McLaren Health Care in Grand Blanc has appointed Jessica Cromer as president and CEO of the McLaren Integrated HMO Group, the subsidiary organization overseeing McLaren health insurance providers that collectively delivers health care benefits to more than 600,000 in Michigan and Indiana.
Cromer most recently served as president and CEO of MDwise, McLaren’s Indiana-based provider of health care benefits. Effective Dec. 1, she assumed the role made vacant upon the retirement of Kathy Kendall, who conceived and led McLaren HMO operations for more than 25 years.
“The success of our HMOs and their ability to connect thousands with the care they need is a direct result of steadfast leadership and an incredible understanding of the industry,” says David Mazurkiewicz, executive vice president and CFO of McLaren Health Care. “We are very fortunate to have already had Jessica as a leader within our enterprise, one who has demonstrated the understanding, expertise, and passion needed to be successful in today’s insurance provider environment.”
Cromer joined MDwise in February 2020, and in her time, she has been responsible for the coverage of 385,000 Indiana Medicare and Medicaid lives. In her time, she was able to grow the health plan while also increasing employee satisfaction, being named by The Indianapolis Star as a Top Place to Work. She led successful rebids to secure contracts from Hoosier Healthwise (Indiana Medicaid) and the Healthy Indiana Plan.
“Having access to health care is fundamental, and I see health insurance as a critical component for access,” Cromer says. “I am grateful for this opportunity to work with the leaders of these organizations and excited to coordinate with our service teams to gain consistency in our processes, efficiency in our work, and further serve the needs of our members.”
Cromer’s career has spanned more than 25 years, many of them in positions of leadership through which she has created access to care for health plan members. She began her career with the Amerigroup Corp., where she obtains leadership positions of increasing responsibility — earning a directorship before promotions to associate vice president, regional vice president, and COO at various Amerigroup entities. Immediately prior to joining MDwise, she led a turnaround of Pennsylvania Medicaid as executive director and vice president.
She earned a mathematics degree from Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Penn., and an applied mathematics advanced degree from West Virginia University.
