EAGAN, Minn. -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) today announced the promotions of two executives to its senior leadership team. Monica Engel, a 29-year Blue Cross veteran, now serves as senior vice president and president of government markets. Dana Erickson, who joined the organization in 2015, has assumed the role of senior vice president of health services. With these two promotions, female executives now represent 50 percent of the executive leadership team for the first time in the history of the organization.
"In order to effectively pursue our mission to inspire change, transform care and improve health, it's vital for our leadership team to be not only talented and experienced, but also vibrant, distinct and diverse," said Dr. Craig Samitt, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "We are proud to elevate such accomplished leaders from within the organization. Both Monica and Dana have made significant contributions to Blue Cross and they were natural choices to join our senior leadership team."
With women in four of the top eight executive roles, the senior team joins other leadership areas at Blue Cross that have significant female representation, including supervisors (82 percent), managers (67 percent), directors (64 percent), and vice presidents (31 percent).
Monica Engel, Senior Vice President, President of Government Markets
As senior vice president and president of government markets for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Monica Engel is responsible for the organization's government health program business which includes Medicare, Medicaid, Federal Employee and Individual market segments.
During Engel's tenure at Blue Cross, she has held leadership positions across several market segments, including Medicare, public sector, organized labor and consumer markets. In her most recent position as president of Medicare, Engel guided the organization in its efforts to help Minnesota seniors navigate the federally mandated sunset of Medicare Cost plans which affected more than 400,000 people in the state.
Engel holds a degree in business management and studied strategic leadership at the Kellogg School of Management and has completed the Minnesota Management Institute program from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. She is president of the Women's Health Leadership TRUST, an active member of Women Business Leaders, and a board member for the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. Engel was named a 2019 Women in Business honoree by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.
Dana Erickson, Senior Vice President, Health Services
As senior vice president and president of health services, Dana Erickson is responsible for the overall strategic planning, development, implementation and administration of care management, provider relations, pharmacy and medical management.
Erickson joined Blue Cross in 2015 as senior director of care management before being promoted to vice president of the same division the following year. She previously held clinical and medical leadership roles at Univita Health and Optum Health, where her tenure included serving as vice president of strategic accounts. Additionally, Erickson spent two years serving in Anoka County as a nursing leader, a role in which she oversaw home-based services for the senior and disabled populations of Minnesota's fourth most-populous county. A registered nurse and respiratory therapist, Erickson has administered direct patient care in addition to leading rehabilitation center operations.
Erickson studied social work at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com), with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today as a health company: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. Blue Cross is a not-for-profit, taxable organization. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.