St. Hilaire Appointed President and CEO of Horizon BCBSNJ

On Feb 11, 2020

Newark-based Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey announces that, effective April 6, 2020, Gary D. St. Hilaire will become the company’s new president and chief executive officer, and a member of the Horizon board of directors. Kevin P. Conlin, the company’s current chairman, president, and CEO, will become executive chairman of the board continuing to focus on several areas of strategic transformation.

Since 2012, St. Hilaire has served as president and CEO of Capital Blue Cross, a Harrisburg, PA company that serves 21 counties in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley. During his time as CEO, he led the company’s transformation into a national diversified family of companies, driving innovation with patient-focused care models, growth in ancillary services, and leading-edge data analytics. Under St. Hilaire’s leadership, Capital Blue Cross has grown its membership, acquired and launched new subsidiaries, achieved the JD Power Award for “Best in Member Satisfaction Among Commercial Health Plans” in Pennsylvania, and has been recognized as a “Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania” each of the last two years.

St. Hilaire first joined Capital Blue Cross in 2005 as chief financial officer. He was named president in 2010 before being appointed CEO in 2012. Prior to his time at Capital Blue Cross, St. Hilaire had co-founded and served as chief financial officer of a healthcare technology company, served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and rose to vice president and corporate controller of a publicly traded managed care organization. He began his career in 1986 with Deloitte & Touche.

As executive chairman, Conlin will continue to be involved in Horizon BCBSNJ’s planned corporate form transition that will increase the company’s investment in New Jersey’s healthcare economy. St. Hilaire will assume the top executive leadership role at Horizon BCBSNJ to refine strategy, align its implementation across the company, and direct all aspects of the company’s operations.

“Gary is a fellow Blue Cross CEO and widely recognized as a visionary healthcare executive, entrepreneur and financial leader,” said Conlin. “Horizon is leading the way to improve healthcare quality, affordability and the member experience and Gary’s thirty years of experience as a healthcare innovator make him a perfect choice to lead Horizon’s executive team.”

Horizon BCBSNJ is augmenting its leadership team with an eye toward the future as it continues to be the state’s leading facilitator of member-centric innovations and partnerships. The company is recognized nationally as a leader in developing collaborative partnerships to build value-based care and payment models that are helping transform New Jersey’s healthcare system.

“Horizon is among the most forward-thinking health insurers in the country. I am especially drawn to the company’s exceptional focus on putting members first and its unwavering commitment to building collaborative relationships with healthcare professionals, customers, employees, policymakers and other stakeholders for the benefit of Horizon’s members,” St. Hilaire added.

Horizon BCBSNJ was among the first health insurers nationally to work with healthcare providers to develop value-based models like the patient-centered medical home, episode of care, and accountable care organization. In 2015, the company, several of New Jersey’s leading health systems and a multi-specialty physician group launched the OMNIA Health Alliance, a first-of-its-kind collaboration committed to changing the way healthcare is delivered and financed in New Jersey.

Since that time, the company has expanded its efforts to engage additional health organizations and professionals interested in creating a better and more efficient healthcare system that rewards hospitals and doctors for keeping individuals healthy and for the quality, not the quantity, of healthcare individuals receive. Horizon BCBSNJ works with hospitals, health systems, physicians, and other health organizations and professionals to match their readiness to transition to value-based care models with programs that help them evolve.

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