Officers

Education
A native of Jamaica, W.I., George Hanna received his bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Miami where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He also earned his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law where he graduated Cum Laude and was a member of the Moot Court Board.

Career
Hanna joined Wellmark in August 2007, as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Business Ethics and Compliance Officer for Wellmark, Inc. dba Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. He is currently Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and is also General Counsel for Wellmark of South Dakota, Inc. dba Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota.

Prior to joining the Wellmark Legal Department, Hanna was General Attorney and Associate General Counsel for AT&T, Inc. in Atlanta, GA, after its merger with BellSouth. During his 12-year career at BellSouth, he served in various roles, including Vice President & Group General Counsel for its Advertising and Publishing Group, its Intellectual Property Group, and its international operations. He was also a Senior Associate for Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick & Strickroot in Miami, FL.

Education
Laura Jackson received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Iowa State University, and a master's degree in human resource management from Marymount University in Arlington, Va.

Career
As senior vice president, Jackson oversees all areas of Wellmark’s Human Resources department, including benefits, compensation, training, recruiting, consulting, organizational development, and wellness. Prior to joining Wellmark in July of 2002, Jackson was second vice president of human resources at The Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, where she worked for four years. Before that, she worked in human resources at Professional Property Management, Inc., and Younkers, Inc., both in the Des Moines area, and at Michael Baker, Jr., Inc., and Short Brothers, Inc., both in Virginia.

Jackson is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the World at Work. She is also a past sub-committee member of the Iowa Business Council, former Salisbury House Foundation and Orchard Place board member. Jackson possesses three certifications: Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), and certified facilitator of the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument.

Tricia Johnson is president and chief operating officer of First Administrators, Inc. (FAI), the third-party administration (TPA) subsidiary of Wellmark, Inc.

Johnson is responsible for leading FAI business initiatives, including overall leadership of the company and its management team, setting corporate direction, and managing operational functions. FAI employs approximately 150 people in Iowa and South Dakota in Rapid City, Sioux City, Sioux Falls and Des Moines. Johnson is based in Sioux City.

FAI processes health, dental, flex, and pharmacy benefits for self-funded employer groups. Employers choose when and how to fund their benefit plans, and FAI handles payment of claims and expenses for the employer group.

McCullough also is a Certified Internal Auditor and a Fellow, Life Management Institute.

Career
McCullough joined Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in September 2007, as vice president of Audit Services. In this role, she oversees Internal Audit and Quality Review and Reporting.

Prior to joining Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, McCullough was vice president, Corporate Audit and Security for Ohio Casualty Group in Fairfield, Ohio (2005-2007); group director of Internal Audit Services for Ernst & Young LLP in Des Moines (1999-2005); and spent 13 years in various audit and risk-control positions for The Principal Financial Group in Des Moines.

Prior to joining Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, McNeill was marketing communications/creative services manager at The Des Moines Register (1990-1996); director of publications for University Relations at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., (1985-1989); creative services supervisor at Kirke-Van Orsdel Insurance Companies (now Marsh) in Des Moines (1985); and advertising/communications specialist at Farmland Insurance (a subsidiary of Nationwide Insurance), also in Des Moines (1983-1985). McNeill taught junior high language arts in Boone, Iowa, for two years before pursuing a career in corporate communications.

Education
A graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, Debbie Miner received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and office administration. She is a certified public accountant and is also pursuing her master’s in business from the University of Iowa.

Career
Since joining the company in 1978, Miner has served leadership roles in Provider Audit and Reimbursement, Benefit Disbursements, Financial Reporting and Payroll, Financial and Administrative Services, Claims Administration, and Membership & Enrollment. In her current position, Miner oversees the service area responsible for responding to inquiries from members, employers, providers, and brokers.

Prior to joining Wellmark, Nelson was at the Principal Financial Group, where she held various positions in the Information Systems environment.

She serves on the board of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and also is on the Education Advisory Board for Grand View College.

Education
Noecker graduated from Central College with a degree in Business Management. She holds several professional designations, including Certified Health Consultant (CHC), and Fellow, Academy for Healthcare Management (FAHM). She is a member of the Terrace Hill Foundation and serves on the board of the National Labor Office of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Career
Cathy Noecker is vice president, Key and National Account Sales, at Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In this role Noecker has responsibility for:

• National Accounts retention and sales support for plans with 750+ covered employee lives
• Key Accounts retention and sales support for 101- to 749-life plans
• Inter Plan and Marketing Information Unit, which supports Wellmark’s relationship with other Blue plans and the Consortium Health Plan; prepares requests for proposal (RFPs) and bid solicitations; manages Association-level sales initiatives, and
• Labor, as liaison to labor unions to support sale and retention of Taft-Hartley business (insurance purchased directly by labor unions with labor contributions) and other labor affiliated business

Career
Peterson joined Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1983 and currently serves as vice president, Sales. In this role, Peterson has responsibility for:

• Iowa individual <65 new sales and retention
• Iowa individual >65 new sales and retention
• Iowa small group (2-100 lives) new sales and retention
• Iowa and South Dakota sales operations including broker training, distribution planning & marketing systems, project management, and sales process improvement

Riley is accountable for the underwriting activities of Wellmark, Inc. He provides corporate leadership on risk evaluation for individual, small group, and large group business -- this includes fully insured, stop loss, and alternative funding arrangements across the product continuum -- from indemnity plans to HMO plans. Other responsibilities include consulting with sales and customers on benefit plans and financial arrangements and providing overall underwriting direction for meeting corporate objectives. Riley has been with Wellmark since 1982, and has served in various leadership and professional capacities during that time.

Riley has been involved in several community activities and currently serves on the WellPAC Board of Directors and is a member of the West Des Moines Library Board of Trustees.

Career 
Roberts joined Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in September 1997 and currently serves as group vice president of Provider Relations and Health Management. Previously, he was president of Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. and also served as senior vice president, managed health. During his tenure at Wellmark, Roberts has led the development of the HMO company in partnership with leading physicians and hospitals in Iowa. He brings extensive experience in health care administration, working with both physicians and hospitals. Prior to joining Wellmark, he was the president of M-CARE, Inc., an HMO owned by the University of Michigan Medical Center. Previous to M-CARE, Peter served in various executive capacities for the University of Michigan Medical Center.

Career 
Shaffer is responsible for all sales and retention activities in both Iowa and South Dakota. He joined Wellmark as president of Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa (WHPI) in January 2002. Prior to joining Wellmark, Shaffer worked for Aetna U.S. Healthcare for seven years. He served as an established business manager for southeastern Pennsylvania, where he was responsible for a team managing and servicing client accounts in U.S. Healthcare's largest (one million member) marketplace. With the merger of Aetna and U.S. Healthcare in 1996, Shaffer was promoted to head the marketing and sales operations in Tennessee. Among his accomplishments was doubling the HMO membership in 18 months and receiving U.S. News and World Report's award as "Best in the State" for the Tennessee HMO. In 1998, Matt was promoted to vice president at Aetna U.S. Healthcare, and served as the director of business development for seven western states, including South Dakota.

Education
Dave Southwell is a graduate of Kent State University, with a master’s degree in business administration from Eastern Michigan University.

Career
Southwell joined Wellmark, Inc. in August 1997, as the company’s group vice president, financial officer and treasurer. As group vice president, he is responsible for the finance functions, including actuarial, underwriting, investments, real estate, as well as facilities and shared services.

Southwell’s background includes more than 20 years of provider experience in the health business, all in the University of Michigan hospitals’ financial services area. He spent 10 years as chief financial officer of the University of Michigan Health System, where he was responsible for the financial operations of seven hospitals and a number of primary and specialty clinics with combined assets of more than $1.4 billion. In addition, Southwell helped establish a health maintenance organization, in which he developed reimbursement and provider contracting systems.

Southwell is currently serving on the board of directors of ChildServe and Variety — The Children’s Charity.

Stork began the practice of law in 1977 and was a partner/shareholder in both the Gamble & Davis and Dickinson law firms in Des Moines. He has extensive experience in state government, including employment, as executive director of the Iowa Board of Regents, director of state relations at the University of Iowa, Secretary of the Iowa Senate, and assistant attorney general in the Iowa Department of Justice. Stork has also served on several public boards and commissions, including the Iowa Board of Regents, the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, the State Board of Tax Review, and the Iowa Supreme Court Commission on Unauthorized Practice of Law.

Career
A native Iowan, Weber’s career began with the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, D.C., where he was part of the national industrial engineering team responsible for the implementation of the barcoding and automated letter-sorting equipment program. Following the completion of this program, he moved to Des Moines, where he was the plant engineer for the Des Moines Processing and Distribution Center of the U.S. Postal Service.

Weber joined Kirke-Van Orsdel, Inc., now a part of Mercer Health & Benefits, in 1995, as an industrial engineer, and was responsible for a number of large-business process re-engineering initiatives. He transitioned into product development and was a member of several different leadership teams responsible for the development and management of new business initiatives. These included the development of a third-party administrator (TPA) that provided health plan administration services for large employer groups, and most recently as vice president of product development, where he was charged with helping develop a benefits administration capability to service national mid-sized employer groups.

Weber joined Wellmark as the group leader of Research & Development in December, 2004, and was promoted to vice president of Marketing in July 2006. His responsibilities include market segment management, market strategy, market research, product development, distribution planning, and marketing systems management.