Tacoma, Wash.-based Sound Physicians has named Jeff Alter as CEO. He succeeds Robert Bessler, MD, who founded the company in 2001 and will continue to advise on its board of directors.
Sound Physicians is a physician-led medical group made up of more than 4,000 clinicians who practice in 400-plus hospitals across 45 states, according to a Sept. 6 news release. It is partly owned by UnitedHealth Group's Optum Health, which purchased the company alongside private equity firm Summit Partners for $2.2 billion in 2018.
Mr. Alter is joining the company after serving as CEO of Summit Health from October 2021 until the company's acquisition by Walgreens' VillageMD in January 2023. Before Summit Health, he served in leadership roles at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare.
Summit Health-CityMD was formed in 2019 when Summit, a physician-governed multispecialty medical group serving patients in the New York-New Jersey metro area, and CityMD, an urgent care provider in the New York metro area, merged.