On Rotation: September 2026

Welcome to September 2026’s On Rotation, our monthly roundup of healthcare leadership shake-ups.

This month saw a number of C-suite switches, particularly at major healthcare systems, health insurers, and lobbying groups.

Let’s get into it!

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Eric Cantor. On Sept. 29, PhRMA, a trade association and lobbying group, announced Cantor as its incoming president and CEO. Cantor, the House majority leader from 2011 to 2014, will start on Nov. 9. He succeeds Stephen Ubl, who has led PhRMA since 2015 and will stay on as a strategic advisor until Jan. 15, 2027.

Daniel Chojnowski. In a Sept. 1 LinkedIn post, Johns Hopkins Health Plans named CFO Chojnowski as interim president and CEO after James Holland departed the role in August.

Brandon Cuevas. Don’t call it a comeback! Cuevas has returned to UnitedHealthcare after a three-year stint at Kaiser Permanente, he shared on LinkedIn Sept. 22. He’ll be CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s employer and individual plan business. He replaces Dan Kueter, who was promoted to chief commercial officer of parent company UnitedHealth Group, per his LinkedIn.

Ed DeVaney. On Sept. 21, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) trade association and lobbyist group, named DeVaney as its new board chair. DeVaney is the president of CVS Caremark, one of the three largest PBMs in the US, alongside Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx. DeVaney succeeds the Cigna Group’s Adam Kautzner as board chair.

Yuri Fesko. Precision biomarker science company Quanterix tapped Fesko as its chief medical officer (CMO) on Sept. 14. Fesko was most recently SVP and CMO of Quest Diagnostics.

Robert Garrett. The CEO of New Jersey-based Hackensack Meridian Health will retire on June 30, 2027, after more than 17 years at the system. The board expects to name a new CEO by the end of Q1 2027, and Garrett is expected to stay on as CEO emeritus for up to one year to help with the transition, according to a Sept. 21 release.

Jennifer Goldsack. On Sept. 1, the American Medical Association (AMA) introduced Goldsack as its SVP and inaugural leader of the AMA Center for Digital Health and AI. She is the founder of nonprofit professional group the Digital Medicine Society, where she spent seven years as CEO.

Rodney Hanners. On Sept. 10, Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California announced that Hanners had “agreed to step down” as CEO. SVP for Health Affairs Steven Shapiro has replaced him effective Sept. 24. This change is accompanied by several other title changes across the health system and the Keck School of Medicine.

Robert Hunter. UnitedHealthcare has a new president. Hunter announced his new position on LinkedIn on Sept. 28. He was previously CEO of government programs at UHC, UnitedHealth Group’s insurance arm. Tim Noel will stay on as UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, the company told Reuters.

Joseph Miller. Neuromedicine clinical stage biopharma LB Pharmaceuticals tapped Miller as its new CFO on Sept. 3. He previously held the same title at biopharma Aurinia Pharmaceuticals.

Sashi Moodley. Value-based care company Aledade tapped the former Walgreens CMO as its CMO on Sept. 9.

Jonathan Perlin. The Joint Commission’s president and CEO is retiring on Dec. 31 after nearly five years at the helm, the evaluation and accreditation group announced on Sept. 23. He’ll be succeeded by James Merlinio, the commission’s current EVP and COO, on Jan. 1, 2027. Perlin will continue to serve as a strategic advisor and president emeritus.

Kim Wittman. Aledade also announced Wittman as its new chief people officer on Sept. 9. Wittman formerly held the same title at healthcare payment software development company Waystar.