WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

Larry Blocher, MD, JD, is CEO of BioOptions, which provides human tissues and biological materials to researchers and scientists for molecular and genomic research, including drug and biomarker discovery, validation of drug targets, and development of diagnostic tests and devices. BioOptions provides fresh tumor tissue, blood, and other biological fluids delivered the same day or overnight from their extensive network of physicians, hospitals, and clinical labs. The company also provides frozen and FFPE samples via its considerable biorepository. Its biospecimens are collected at facilities throughout the U.S. in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines. Larry is a licensed physician and attorney with 25+ years of experience in healthcare and medical science as both a practicing physician and attorney. Since 2001, he has been assisting researchers at the leading biotech, pharma, and academic research centers in obtaining human biospecimens for their studies. As an entrepreneur, he has been an officer and founder at several healthcare-related companies, as well as VP of Network Development at UniHealth, UniMed Management Company. Larry has joined the ABL-Health OC Round Table.

Melissa Hanna, JD, is Co-Founder and CEO of Mahmee, a comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care coordination platform that increases positive health outcomes for moms and babies, backed by Serena Williams and Mark Cuban. By using its proprietary HIPAA-secure technology, Mahmee’s staff of certified and trained maternity support professionals are able to deliver proactive, ongoing education and guidance to new families everywhere at a fraction of the cost. Melissa has worked in operations and strategy at startups in healthcare, education, digital media, and consumer goods. Prior to launching Mahmee, in 2014, she was Assistant Director of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School. Her modus operandi has always been to forge cross-industry collaborations and partnerships to solve big challenges, and she believes that equitable access to healthcare for women and children is a challenge we can all solve by working creatively together. Melissa has been featured in Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Cheddar TV, Black Enterprise, USA Today, and more. Named to Inc. Magazine’s “2019 Female Founders 100” list, Melissa has joined the ABL-Health LA Round Table.

UPCOMING ABL HEALTHCARE ROUND TABLES

• • 6/08 – ABL-Health SV & OAK Combined ZOOM Table – Discussion Topic: “Overcoming Challenges” – Featured Guest Speaker: Cheryl Reinking, CNO, El Camino Health on “The Making of a 5-Star Hospital” & “Lessons from El Camino’s COVID-19 Pandemic Incident Command Center”
  • 6/09 – ABL-Health SF Zoom Table – Discussion Topic: “Getting Back to Not-Quite-Normal” – Featured Guest Speaker: Chris Dyer, CEO of PeopleG2 and bestselling author of Remote Work
  • 6/18 – ABL-Health LA REUNION Round Table – Discussion Topic: “Post-COVID Lessons in Negotiation” – Featured Member Presenter: Melissa Hanna, JD, CEO of Mahmee
  • 7/07 – ABL-Health OC REUNION Round Table – Discussion Topic: “Medi-Cal’s CalAIM Initiative & Its Impact on You” – Featured Member Presenter: Greg Buchert, MD, GSB Health Management Solutions

Blog by Mimi Grant

A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES – IN NEED OF EACH OTHER

This week half of California’s largest metro areas are in the State’s least restrictive Yellow Tier. And, in Orange County, 40% of the residents are fully vaccinated, and 91% have had at least one shot. Little wonder California’s Governor Newsom believes we’re less than a month away from “fully reopening,” on June 15th – as our “surges” appear to be behind us.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, India’s population of 1.4 Billion is suffering from a massive COVID surge …that’s crippling not only the largest democracy on the planet, but America’s “back office.” With India’s colonial roots, about 130 million Indians speak English as their first, second, or third language; and the country’s IT workforce accounts for nearly four and a half million employees, according to Wikipedia – not including the nearly 80,000 Indian ex-pats currently working in the U.S. on H-1B visas for the largest Indian IT companies – like Infosys, Wipro, and Tata– plus the millions more who are working for over 2000 Business Process Outsourcing, IT, and Call Center companies, in India – on behalf of Americans, including 130,000 working for IBM alone

Six years ago when I visited Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur – the largest in the Rajasthan area, I was impressed with its 6251 beds – and the fact that its 1500 doctors and 4000 nurses not only treated patients in its beds, but an additional 10,000 patients a day in its out-patient departments – in “normal” times. At the time there were also 168 ICU beds, where the nurse staffing allowed for one nurse for every 6-7 beds. I was also told by my host, Dr. Suneet Singh Ranawat, the Hospital’s Deputy Superintendent (basically, the COO) that when the hospital was overwhelmed, an additional 15,000 patients could end up on mats on the floor… CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF MIMI’S POST.

Mimi Grant’s Vlog:

Is It Time for a COVID-Era Marshall Plan?

The U.S. won the post-WW2 peace largely by providing aid to countries reeling from the devastation of war, through the Marshall Plan. Today the lethal enemy is a virus. And, once again, we can help.

CLICK HERE to watch Mimi’s 4-minute vlog.