Florida Health Care Plans: Daytona physician to become CEO of nation's second-oldest HMO

DAYTONA BEACH ― Dr. Stephen Keen began his career here 10 years ago as a family physician for Florida Health Care Plans after completing his residency at Halifax Health.

On Jan. 1, 2024, Keen, 41, will succeed the retiring David Schandel, 69, as chief executive officer of the nation's second-oldest health maintenance organization.

FHCP is the nation's second oldest HMO

Daytona Beach-based FHCP became a federally qualified HMO when it was founded on July 1, 1974, just six months and two days after President Nixon signed the Health Care Maintenance Act of 1973.

The country's first HMO was Ross-Loos Medical Group, founded in 1929 in Los Angeles, California. It was sold in 1980 to a company that later merged to form Cigna Group.

What are HMOs?

That leaves Kaiser Permanente as the oldest continuously operating HMO. Established in 1945, it was hailed as a model for the HMO Act.

According to the National Institutes of Health, HMOs are managed health care plans featuring a network of health care providers who treat patients for a prepaid cost.

The HMO Act was created as a way to "improve patient care, decrease health care costs, and put a greater emphasis on preventative care."

Who started FHCP and who owns it now?

FHCP was founded by local physician Dr. Edwin Davis and attorney William "Bill" Moore. Its original location was at 350 N. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, across from Halifax Health Medical Center. That building today remains a FHCP comprehensive care center.

Halifax Health acquired FHCP in 1994 and sold it in 2009 to Florida Blue. FHCP and Florida Blue today are subsidiaries of a not-for-profit in Jacksonville called GuideWell.

The headquarters for FHCP is at 2450 Mason Ave., on the corner of Mason and Dunn avenues.

Who can belong to FHCP?

FHCP serves over 104,000 members in Volusia, Flagler, Brevard, St. Johns and Seminole counties. To be a member, you must live in one of those counties at least six months out of the year.

It is the Volusia-Flagler area's largest HMO with 73,000 members in Volusia and 10,000 in Flagler. It has 10,000 members in Brevard, 4,600 in St. Johns and 10,000 in Seminole.

FHCP has 32 clinical locations, including 14 comprehensive care centers. Its 1,500 employees include 150 FHCP primary care doctors. It also offers a network of 9,000 contracted physicians.

Keen is just the fourth CEO to lead FHCP

FHCP was originally led by Davis, who served as president and medical director, and Moore who was executive director. Edward "Butch" Simpson, an attorney from Moore's old law firm, became FHCP's first CEO in 1994. He was succeeded in 2010 by Dr. Wendy Myers who was previously FHCP's chief medical officer.

Schandel joined FHCP's leadership team in 1994 as a vice president. He was promoted to chief operating officer and then chief financial officer before becoming CEO in 2019 upon Myers' retirement.

Prior to working for FHCP, Schandel was a certified public accountant whose clients included Halifax Health.

Schandel will stay on at FHCP through February as a consultant. He expressed pride at Keen's selection as his successor. He helped prepare him for that possible role the past two years.

"Promoting from within is part of our DNA," Schandel said.

Who is Dr. Keen?

In Keen, FHCP has a leader who understands both the medical and operational sides of the business.

Keen served in the Halifax Health medical residency program in Daytona Beach for three years before becoming a FHCP family doctor in 2013.

He left after two years to become partner in a private medical practice in Palm Coast. He returned to FHCP in 2017 in a dual role as a family doctor and utilization management physician. The latter, he explained, "reviews cases on behalf of the health plan. That was my introduction to my administrative medical career."

In 2019, Keen was named FHCP's medical director of utilization, quality and case management. In August 2022, he was promoted to vice president of business operations.

Keen said he joined the leadership team because of his desire to help patients on a bigger scale.

"One of the reasons I started to get involved in the business side of medicine was because of my care for patients," he said. "What I saw was that it was very important that there was clinical leadership on some of the decision-making bodies inside the organization."

Keen said his stint as a private practice physician gave him an appreciation for what it's like to be one of FHCP's contracted doctors. "It also gave me experience as a small business owner," he said.

FHCP's aim is growth at a 'responsible' pace

Keen praised Schandel for being "a rock in this organization" who guided FHCP's steady growth during a time of rising costs and increased competition.

FHCP's strengths include its strong ties to the communities it serves and "our nimbleness," said Keen. "We can pivot quickly."

Schandel said he worked to balance FHCP's need to grow with its need to keep expenses under control.

"The expectation is that we grow and that we stay financially viable and I think that we've done that responsibly," he said.

FHCP earlier this year opened a comprehensive care center in Deltona with plans to add two more in Volusia County.

A 7,600-square-foot FHCP facility is expected to open in late 2024 across from the fast-growing Latitude Margaritaville 55-and-older community on LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach. Currently under construction in the new Tymber Creek Village complex, it will offer primary care and lab services as well as an FHCP Pharmacy with a drive-through.

FHCP plans to open a comprehensive care center in 2025 in New Smyrna Beach along State Road 44, just east of I-95.

Personal notes

Keen lives in Ormond Beach with his wife Sara and son Stephen Michael, age 3. Sara is a licensed mental health counselor who has a practice on U.S. 1 in Ormond Beach.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach physician to become CEO of nation's second-oldest HMO