Patricia Hemingway Hall

Chief Executive Officer and President

Health Care Service Corp.

Chicago

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Patricia Hemingway Hall became chief executive officer of Health Care Service Corp. in November after serving as president and chief operating officer. Before that, she was the executive vp of internal operations, overseeing the company's finance, claims and customer service, information technology, tax and actuarial divisions. She also served as president of Health Care Service Corporation's Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas plan from 2001 to 2006. Her first experience in health care was as an ICU nurse, which fueled her desire to lead a company that helps people with issues crucial to their health and financial well-being.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "If you go way back in my career, I started out as a critical care nurse. My experience as a nurse has really been critical in what I've done since then. I have real respect for anyone that stays in the health care profession. While I didn't stay there, I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything because it's been foundational to where I am today. There wasn't a clear path beyond having my clinical experience and deciding I wanted to do something beyond that. That experience opened a lot of avenues for me."

THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "The best advice I ever received was to always have the best and brightest people working with you. It's the most important thing I learned in grad school and has been key to my success since then."

ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "Never undervalue the power of relationships in our business and every business. Is the best advice I've been given. Connect with people, get to know people, build a level of trust that allows you to work together."

WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I always wanted to be a nurse because my mother wanted me to be a nurse."

Ruth A. Hunt

Principal, Communication and National Health Care Communication Strategy Leader

Buck Consultants L.L.C.

Minneapolis

Ruth Hunt is a principal and national thought leader for organizational and change communications with Buck Consultants. With more than 27 years experience, Ms. Hunt specializes in strategic planning to address issues involving human resources, benefits, compensation and organizational change. She also is a national expert in health care consumerism and wellness. She is a member of the International Assn. of Business Communicators and winner of several IABC awards. Ms. Hunt is a frequent presenter and author on change communications and health and wellness topics. She contributed to methodologies described in the book, "Five Frogs on a Log: A CEO's Guide to Accelerating the Transition in Mergers, Acquisitions And Gut Wrenching Change," by Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt. She also is featured in the college text, "Effective Small Group Communication in Theory and Practice."

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "After receiving a master's degree in communication organization, I learned of this field of internal and organizational communication. I decided it was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to solve businesses' problems and help make a business run more smoothly. I could combine my skill sets and interests to make a real difference."

THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "Work hard but remember the people priority--be genuine, care about clients and care about their businesses."

ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "You need to realize you're going to have to reinvent yourself many times over during your career. Be proactive. Listen to what's going on in the marketplace and industry and understand how that impacts you. You need to re-skill and change, and that's how you're going to stay ahead."

WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I wanted to be world's greatest high school or college debate coach."

Patricia Kagerer

Vp-Risk Management and Safety

C.F. Jordan L.P.

El Paso, Texas

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Patricia Kagerer directs C.F. Jordan's risk management functions, including safety management systems, wellness initiatives, insurance and litigation. Her specialty is safety management system implementations that directly affect corporate culture, insurance procurement and overall corporate performance. Ms. Kagerer has received numerous awards, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Associated General Contractors safety director of the year in 2007, a scholarship in 2007 from the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.'s Spencer Educational Foundation and the American Society of Safety Engineers national risk management practice specialty safety professional of the year. She is completing a master's degree in dispute resolution at Southern Methodist University.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "I started out as a workers compensation claims adjuster right out of college. I was looking for something I could make a career out of. I thought it would be something interesting and I thought it was something that offered a career path within the industry. It sounded interesting, so I thought I'd give it a shot. After doing that for about three years, I was asked to take over safety and claims and establish a risk management department at a stone-washed denim manufacturing company. What I realized with claims is you can only do so much because the incident has already occurred. With safety, you can actually prevent things from happening. By learning and growing in that position and by establishing a risk management department at that company, then that is what Jordon construction hired me to do as well."

THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "My mother was my role model and my rock. She passed away in December of last year. She always said treat others as I wish to be treated and to make a difference in my corner of the world. No matter what the circumstances are, there is something you can always offer and you can always do."

ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "Make sure you continue to learn and educate yourself. I've always prided myself in learning as much as I can and educating myself in whatever I do. Education and having a strong desire for learning really helps you get your career to the next level."

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I wanted to be a lawyer when I was growing up. My cousin was an attorney, and I always thought that would be something interesting where I could debate and fight for the common good."