The American Medical Affiliation mentioned Monday it tapped Andra Heller, Worldwide Enterprise Machines Corp.’s high lawyer for Watson Well being, as its senior vice chairman and basic counsel.
She replaces former authorized chief Brian Vandenberg, who retired March 1 after spending 5 years with the most important skilled affiliation and lobbying group for U.S. medical doctors and medical college students.
“The challenges going through our physicians and well being care system all through the Covid-19 pandemic are immense,”Heller mentioned. “I’m assured that the AMA will proceed to play a number one function.”
Heller joins a Chicago-based group that has taken sturdy positions on public coverage through the pandemic, because it final week applauded the continuation of masks sporting on public transportation.
Bloomberg Regulation reported final yr on the AMA’s policy-making physique approving a decision declaring that solely licensed physicians ought to be capable to grant exemptions for coronavirus vaccines.
The AMA additionally supported the Biden administration’s controversial Covid-19 shot-or-test mandate for personal sector companies. That mandate was withdrawn in late January by the Occupational Security and Well being Administration following a U.S. Supreme Court docket resolution earlier that month successfully killing the measure.
‘Eradicating Obstacles’
On the AMA, Heller mentioned she’ll be tasked with “eradicating obstacles that intervene with affected person care, driving the way forward for drugs, and enhancing the well being of the nation.”
Heller beforehand served as basic counsel for the well being care and science unit of Thomson Reuters Corp. and Truven Well being Analytics Inc., a well being care knowledge enterprise offered for $2.6 billion in 2016 to IBM. She joined IBM by that transaction as the corporate mixed Truven with Watson Well being.
IBM agreed in January to unload Watson Well being’s knowledge operation for greater than $1 billion to personal fairness agency Francisco Companions LP after placing the unit up on the market final yr. Watson is an synthetic intelligence software developed by IBM to serve numerous companies, together with legislation corporations and company legislation departments.
Heller’s Predecessor
Vandenberg, Heller’s predecessor as basic counsel for the AMA, acquired greater than $917,000 in complete compensation from the nonprofit in 2019, based on its most up-to-date federal tax submitting.
Vandenberg, a former basic counsel at Livongo Well being Inc., was employed by the AMA in 2017 to succeed former Sidley Austin companion Jon Ekdahl, who retired after practically 17 years as authorized chief for the group.
Vandenberg was named chief administrative officer and basic counsel earlier this month for Homeward Well being Inc., a San Francisco-based well being care startup fashioned by former Livongo executives that raised $20 million popping out of stealth mode.
The AMA employed former Epstein Becker & Inexperienced well being care affiliate Ebunola Aniyikaiye in Washington final yr as an assistant basic counsel for digital expertise and innovation. Diana Huang, a former well being care counsel at Crowell & Moring, joined the AMA in 2020 as an assistant basic counsel.