County of Santa Clara Appoints New CEO for Valley Health Plan
Laura Rosas brings more than two decades of experience in health and human services
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.— The County of Santa Clara has appointed Ms. Laura Rosas as Chief Executive Officer of Valley Health Plan effective Nov. 18, 2019. In her new position, Rosas will play a critical role in the County’s mission to provide accessible, affordable and high-quality health coverage. She will oversee VHP’s managed care systems, health care delivery networks, products and infrastructure to increase member satisfaction, affordability and growth.
“VHP is a large organization that is responsible for the care of nearly 160,000 county residents and employees, and its CEO should exhibit the strong leadership and vision to enhance the future of VHP,” said County Executive Jeffrey V. Smith, M.D., J.D. “We are excited for Laura to step into this important role and tap into her vast experience leading teams to improve access to quality services.”
Rosas says she is committed to refining VHP’s strategic plan to better engage employees and stakeholders. She’ll also plan to prioritize continuous improvement in compliance, staffing, technology deployment, business process engineering, and provider network development.
“I’m honored to be chosen to lead VHP at this critical time in the organization’s almost 35 year history,” Rosas said. “I believe VHP can become a leader in our region, promoting value-based health coverage that ensures accessible, efficient and high-quality health care to its members in Santa Clara County and beyond. I look forward to working with everyone at VHP to create a strong foundation for VHP’s continued success.”
Rosas has worked for more than 20 years in health and human services, where she has been instrumental in policy and coalition building efforts. In her former position as Ethics and Compliance Officer for the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System, Rosas oversaw an ethics, compliance and privacy program for the entire system, including Valley Health Plan. Prior to her current role, she was the Associate Director of Privacy for Stanford University, where she provided leadership and expertise in the analysis of privacy and security issues in research and University initiatives.
Rosas has also held several positions within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serving as Division Director at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and leading the Health IT Team at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the integration of health IT and policy in order to improve access, quality of services, care coordination and patient/client engagement.
Rosas was awarded the 2017 National Coordinator Award for Excellence in Management from the ONC and was the recipient of the SAMHSA Administrator’s Leading Change Award in 2015 for her work leading the revision of 42 CFR Part 2, the federal confidentiality regulation for substance use treatment. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; a Master of Public Health with a focus on Policy and Management, from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health; and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, also from the University of Pittsburgh.
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About Valley Health Plan
Valley Health Plan (VHP) is a state licensed health plan owned and operated by the County of Santa Clara. Its purpose includes health insurance options for County employees which allows for County healthcare benefit costs to be retained within the County system. VHP currently manages about 160,000 lives through three lines of business. The commercial line of business includes group plans for employers, and individual and family coverage through the Covered California health benefit exchange or directly from VHP. The government line of business includes enrollees delegated from Santa Clara Family Health Plan for Medi-Cal and Healthy Kids. The coverage program line of business includes the Patient Care Access Program and Valley Kids. VHP has more than 200 employees and close to 1,000 appointed independent community brokers. Learn more at www.valleyhealthplan.org.
About the County of Santa Clara, California
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multi-cultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, the sixth largest county in California. With more than 70 agencies/departments and nearly 22,000 employees, the County of Santa Clara plans for the needs of a dynamic community, offers quality services, and promotes a healthy, safe and prosperous community for all. The County provides essential services, such as public health and environmental protection; behavioral health and medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, including Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (Hospital and Clinics), O’Connor Hospital and Saint Louise Regional Hospital; child and adult protection services; homelessness prevention and solutions; roads, parks and libraries; emergency response to disasters; protection of minority communities and those under threat; access to a fair criminal justice system, and scores of other services, particularly for those members of our community in the greatest need.
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Media Contact: Laurel Anderson/Quan Vu, Office of Public Affairs, (408) 299-5119
Posted: November 14, 2019