The Los Angeles Business Journal (LABJ) has announced its 2024 LA500, the most influential people in Los Angeles, which can be found in today’s edition of the magazine. John Baackes, who has been the CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan since 2015, is among the top executives named in the LA500. The LABJ recognized Baackes, who recently announced that he is retiring at the end of the year, for his visionary leadership of the largest health plan in Los Angeles County, which is also the largest publicly operated health plan in the country.
For more than nine years, Baackes has helped L.A. Care deliver on its mission of providing access to quality health care for the county’s low-income and vulnerable communities and residents, while supporting the safety net required to achieve that goal. He championed L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity, by working with the Board of Governors to launch and sustain a number of projects and initiatives to ensure members had a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. These included expanding its directly-contracted network of physicians, establishing a grading and incentivization system to hold physicians accountable for quality care, and expanding the network of Community Resource Centers that it operates across the county with Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan. Baackes also spearheaded Elevating the Safety Net, a $205 million initiative to recruit, train and retain physicians serving the L.A. County safety net.
The LABJ recognized 500 influential leaders and executives who have made a tremendous impact on their respective fields, which along with health care, includes people in media and entertainment, education, law, finance, philanthropy, sports, and much more. The magazine brought the 500 together for a private reception last week.