Leadership

 A blurred image of a business meeting with several people discussing around a conference table, highlighting leadership and teamwork in a professional setting.
Headshot of Michael Polen, a Caucasian man with short brown hair and a friendly smile, wearing a light shirt and gray blazer, set against a plain background.

Michael Polen

Chief Executive Officer

Mike Polen has led Better Health Group since August 2021 with his extensive leadership experience in rapidly growing and scaling healthcare businesses and working across both health plan and provider segments.  

Mike previously served as Senior Vice President and Medicare CEO at Centene Corporation, where he was responsible for leading the Medicare Advantage business. Prior, Mike spent 15 years at WellCare Health Plans, last serving as Executive Vice President of Medicare and Enterprise Operations. He also held a number of leadership roles across corporate strategy, operations, information technology, finance, national networks, and sales and marketing.

Mike holds a bachelor’s in decision and information sciences from the University of Florida – Warrington College of Business and an M.B.A. from the University of South Florida.

Headshot of Susan Coatar, a Caucasian woman with medium-length brown hair and a gentle smile, wearing a dark blue blazer, set against a grey background.

Susan Coatar

Chief of Staff

Susan Coatar serves as CEO Mike Polen's Chief of Staff and assists with strategic planning and management, as well as day-to-day operations.

Prior to Better Health Group, Susan served as Chief of Staff to the CEO at Centene Corporation, where she supported corporate strategy, CEO communications, and public relations. Before Centene, Susan was the Director of Strategic Engagement for St. Louis Regional Health Commission, where she directed public engagement activities, including project management, public presentations, and strategic communications.

Susan holds a law degree from St. Louis University with a focus in Health Law and Policy and bachelor's degrees from UCLA in political science and Spanish.

Headshot of Eric Haas, M.D., a mature Caucasian man with short gray hair, wearing a blue pinstripe suit and light blue shirt, giving a confident smile against a light background.

Eric Haas, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. J. Eric Haas is responsible for developing and driving the strategy to deliver superior patient outcomes through optimizing scope of services and medical risk management.

Dr. Haas is a physician leader with over 35 years of clinical, hospital, pharmaceutical, and managed care experience. Prior to Better Health Group, Dr. Haas served as Senior Medical Director at Florida Blue. He was also the clinical lead for the new Place of Delivery Model that brought a local care team focus on the highest-risk Medicare Advantage, ACA, and Fully Insured Commercial membership. He previously served as the Network Medical Director for WellCare Health Plans.

Dr. Haas earned his bachelor’s degree from Kent State University and his Medical Doctorate from Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. He is board certified in Family Medicine.

Headshot of Chris Ferry, a Caucasian man with short brown hair and a beard, smiling and dressed in a light blue shirt and dark blue blazer, set against a grey background.

Chris Ferry

President, Markets and Products

Chris is responsible for local market operations and management, new market expansion, and payer and provider partnership development.

Before Better Health Group, Chris served as the Medicare Region President at Centene, leading Medicare product performance and operations across a nine-state region with 275,000 Medicare Advantage members. He previously held various senior leadership positions with WellCare Health Plans, where he helped define and execute a national Medicare and Medicaid network performance strategy that aligned more than 60 percent of WellCare’s membership to value-based models. Earlier in his career, Chris held roles at Evolent Health, helping develop value-based care infrastructure.

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Headshot of Dr. Sangeeta Hans, a woman with long black hair and glasses, smiling broadly. She is wearing a light blue blazer over a white top, set against a light background.

Sangeeta Hans, M.D.

Chief Quality Officer

Dr. Sangeeta Hans is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the quality and safety of patient care and services.

Dr. Hans is an experienced physician leader with a demonstrated history of developing, implementing, and improving clinical standards. Prior to becoming the Chief Quality Officer, she served as Medical Director for BHG’s owned clinics, VIPcare. In addition, Dr. Hans was a practicing physician at VIPcare and the Primary Care Clinical Director. She is board-certified in Family Medicine and a HEDIS 5-Star practicing physician.

Dr. Hans earned her bachelor’s degree from Winthrop University and her medical doctorate from St. Matthews School of Medicine.

Headshot of Michael Haber, a Caucasian man with salt-and-pepper hair, featuring a friendly smile. He is wearing a blue blazer and a light blue shirt, set against a light background.

Michael Haber

General Counsel

Michael Haber oversees all legal matters and provides actionable legal guidance and support, and assists with corporate governance.

Michael brings more than 18 years of experience practicing law in the managed care space. He previously served as Vice President of Corporate and Securities Counsel for WellCare Health Plans, where he was a pivotal contributor to WellCare’s growth and success and acted as a key advisor and counsel during the sale of WellCare to Centene Corporation in January 2020. Following the acquisition, Michael served as Deputy General Counsel for Centene, providing leadership, advice, and counsel with regard to corporate governance, securities laws compliance and reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and business development.  

Michael holds a law degree from Florida State University College of Law and a bachelor’s in business administration from Stetson University.

Headshot of Bobby Creek, a Caucasian man with dark hair styled upwards and a trimmed beard, smiling warmly. He is dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt, set against a light background.

Bobby Creek

Chief Growth Officer

Bobby Creek is responsible for growth strategies, go to market planning and our offer portfolio across patients, providers and payer contracts. He drives key initiatives to expand the organization’s primary care network across our owned clinics and independent affiliates.

Prior to Better Health Group, Bobby served as Vice President of Growth and Marketing at Aledade, where he played an instrumental role in advancing their value-based care initiatives, adding nearly $4B annually in medical spend under management.  He has held leadership positions in high-growth start-ups and national organizations, including Vice President of Marketing at Elixir, a national pharmacy benefits company; Sodexo's U.S. health system division; WellCare health plans; and the Omnicom Group.

Bobby attended Eastern Kentucky University for his undergraduate bachelor's degree in Organizational Communications and their master's program.

Headshot of Paul Hineman, a Caucasian man with short brown hair and a beard, smiling broadly. He is wearing a navy blue blazer over a pink checked shirt, set against a light background.

Paul Hineman

Chief Operations Officer

Paul Hineman is responsible for the company's operational and IT functions across all markets.

Paul has over 25 years of operations and leadership experience, with over 12 years in healthcare. He previously served as Regional Vice President at Centene, where he led the call center operations, managing a budget of over $600M annually while responsible for over 10,000 internal and external vendor team members. During his 12+ years of tenure at WellCare/Centene, he held various other leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, where he led all non-clinical operations for WellCare. Earlier in his career, Paul held leadership positions at Capital One Financial and the Nielsen Company, leading large operational teams.  

Paul holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL.

Headshot of Goran Jankovic, a Caucasian man with short blond hair, featuring a confident smile. He is dressed in a blue suit and light blue shirt, set against a light background.

Goran Jankovic

Chief Financial Officer

Goran Jankovic is responsible for overseeing all financial operations of the organization and executing on strategy to support growth and deliver value.

Goran previously was the Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer of WellCare Health Plans. During his 13-year tenure, Goran served in progressive financial leadership roles establishing and leading corporate finance, capital markets, treasury operations, corporate development, communication with credit rating agencies and investment community, risk management, enterprise procurement, and national real estate. He played an instrumental role in driving WellCare’s growth and maturation from approximately $4 billion to $30 billion in annualized revenue at the time of the company’s sale to Centene in 2020.

Goran holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Central Florida.