Omaha, NE (10/03/23) – Health data utility (HDU) CyncHealth—the designated health information exchange (HIE) for Nebraska and Iowa—is proud to announce the appointment of Larra Petersen-Lukenda as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative & the CyncHealth Foundation, which does business as the Midwest Institute for Community and Citizen Health—as well as Jim Hood as CyncHealth’s Chief Operations Officer.
Larra has a history as a results-driven leader with over ten years of experience impacting performance for state and federal government operations, not-for-profit organizations, and healthcare systems. In addition, she has expertise in program development and project management, emphasizing population health. Her appointment follows a successful period leading both organizations as an interim leader.
She said, “I am honored to serve the Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative and Midwest Institute for Community and Citizen Health in this capacity. Bridging the gap between data and healthcare requires informed, innovative solutions. As COO for both organizations, I welcome the opportunity to engage our academic, public health, and community thought leaders, drive alignment between research and practice, and ultimately enhance the health and wellbeing of our communities.”
Jim has 25 years of experience in technical and executive leadership roles throughout the Midwest. After completing an undergraduate degree in Applied Computer Science from St. Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering and Aviation, he worked for large IT organizations in companies spanning the telecommunications and transportation industries. For the last ten years, Jim served at the global headquarters of the world’s largest home care brand, where he led the modernization of IT systems and the deployment and scaling of operational systems supporting the 600+ domestic small businesses supported by the corporate team.
Jim said, “I am thrilled to be continuing my career in healthcare and technology by joining the talented executive team at CyncHealth. I have been impressed watching CyncHealth’s journey over the years, and I am excited to help usher in a new era of health data accessibility and innovation in a sector that can do so much for so many.”
About CyncHealth
CyncHealth is a health data utility and is the designated health information exchange (HIE) for Nebraska and western Iowa, connecting over 5 million lives and 1,135 facilities and counting. These cross-connections are community-wide, consisting of hospitals, specialty hospitals, rural health clinics, specialty clinics, long-term post-acute care facilities, and other entities that have valuable data for monitoring the health of populations. CyncHealth participating clinicians can better care for patients by having instant access to comprehensive and longitudinal health history, including patient encounter-level reports, diagnostic history, allergies, immunizations, and laboratory results from participating facilities.
