Covered California keynote at North Bay health care conference Nov. 20

Dana Howard, deputy director of communications and public relations for Covered California, will be the keynote speaker for North Bay Business Journal’s annual Health Care Industry Conference and Healthiest Companies Awards on Nov. 20.

In addition to Howard, conference presenters will include a panel of health care executives and a presentation by Rick Brush, CEO of HICCup, the tech-pioneer financed health initiative called Way to Wellville. Lake County is one of five counties in the nation selected for this five-year initiative to improve community health outcomes.

Members of the health care executives panel include Todd Salnas, president St. Joseph Health, Sonoma County; Judy Coffey, R.N., senior vice president and Sonoma-Marin area manager for Kaiser Permanente; Mike Purvis, chief administrative officer at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital; and Jon Friedenberg, chief administrative officer and president of the Marin General Hospital Foundation.

Covered California’s Howard helped lead and implement the communications strategy for the California health care coverage exchange’s historic first open enrollment. He serves as the principal spokesman for the exchange as well as leading innovation around new communication platforms that keep service channels, consumers and stakeholders informed about critical developments.

Brush is an innovator in health-impact investing. His startup, Collective Health, is laying the groundwork for the first health-impact bond in the U.S., focused on reducing childhood asthma emergencies in Fresno. Before turning entrepreneur, Brush led corporate strategy efforts in health and financial services, including nearly a decade at the health insurer Cigna, where he was chief strategy and marketing officer for the national employer segment and launched the company’s Communities of Health venture.

The Business Journal’s fifth annual Healthiest Companies Awards will be presented at the conclusion of the conference.

The conference will be held from 7:30 to 11:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa in Santa Rosa. Cost for the conference is $65 per person or $675 for a table of 10 including company name. Register at NorthBayBusinessJournal.com/HealthCare15Reg or call Linda Perkins at 707-521-5264.