Optima Health Leadership
Colin Drozdowski, President of Sentara Health Plans and Executive Vice President of Sentara Healthcare
Colin Drozdowski is President of Sentara Health Plans (SHP) and an Executive Vice President of Sentara Healthcare. Through its two health plans, Optima Health and Virginia Premier, SHP serves more than 950,000 members and partners with more than 100 hospitals and 25,000 physicians. Colin is responsible for the strategic direction, performance and growth of the Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial lines of business. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Comprehensive Health Solutions at SHP.
Drozdowski has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, spending 26 years with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield system before coming to Sentara, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Provider Solutions for Anthem, Inc. In that role, he oversaw roughly 2,500 associates nationwide. His team supported all Anthem lines of business including Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial, and all markets, covering 40+ million members.
He serves on the Board of Directors of CareATC, a population health management company that partners with employers and empowers employees to live healthier lives and Fit4Kids, a community coalition in Richmond that works to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. Colin holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hiram College, and a master’s degree in Economics from Cleveland State University.
Sharilyn Campbell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sharilyn Campbell serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Optima Health. In this role, she is responsible for financial strategy, planning, analysis and management, budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting, product pricing, actuarial work, and underwriting.
Campbell has more than 25 years of health plan experience. She formerly served as Health Plan CFO and Chief Accounting Officer of HealthPartners, an integrated healthcare organization providing healthcare services and health plan financing in Minneapolis, MN. Before that, she served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer of Premera Blue Cross, supporting more than 2 million members with commercial and Medicare products. While there, she oversaw accounting, financial planning, financial reporting, tax preparation, budgeting, and investment activities.
Campbell earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Montana.
Patti Darnley, Senior Vice President of Government Programs
Patti Darnley serves as Senior Vice President of Government Business for Optima Health. In this role, she develops and oversees government programs business and provides executive leadership for Medicare and Medicaid strategy.
Darnley is a seasoned leader with more than 25 years of health plan experience. She formerly served as President and CEO of Gateway Health, a non-profit managed care organization operating Medicaid in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and Arkansas and Medicare in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Under Darnley’s leadership, Gateway Health rose from a $64 million loss to $63 million gain in a two-year period. Prior to that role, she held three senior vice president positions at Centene Corporation, Inc. There, she created a new business unit focused on network development for new and existing markets and developing all operational components for new health plans.
Darnley earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Post Baccalaureate in computer information systems from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, and a master’s in business administration from Duquesne University.
John E. DeGruttola, Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales
John E. DeGruttola serves as the Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales for Optima Health. In this role, he is responsible for the overall growth of Optima Health with a primary focus in strategic positioning of the organization which includes identifying, promoting, and distributing new products and services that produce overall profitable growth.
DeGruttola has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare consulting, sales, marketing, advertising, product development and health plan operations. Prior to joining Optima Health, he was the Executive Leader for a large national insurance company, responsible for the sales and retention of the small and large group markets. DeGruttola also held various healthcare management positions with an insurer, provider system, and consulting house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
DeGruttola holds a bachelor’s of science degree in biology and mathematics from Westminster College.
Khaled Ghaly, Senior Vice President of Operations
Khaled Ghaly serves as Senior Vice President of Operations at Optima Health. In this role, he leads the Operations team in delivering excellent customer service, driving strong financial commitments, and building a culture that is consistent with Sentara and Optima Health values.
Khaled has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry and more than 15 years of experience leading claims, operations, and process improvement initiatives. He formerly served as Vice President of Enterprise Operations at Delta Dental, where he was responsible for the overall operations of claims, adjustments, recovery, and the mail services for more than 30 million members. Prior to that role, he served as Associate Vice President of Claims Services for Molina Healthcare, where he oversaw a team of more than 500. While there, Khaled led all claims processing, research and resolution, reporting and analytics, training and process improvement teams for 13 states and helped support the company’s growth from 1.6 million to 5.5 million members.
Khaled holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Tanta University in Egypt.
Dr. Kristyn Greifer, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kristyn Greifer serves as Chief Medical Officer at Optima Health. Dr. Greifer previously served as Vice President, Chief Medical Officer for BayCare Health Plans, Population Health, and BayCare Physician Partners. Dr. Greifer’s role includes clinical oversight of case management, utilization management, population health, quality, accreditation, and clinical program development. She also has clinical oversight for behavioral health and pharmacy programs for Optima Health.
Dr. Greifer has more than 25 years of experience as a practicing internal medicine physician and leader in the industry with a passion for population health, clinical improvement, and quality. Her previous experience also includes time as VP, Chief Medical Officer, Memorial Hermann Health Plan and Population Health in Houston, VP, Population Health Management, WellStar Health System, and Medical Director for PiedmontWellstar Health Plan in Atlanta. She spent 15 years at Kaiser Permanente in Georgia, most recently serving as Associate Medical Director for Resource Stewardship, Hospital and Acute Care.
She received her B.A. in Chemistry at Temple University, going on to receive her Doctor of Medicine (MD) at the University of Pennsylvania.
John Syer Jr., Senior Vice President, Provider Networks
John Syer Jr. serves as Senior Vice President, Provider Networks at Optima Health. He oversees teams that contract and service provider networks, engage in provider operations, develop value-based contracts, manage Cost of Care initiatives, maintain vendor relationships and contracts, manage projects, and direct transformation and process improvement activities.
Upon graduating from UVA, Syer worked in commercial banking at NCNB in Charlotte, North Carolina. He returned to Virginia to attend the College of William and Mary business school. After completing his MBA, John joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia in Richmond, ultimately becoming Vice President serving all of Anthem’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s East Coast hospital and physician networks. In that role, he was responsible for nine states and $15B in total medical spending across Commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare lines of business.
