MMIC Promotes 3 Execs [Health & Beauty Close – Up]

MMIC has announced expanded roles for John Woodward, Steve Lacke and Julie Stafford.

In a release, the Company said that in October, Lacke was promoted to senior vice president, Insurance Operations. This week, MMIC president and CEO Bill McDonough again expanded Lacke's role, adding the duties of CFO. Lacke now oversees Finance, Underwriting, IT and Actuarial functions. Lacke succeeds long time CFO Niles Cole, who has left MMIC.

MMIC said that McDonough credits Lacke with creating an internal data warehouse and predictive analytics. "When you're dealing with large hospital systems, they don't have a lot of excess claims," McDonough said in a recent interview with the Medical Liability Monitor. "You really have to bring more value. Steve headed our project to develop data that would help us assess risk as well as help larger hospitals identify those risks within their own facilities and ways to deal with it."

Stafford's promotion to senior vice president, business development, occurs during her 15th year at MMIC. Her most recent role was vice president of Sales and Marketing. She has added Patient Safety and Risk Management, Physician Consulting Services, and Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions to her team. "Julie is held in very high regard throughout MMIC," said McDonough. "She has managed underwriting, and has a fantastic grasp of all areas of the business. And she has built strong relationships with our agent partners."

John Woodward, vice president of Health Information Technology sales, assumes the role of vice president for Sales and Marketing across all of MMIC's products and services. John has more than 20 years of sales, marketing and management experience, primarily in health care and technology, with successful startup and mergers and acquisitions experience.

In other news, Peggy Wagner, the current vice president of patient safety and risk management, will retire April 30 after nine years with MMIC.

MMIC said that these changes cap an active first quarter for the company. In March, it announced its expansion to Indiana, bringing its core territory to nine states. In January, MMIC entered an agreement to acquire Utah-based insurer UMIA. That deal is scheduled to close in Q2 and will expand MMIC's territory by four states.

MMIC is a policyholder-owned medical liability insurance company.

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