From the CEO

We just celebrated Doctors Day at the end of March and I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our extraordinary physicians for your commitment to providing excellent care to our patients and our community. I also want to thank our residents for their tireless dedication to learning as well as to providing compassionate and high-quality care to our patients. Together, our physicians and our residents are our partners as we all navigate the ever-changing healthcare landscape. I appreciate all that you do, and I am honored to celebrate your contributions all year.

I also invite you to become even more invested in Kaweah Health by attending the strategic planning meeting, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 18, 2026 in the Emerald Room of the Support Services Building. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on next year’s strategic plan. Board members Jonna Schengel, Zone 1, and Armando Murrieta, Zone 5, will be in attendance along with executive team members and medical staff members. Dinner will be provided.

I am thrilled to announce that Tom Boggs joined Kaweah Health as our Chief Ambulatory Officer on March 16th. This executive team position is responsible for all of our clinics and ambulatory locations, our population health programs, and our partnership with Key Medical Group and Sequoia Health Plan. Ambulatory care is a vital component of Kaweah’s strategic plan and our future.

Tom has held CEO and Senior Vice President roles for IPAs, medical groups, and health systems across the country, including Brown & Toland Medical Group in the Bay Area, TriHealth in Cincinnati, and Bridges Health Partners in Pittsburgh. His extensive experience partnering with physicians, driving excellent outcomes, generating growth, and improving financial performance will all contribute directly to our success.

I’m also excited to welcome Max Heckhausen as our new Vice President of Strategy effective April 13. Max brings excellent experience in healthcare strategy, growth, and transformation across both academic and community health systems. Most recently, he served as Head of Strategic Growth and Operations Activation at UCI Health, where he led long-range planning and expansion efforts across a multi-hospital system. His work has included opening a new hospital, service line growth, system integration, and enterprise-level strategic planning.

I had a particular interest in this recruitment, as it was for my former role here at Kaweah Health. I had the privilege of working closely with Max at GE Healthcare, and witnessed firsthand his excellent skills, collaboration, and leadership. I feel very confident that Max is the person to come in and lead this division and the fantastic team there.

We are in the process of interviewing candidates for the chief nursing officer position and hope to make an announcement about that position soon.

Chief Information Systems & Securities Officer Doug Leeper’s last day with Kaweah Health will be April 24. Doug has been with us for the past 10 years, but he had the opportunity to return to Loma Linda University Health after his former leader passed away. He has continued to live in Loma Linda, making the weekly commute to Visalia for the past decade. While we search to fill his position, Luke Schneider, an ISS director, will serve as Interim Vice President of Information Systems & Services.

Kaweah Health remains very active in recruiting new physicians to our community. Specialties of focus include OB/GYN, urology, GI, and electrophysiology. We have had recent site visits with urology, neurology, GI, EP, and vascular surgery.

We are excited that two Kaweah family medicine residents are returning to join the Kaweah Health FM faculty group: Dr. Cate Whitlach and Dr. Brandy Truong. They are welcomed additions to the faculty and will help train tomorrow’s physicians. 



As always, my door is truly open. I value physician input and perspective, and I'm committed to transparent communication. Please reach me directly at mmertz@kaweahhealth.org or 559-624-2330.