Burke Heads New Hospital Unit

Roger L. Burke has been named vice president of the newly created payer/provider relations department at Mercy Hospital.

The hospital consolidated is payer/provider relations departments Oct. 1. Burke’s responsibilities include handling hospital contracts with health plans and employers.

Burke, 47, began his hospital administration career in 1965 when he joined the Air Force and served in the medical corps. After 20 years in the Air Force, Burke joined Cigna Health Plan as director of operations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Before taking his post at Mercy, Burke served 2 1/2 years as chief executive officer at St. Mary Medical Center/Physicians of Greater Long Beach, an independent group of more than 200 physicians.

“I think the emphasis on contracting has been much greater as the whole marketplace moves toward self-funded employers and HMOS and PPOs and away from the typical indemnity-type insurance arrangements,” Burke said. “My main No. 1 goal is to really get the medical staff and Mercy Hospital, as a whole, focused toward the managed-care arena so it can effectively provide high-quality medical care at a reasonable cost to self-funded employers and the insurance payers.”

Although the payer/provider relations department at Mercy is in its first weeks, Burke says he hopes to achieve this goal over the next year.

“The people here are super; I’ve just got to get them organized,” he said.

A native of Iowa, Burke earned his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and an MBA through the University of Northern Colorado.