William Winkenwerder Jr., a noted expert in the management of the delivery of health care and a former vice president and chief medical officer of South Central Operations for Prudential HealthCare, has been named to three newly-created leadership positions in primary care at the Emory System of Health Care (EUSHC).
Winkenwerder was named vice president for Primary Care Services, EUSHC; associate director for Primary Care, The Emory Clinic; and an associate vice president for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, all effective earlier this month.
Rein Saral, director of The Emory Clinic and president of EUSHC, called Winkenwerder's appointment "an important step in the growth of Emory's health care delivery system and a recognition of the institution's expanded emphasis on primary care as a point of access to its wide range of services."
Michael M. E. Johns, the newly appointed executive vice president of Health Affairs, director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and chief executive officer of EUSHC, characterized Winkenwerder as "a perfect match for Emory's new strengths in primary care" and "an excellent physician and seasoned leader who has experience working with academic and community physicians. His experience in two of the nation's largest healthcare systems, his knowledge of managed health care, and his training in business and economics will help Emory continue to expand its primary care network in the most cost-efficient and high quality manner for our patients and providers."
Winkenwerder will be responsible for the development of the primary care network for EUSHC, which includes The Emory Clinic, Emory Hospital, Crawford Long Hospital, Emory/Adventist Hospital, and Emory's relationships with several major academic and clinical affiliates such as the Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital and with more than 60 community hospitals in the EUSHC Hospital Affiliate Program. Winkenwerder's charge is to continue to expand both the numbers of Emory Clinic satellites and the primary care physicians who practice at them. His responsibilities also include corporate health services, both those based at the Emory campus and in off-campus facilities such as the new Emory CIGNA HealthCare Center near Hartsfield Airport.
Winkenwerder said he is "bullish on Emory's prospects in this market place. Emory has an outstanding reputation and resources upon which to build, thanks to the guidance of Charles Hatcher. Now, with Rein Saral at the helm of The Emory Clinic and with Michael Johns coming on board as executive vice president of Health Affairs in July, Emory is poised for a new era. The new positions I've been given in the Emory System and at The Emory Clinic, the gateway to the Emory System, offer me a terrific opportunity to help Emory further expand its primary care operations and become the leading health care delivery system in the region."
While serving in the 1980s at the Health Care Financing Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Winkenwerder received the agency's highest citation for his work on the Hospital Mortality reporting for Medicare and for coordinating AIDS policies. He was both director of the quality assurance/utilization management program and associate medical director for The Southeast Permanente Medical Group of Kaiser Permanente. Most recently he served as vice president and chief medical officer of South Central Operations for Prudential HealthCare, a division of the company responsible for 14 local health plans in the Southeast and Midwest and more than 1 million managed care enrollees.
-- Sylvia Wrobel