The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) announced two new appointments today. Melissa Schoen has been named senior program officer for the Innovations for the Underserved program and Teri Boughton joins as senior program officer for Market and Policy Monitor.

"Melissa and Teri bring considerable skills and expertise to the Foundation," said Sam Karp, vice president of programs at CHCF. "Melissa's experience with safety-net institutions -- having helped to manage one -- and Teri's intimate understanding of policymaking in Sacramento will be of particular value as we launch three new program areas to guide our work during the next five years."

CHCF's new program areas are Better Chronic Disease Care, Innovations for the Underserved, and Market and Policy Monitor.

Melissa Schoen

As a senior program officer in the Innovations for the Underserved program, which works to reduce barriers to efficient, affordable health care for the underserved, Schoen, M.B.A., M.P.H., manages projects that help to improve the efficiency of safety-net institutions with a focus on community clinics.

Prior to joining CHCF, she worked as deputy director and chief operations officer at Lifelong Medical Care, a Berkeley-based community health center. Prior to Lifelong, she worked in operations and business planning for the California region at North American Medical Management. Schoen has also worked for Kaiser Health Plan and Hospitals in Northern California as a senior health care consultant and for La Clínica de la Raza, a community health center in Oakland, as a clinic manager.

Schoen earned a bachelor's degree in organization behavior and psychology from Pitzer College and master's degrees in business administration and public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Teri Boughton

Boughton, M.H.A. is a senior program officer for state health policy in the Foundation's Market and Policy Monitor program, which focuses on promoting greater transparency and accountability in California's health care system. She will work primarily in Sacramento as a liaison to policymakers. Key to this effort is sharing information on policy developments and market trends, identifying opportunities for improving health care through legislation and regulation, and supporting statewide efforts to expand access to affordable care and coverage.

Boughton has over 15 years of experience in the legislative and executive branches as well as at the local government level. She has managed major health policy initiatives for the governor's office and the legislature. Prior to joining CHCF, she was chief consultant to the state Assembly Health Committee and earlier served as the associate secretary for legislation and programs at the California Health and Human Services Agency.

She received a bachelor's degree in sociology from San Jose State University and a master's of health administration from the University of Southern California.