Co-Founder & Chief Medical
Officer, Vori Health
Mary is the previous Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Florida, past Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Health, and a US Olympic rowing athlete. Dedicated to patient-centric, value-based care, she left her practice about 1 year ago to co-found and serve as Chief Medical Officer at Vori Health, a physician-led virtual musculoskeletal company transforming the delivery of medical care with a biopsychosocial patient-centered and value-driven model. She is a nationally recognized leader in health equity, chairing the Movement is Life Caucus, a multi-stakeholder coalition committed to addressing musculoskeletal health disparities.
In her 20-plus years at Mayo Clinic, Dr. O’Connor held various prestigious positions, including Professor of Orthopedics, Chair of Orthopedic Surgery in Florida, Member of the Executive Operations Team, and served as the Mayo Clinic Enterprise-wide Medical Director of the Office on Integrity and Compliance. In 2015, she was recruited to Yale University School of Medicine to serve as their inaugural Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care. She left Yale during the pandemic to co-found Vori Health.
As an orthopedic surgeon and innovative leader, Dr. O’Connor recognizes the challenges of incorporating a non-surgical, holistic approach to patients in traditional healthcare systems. Dr. O’Connor is dedicated to transforming healthcare through an evidence-based approach, decreasing unnecessary care, improving the quality of appropriate care, maximizing patient outcomes, and ensuring the experience can wow! With her work at Vori Health, she is committed to its mission to empower all humanity to lead a healthier life.
Vice President and Chief
Health Equity Officer,
CVS Health
Joneigh is a nationally recognized healthcare executive, health policy, and public health expert who currently serves as the vice president and chief health equity officer for CVS Health. In this role, she advances strategy, programs, and policy to achieve health equity across all CVS Health lines of business. Before this, she served as chief medical executive for the State of Michigan and chief deputy director for health in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, where she oversaw public health, Medicaid, behavioral health, and aging services. She was the lead strategist guiding Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 response and, in 2021, was appointed by President Biden to the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
Senior Vice President,
Social Determinants of Health,
Highmark Health
Nebeyou brings nearly 20 years of experience leading social determinants of health, population health, and employee health and well-being initiatives for public and private sector organizations. In his role at Highmark Health, he leads a team that spans across the enterprise and forges close ties with the communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York, uncovering non-clinical opportunities to improve the health and well-being of people the organization serves.
Vice President, Medical Affairs & Chief Health Equity Officer,
Florida Blue
Dr. Tice is a family physician with a background in public health who serves as GuideWell and Florida Blue’s Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Health Equity Officer. In this role, which she assumed in January 2022, Dr. Tice is responsible for creating solutions that improve health outcomes and address health inequities for GuideWell’s customers and communities.
In addition to leading the company’s health equity strategy, she has responsibilities in corporate social responsibility and public health surveillance. Dr. Tice is also the clinical lead for Florida Blue’s COVID-19 response. Additionally, she is a key member of the Equity Alliance, an enterprise-wide initiative focused on addressing systemic racism and health disparities for Black Americans.
Before her current role, she served as Senior Medical Director for Medical Affairs.
Early in her medical training, Dr. Tice became interested in addressing health disparities and delivering culturally competent care. She taught cultural competency for physicians and incorporated evidence-based techniques to promote health equity into primary care practice in both private and public clinical settings. She is passionate about health education and enjoys mentoring and community involvement.
Before joining GuideWell and Florida Blue in 2018, she spent 17 years as a public health physician, serving in numerous leadership roles, including County Health Officer and State Medical Director for the Florida Department of Health.
Dr. Tice is a member of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and currently serves as the President of the Northeast Florida Medical Society. She received her bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University, her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine and her residency at St. Vincent’s Family Practice Residency Program.
Esteemed leaders from CVS Health, Florida Blue, Highmark, and Vori Health delved into the impact of health equity on chronic care. They not only shared strategies and solutions to enhance healthcare accessibility but also shed light on specific programs they have successfully implemented to bridge the health equity gap in chronic disease prevention and treatment.
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