DETROIT – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Board of Directors on Wednesday appointed Tricia A. Keith as president and CEO-Elect.
Keith, 53, will succeed Daniel J. Loepp as president and CEO following his retirement Jan. 1. She will become the company’s first female chief executive and only the third president and CEO to lead the Blue Cross enterprise in the last 40 years.
Keith currently serves as executive vice president, chief operating officer and president of Emerging Markets for BCBSM. She has been with the company, holding several senior executive roles, since 2006.
In 2012, she became the first woman in the 40-year history of the National Management Association to be recognized with the organization’s Executive of the Year award.
“After a six-month search, and thoughtful consideration of highly qualified candidates, the Board is proud to appoint (Keith) to serve as our company’s next president and CEO,” said Gregory A. Sudderth, chairman of the BCBSM Board. “No one is more ready to lead our great company into the future. (Keith) is a Michigan native whose depth of knowledge and experience, broad and accomplished track record of executive leadership and abiding commitment to Blue Cross’ mission make her the clear choice to take our company forward in service to our members and communities.”
Loepp will retire as the longest-serving chief executive in the company’s history. Among his many achievements during his more than two decades of leadership at BCBSM, Loepp transformed the company from a large single-state health insurance plan to a diversified multi-company enterprise of national scale.
“Transformational is the word that best describes Dan Loepp’s legacy of leadership over more than 20 years,” Sudderth said. “We have had two great leaders in the last 40 years – and now we are adding a third. Dick Whitmer restored our company’s financial strength and integrity during a time of trouble. Dan Loepp transformed the company to succeed in this century. Now, Tricia Keith will provide the energy and vision to accelerate our success into the future.”
Keith, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Michigan University and an MBA from Michigan State University, said there are “powerful forces of change impacting health care at this moment,” including among them technology, drug and medical cost growth, industry consolidation and others.
“The role that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan plays as a champion of our members’ health, and the affordability of their coverage and care, puts enormous responsibility on the shoulders of our company’s CEO,” she said. “I am humbled by the board’s confidence, and I’m excited and honored to assume this responsibility in January.”
“Our company, our thousands of employees and our millions of health insurance members in Michigan and around the nation will be in the best of hands with Tricia Keith,” Mr. Loepp said. “She has the energy, experience, and innovative spirit our company needs as health care continues to change. She is the right leader at the right time for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.”
