VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMERIGROUP Corporation announced today that Eric M. Yoder, M.D., M.B.A., has been named Chief Medical Officer of the Company, effective immediately.
Dr. Yoder has more than 25 years’ experience in healthcare, serving as both a practicing physician and a senior medical executive for several national organizations. He has worked with AMERIGROUP since 1996, serving as Medical Director, Dallas/Fort Worth Market President and, since 2004, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AMERIGROUP Texas, the largest of the Company’s seven state health plans.
“Eric Yoder has the intelligence, the experience and the integrity to do an outstanding job as AMERIGROUP’s Chief Medical Officer,” said Jeffrey L. McWaters, chairman and chief executive officer. “As head of AMERIGROUP Texas, Eric has demonstrated that he understands the medical needs of low-income Americans whom our Company serves. He combines this medical knowledge with the managerial skill needed to meet these needs.
“In Texas, Eric has helped pioneer innovative healthcare programs such as AMERIPLUS, which effectively addresses the complex medical needs of Texans with long-term physical and psychological disabilities,” McWaters added. “We are delighted that Eric will be able to use this experience in a national leadership role.”
“AMERIGROUP will continue and expand its leadership position in disease management and our system of Early Case Finding(SM),” Yoder said. “I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in Texas and I look forward to serving the needs of more AMERIGROUP members around the nation, particularly as we expand programs assisting those with long-term medical and behavioral care needs.”
Dr. Yoder received his medical degree from Duke University, completed an internship in Family Medicine at the University of Virginia and a residency in Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. He began his clinical practice as a medical officer for the Navajo Nation Health Foundation in Ganado, Arizona and later practiced emergency medicine in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon. Before joining AMERIGROUP, he also served as Medical Director for Bell Textron Employee Health Service and as Associate Medical Director for (Kaiser) Permanente Medical Group of Texas.
Dr. Yoder succeeds Lorenzo Childress, M.D., who stepped down earlier this year after 10 years of outstanding service.
AMERIGROUP Corporation, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, improves healthcare access and quality for low-income Americans by developing innovative managed health services for the public sector. AMERIGROUP serves more than 1 million people in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Florida, Texas and Illinois. For more information, visit http://www.amerigroupcorp.com/.
For more information contact: Kent Jenkins Jr. Julie Loftus Trudell Vice President, Communications Vice President, Investor Relations AMERIGROUP Corporation AMERIGROUP Corporation (757) 518-3671 (757) 321-3597
AMERIGROUP Corporation
CONTACT: Kent Jenkins Jr., Vice President, Communications,+1-757-518-3671, or Julie Loftus Trudell, Vice President, Investor Relations,+1-757-321-3597, both of the AMERIGROUP Corporation
Web site: http://www.amerigroupcorp.com/
