Excellus appoints White as chief administrative officer

DeWITT, N.Y. — Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced that it has named Lisa White chief administrative officer and executive VP.

With this appointment, White has also joined the health insurer’s executive-leadership team.

White previously served as senior VP, chief compliance and risk officer, according to Edward Byrnes, regional communications & community relations manager at Excellus. White started her new duties Sept. 30, he tells CNYBJ.

Excellus, headquartered in Rochester, is Central New York’s largest health insurer. It has an office in DeWitt.

White started her career at Excellus 31 years ago as a customer-care representative. She has since held a variety of positions throughout the organization. For example, White helped start the health insurer’s first compliance department, focusing on government regulations, mandates, and more.

“Lisa brings years of experience and expertise overseeing complex administrative support functions, and we’re proud to have her join our executive leadership team,” Jim Reed, president and CEO of Excellus, said.

In her new role, White now oversees about a dozen departments whose primary responsibilities “support the enterprise,” Excellus said. Those departments include legal, audit, facilities, governance, strategy, corporate development, corporate communications, business resilience, risk management and ethics, privacy, and compliance.

“We’ve been lucky over the years to have Lisa at the helm, especially during COVID-19,” Reed added. “Lisa played a pivotal role in our organization’s response to the pandemic, helping us focus on supporting our members through challenging times.”

A graduate of Syracuse University, White earned her master’s degree from the New England College of Business and Finance. She also serves on the board of trustees for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York, Excellus said.