Operating Council
Charles G. Berg
Senior Advisor & President, U.S. Government Business, The Cigna Group
Chuck Berg is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Operating Council. Chuck serves as a senior advisor of The Cigna Group, evaluating strategic and business development opportunities across the enterprise. He also oversees Cigna Healthcare's U.S. Government business and is a member of The Cigna Group’s Enterprise Leadership Team. Previously, he served on the board of DaVita HealthCare Partners, a leading provider of dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure and the country's largest operator of medical groups and physician networks and on the board of WellCare Health Plans, Inc., a provider of managed care services for government-sponsored healthcare programs. Chuck served as executive chairman and as a member of the board from 2008 to 2010. Chuck became non-executive chairman of the board of directors of WellCare in 2011. From 1998 to 2004, Chuck held various executive positions with Oxford Health Plans, Inc. which included chief executive officer from 2002 to 2004 when Oxford was acquired by UnitedHealth Group, president and chief operating officer from 2001 to 2002 and executive vice president, medical delivery from 1998 to 2001. From 2004 to 2006, Chuck served as an executive of UnitedHealth Group and was primarily responsible for integrating the Oxford business. Chuck received his BA in political science from Macalester College and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
Carol Burt
Former SVP, WellPoint
Carol Burt is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Operating Council. Carol Burt, principal of Burt-Hilliard Investments, is a private investor with more than 35 years’ experience in the healthcare and financial services industries. Ms. Burt serves on the boards of two NYSE companies, IQVIA Holdings Inc. (Audit Committee), ResMed Inc. (Audit Committee Chair, Compliance Committee Chair and Nominating and Governance Committee); and two private-equity backed companies, WellDyne (Audit Committee Chair), and Global Medical Response (Compliance Committee Chair and Audit Committee). Ms. Burt is an Audit Committee Financial Expert.
Prior to their sale, Ms. Burt served on the public boards of Envision Healthcare, Transitional Hospitals, Vanguard Health Systems, WellCare Health Plans and private-equity backed KEPRO. Ms. Burt previously served as a member of the executive team that built WellPoint, Inc. (now Anthem, Inc.) from a single state Blue Cross plan to one of the country’s leading health benefits company. During her tenure, Ms. Burt was responsible for, among other things, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, strategic investments, capital planning and allocation, treasury and investment functions, and real estate management. She also oversaw WellPoint’s financial planning and analysis, forecasting and budgeting and business information services. In addition, WellPoint’s financial services and international insurance business units reported to her. Previously she spent 16 years at JP Morgan Chase most recently as founder, managing director and head of the Healthcare Banking Group.
Patrick B. Cline
CEO, Lightbeam Health Solutions, Inc.
Patrick Cline is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Operating Council. Mr. Cline presently serves as CEO of Lightbeam Health Solutions, a population health technology and analytics company. He also serves on the boards of Conversio Health and ReferralPoint. Mr. Cline founded NextGen Healthcare (NextGen), a leading provider of electronic health record, practice management, revenue cycle management technology and services. After the sale of NextGen to Quality Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII), Mr. Cline stayed on as the company’s President. Based on NextGen's success, Quality Systems represented one of the most impressive growth stories on Wall Street. As Quality System's market cap approached three billion dollars in 2011, Mr. Cline retired from his role as President and Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. Cline started his career in healthcare IT as a software developer in 1980.
Hyong (Ken) Kim, MD
Former CMO, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
Former Co-Founder & CMO, Alignment Healthcare
Ken Kim is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Operating Council. Ken serves on the board of the Partners in Care Foundation. Previously, Ken served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), where he advised in all payment and clinical model development (including Direct Contracting, Bundled Payment, Primary Care First, and Risk Adjustment models), chaired the Quality Improvement Council, and created operational pathways for performance reviews for all 36 CMMI models. From 2013 to 2018, Ken served as Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Alignment Healthcare, where he built and managed Alignment’s clinical and operations team, developed its clinical model, and implemented an in-house, AI-enabled clinical data analytics platform and mobile app. From 1999 to 2013, Ken held various roles at CareMore Healthcare, which included serving as Chief Medical Officer from 2009 to 2013. Ken received his BA in Biology from Indiana University Bloomington, his MD from Indiana School of Medicine, and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda Medical Center.
Bill Lucia
Former CEO, HMS
Bill Lucia is a member of the Operating Council of Consonance Capital Partners. Bill Lucia is the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of HMS, a leading healthcare analytics and technology company. He served as CEO from 2009 to 2021 and was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in July 2015. HMS was acquired by Gainwell Technologies, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, in April 2021. Under Bill’s leadership, HMS grew to $673 million in revenue, serving 500 healthcare payers and 50 government agencies in 40-plus states and 31 of the 38 private health insurers in Australia. Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. Lucia served as HMS’ president and chief operating officer, driving operational excellence and delivering sustainable growth. Before joining HMS in 1996, Mr. Lucia held various leadership positions in the life insurance industry. He served as senior vice president, Operations and Chief Information Officer for Celtic Life Insurance Company and senior vice president, Insurance Operations for North American Company. Mr. Lucia serves on the Board of Directors of AllyAlign Health, a company that helps senior living and care providers design and run Medicare Advantage plans. Mr. Lucia also serves on the board of the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre and on the Steering Committee for the IMPAC Fund. He previously served as co-chairman of the Texas Business Immigration Coalition. Additionally, Mr. Lucia is the former chairman of the Council for Medicare Integrity and served on the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of CEOs dedicated to making affordable, high-quality care accessible to all Americans
Jeffrey Le Benger, MD, FACS
Executive Chairman, Summit Health
Dr. Jeffrey Le Benger is a member of the Operating Council of Consonance Capital Partners. Dr. Le Benger is Executive Chairman of the board that governs Summit Health, the health care network formed by the 2019 merger of Summit Medical Group and CityMD. As Executive Chairman, Dr. Le Benger provides counsel and guidance to Summit Health’s leadership and supports the ongoing successful execution of Summit Health’s long-term strategic plan. Prior to becoming Executive Chairman in October 2021, Dr. Le Benger served as Chief Executive Officer of Summit Medical Group since 1999 and of Summit Health since 2019. During his decades of leadership, the century-old Summit Medical Group achieved unprecedented growth and success. Notable milestones include establishing a highly effective practice management and patient care model, the formation of Summit Health Management in 2014 to expand Summit’s model via strategic partnerships and customized managed services contracts, and the merger of Summit Medical Group with CityMD, the leading urgent care provider in the New York metro area, to establish Summit Health. Summit Health currently has more than 2,000 providers, 9,000 employees and over 200 locations in New Jersey, New York, and Central Oregon. Dr. Le Benger is board-certified in otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Rhinologic Society and American Society of Head and Neck Surgery. He earned his medical degree from New York Medical College and completed his residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Eric Van Horn
Former Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Landmark Health
Eric Van Horn is a member of the Operating Council of Consonance Capital Partner. Eric is a co-founder of Landmark Health and served as its Chief Business Officer for the past 9+ years and led its growth from launch to 600,000 lives and over $15B in revenue. After the sale of Landmark to Optum in April of 2021, Eric acted as Chief Growth Officer of Optum's Home & Community division. Prior to Landmark, Eric was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of CareMore Health Plan, representing the companies' product-line growth, development and management, profitability, pharmacy and utilization management, and network strategy, leading the company through the sale to Anthem. Eric began his career in health care economics where he built financial forecasting and reporting tools and represented the company in the creation of the current reimbursement system managed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He's also held positions leading network management, product, and commercial sales. He received his BA in Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences from the University of California, San Diego and an MBA in Operations from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. Additionally, Eric has been a Professor at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California in the School of Public Health for the past 12 years teaching health care administrators and physicians how to be successful under risk. He is an avid soccer player and volunteer soccer coach and referee and is a Board Member of PureGame, a non-profit focused on providing after-school sports and development programs for kids in underprivileged areas.
Senior Advisory Board
Sundeep Bhan
CEO, Prognos
Sundeep Bhan is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. He is a serial entrepreneur dedicated to improving health using technology. He is currently the CEO and Co-founder of Prognos Health, a leading healthcare platform company transforming the access, management and analysis of a vast ecosystem of data on 325 million de-identified patients. Previously, Bhan was the CEO and Co-founder of Medsite, Inc., in partnership with blue chip investors like JP Morgan Partners, Morgan Stanley, Bain, and Reuters, and subsequently sold the company to WebMD in 2006. Bhan serves on the Advisory Board of KNB Communications, Inc. He is currently a non-faculty Lecturer at Wharton for Healthcare Entrepreneurship. As a thought leader in digital health, he speaks regularly at industry events and conferences, including SXSW and JP Morgan, and was named one of PM360’s Elite 100 Entrepreneurs in 2017. Sundeep received his BA from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in business from the Wharton School of Business.
Vickie Capps
Former CFO, DJO Global
Vickie Capps is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Vickie was the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of DJO Global, Inc. from 2007 to 2013. She was appointed to this position at the time of the 2007 merger of Blackstone Capital Partners’ ReAble Therapeutics and DJO Opco (formerly DJO Incorporated), a transaction that took the company private. From 2002 to 2007, Vickie served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of DJO Opco. Over Vickie's tenure with DJO she led over ten acquisitions and helped drive DJO’s revenues from $183 million in 2002 to over $1.1 billion in 2013, reflecting a CAGR of over 20%. During her time with DJO, Vickie oversaw the company’s financial accounting, strategic financing, investor relations, business development, and information technology functions. From 2001 until 2002, Vickie was employed by AirFiber, a privately held provider of broadband wireless solutions, where she served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer. From 1999 to 2001, Vickie served as Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer for Maxwell Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded technology company. From 1992 to 1999, Vickie served in various positions, including Chief Financial Officer, with Wavetek Wandel Goltermann, Inc., a multinational communications equipment company. Vickie also served as a senior audit and accounting professional for Ernst & Young, LLP from 1982 to 1992. Vickie is currently a member of the board of directors and the audit committee chair of each of Silverback Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company (SBTX), NuVasive, Inc., a medical device company (NUVA), Otonomy, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company (OTIC), and Amedisys, Inc., a home health and hospice company (AMED). She is also a member of the Senior Advisory Board of Consonance Capital Partners, a healthcare focused private equity firm. She previously served as a member of the boards of directors of OmniGuide Holdings (private), Synthorx, Inc. (public), prior to its sale to Sanofi in January 2020, Enclara Pharmacia (private), prior to its sale to Humana in January 2020, Connecture, Inc. (public), prior to its being taken private by Francisco Partners in April 2018, RF Surgical Systems (private) prior to its acquisition by Medtronic in August 2015 and SenoRx (public), prior to its acquisition by C. R. Bard, Inc. in July 2010. She is also a member of the board of directors of the San Diego State University Research Foundation. Vickie is a California Certified Public Accountant. Vickie received her BS in business administration and accounting from San Diego State University.
Arnold Chavkin
Former CIO, Pine Brook Road Partners
Arnie Chavkin is a member and Chairman of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Arnie worked closely with the Consonance Capital Partners Co-Founders during his 17 year tenure at JPMP. Currently, Arnie is a Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC ("Pine Brook"), a private equity firm focused on the financial services and energy sectors. Prior to Pine Brook, he worked at JPMP, where he was the Chief Investment Officer from 2001 to 2006. Prior to joining JPMP in 1990, Arnie was one of the first members of Chemical Bank’s Merchant Banking Group and its Corporate Finance Group, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and private placements for the energy industry. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Freeport McMoRan, Gulf and Western Industries, and Arthur Young & Company. Arnie is a member of the Columbia College Board of Visitors and the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers. Arnie is a Certified Public Accountant and received his BA and MBA degrees from Columbia University.
Mark Lachs, MD MPH
Director of Geriatrics, New York Presbyterian Health System
Mark Lachs is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Both a practicing internist-geriatrician and an internationally recognized physician-scientist in the field of aging, Mark is Director of Geriatrics for the New York Presbyterian Health Care System and The Irene and Roy Psaty Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Mark’s research interests include care of the frail older adult, chronic disease management, and the organization and financing of health care. His many honors include a National Institutes of Aging Academic Leadership Award, an American College of Physicians Teaching and Research Scholarship, and the Carter Burden Humanitarian Award in Aging. He has testified before the US Senate Committee on Aging, was a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 2006, and has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization. He is a principal in L3G Medtrics, an investor and incubator of early stage companies in the field of aging. Mark received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MD from New York University, and his MPH in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale where he was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Geriatrics by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Eric Major
Former President, Stryker Spine
Former Founder & CEO, K2M
Eric Major is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Eric was previously the President of Stryker Spine and is responsible for the organization’s vision, growth and strategic direction. Eric joined Stryker as part of its 2018 $1.4B acquisition of K2M Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTWO), a medical device company Eric founded in 2004 to address the world’s most challenging spinal pathologies. At K2M, Eric served as the company’s Chairman, President, and CEO. Under his leadership, K2M grew from an idea into a publicly traded global leader serving patients in over 40 countries during the company's 14 straight years of uninterrupted revenue growth. Prior to founding K2M, Eric founded and served as the President & CEO of American OsteoMedix, Inc. (“AOM”), a pioneering minimally invasive spinal device company Eric started in 1998 that was acquired by Interpore Cross International in 2001. Following the acquisition, Eric was named the President of the Minimally Invasive Division of Interpore Cross International. Eric is also an active member of the medical device industry and has served on the Board of Directors of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, as well as the AdvaMed CEO Advisory Council. Eric is a recipient of numerous business leadership awards, including the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Emerging Technologies in Greater Washington, D.C, the Medallion for Entrepreneurship from the Beta Gama Sigma International Business Honor Society Foundation. Eric received his BA degree from James Madison University (JMU), where he still serves on the JMU College of Business Executive Advisory Council as well as the JMU Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.
Arthur Rubenstein, MBBCh
Former EVP UPenn Health System
Arthur Rubenstein, MBBCh is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Arthur is an internationally-prominent endocrinologist recognized for clinical expertise and groundbreaking research in diabetes. From 2001 to 2011, Arthur was the Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, where he is currently a Professor. Together, these entities make up Penn Medicine, an enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Previously, Arthur served as Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he was the Gustave L. Levy Distinguished Professor. Earlier, he was the Lowell T. Coggeshall Distinguished Service Professor of Medical Sciences and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Arthur served in numerous professional leadership positions throughout his career, including President of the Association of Professors of Medicine, President of the Association of American Physicians, President of the Central Society for Clinical Research, Chairman of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Academic Health Centers, Chair of the National Diabetes Advisory Board, and member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Arthur has authored numerous publications and served on several editorial boards. Born in South Africa, Arthur received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. In 2001, he was honored by his alma mater when an honorary degree, Doctor of Science in Medicine, was conferred upon him. He is a Fellow of the College of Medicine of South Africa and of the Royal College of Physicians of London; a Master of the American College of Physicians; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rubenstein is a Board member of PinnacleCare, Safeguard Biosystems, the Joslin Diabetes Center, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF), and the National Diabetes Research Interchange (NDRI). He is on the Advisory Board of LabCorp and a member of the Academic Advisory Council of AMN.
Brent Turner
CEO, Summit BHC
Brent Turner is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Brent is the Chief Executive Officer and serves on the Board of Directors of Summit BHC. He also currently serves on the board of directors for LHC Group Inc. and Surgery Partners Inc. Mr. Turner has more than 17 years of executive healthcare experience, including eight years as President of Acadia Healthcare, where he led the expansion of Acadia from six facilities to almost 600 facilities. Previously, Brent served as the Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration of Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (“PSI”), an owner and operator of psychiatric hospitals, from August 2005 to November 2010 and as the Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations of PSI from February 2003 to August 2005. From late 2008 through 2010, Brent also served as a Division President of PSI overseeing facilities in Texas, Illinois and Minnesota. PSI grew from $114 million to $1.8 billion in revenue between 2002 and 2009. In 2010, Psychiatric Solutions was sold to Universal Health Services for $3.1 billion. From 1996 to 2001, Brent was employed by Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison operator, serving as Treasurer from 1998 to 2001. Brent received his BA in economics from Vanderbilt University and also received his MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
R. Blane Walter
Vice Chairman & Former CEO, InVentiv Health
Blane Walter is a member of the Consonance Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board. Blane presently serves as Vice Chairman of InVentiv Health and is a Partner at Talisman Capital Partners. Blane was the founder of inChord Communications, Inc., which he built into the largest independently-owned, healthcare communications company in the world. In 2005, inChord was acquired by Ventiv Health, the largest provider of outsourced sales and clinical services serving the pharmaceutical industry to create inVentiv Health. In 2008, Blane became CEO of the combined public company. Through organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions, inVentiv Health became the leading provider of outsourced product development and commercialization services to the global pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. inVentiv's client roster consists of more than 350 leading pharmaceutical, biotech, life sciences and healthcare payer companies. In 2010, Mr. Walter led the successful $1.2 billion buyout of inVentiv Health by Thomas H. Lee Partners. Blane presently serves as Chairman of the Governor of Ohio’s Executive Workforce Board. Blane is Chairman of the Board of Columbus College of Art and Design as well as a member of the Board of Helius Medical Techonologies, Inc. Prior to joining inChord, Mr. Walter worked as a Financial Analyst in New York City for Smith Barney in mergers and acquisitions specialty group. Mr. Walter graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Marketing and Finance from Boston College.
In Memoriam
Leeba Lessin
Former CEO and President, CareMore Health System
Leeba was a visionary leader who inspired new ways of thinking about care for the elderly and successfully executed those ideas. A founder of CareMore, Leeba reimagined eldercare and created a care model that has since been adopted and adapted by Medicare Advantage plans across the United States. Leeba was a beloved mentor for those who had the privilege to work with her and an exemplary servant leader who cared deeply for the members who entrusted CareMore with their care. We are fortunate to have worked alongside Leeba during her time at CareMore and during her tenure as an Operating Council Member of Consonance Capital Partners. Leeba’s legacy lives on through her impact on health care and through those of us who are blessed to have called her a colleague, mentor and friend. We strive to honor her memory.
Leeba served as Chief Executive Officer and President of CareMore Health System until April 15, 2016. Prior to CareMore, she served as Executive Vice President of Medicare Programs at WellPoint Inc (now Anthem) and various positions at PacifiCare Health Systems, including President/Southern California, President/Northern California, President/Northwest and Vice President Provider Strategies. Prior to joining PacifiCare in 1995, she served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Monarch Health Systems, a managed care delivery system operating in California's central coast region. In 2002, she formed Lessin Management Advisors, which provides consultation and strategic project management for companies in the healthcare industry. Ms. Lessin received a BA degree from Westmont College in Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of Washington. She was a Board Member of The National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and a supporter of liberal arts education through roles as a member of the Board of Advisors of Westmont College and the President's Council of Whittier College.