Mary McWilliams was appointed as Executive Director of Puget Sound Health Alliance in June 2008, after serving three years as a member of its Board of Directors. The Alliance is a non-profit collaborative among purchasers and providers, and plans to advance quality and affordability of healthcare through public reporting on healthcare system performance and using that information to engage consumers, pilot new ways to pay providers, and improve value.
Prior to taking the helm at the Alliance, Mary was president of Regence Blue Shield. When she joined Regence in 1997, she was Senior Vice President responsible for the Plan’s HMO, health care services, and services to The Boeing Company. In 2000, she was promoted to President and CEO. Before Regence, Mary held positions as the Northwest Regional Vice President for PacifiCare Health Systems, President and CEO of PacifiCare of Washington, and the founding Chief Executive Officer for the Sisters of Providence Health Plans in Oregon.
Her health care experience also includes consulting for the American Health Management and Consulting Corporation and serving as the first Marketing Director for the Rocky Mountain HMO in Grand Junction, CO.
As a business community leader, Ms. McWilliams is the past Board Chair for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and chair of their Community Development Roundtable. She is serves on the Board of the Safe Crossings Foundation (grief support for children) and the Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco, which she currently chairs. She is also a Board member of Puget Sound Energy.
Ms. McWilliams received an M.S. in health administration from the University of Colorado and a B.A. from Wesleyan University, which also awarded her an honorary degree in 2006.