Leadership

James Springfield

President, Texas Plan and Senior Vice President, Markets

James Springfield is the 14th president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), the state’s oldest and largest health insurer.

Jim provides accountability and strategic leadership for the teams managing sales and marketing, network development, health care delivery, health care management, government and public relations and market strategy. In a company which processes over $38 billion in claims with a network of nearly 130,000 physicians and 547 hospitals serving over 6.7 million members, he is responsible for the affordability of care in all market segments, including group, government and retail/family product portfolio in all 254 Texas counties.

Jim has garnered a depth of senior leadership experience from a variety of prominent health care organizations. This includes 13 years at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston where he served as CEO of Hermann Children’s Hospital and COO of Hermann Hospital. He also led Valley Baptist Health System in south Texas as president and CEO, founded three successful health care startup companies, and has advised private equity and venture funds. Jim also served as the senior vice president of provider market growth and business development at Optum, a division of United Health.

Prior to joining BCBSTX as president in 2021, Jim served as national chief operating officer for Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

In addition to his corporate accomplishments, Jim is passionate about service. He has held positions on numerous community and professional boards and committees, including the American Hospital Association, Texas Hospital Association, Houston SEARCH for Homeless, Greater Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce, Rio Grande Valley Partnership, and Baylor University. Jim has also served on the board of the Touchdown Club of Houston and as a committee member with the Houston Rodeo Livestock Show and Rodeo. He is currently chairman of the Caring Foundation of Texas and member of the Dallas Regional Chamber’s board of directors.

Jim is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and earned a bachelors degree from Baylor University as well as masters in public health from University of Houston – Clear Lake. 

Learn more about Jim

Read Jim's executive perspective on transparency in health care collaboration:

In new era of transparency, health care collaboration won't be optional

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Dr. Mark Chassay, MD, MEd, MBA

Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Dr. Mark Chassay joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) in 2021 and currently serves as chief medical officer. He works to strategically align the organization’s voice around policy development and Texas Medicaid and Medicare, leads Texas Health Care Management teams, and supports sales and account management, network, and plan performance efforts.

Prior to BCBSTX, Dr. Chassay was senior vice provost for Clinical Affairs and Healthcare Partnerships at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. During his tenure, he created two COVID-19 testing sites in underserved communities; expanded relationships with major North Texas health care partners like HCA North Texas/Medical City, Veterans Affairs North Texas Health System, and Texas Health Resources; designed new curriculum around - health care delivery, and value-based care models, and oversaw more than $6 million in grants for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. From 2012-2014, Dr. Chassay served the state of Texas as Health and Human Services Commission Deputy Executive Commissioner for Health Policy and Clinical Services where he led the strategic planning for the improvement of clinical quality initiatives through a collaborative effort with government agencies and private-sector organizations. He has also held leadership roles with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and University of Texas at Austin Athletics Department.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Dr. Chassay’s passion for service, primary care, and athletics led him to volunteer for the United States Olympic Committee where he worked five international multi-sport events as chief medical officer three times. He has also received numerous awards for his professional and academic accomplishments.

Dr. Chassay is also very involved in the community, serving on the Texas HHSC Value-Based Payment & Quality Improvement Advisory Committee, advisory committee member for the Texas Primary Care Consortium, advisory board for the Texas A&M Health Science Center Regional Extension Center, and medical advisory committee for the University Interscholastic League.

Dr. Chassay earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Executive Healthcare Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas, and Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Freda Wright

Divisional Senior Vice President, Texas Health Care Delivery

Freda Wright is divisional senior vice president of Health Care Delivery at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) and responsible for contracting and collaborating with providers in Texas to improve optimal health outcomes and enhance quality of care for BCBSTX's more than 7 million members. 

Freda has more than 30 years health care industry experience, 25 of those in various divisions at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), including BCBSTX and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Before this role, Freda was divisional senior vice president of Provider Customer Service. As an accomplished thought leader, she brings invaluable direction and expertise to some of BCBSTX’s most important business functions. 

Freda’s wide range of experience in the health care industry spans across Commercial Group and Individual, Medicaid and Medicare business activities, and she is consistently recognized for her “change agent” leadership, while driving performance, across a matrixed organization. 

Outside the office, Freda is a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church in Dallas and a board member for numerous community organizations, including Caring for Children Foundation of Texas, North Texas Commission and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. She serves as a Big Brother Big Sisters' mentor and is also a Leadership Dallas and Leadership Texas alumna, as well as former board member. 

Freda earned a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University, master’s from Texas Woman’s University and an MBA from University of Dallas.

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Jessie Quick

Divisional Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Jessie Quick leads sales and account management for all Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) group market segments and works to ensure BCBSTX continues to deliver customer-first operational excellence by anticipating customer needs and offering data-driven solutions. She is also accountable for strategic marketing operations and field services, as well as support and marketing communications.

As an effective collaborator and energetic people-leader, Jessie’s focus is to help grow and sustain membership, while functioning in a leading market-facing role for distribution. Jessie is passionate about the BCBSTX mission, serving members, customers and their corresponding communities, as well as making impactful investments to help employers and individuals to gain access to more affordable and comprehensive health coverage.

Since joining in 2009 as a Sr. Sales Executive, Jessie has ascended the organization to serve in several critical leadership roles, most recently as Vice President, Sales & Account Management. In this role she oversaw business development and client management for various segments including Individual, Small Group and Mid-Market segments where her accomplishments prompted her responsibilities to be expanded to include leadership of the Southwest Region for Large Group.

Prior to joining BCBSTX, Jessie began building her industry expertise working in various sales positions at Cigna/Great-West Healthcare, as well as American United Life and Metropolitan Life insurance companies.

Jessie is an alumnus of the University of Texas where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication. As a graduate of the Dallas Regional Chamber's Leadership Dallas premier development program, Jessie is dedicated to creating positive change and building strong relationships with community organizations through her support of the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center and as the executive sponsor of the Paul Quinn College internship program at BCBSTX. She is currently on the board of The Caring Foundation of Texas and an Executive Committee and board member of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

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Pati McCandless

Vice President, Government Relations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Pati McCandless is the vice president of Government Relations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), a division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), where she advocates for continued improvement to the health care system.

Before taking on this role, Pati served as the vice president for State Health Policy for HCSC, doing business as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Pati is well-known in the health insurance industry. Prior to joining HCSC, she served as counsel at Greenberg Traurig where she represented numerous health insurance industry clients, including a major state trade association.

With more than 25 years of health care policy and insurance-related legal experience, Pati has served on a number of insurance-related advisory committees throughout her career. Most recently, Pati was appointed to the newly launched All Payor Claims Database Stakeholder Advisory Group for the State of Texas. She is also an executive committee member and board member of the Texas Association of Business and is an appointed board member of the Texas Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association. Previously, Pati served as a board member of the Texas Association of Health Plans, including two terms as president, on the board of LTC Re, LLC, a Delaware captive insurer, and on the board of the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and New York Law School.

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Patty Escoe

Vice President, Texas Plan Operations

As vice president of Texas Plan Operations, Patty leads the business performance management and operating model for the Texas Plan. Specifically, she is charged to enhance business performance, measure results with day-to-day analysis, conduct monthly reporting and modeling, and support activities required to adjust the business objectives, as well as influence and drive operational excellence across the Texas Plan. Patty also leads the Texas Plan’s public relations, communications, and Community Affairs teams, which includes her role as the President of The Caring Foundation of Texas, for which Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is the lead sponsor. In addition, she leads the Compliance and Operational Risk Management and Independent Dispute Resolution teams. Her responsibilities include among others network management compliance risk and oversight activities as well as the performance of routine risk management, network adequacy reporting, privacy, and security.

A strategic thinker with deep industry knowledge and a knack for numbers, Patty is a skilled business leader who produces business results and solves operational issues through relationships. She began her Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas career in 1997 as an auditor in Abilene. Across the next 18 years, she advanced quickly, ultimately serving as senior director in which she managed all service functions supporting mid-market to enterprise national account business in Marshall, Texas.

Between her time in Abilene and Marshall, Escoe was responsible for starting up the Amarillo office where she was responsible for all operations supporting small group business. In 2015, she was named divisional vice president of Marketing Operations and Sales Solutions to direct sales and account management on marketing communications, process improvements and technology implementation of Salesforce and Anaplan, as well as metrics around sales results. 

For the past five and a half years, she has served as divisional vice president of Texas Plan Performance and led strategy to manage business performance and the operating model for the Texas Plan. Patty’s primary focus has been to develop and execute staffing models, monitor, and report performance, financial and budget management, forecast membership growth, privacy and security, and legislative and regulatory implementation. She has also developed comprehensive and consistent practices designed to identify, measure, monitor, report and manage operational risks.

Patty has a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Business Administration from Capella University. She is a graduate of Leadership Abilene, Leadership Amarillo/Canyon and Leadership Texas, a statewide leadership program for women. She has also earned the designation of Managed Healthcare Professional through the Health Insurance Association of America. Patty is currently a board member of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County and a former board member of the United Way of Abilene and the American Heart Association.

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Claire York

Vice President, Texas Public Markets

Claire York leads sales and account management for all Government and Public Sector business at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) and aims to continue delivering solutions for state and government employees that offer the highest quality of health care and care management for the best value.

Understanding how the many levers of our managed care ecosystem contribute to the cost of health care is critical to ensure affordable, high-quality care is available to all Texans – and this goal of a healthier and cared-for Texas drives Claire forward.

She is also accountable for supporting State and Local Government accounts through ongoing legislative changes, both federal- and state-based, and ensures solutions are driven by data analytics and member experience.

She joined the BCBSTX leadership team in 2021 after more than 20 years with Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. She spent her first five years in reporting and analytics learning about customer service, claims and benefits operations. After which she became a manager to lead the modernization of our claims processing. Next, she spent time in IT infrastructure build-out disaster recovery business processes.

Before joining her current BCBSTX Account Management team, Claire was Associate Vice President of Enterprise Marketing Services and focused on large group installation activities. She oversaw both on- and off-shore teams in group service delivery, group eligibility configuration and implementation for all new and renewing Custom Group business. 

In addition to her various functions, she served as president of HCSC’s Women Improving the Strength of the Enterprise (WISE) business resource group for five years until 2017.

Prior to joining HCSC, Claire worked for Accenture, LLC, where she oversaw claims and customer service system migration during the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois & BCBSTX merger with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico. 

Claire earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and communication studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in school, she worked at UNC hospitals to research nuclear medicine technologies, which provided her a unique look into the patient experience and prepared her for a career in the health care sector.

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