Mary Swanson
Founder |
Mary Swanson founded the SilverSneakers® Fitness Program in 1992, bringing two decades of health care experience to the forefront of an untapped market. With her unique business model of an accountable, population-based exercise program, she quickly carved a niche between managed care and insurance companies throughout the United States. Prior to pioneering her vision to improve the health and well-being of everyone her program touches, Mary served at all levels of the health care pyramid. Her background includes executive positions with Abbott Laboratories, Baxter HealthCare, Option Care, Inc. and New England CriticalCare.
Mary’s inspiration was drawn from her own father who, after surviving a heart attack at age 51, pledged to improve his quality of life with regular physical activity. His commitment, coupled with her determination to see him succeed, laid the foundation for the exercise program that would become the nation’s leading exercise program for older adults.
She currently serves on the committee for the National Blueprint Initiative: Increasing Activity Among Older Adults Age 50 and Older and was named the 2003 “Health Care Heroes Innovator” by The Business Journal. Her recent partnering with companies that share her passion and commitment has given Mary the freedom to expand her program base and help a broader population of people build healthier lives.
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Steve Lindstrom
Senior Vice President |
Steve Lindstrom leads the active living team and is responsible for all operational aspects of the business, including the SilverSneakers® Fitness Program for Medicare-eligible members. For the past nine years, Steve has held a number of management positions for managed care companies based out of Arizona. Most recently, he served as president of INPIRIS and was also with the physician practice management company BEHCON, Inc. With his entrepreneurial background and his focus on consumer-driven health care, Steve’s leadership is crucial to the success of both the company and its customers.
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Bob Gottschalk
Senior Vice President |
Bob Gottschalk is accountable for formulating sales goals and for providing strategic guidance and sales leadership in his role as a chief sales executive for Healthways. As the sales lead for the SilverSneakers Fitness Program, Bob was instrumental in developing a national brand that continues to thrive today. He has more than 25 years of executive management and sales experience in the franchising, non-profit community agency and community/long-term care pharmacy environments. Bob currently sits on the Board of Directors for the John C. Lincoln Health Network and is active with various general and Jewish community agencies in the Phoenix area.
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Rene Ellington
Senior Vice President, Arizona Business Unit Leader |
Rene Ellington implements and integrates initiatives for all new customer markets and manages all high-level customer relationships, accounting for client retention and program expansion within current markets. With a background in business finance and fitness industry management, Rene has additional experience as a financial services specialist and underwriter. A member of both the Women Business Leaders and Women in Healthcare, she volunteers her time with the National and International Special Olympics.
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Mary Ferron
Vice President, Health and Economic Outcomes |
Mary Ferron is responsible for program and outcomes measurement and reporting. These reports are used internally for program management and externally to demonstrate the value of the programs to members and clients. Mary’s background includes health care management engineering, consulting with hospital management regarding operations, performance management, quality improvement and clinical outcomes. She also has clinical experience in nuclear medicine technology.
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Ken Fellner
Vice President, Contracts and Networks |
Ken Fellner is responsible for health plan and provider contracting, provider payment, rate setting and fitness center network development for all markets. His previous assignments include management engineering for Samaritan Health System and rate setting for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. With his background in health care management and financial analysis, Ken is a key component in the continuing development of provider networks that currently total more than 10,000 fitness centers.
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Deborah Redder
Director, Instructor Development and Activity Programming |
Deborah Redder is designer and choreographer of the signature group exercise classes that define the SilverSneakers® Fitness Program. She is responsible for and oversees curriculum development, instructor training, certification and continuing education for all SilverSneakers group exercise programming. Deborah is Co-Head judge for the USA National Aerobic Gymnastics Championship, former USA Technical Director for the International Aerobic Gymnastics Federation and contributing author of “International Gymnastics Federation Code of Points.” She has served on the IDEA Leadership Council, provided continuing education since 1989 and currently trains instructors worldwide.
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