About four months after naming healthcare industry consultant Michael Hunn as interim chief executive officer, the board of directors of CalOptima – which insures poor and disabled Orange County residents – has brought him on permanently.

In November, the agency announced Hunn would temporarily take over after the retirement of CEO Richard Sanchez, who had been in the position for a year and a half. On Thursday, the board voted to give Hunn a three-year contract at his current annual salary of $560,000.

The agency operates with a $3.7 billion budget and about 1,500 employees, who help CalOptima’s 870,000 members get health care.

Hunn’s experience includes eight years as an executive at Providence Health & Services in Southern California, and he most recently ran his own healthcare advisory firm, which he said Thursday will be handed off to its managing director.

Michael Hunn, a longtime hospital executive in Southern California, has been named chief executive of CalOptima, Orange County’s administrator of Medi-Cal health services. (File photo courtesy of Michael Hunn)

Now that he’ll be staying with the agency long-term, Hunn said he plans to focus on a renewed effort to reach the 344,000 CalOptima members who are eligible for CalFresh food assistance, but haven’t signed up; helping ensure members are able to get the care they need through the county’s network of hospitals and “safety net” clinics; and implementing a state initiative to improve services MediCal covers for the most vulnerable residents, including seniors, people with mental illness and those who are homeless.

Some in the industry have raised concerns about CalOptima’s direction, in particular noting recent turnover in key positions. Since last September, the chief operating officer, chief information officer and chief medical officer are among the staff that have had to be replaced; last month the board fired the agency’s nine-member in-house legal staff and chose instead to rely fully on an outside law firm.

Asked about the personnel changes, Hunn said the broader healthcare field has seen challenges in retaining people during the pandemic, during which CalOptima’s overall turnover was lower than the industry as a whole.

At Thursday’s meeting, CalOptima board members didn’t comment before voting on Hunn’s appointment, but Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, who chairs the board, said in an emailed statement the board believes Hunn is “the right leader to steer CalOptima through the recent Medi-Cal changes for our residents who are most in need.”

“Michael’s expertise in health care policy development, strong reputation for developing and executing strategies, and proven track record of effective leadership,” Do said, “will be instrumental in helping us implement and integrate future programs that seek to improve quality of life and the health outcomes in our community.”

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