Don George, a Barre native with more than 20 years experience in health care and health financing, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and its affiliate HMO, The Vermont Health Plan (TVHP). The appointment to lead BCBSVT, which has been named by US News and World Report as one of Americas Top 50 Health Plans is effective immediately.
Mr. George, 51, had served as interim President and CEO of the state’s largest health plan since the retirement of William R. Milnes, Jr., last November. He joined BCBSVT in 1993 and has held various and increasing levels of responsibility during his career with the plan. Most recently, he was Vice President of the company’s Managed Health Systems division and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TVHP.
He was chosen from a field of candidates drawn from a nationwide search of the health insurance and health care industry, and was selected unanimously by BCBSVT’s Board of Directors to replace Mr. Milnes, who stepped down after a more than 30-year career with the BCBS system and a successful 10-year tenure at BCBSVT.
“We are extremely pleased to appoint a leader with Don’s experience, vision and understanding of the uniqueness of Vermont’s health care delivery and financing systems,” said Guy Boyer, chairman of BCBSVT’s Board of Directors. “Don has played an instrumental role in helping the Plan grow and strengthen over the last decade, and we are confident that he will lead BCBSVT into a new era marked by increasingly close and collaborative relationships with its customers, providers and with the state of Vermont itself.”
Mr. George has Bachelor’s Degrees in both Business Administration and Political Science from the University of Vermont, as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from St. Michael’s College. He began his career in health care in 1986 at the then-Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (which later became Fletcher Allen Health Care) and joined BCBSVT in 1993.
