Randy Pizer, Vice President
Pizer has 14 years experience in the insurance industry with a specialization working with managed care organizations. Previously, Pizer served as an Account Executive in Aon’s healthcare practice where he managed a diverse group of accounts ranging from local medical groups to large multi-state health plans. Using both traditional and alternative risk approaches, Pizer’s specialty is helping healthcare providers manage the risk associated with capitation. Pizer has completed the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) program and received his B.A. degree in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Nashville:
Colleen Murphy – Senior Client Services Manager
Murphy’s career spans 27 years between the fields of healthcare and insurance. She joins Beecher Carlson from Willis of Tennessee where she was responsible for marketing and servicing a variety of healthcare groups including surgical centers, dialysis clinics and physician management organizations. Her experience crosses several lines of business, including professional and executive risks, property and workers’ compensation. She is a graduate from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Minnesota:
Carl Phillips, Senior Vice President
Phillips brings extensive managed care expertise to Beecher Carlson. He is responsible for the creation of insurance products aimed at disease management and pharmacy benefit management firms, along with HMOs and healthcare providers. Previously he served as Managing Director for Aon’s national Managed Care practice. He was founder and President/CEO of Medical Alliance Partnership, a managing general underwriting firm focused on providers and payors. Phillips also has extensive primary insurance and reinsurance experience. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Regis University and his CPCU in 1984.

New York:
Marc VanDusen, Senior Vice President
Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, VanDusen held several executive positions at Marsh. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President where he specialized in developing and implementing complex risk programs for institutional businesses, physician group practices, long-term care organizations and other medical facilities such as blood banks, laboratories and home health agencies. VanDusen began his career in Marsh’s healthcare placement division where he was responsible for the placement of medical malpractice, general liability and umbrella liability for healthcare clients in the eastern United States. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Siena College in Loudonville, NY and he received a graduate certificate with honors in paralegal studies from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY.

Topics California New York Education Aon Universities Human Resources