Doctor On Demand has hired Hill Ferguson, a former PayPal senior executive, as the company’s CEO. Ferguson will replace Doctor On Demand’s current CEO Adam Jackson. According to the press release, Jackson and the Doctor on Demand board decided the company needed a CEO with a different set of skills to grow its enterprise and direct to consumer businesses.
“Over the last three and a half years, Doctor On Demand has benefited dramatically from Adam’s extraordinary product development skills, consumer marketing insights, and ability to build a great team,” Doctor On Demand Cofounder and Chairman of the Board Jay McGraw said in a statement. “The product is engaging and effective, and the disruptive no PEPM model and high clinical quality has led to enormous uptake among enterprises.” Ferguson stepped down from PayPal in August 2015 and has been an entrepreneur in residence at Social Capital since then.
Oculus, a Facebook-owned virtual reality company, has hired Hans Hartmann as its COO. Hartmann previously served as Fitbit’s COO since 2011. In a Facebook post, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said: “Hans brings decades of industry experience, and joins us from Fitbit, where he has been the Chief Operations Officer for the past 5 years. Our founding COO Laird Malamed, will be taking on a new executive role helping us scale the business to bring virtual reality to millions around the world.”
Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, the venture investment arm of Merck & Co, has hired Francesca Wuttke as a managing director. Wuttke will focus on digital health in Europe for Merck. “Merck GHI has been active in Europe in the past, but we believe the current rate of innovation across Europe merits a deeper and more strategic focus,” Merck GHI President Bill Taranto said. “We are pleased to add Dr. Wuttke to our team given her broad healthcare expertise in both the U.S. and Europe.” (Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Wuttke's name.)
ViTel Net, a telemedicine company, has appointed Reed V. Tuckson to its Chair of the Board of Directors position. Tuckson is the managing director of healthcare consulting company Tuckson Health Connections. He previously served as EVP and Chief of Medical Affairs for UnitedHealth Group. "We are pleased that Dr. Tuckson has decided to accept our offer to become Chairman of the Board of Directors of our company," ViTel Net President and CEO Allen Izadpanah said in a statement. "Dr. Tuckson has long served as a member of our Advisory Committee and, as such, is intimately familiar with our strategic direction and core competencies.”
TelePharm has hired Kevin Combs as its VP of Sales. Combs previously worked in sales at Merck, IBM, and Synergy Medical, a pharmacy automation company. At TelePharm, Combs will focus on developing a national sales strategy and drawing attention to TelePharm's software platform. “We are excited to welcome Kevin to the team at TelePharm,” TelePharm Founder and CEO Roby Miller said in a statement. “Kevin’s abundance of industry knowledge, paired with his unmatched sales experience, make him a perfect fit to lead our growing team and serve as an industry expert."
