LOS ANGELES — L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan, announced that Robert Curry, the President and CEO of Citrus Valley Health Partners (CVHP) is joining L.A. Care's Board of Governors. Curry will represent private Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) in L.A. County, which receive federal and state funds to subsidize the cost of care to very low-income patients.
"There are nearly four dozen DSH facilities in Los Angeles County, and each serves patients covered by L.A. Care," said Curry. "As someone who has spent nearly 30 years trying to ensure all patients receive quality hospital care, I am proud to be joining forces with an agency that is serving more than two million people in L.A. County."
L.A. Care's Board of Governors is a 13-member stakeholder board, which includes representatives of various stakeholder groups, including community clinics, doctors, plan members and the County of Los Angeles. Curry is credited with transforming CVHP into a sustainable and better quality provider for residents of the East San Gabriel Valley. Through L.A. Care he hopes to share strategies to help similar facilities throughout the county.
"With all the uncertainty we are facing in the health care industry, it is a privilege to welcome a tenacious health care advocate like Rob, who also has a strong background working with vulnerable communities — those communities for whom it is our mission to serve," said L.A. Care CEO John Baackes.
Prior to joining Citrus Valley Health Partners in 2008, Curry served as CEO of O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, CA for five years. He was also the CEO of a 440-bed Banner Health System Hospital in Phoenix, AZ for 13 years.
Curry holds a Bachelors in Economics (magna cum laude) and a Masters of Public Health Administration, both from the University of Pittsburgh.