Scott Evans, PharmD, is taking over operations at San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare with a focus on moving quickly from strategy to execution, as the system evaluates its Medicare Advantage arrangements. Sharp’s health plan is withdrawing from the individual Medicare Advantage market, and Dr. Evans expects some of the system’s most difficult operational decisions over the next two years to involve its managed care business.
Dr. Evans was named executive vice president and COO in October after serving as executive vice president of hospital operations and chief strategy officer. He now oversees all hospital and system operations for Sharp, which includes 3,000 affiliated physicians and more than 22,000 employees. Dr. Evans spent the past couple of years redesigning Sharp’s strategic plan, though he describes himself as an operator by background. The system’s new CSO, Mary Keith Giordano, reports to him, allowing the two functions to remain closely aligned.
“When I look at how fast we need to be within the market to develop strategy and then execute on it, having those two things closely aligned works really well,” Dr. Evans told Becker’s. “More importantly, we get to execute on those things and have everyone together executing.”
Among the operational challenges facing Sharp is its Medicare Advantage business. Sharp Health Plan, the system’s nonprofit health plan, will stop offering individual Medicare Advantage plans Jan. 1, 2027, after more than a decade in that market. Sharp HealthCare President and CEO Chris Howard said the decision reflected ongoing reimbursement pressures, rising costs and regulatory changes that made the plans financially unsustainable. The plan will continue to offer employer-sponsored group retiree Medicare Advantage plans. The decision also follows an August realignment that affected about 260 Sharp employees after expenses outpaced revenues in recent years.
Sharp Health Plan is one of 18 payers exiting Medicare Advantage for 2027, according to CMS data, and one of 10 owned entirely or in part by health systems. Others exiting the Medicare Advantage market include plans tied to Irving, Texas-based Christus Health, Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, Renton, Wash.-based Providence and Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System.
Dr. Evans said Sharp has long been viewed as a pioneer in managed care in San Diego, making the decisions that lie ahead for the organization particularly important. He said the system has been underperforming in parts of the Medicare Advantage market where it takes full capitated risk, a market other organizations are leaving.
“Because managed care is so foundational, so in our DNA, we’re working hard to make sure we stay viable in that space,” he said. “I would say anything around how we administer those programs will involve very tough decisions for us.”
Sharp HealthCare remains contracted with UnitedHealthcare for individual Medicare Advantage, and Dr. Evans said the system expects many Sharp Health Plan members with established physician relationships to move to the UnitedHealthcare plan so they can continue seeing their providers.
“We’ll see how our performance is under that arrangement, and then we’ll evaluate it,” he said.
Beyond Medicare Advantage, Dr. Evans brings experience overseeing major operational changes at Sharp, including the system’s recent expansion into northern San Diego County. Earlier this year, he led Sharp’s efforts to pass Measure H, which cleared the way for the system to begin operating Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, Calif., July 1.
The hospital, now renamed Sharp Tri-City Medical Center, gives Sharp its first hospital in North County. Dr. Evans said the affiliation brought a hospital with a strong culture that aligned closely with Sharp’s, although the facility also had years of deferred maintenance and had lost market share.
“We found a gem: a fantastic location and a hospital with a great culture that was very closely aligned to Sharp,” he said. “But we also found a distressed asset, with things that haven’t been maintained for years.”
Dr. Evans previously served as CEO of Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif., and later as CEO of Sharp’s regional hospitals after the system brought Grossmont, Chula Vista Medical Center, and Sharp Coronado Hospital and Healthcare Center under one leadership structure in 2023. He said the reorganization reduced internal competition and allowed hospitals to share resources, including business development teams, while making smaller facilities more attractive to physicians considering where to practice.
His background as a pharmacist has also influenced his approach to operations, particularly when evaluating clinical programs and finances. Dr. Evans said the profession requires an understanding of clinical care, collaboration with physicians and nurses and the ability to analyze data when making operational decisions.
“That clinical background and finance mindset coming together can help make good decisions, and that has worked well for me,” he said.
