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Ray Prushnok

Executive Director, UPMC Center for Social Impact; Assistant Vice President, Government Affairs, UPMC Health Plan

Ray leads UPMC Health Plan’s Center for Social Impact, an office charged with implementing programs that meet social needs which impact health, quality, and cost. The Center’s work is focused on employment, housing, health equity, and collaboration with human services and community-based organizations.

Since in 2019, the Center has been supporting and operating a variety of programs, including:

Resources to enroll members in public programs, such as SNAP;

The UPMC Homeward Program including a program related investment into affordable housing and expansion of supportive housing for members experiencing homelessness operating in 3 counties with a demonstrated value-based model;

UPMC Pathways to Work which supported thousands of UPMC for You members in finding employment at UPMC and with other employers;

Coordination of care programs with human services including intellectual disability providers;

Community Health Worker models embedded in community-based organizations;

Food as medicine; and

Resources for underserved populations including a trans-focused member services team, an intellectual disability task force, and an LGBTQ-affirming provider directory.

Previously, Ray led the proposal, implementation, and operations for UPMC Community HealthChoices, Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Managed Care for dual eligibles and people with long-term services and supports. Prior, he had responsibility for Medicare strategy, finance and analytics and P&L responsibility for SNP products.

Before joining UPMC Health Plan, Ray served in various capacities at the Pennsylvania Department of Aging from 2005 to 2011 including Acting Secretary, Deputy Secretary with oversight of Policy, Finance, and Quality, and as Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs. In this time he worked on the establishment of quality and program benchmarking, the Office of Long-Term Living, rebalancing efforts, and the passage of assisted living and regulation development. Prior to his work in Harrisburg, Ray worked as a consumer advocate for New Mexico Public Interest Research Group in Albuquerque, NM and led legislative efforts to pass predatory lending legislation.

Ray has a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from Bucknell University.