Health New England Appoints Two New Vice Presidents

SPRINGFIELD — Health New England announced the recent appointment of two vice presidents: Sarah Morgan, vice president of Human Resources, and Shawn Thamert, vice president of Sales and chief growth officer.

Morgan has been promoted from within the organization, where she had been serving as director of Human Resources since 2021. In her new role as vice president of Human Resources, she leads and oversees Health New England’s human-capital and organizational-development operations, ensuring that business strategies, plans, and initiatives are developed and implemented in compliance with governing regulations, internal policies, and procedures. She is also responsible for identifying and implementing long-range strategic talent management goals.

Morgan joined Health New England in 2019 as assistant general counsel. She was previously a litigation associate at Bulkley Richardson in Springfield. Morgan is a graduate of UMass Amherst and earned her juris doctor degree from the Western New England University School of Law. She is currently a master’s-degree candidate in diversity, equity, inclusion & justice leadership at Tufts University.

“We are thrilled to promote Sarah to the role of vice president,” said Richard Swift, president and CEO of Health New England. “Since joining the HR team, she has been recognized for her important work leading the development of our COVID response plans and managing the transition of Health New England to a mostly remote workplace. Sarah has long championed our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging programs for our more than 400 associates, and she is committed to advancing health equity and social justice within the communities we serve.”

As vice president, Thamert is responsible for the strategic direction, leadership, and oversight for all sales, product-development, and marketing programs, including the Medicare line of business. He is also responsible for Health New England’s partnerships with brokers, employer groups, and community nonprofit organizations.

Thamert joined Health New England as interim vice president, Sales and Marketing, in February 2023. Since then, he has focused on strategic membership growth across all lines of business. He has nearly 25 years of healthcare leadership experience, including as vice president, Market Development for Commonwealth Care Alliance, as well as senior sales positions with MultiPlan, Geisinger Health System, Jackson Health System, Humana, Highmark, and Coventry. He received his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University.

“We are excited to welcome Shawn to this position of vice president and chief growth officer,” Swift said. “As we look to 2024 and beyond, Shawn will serve an important role in strengthening our strategic growth potential in the market. We look forward to his collaborative leadership and the continued success of our commercial and Medicare lines of business so we can continue to uphold our commitment to our employer groups and members and deliver on our mission to improve the health and lives of the people in our communities.”

Morgan and Thamert are members of Health New England’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to Swift, and they join the Baystate Health leadership team as part of the health system.