PROVIDENCE – A lawyer with an expertise in hospital administration, hospital mergers and acquisitions, managed-care deals and health care systems oversight has been hired to oversee environmental and health services regulation at the R.I. Department of Health.
Michael S. Varadian, a Rhode Island native, has been a consultant for the Mass. Office of the Inspector General since 2005, coordinating statewide health care investigations, audits and health reform oversight.
After 20 years as a hospital administrator, attorney and hospital acquisitions expert, he headed First Health Services Inc.’s national managed-care division, the country’s top Medicaid managed care company, where he was responsible for the insurer’s Medicaid reform contracts. He has also performed hospital mergers and acquisitions for American Medical International, was the vice president of operations at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., and practiced law at Warner and Stackpole in Boston.
Varadian has a juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School and an MBA with a concentration in health care from the George Washington University.
In his new role, Varadian will oversee the R.I. Department of Health’s functions in facilities regulation, health professions regulation, health systems development – including hospital conversions, initial licensure, health planning and certificate-of-need applications – as well as managed care regulation, drinking water quality, food protection, beach monitoring, radiological health, and licensing of health facilities and professionals. He started last week.
“I am very pleased to have someone with Michael Varadian’s background and expertise taking on this critical role at Health,” Dr. David R. Gifford, the state health director, said in a statement.
“He is an accomplished national health services executive with over 30 years of experience in state government, national health care, managed care, Medicaid finance, and mergers – all of which will help Health meet its mission and goals and will be especially valuable as we continue with our evolving work around hospital mergers and Medicaid reform.”
For additional news and information from the R.I. Department of Health, visit www.health.ri.gov.
