Bassett Announces New “People and Diversity” Chief

Corey Heller, a global human resources (HR) executive with diverse and extensive leadership experience within and outside of health care, has been appointed senior vice president and chief people and diversity officer for Bassett Healthcare Network. In this newly created role, Heller will have leadership responsibility for the strategic planning and execution of HR activities and initiatives across the Bassett network. He will lead the development of an integrated HR service delivery model to drive system-wide efficiency and consistency. Heller will also develop a formal structure for cultivating a culture of diversity, health equity and inclusion, and embedding these principles in the day-to-day work of caring for each other and the patients and communities served by Bassett Healthcare Network.

“Corey brings tremendous experience and passion for talent development and management; he thrives on empowering others to realize their full potential,” observes Network President and CEO Tommy Ibrahim, MD, MHA. “Corey also has a great depth of experience in leading teams through organizational change, and I am excited to have him join our leadership team.”

Ibrahim, who took over as Network CEO in July of this year, has been undertaking a systematic restructuring of the organization as he works toward the implementation of a new network operating model and system-wide transformation. Various new leadership appointments over the past few months are aimed at supporting this evolution.

Heller, who began his new role with Bassett October 19, will also help champion the network’s development as a high performing, ‘best place to work’ health care delivery system.

Prior to joining Bassett, Heller most recently served as senior director of Human Resources and Shared Services for United Health Services in Binghamton. Previously, he held executive-level human resources positions as chief human resources officer with Uniform Advantage Brands in Florida, Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, Utah, Florida Blue (BCBS), and Baptist Health South Florida, among others. Heller earned a master’s degree in industrial labor relations from Cornell University and is a graduate of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. As a native of Saranac Lake, NY, and graduate of Saranac Lake High School, Heller is looking forward to returning to the region he describes as “home”.