Phoenix-based Banner Health and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna selected Thomas Grote to helm a jointly-owned health plan the organizations unveiled last October.
Here are five things to know about the appointment.
The Banner | Aetna joint venture will offer employer-based health plans in Arizona's Maricopa and Pinal counties beginning Jan. 1.
2. Mr. Grote will assume the position immediately and report to the Banner | Aetna board of directors.
3. He joined Aetna in 1987 and led the team responsible for creating the payer's first joint-venture partnership with northern Virginia health system Innovation Health.
4. Mr. Grote served as president of Aetna's Arizona and New Mexico markets and oversaw the payer's west territory. In this position, he played a key role in building the joint venture with Banner.
5. He earned a bachelor of arts in finance from the University of Notre Dame (Ind.).