UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has announced two recent c-suite executive changes.

Dr. Heather Cianfrocco, CEO of the company’s health services subsidiary Optum, has been promoted to serve as UnitedHealth Group’s executive vice president of governance, compliance and information security. She will be responsible for the company’s governance and ethical oversight of its operations.

Stepping into as new CEO of Optum is Dr. Patrick Conway, a pediatrician. Conway previously served as CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy benefit management segment Optum Rx. He has held senior leadership roles at Optum Rx and Optum Health since February 2020.

“UnitedHealth Group announced today leadership changes consistent with its longstanding, intentional approach to developing an executive team with a range of experiences across its diverse portfolio of businesses and in ongoing service to its mission and the people it serves,” the company stated in a press release.

Cianfrocco joined UnitedHealth Group in 2008 as its vice president of network operations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has held executive roles across UnitedHealthcare and Optum, and has roughly a decade of experience as a lawyer.

Prior to joining Optum, Conway was president and CEO of the insurance company BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina until 2019. He brings a leadership background in both the public and private health care sectors. Conway’s clinical background includes serving as director of hospital medicine and associate professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Conway has held leadership positions at the U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2011 to 2017. His senior roles at the agency included CMO, deputy administrator for quality and innovation, and serving as both a principal deputy administrator and acting administrator. Conway also served as director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). He was also CMO of the U.S. Department for Health & Human Services (HHS) from 2008 until 2010.

“I am honored to be the next Optum CEO and represent the important work of this incredible team. I am filled with excitement and optimism about the future of Optum as we continue to focus on value-based care and system enablement to ensure we deliver the best possible care and services to those that rely on us,” Conway said in a social media post. “I am thrilled to continue collaborating with Heather Cianfrocco to meet the expectations of our consumers, patients and clients. Together, with all the people who serve on the Optum team, I look forward to helping make the health system better for everyone.”

UnitedHealth Group, through its subsidiary Optum, is among the largest hospice providers in the nation by Medicare claims, according to research by Hospice News and the data analysis firm Hospice Analytics. 

Fueling growth was the company’s 2023 acquisition of LHC Group for $5.4 billion. Optum’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED) is currently pending a court decision following antitrust concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.