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Kenneth J. Lewis |
PINEHURST – Kenneth J. Lewis, president of FirstCarolinaCare Insurance Company, has been appointed by N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory to serve as a member of the North Carolina State Health Coordinating Council (SHCC). Lewis was sworn in on Thursday, April 17 by Representative James L. Boles, Jr.
The SHCC member group directs the development of the State Medical Facilities Plan, which guides planning for health care facilities and services in North Carolina and ensures reasonable access to health care for residents in the state.
As someone who has worked in the health care industry for more than 20 years, Lewis has longstanding interest in making health care more accessible and affordable.
“I am pleased to be appointed to serve as a member of a council with the same goals and vision for health care in North Carolina,” he says.
As president of FirstCarolinaCare Insurance Company, a not-for-profit health plan wholly owned by FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Lewis manages the company’s health insurance activities serving businesses throughout the state and Medicare-eligible individuals in the six-county service area of Moore, Richmond, Montgomery, Hoke, Lee and Scotland.
An active civic and community leader, he serves as president of the North Carolina Association of Health Plans and chairman of the Hospital Health Plan Coalition in Washington, D.C. He is past chair of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and former finance chair of the North Carolina Prevention Partners Board of Directors.
T.J. Pulliam, M.D., gastroenterologist with FirstHealth Gastroenterology in Richmond County, also serves as a member of the SHCC. He was appointed to by Gov. Mike Easley almost 10 years ago and then reappointed by both Gov. Beverly Perdue (twice) and Gov. Pat McCrory.
Most recently, Dr. Pulliam chaired the Council’s standing committee on Acute Care Services, an advisory group involved with certificate of need planning for acute care beds, operating rooms, open-heart surgery services, heart-lung bypass machines, burn intensive care services, transplantation services and inpatient rehabilitation services throughout North Carolina.
