Even before the world was hit with a life-changing pandemic, the health care industry was among the most evolving, impactful and discussed areas in government contracting and the nation. During 2021, and well into 2022, these companies have worked with government to strategically, efficiently and safely tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, disperse vaccines, and keep citizens and their workforce informed.
WashingtonExec’s Top Health Care Execs to Watch in 2022 highlights the executives achieving significant milestones and goals with the support of strong leadership, teams and processes. They possess the know-how to navigate the complexities of the health industry, including challenges around regulation and policy. And amid daily health care concerns and constant unknowns, controversies and technological innovations, these leaders are moving the needle and disrupting the health care space, serving as catalysts for transformational change.
Patricia Obermaier
Vice President, U.S. Health and Life Sciences, Microsoft
Patricia Obermaier leads a 900-member team passionate about using technology to drive innovation and improve lives across health care payers, providers and pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations.
Obermaier was instrumental in Microsoft’s partnership in the health industry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the U.S. Health & Life Sciences Microsoft team in enabling customers to use Microsoft products and solutions to respond to the needs of the health crisis, said Deb Cupp, president of Microsoft North America.
“Her passion for combining technology and health care leads to better insights and better care for people across the country and globe,” Cupp added.
Why Watch
In 2022, Obermaier is focused on empowering customers and partners alike to digitally transform their organizations and achieve more for everyone depending on quality health care and life-saving treatments.
Alicia Harkness
Partner & Health Segment Leader, Guidehouse
Over the past year, Alicia Harkness has supported the role Guidehouse plays in health care transformation: guiding a range of organizations across the public and commercial sectors through new and complex challenges.
This includes helping over 350 providers and 20 state and local government entities get and substantiate more than $10 billion in federal COVID-19 aid and supporting multiple pharmaceutical companies and government agencies with COVID-19 vaccine development, commercialization and deployment strategies, among many other achievements.
“I feel fortunate to have such an outstanding team beside me as we continue to deliver innovations that are helping health care organizations and their communities flourish,” Harkness said.
Why Watch
Harkness and her team continue to focus on positively impacting the health care ecosystem by enabling access to care; improving health equity and patient experiences; designing cost-effective care delivery models; and efficiently fast-tracking the release of lifesaving drugs and therapies to the market.
“Alicia continues to inspire with her remarkable leadership at Guidehouse and across the industry,” said Scott McIntyre, CEO of Guidehouse. “She has provided the vision, discipline, passion and approach to help grow our company through engagements with health care organizations that are making a positive impact in multiple communities around the world. In addition, she is passionate about mentoring and collaborating with colleagues, and she is a champion of our culture of belonging.”
Vishal Tulsian
Senior Vice President, Health, State and Local Financials, SAIC
Over the past several years, Vishal Tulsian led his team through the unique and disruptive challenges associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while also leading the successful acquisition and integration of Halfaker and Associates into SAIC.
This acquisition provides SAIC a competitive edge in the health market, specifically with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and solidifies the company’s vision to increase market share and become a leading technology integrator driving the U.S. digital transformation.
“It is an honor and a privilege to work with a team united in the purpose of redefining our nation’s health care system to enhance the mental and physical well-being of all Americans,” Tulsian said. “It is our agile approach coupled with our growth technology accelerants that drive us to make healthcare more accessible and to support scientific research focusing on delivering the next medical breakthrough.”
Why Watch
Tulsian and his team are inspired by what they learned throughout the pandemic and have leveraged that knowledge to lead transformational change that prepares agencies to be mission ready for tomorrow and the future.
“Vishal has an unwavering commitment to do what is right for our customers and our employees,” said Bob Genter, president of the defense and civilian sector of SAIC. “There is no challenge too big for Vishal. It is a unique leader who can simultaneously build customer relationships, bridge work environments of a newly integrated team, and keep the team engaged through the promotion of diversity and inclusion. His success has been and continues to be vital to SAIC’s vision to be one of the best technology and systems integrators in the industry.”
Steven Sousa
Senior Vice President, Health & Social Services Practice, CGI Federal
As CGI Federal’s healthcare and social services business unit lead, Steven Sousa plays a pivotal role in expanding the organization’s healthcare practice while continuing to deliver innovative IT solutions to federal healthcare customers.
Sousa oversees a large and diverse portfolio of business dedicated to enhancing and modernizing federal IT systems many Americans rely on today. Federal customers depend on his extensive experience in federal regulatory compliance, health care policy, strategic planning and IT development for their mission critical sites.
Why Watch
In 2022, Sousa and his team continue to focus on delivering on clients’ missions. With more than 20 years of health IT experience and a deep understanding of the issues, environments and regulatory demands facing federal clients, Sousa and his dedicated health practice team help clients anticipate challenges and achieve real transformation by addressing business and policy issues in parallel with technology for better engagement, adoption and results.
“We’ve partnered with health care agencies like CMS for the last two decades to facilitate the digital delivery of health information and improve the citizen experience through the development, modernization and maintenance of sites like Medicare.gov, CMS.gov and MyMedicare.gov,” Sousa said. “We look forward to expanding our missions to maximize the access and usage for the client’s customer — the American people.”
Joan Bishop
Vice President, Federal Health, HighPoint Global
Joan Bishop and her team increased HighPoint’s pipeline with over $500 million in potential opportunities and leveraged a long-term partner relationship to secure a place on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VHA Integrated Health Transformation indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. They also passed their ISO audit in the last year.
In her short time with the company, Bishop made a significant impact on the business and the team, and brings out the best in everyone on her team, said Ben Lanius, HighPoint CEO.
“She wants to see everyone grow and succeed and shares her incredible industry knowledge and experience to make that happen,” he added. “That experience and perspective is critical to HighPoint as we grow our health care sector work. Having Joan on our team provides us with an incredible advantage in designing solutions that will make an immediate impact.”
On a personal note, seeing her middle daughter Beri — who is on the autism spectrum — graduate from college was monumental, Bishop said.
“As a working mother, it has been a challenge to balance work and personal life, so when a milestone like this occurs, it’s time to celebrate!” she added.
Why Watch
In 2022, Bishop and her team are heavily focused on meeting health care transformation requirements in the federal health sector with HighPoint’s honed capabilities and past performance.
Additionally, Bishop is beginning her role as president of HIMSS National Capital Area chapter in July, and looks forward to continuing her focus on key health IT challenges within her HighPoint role and as part of the larger health care IT community.
Kamal Narang
Vice President & General Manager, Federal Health, GDIT
Kamal Narang is continuing to build a top-notch health care team and building capacity across the federal health sector at all levels. This translates to successes for the critical missions GDIT serves and is seen through the fruit of its investments in outcomes for clients.
Earlier this year, Narang and his team completed a major cloud migration, transitioning nearly six petabytes of data to the cloud seamlessly for the thousands of researchers who rely on the information to study Medicare and Medicaid data.
“When we apply technology, it’s always about the mission and how it advances that mission,” Narang said. For instance, they entered into an artificial intelligence tech sprint with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and quickly prototyped a skin lesion classifier application using artificial intelligence. The tool uses AI to classify images of skin lesions, determine if they are indicative of a common skin disease, and if so, recommend immediate follow-up care for veterans.
Why Watch
In 2022, Narang and his team are homed in on three things: innovation, connection and talent. They’re heavily focused on bringing innovation to customers’ missions, driving innovative solutions on existing contracts and on new work.
“Kamal and I have worked closely together for the past 15 years even through multiple company acquisitions,” said Paul Nedzbala, GDIT senior vice president of federal civilian division. “Kamal has built one of the strongest teams in the market focused on excellence in delivery, innovation and an unwavering commitment to his health customers’ missions. He leads his team by example — upholding his values of transparency and trust, while focusing on agility to adapt to the changing needs of the market and his customer needs.”
Emilio González
Vice President & Director, Federal Healthcare Directorate, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Over the past 18 months, Emilio González has been busy standing up a new Federal Healthcare Directorate for AMERICAN SYSTEMS. González said he’s proud of what the new directorate has accomplished in a short period of time, and the credit for its success belongs to the talented employee-owners and partners who work together to apply modern IT practices to federal health.
“We are also delighted to support customers with a vision to seek new ways to break down barriers of entry for innovators and bring solutions to the federal health community at the speed of relevance,” he added.
González is also proud of his work supporting PEO DHMS Engineering in developing the Enterprise Software Service platform, which provides physical and virtual resources and professional services to developers, testers and integrators.
Why Watch
In 2022, the Federal Healthcare Directorate is focused on continuing the journey of transformation with its current customers while leveraging the company’s experience and expertise in the Defense Department health IT field to expand into civilian health agencies.
“I am a strong believer that success will come by building true partnerships with our customers,” González said. “This has been true throughout my career and is the reason why we put our customers’ missions first.”
Helene Fisher
President, Mission Services & Solutions, DLH
Under Helene Fisher’s leadership, DLH was awarded a place on OMNIBUS IV, an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity multiple award contract to provide health-related research and development and support services to the Defense Department.
This enables DLH to compete for individual task orders in support of the American warfighter by leveraging its expertise across the full continuum of care.
“The manner in which our national monitoring support services team was able to navigate the challenges posed by COVID-19 to at-risk children and families served by the Office of Head Start and Administration for Children and Families was inspiring,” Fisher said. “Throughout the pandemic, the DLH team remained committed to our customer’s mission and implemented innovative solutions to ensure vulnerable young children throughout the United States were prepared to succeed in school despite the difficult environment.”
Why Watch
From modeling and simulation, to artificial intelligence/machine learning, digital transformation, telehealth research and application and beyond, DLH is committed to providing the highest-quality care to American service members.
“Helene has been a key contributor to DLH’s growth in recent years,” said Zach Parker, DLH president and CEO. “Her proven management skills and thorough understanding of how technology has evolved to meet the needs of federal civilian and military customers make Helene an invaluable member of our executive leadership team.”
Jill Olmstead
Managing Director & Health Consulting Lead, Accenture Federal Services
Since taking on the role of federal health leader at Accenture, Jill Olmstead has helped Accenture Federal Services nearly double its presence in the federal health market.
In the process, AFS helped customers adapt to the unprecedented demands of the pandemic by empowering the adoption of new technologies, advancing their use of data and analytics and embracing a virtual-first approach to transform how they operate and improve health outcomes.
“We’re just at the beginning of changes that we in the health ecosystem have wanted to make for a long time — adopting more virtual services for health in line with how we live and work today, modernizing the experience of care, harnessing data to accelerate research, improving access to care, and a focus on equity to improve health,” Olmstead said.
Why Watch
AFS is poised to continue its rapid growth in the health sector in 2022 and beyond. The company has made several key new hires to build out its federal health team. It’s committed to harnessing the more than $1 billion Accenture invests in research annually to help federal agencies innovate and scale their technology solutions.
“Health care is absolutely a top priority for us in the year ahead,” said Elaine Beeman, senior managing director and civilian portfolio lead for Accenture Federal Services. “I am so excited about the work Jill is doing to grow our presence in the field, and, most importantly, the opportunities to help further improve our country’s essential health care, research and public health efforts.”
Roman Salasznyk
Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton
Roman Salasznyk’s greatest achievement this past year was working with cross-functional, integrated teams to transform the health care ecosystem. They empowered federal clients to accelerate advancements across the scientific research enterprise, make life-saving treatments and devices more accessible and improve mission performance to achieve better health outcomes for the American public.
In a time when science and technology evolve quickly, Booz Allen continues to invest in its people and innovation to prepare for the next public health emergency, Salasznyk said.
“As a long-standing partner to multiple agencies across the Department of Health and Human Services, we know the impact that leading-edge life science, scientific computing, artificial intelligence and other technology capabilities can have in addressing the nation’s most pressing health challenges,” he added.
Why Watch
In 2022, Salasznyk and his team will continue to support high-visibility initiatives aimed to improve cancer and infectious disease research and care, address critical data, technology and cybersecurity modernization needs, and strengthen supply chain resilience.
“Under Roman’s direction, Booz Allen’s life science practice has supported the federal government’s vision for equitable availability and affordability of safe health care to the American public, while investing in R&D to advance disease understanding, searches for cures and improved treatments,” said Rich Crowe, Booz Allen civil sector president. “His leadership in the rapidly changing life sciences industry exemplifies Booz Allen’s work at the intersection of mission and technology.”
Jennifer Welham
Senior Vice President, Public Health, ICF
In 2021, Jennifer Welham led her division to achieve double-digit growth with record contract awards, which enabled her staff to grow professionally and allowed ICF to broaden its impact on people and communities, domestically and internationally.
She was integral to ICF’s acquisition of ESAC, a provider of bioinformatics to the federal government, and led the integration of the team within her division. ESAC expanded ICF’s longstanding expertise in health and social programs with complex health technology solutions to bring advanced digital health solutions to its federal clients.
“Jennifer consistently leads her team to reach new heights, delivering ICF’s unique combination of deep domain expertise in public health and digital modernization capabilities to achieve our clients’ missions and improve health outcomes,” said Mark Lee, ICF executive vice president and public sector lead.
Why Watch
Looking ahead, Welham and her team are focused on identifying and responding to new and emerging health threats by modernizing and improving global surveillance systems to ensure public health officials are prepared to quickly track and respond to those threats.
She will also focus on addressing the social determinants of health and health equity, which are inextricably linked in how they impact the health and quality of life of individuals and communities.
Erik Buice
President, IQ Solutions
In 2021, Erik Buice completed a decade of P&L leadership with Northrop Grumman, serving as president of the management team for the successful divestiture of over 6,300 mission and IT staff to Veritas and Peraton.
“We are very fortunate to have identified a leader in Erik Buice who brings new experiences, new insights and new strategic partnership opportunities to further enhance our expanding client portfolio,” said IQ Solutions Founder and CEO Ileana Quintas.
Why Watch
The pandemic created a vital need for accurate, understandable, science-based health communications. Like many health-focused GovCons, IQ Solutions played a significant role in the federal COVID-19 response, including coordinating participation in clinical trials for COVID therapeutics among populations most at risk of infection and hospitalization.
“We are proud to have worked effectively with over 400 local community organizations to support equity in health care,” Buice said. “Looking forward, IQ Solutions will continue to expand our trusted partnerships across the public and private ecosystem to address our nation’s health challenges.”
Lisa Slaughter
Senior Vice President, Maximus
For over three decades, Lisa Slaughter has been an accomplished leader in federal contracting. But nothing in her career could have prepared her for the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic was easily the most challenging time of my career, and I am extremely proud of our how team worked through it,” she said. “Not only did we care for our staff, but we in turn assisted our government clients with their needs to meet the full range of impacts from the pandemic.”
For Maximus, that began by working with agencies on COVID-19 testing results and contact tracing. In 2021, the company shifted to vaccine distribution and connecting people with information about vaccines to make better decisions.
“There was no roadmap for what we needed to accomplish,” Slaughter said. “As one example, we were asked to develop a COVID-19 response center that could field millions of calls per day, and we had to stand it up within a 45-day window. We had never worked on a project of that scale with that tight a timeframe, and we succeeded. I’m very proud of that.”
Why Watch
As Slaughter looks to 2022 and beyond, her focus is on how Maximus can further use technology and data to improve services for federal health agencies. The pandemic put a spotlight on how agencies can better serve the public and be prepared for whatever comes next.
“The future of federal health is predicated on the use of emerging technologies,” she said. “From broad IT modernization to implementing technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, there is really no limit on what we can accomplish in federal health moving forward.”
Yolanda Curtis
General Manager, Health and Interoperability, Cognosante
Under Yolanda Curtis’ direction, Cognosante is leading health enterprise cloud modernization programs; developing integrated health data ecosystems; providing program management, data management and advanced data analytics and visualization for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services programs; and strengthening health care delivery through interoperability solutions across the country.
“My team’s deep understanding of complex health data ecosystems, such as clinical, payer, demographic and social determinants, enables us to deliver innovative solutions to federal, state and commercial customers,” Curtis said.
Her team is also leading the way designing and implementing solutions that address CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule to put patients first, giving them on-demand access to health information through user-friendly and intuitive applications.
Why Watch
Under her leadership, Curtis’ team is pushing the boundaries with purposeful innovations that extend the value of interoperable environments. They are also championing data interoperability and business intelligence as critical elements to help address health equity challenges.
Through its eSante platform and strategic partnerships, Cognosante is continuing to invest in public health infrastructure modernization initiatives — most recently partnering with AWS to offer a state-of-the-art, cloud-native software as a service solution on Amazon HealthLake.
Richard “Chip” Terry
Vice President & General Manager, Health Division, ASRC Federal
Under Chip Terry’s leadership, his team has seen continued growth with new business and achieved a 100% recompete win rate so far in 2022.
The team also won numerous awards, including NCI Director’s Award, and was awarded the Bronze Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America and the ASRC Federal Polaris Award for two categories: Program Management and Team Excellence.
“I’m intensely proud of the work accomplished by ASRC Federal’s health team this past year with our continued growth, record number of submitted proposals, and diversification of our portfolio by entering a new agency, the FDA,” Terry said. “The team is energized, hard-working, and has risen to every challenge — remaining laser-focused on achieving exceptional results as they support our customers’ missions.”
Why Watch
In the year ahead, Terry’s team will focus on growing the Department of Health and Human Services portfolio, primarily in National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration, with tailored pursuits in the Defense Health Agency.
Larry Schaefer
Chief Executive Officer, QTC Management, Leidos
Larry Schaefer believes his best recent achievement was serving veterans on Indian reservations. “That was no small feat and took many years to figure out how to navigate the process for getting our mobile clinic on to the reservation,” he said.
More globally, he’s proud of taking all of the QTC capabilities and using them in new, innovative ways. The mobile medical clinics are a part of that, but innovating tools and systems to increase the company’s ability to perform its work in rural locations is a heavy focus.
“Three words that describe Larry are innovation, service and leadership,” said Liz Porter, president of Leidos Health Group. “Larry has transformed how we reach and serve veterans and retiring service members in remote areas with our mobile medical clinics. His leadership and vision have transformed the way the team works together to fulfill these ambitious goals.”
Why Watch
Recently, the Veterans Benefits Administration approved the way audio exams for veterans are conducted. Normally, hearing exams need to be done in big, heavy soundproof booths — QTC Management innovated with a new headset that forgoes the big booth. This is an example of the company’s innovation and pushing the envelope to develop and implement new ways of performing its health care work.
“It’s an honor to lead the QTC team, and I am amazed at the accomplishments we’ve achieved to date,” Schaefer said. “I look forward to the next round of accomplishments as we work to achieve the Leidos vision of solving our customers’ most demanding challenges.”
Anna Sever
Interim CEO, Magellan Federal
In 2021, Anna Sever helped drive business growth and go-to-market strategies in new federal markets, exceeding revenue and margin expectations. Magellan Federal also provided crisis assistance to federal workers in the aftermath on the U.S. Capitol, Hurricane Ida and the Florida condo building collapse.
Sever also helped launch a collaboration with a new mental health digital application to improve the well-being of military families.
“The pandemic has changed everything — from the way we do business to the way we deliver it,” she said. “People are suffering, and Magellan Federal is at the forefront of offering products and solutions to meet the needs of modern families. I’m excited to be able to innovate new ways to bring services to the military and federal workforce.”
Why Watch
Since appointed interim CEO in April 2022, Sever has aligned Magellan Federal’s capabilities to the direction of the federal health market and set clear objectives around innovation, brand awareness, quality, collaborations and flawless service delivery. She said she is committed to leveraging technologies and solutions that improve the lives of the military and federal employees.
Gil Smith
Senior Director, Government Health Systems Development, Philips
Gil Smith joined Philips in November 2021 and in a relatively short period of time, he has leveraged his extensive experience and relationships to position him as a trusted contractor and partner, said Kim Mingo, Philips Government Business leader.
Most recently, Smith played an instrumental role in the company’s partnership with Leidos and recent award for the Defense Health Agency’s Tele-Critical Care Program to deliver connected health care solutions for service members and their families.
“The Philips mission and the intentional nature of our work led me to join the Philips organization,” Smith said. “Our technology and solutions can improve health care delivery for our veterans, military, underserved communities and developing nations.”
“My role at Philips encompasses my large corporate experience from my days at American Management Systems, my career as a health care administrator, government finance and contracting officer, and my work as an SES and senior foreign service officer. I personally see my efforts at Philips as a capstone experience and the perfect opportunity to continue my dedication of service to others.”
Why Watch
In 2022, Smith and his team are focused on creating a health care ecosystem that connects medical devices and data with enterprise initiatives across government at the federal, state and local levels. Philips is focused on building solutions that impact communities, families and one of the largest-served populations in North America: the military veteran.
“I am surrounded by an extraordinary amount of brilliant people here at Philips,” Smith said. “Our products and evolutionary research teams are leading the transformation of health care technology from the hospital to the home. I’m inspired daily by my team’s dedication to our government clients and our mission to improve the lives of so many people around the world.”
Roya Mohadjer
Vice President, Government Health Business Development, Battelle
This year, Roya Mohadjer was instrumental in Battelle’s effort to win a strategic new Air Force contract at the intersection of health and human performance.
Under this 5-year, $17 million contract, Battelle will conduct research that advances health protection for the warfighter in present and near-future operational environments. Battelle is leveraging science and current and emerging technologies to improve the Air Force’s understanding of occupational and environmental exposures to airmen.
“We are very proud and excited about the opportunity because, ultimately, the discoveries on this program will teach us more about how we can apply life-saving prevention strategies and interventions to the military, civilian and veteran markets,” Mohadjer said.
Why Watch
In 2022, Mohadjer and her team are heavily focused on human health and performance, solving unanswered problems in the areas of readiness, resilience and recovery.
“Roya is passionate about our mission and is a catalyst for change,” said Greg Kimmel, general manager of Battelle’s health business unit. “Roya offers keen insights about the health landscape, recognizing opportunities where Battelle can make an impact to improve health outcomes and help our clients address pressing challenges. She has already made significant contributions to our business, and we are excited that she has chosen to apply her knowledge and talent at Battelle.”
Michael Lanier
Healthcare Public Sector Lead, Red Hat
Michael Lanier said his biggest recent achievement was launching the successful VA Arches program in partnership with Dr. Amanda Purnell of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Together, their teams created a powerful data platform that allows health care clinicians access to data and insights that empowers these practitioners to deliver higher-quality services to veterans.
Why Watch
In 2022, Lanier and his team are heavily focused on helping their federal health care customers adopt a multicloud strategy and modernize their IT infrastructure so they can improve quality of treatment for patients and access to health care.
“Mike is an outstanding leader in the health care community,” said Larry Stack, executive vice president of global sales and customer success at Red Hat. “During his time at Red Hat, he has been a dedicated partner to our customers at the VA, CMS, FDA, NIH and the DHA in propelling them toward modernized infrastructures. He is an asset to our partner community specifically on programs like HealthConcourse at Peraton. He continues to prioritize delivering the outcome of quality health care for all.”
Christen Smith
Senior Vice President, Abt Associates
Under Christen Smith’s leadership, the cross-disciplinary Abt team addresses social determinants of health, with emphasis on tackling inequities that undermine health outcomes.
“We recognize that health and well-being are shaped by numerous intersecting factors — systemic, social, economic and environmental, in addition to clinical and biological — that must be addressed to help people attain full potential for good health,” she said.
In a world disrupted by a pandemic, economic and social turbulence, escalating climate change impacts and more, Smith is proud of how Abt has advanced the science and its application for sustainable, equitable health.
Abt’s work generates new, health-promoting insights and impact, from conducting rigorous epidemiological studies for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and delivering equity-centered technical assistance to nationwide hospitals, to assessing the health impacts of climate change and environmental contamination on indigenous and tribal communities.
Why Watch
Smith looks to apply Abt’s considerable expertise across varied determinants of health to improve the nation’s public health. Bringing together research, technology and implementation science, she and her team are committed to meeting clients’ needs for evidence-based, whole-person health solutions.
“We help our clients understand and address root drivers of health,” she said, “to create meaningfully improved outcomes.”
