TENNESSEE HEALTH CARE HALL OF FAME NOMINEE VICKY GREGG

NAME: Vicky Gregg

COMPANY: Retired

IS THE NOMINEE LIVING OR DECEASED: Living

EMAIL ADDRESS: greggvicky1954@gmail.com

PHONE NUMBER: 423.718.4057

MAILING ADDRESS: 1516 Edgewood Circle, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37405

EDUCATION: Vicky Gregg graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in nursing in 1975.

NOMINEE BORN, LIVED OR WORKED IN TENNESSEE?: Lived, Worked

WORK EXPERIENCE/ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Vicky Gregg graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in nursing in 1975 and began a career as a nurse technician at Erlanger Regional Medical Center. Within two years, she was promoted to emergency medicine staff nurse and then clinical nurse specialist for the end stage renal disease program. In 1978, she served as Tennessee Foundation for Medical Care’s (PSRO) Quality and Utilization Review coordinator. In this role, Vicky oversaw Medicare and Medicaid programs, providing analysis of data and information for medical facilities and physicians.

Following her time in nursing and the clinical side of health care, Vicky served as the director of Professional Relations (Business Development) for Humana East Ridge Hospital (1980–1984), director of Marketing with Retirement Centers of America (1984–1985) and executive director of Humana Health Plans (1985–1993).

During her career at Humana, Vicky managed capital projects including a health plan office relocation and the construction of six staff model medical offices and an emergency and diagnostic center. She also had extensive involvement with health reform efforts driven by the national Clinton Health Reform plans.

Vicky joined BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 1995 as senior vice president. She became BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s CEO in 2003 and served in that role through 2012. Vicky was BlueCross’ first female CEO and, at the time, one of few female CEOs in Tennessee and in in the health care industry.

During her nearly 20 years with BlueCross, Vicky helped manage our company’s profitability and strategic direction, growing membership from 2.2 million to 3.1 million people. She was focused on serving Tennesseans, demonstrated by her contributions to TennCare reform efforts led by Gov. Phil Bredesen and the partnership to launch the state’s CoverKids program.

She helped build BlueCross to be one of the most progressive health plans in the country, which led to her gaining national influence. She also served as board chair for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the National Institute of Health Care Management and America’s Health Insurance Plans, the leading national trade organization for insurers.

One of Vicky’s enduring legacies with BlueCross is her work to establish the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation to support community health and education, especially in underserved areas. It has grown to be the fourthlargest foundation in the state and the only one of that size dedicated to health care.

In 2013, the Foundation gave $1.5 million to the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga’s School of Nursing to establish the Vicky B. Gregg Chair of Gerontology to honor Vicky’s career and to help continue improving health care for underserved populations.

APPOINTMENTS/HONORS: Throughout her more than 40-year career in health care, Vicky has earned numerous recognitions of her professional achievements, including:

• Humana’s Humana Outstanding Accomplishment Award (1991)

• Kentucky’s Commission on Healthcare Reform (1993–1995)

• Tennessee Governor’s Roundtable (1997)

• Public Relations Society of America’s MacEachern Chief Executive Officer (2008)

• American Lung Association of Tennessee’s Woman of Distinction (2009)

• Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare (2009)

• Health Ethics Trust Fellow

NAME: JD Hickey, M.D.

EMAIL ADDRESS: DonnaM_Williams@bcbst.com

COMPANY: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee

PHONE NUMBER: 423.535.5693

MAILING ADDRESS: 1 Cameron Hill Circle, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402

RELATIONSHIP TO NOMINEE: I first worked with Vicky Gregg when I was leading TennCare for the state of Tennessee and she was CEO of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, as well as during my time at McKinsey. She ultimately recruited me to join BlueCross, and my respect for her leadership played a major role in my decision to join the company.

NOMINEE WAS BORN, LIVED OR WORKED IN TENNESSEE? Vicky Gregg was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but has lived and worked in Tennessee for the majority of her more than 40-year career in health care.

NOMINEE WILLINGLY SERVED AS A ROLE MODEL/MENTOR WITHIN HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY? NOMINEE DEMONSTRATED UTMOST PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL CONDUCT? NOMINEE MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT/LASTING CONTRIBUTION TO HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY?

A nationally recognized health care champion, Vicky Gregg has guided industry reforms and improvements that we still benefit from today, held herself and the organizations she worked for to the highest level of professionalism and integrity, and served as a role model to her team members and her community through her board service.

After joining BlueCross in 2003, Vicky served as the CEO until 2012, and led more than 5,000 BlueCross workers, unifying nearly 4,000 Chattanooga-area employees from nine separate worksites into one central campus location to allow better collaboration among employees. At completion, this location was the state’s largest LEED-certified corporate campus and the second largest in the nation.

Vicky led the creation of Shared Health – an early pioneer in the clinical data exchange field – and oversaw the purchase of Gordian/Onlife to empower patients to make better-informed health and wellness decisions based on their clinical data. Shared Health provides health services to those with special care needs, like chronic conditions, long-term support services, Medicaid and Medicare, and highlights Vicky’s commitment to broader access to health care. She also has served for more than 16 years on the Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga, helping to greatly expand the capacity in this area for shared health.

Here at BlueCross, Vicky’s leadership contributed immensely, not only to the scope of our operations, but to our positive culture. She grew BlueCross’ membership by nearly 1 million Tennesseans during her tenure as CEO and cultivated a strong commitment to the highest ethical standards, a hallmark of BlueCross’ culture today. Her dedication to the health and well-being of BlueCross members has helped keep commercial rate increases for our members below industry averages.

She led the company and our employees by example while navigating a time of dramatic change in the health care industry that resulted in the creation of the ACA Marketplace. As BlueCross’ leader, Vicky provided a steady hand and insightful guidance that helped position us for growth and continued strong support of Tennesseans’ health.

Vicky positioned BlueCross for success by foreseeing the time when patients would begin to act more as consumers, and transparency would become the new normal for health insurance providers. She calmly and effectively guided our response to tighter federal regulations, continuous industry change and an increase in public scrutiny.

Throughout her career, Vicky has served as a role model and trusted mentor. When Vicky became BlueCross’ CEO, it was a monumental moment for her career, but also for BlueCross and the industry as a whole. She served in senior leadership positions at a time when there were very few women in these roles, especially at the CEO level. She helped paved the way for future female leadership at BlueCross and beyond, and she mentored and inspired her team members through her strong leadership and commitment to excellence.

Her impact has gone beyond the workplace. After mentoring a strong cohort of leaders over many years at BlueCross, Vicky continues to give back to the health care industry through service on dozens of national and state boards, including First Horizon, University of Tennessee’s board of trustees, Team Health, Acadia Healthcare, TriZetto, Landmark Healthcare, Quest Diagnostics and the bipartisan Alliance for Health Policy, to name a few.

Her knowledge and practical solutions have helped organizations provide better primary care to consumers and successfully carry out their companies’ initiatives. In fact, she helped build Landmark, an in-home medical group that is widely considered a successful model for chronic care, from the ground up. More than a decade ago, she worked with the neonatal group at Erlanger Hospital here in Chattanooga to take telehealth into rural areas, so high-risk women didn’t have to drive into Tennessee. This was a significant step for telehealth and rural care.

In 2004, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist appointed her to the U.S. National Institutes of Health Commission of Systemic Interoperability. The Commission was tasked with developing a strategy to make health care information accessible for consumers and their health care providers immediately and at all times. She then, in 2006, was appointed to Tennessee’s E-Health Advisory Council, where she helped establish a health care data exchange for Tennessee.

Her progressive leadership style has helped her tackle growing issues in the industry, such as customer information delivery networks, electronic data records, financial stewardship and the need for population health solutions in an environment increasingly focused on individual consumers.