Hospice providers across the country have appointed new leadership, including local, regional and national companies.

BrightSpring Names New CFO

BrightSpring Health Services (Nasdaq: BTSG) has promoted Jennifer Phipps to CFO. She succeeded Jim Mattingly, effective March 4.

Phipps has been with BrightSpring for eight years, most recently serving as chief accounting officer and principal accounting officer, CFO of the company’s home health and hospice segment and senior vice president of Treasury, Risk, Tax, Real Estate and Procurement.

She has overseen the implementation of technologies that have streamlined financial processes, built a procurement team working across all operations and implemented various accounting and finance systems, according to BrightSpring. Phipps also played a leading role in the company’s initial public offering.

Prior to BrightSpring, she held a number of accounting and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leadership reporting roles over time at Cardinal Health.

“I am honored to assume the role of chief financial officer at BrightSpring and continue to work alongside our dedicated, skilled, and compassionate team,” Phipps said in a statement. “Not only is this a dynamic organization with a long-standing track record of success, but it is also an organization with more potential and possibility. I am committed to applying my prior set of diverse experiences to continue to ensure an extremely strong and leading financial and operational foundation is in place to support the company’s mission to deliver high-quality patient care to all those who can benefit from our services.”

BrightSpring provides home- and community-based pharmacy and provider health solutions for complex populations in need of specialized or chronic care. It offers services in all 50 states to more than 450,000 clients and patients daily.

Dartmouth Health VNH Taps Interim CEO

Dartmouth Health Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire (VNH) has named registered nurse Tammy L. Tarsa to become its interim president and CEO.

Tarsa has worked in the home health and hospice space for more than 20 years. She succeeds Johanna Beliveau, who left to pursue a new professional opportunity.

Prior to this appointment, Tarsa served as chief clinical officer at VNH since joining the organizatino in 2022 and will continue in this role concurrently.

Before joining VNH, Tarsa was the executive director of home health, hospice and palliative care at Jefferson Healthcare in Washington, where she led quality and compliance, organizational culture, clinical operations, program and business development and project management.

Dartmouth Health is New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer.

Vynca Appoints 2 New Executives

Vynca, a health care services and software company, has appointed Chad Baugh as chief commercial officer and Paige Swanepoel as senior vice president of marketing. Vynca provides palliative care as well as other services.

Baugh will lead Vynca’s commercial strategy, including working to establish referral networks, innovative payer partnerships and strategic ventures with health systems operating in rural and urban markets. He has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in health care, most recently as the chief revenue officer at ReferWell, where he grew revenue by 300% over three years.

Before Vynca, Swanepoel was the company’s first strategic marketing hire. She previously worked in brand strategy and digital marketing at multiple health and technology organizations, including Pelago, WIN Fertility.

“These strategic leadership hires will greatly accelerate our efforts to provide and support high-quality, community-based palliative care for adults and children living across the U.S. struggling with serious illnesses,” said Vynca CEO Dr. Darren Schulte, in a statement. “Chad brings an outstanding record of driving growth and building high-performing teams. Paige has a proven track record of success in leading marketing functions to support rapid expansion within the provider and patient community. Their combined efforts will establish Vynca as the leader in bringing patients more quality days at home.”

Family Hospice Appoints New CEO

Family Hospice has tapped Charles Hall to become its new CEO.

Prior to joining Family Hospice, Hall most recently served as chief operating officer at Rezolut LLC, where he led a high-growth health care platform, spearheading initiatives that enhanced efficiency, profitability and patient care.

Hall graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Systems Engineering.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charlie to Family Hospice,” said Mark Kimsey, chairman of the board and founder of Family Hospice, in a statement. “His proven track record of leadership, team development, and strategic growth will be instrumental as we continue to expand our mission of providing compassionate, high-quality hospice care to the communities we serve.”

BAYADA Names Director of Veterans Affairs

BAYADA has named Ally O’Neal as its director of Veterans Affairs for its hospice segment, a newly created position. O’Neal is a U.S. Army Veteran.

In her new role, Ally will work collaboratively with clinicians, clinical educators, service providers, community organizations and veteran service agencies to enhance the quality of care and support provided to veteran patients and their families, according to BAYADA.

Ally enlisted in the U.S. Army straight out of high school and finished both basic and advanced training at the top of her class. She was inspired to enter the hospice space after a personal experience with her father, who she said could have benefited from earlier home health and hospice care.

“Ultimately, Dad didn’t get hospice until the day he passed because my family and I didn’t know all our options,” Ally said in a press release. “Now, working at BAYADA, I want to help make sure other families and patients experience how deeply personal and healing hospice care can be.” 

AAHPM Taps New CMO

The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has appointed Dr. Kristina Newport as the organization’s new chief medical officer (CMO).

Newport was previously the chief of palliative care and associate professor at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, where she led the development and management of quality palliative care, education, research and care delivery. Prior to the college, she worked for Hospice & Community Care in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Newport serve alongside our incredible AAHPM staff and Board of Directors, bringing her passion for high quality, serious illness care,” said Dr. Vicki Jackson, immediate past president of AAHPM. “The CMO role is crucial to the success of AAHPM as they contribute to a variety of projects including collaborating with stakeholders on key policy issues, reviewing educational offerings to ensure high scientific and ethical standards, and advising the Board of Directors.”

While serving as an AAHPM member, Newport has served as a volunteer Special Interest Group Chair and abstract reviewer for the organization’s Annual Assembly. She is the co-founder and president of Oncologist in my Pocket, a training program for palliative care clinicians to provide upstream care to patients with cancer.