Cerner Middle East & Africa strengthens client alignment

Cerner Middle East & Africa yesterday announced the appointment of two additional general managers to strengthen its client engagement model in the Middle East. Adrian Dey has been appointed as the new general manager for Qatar, and Michael Schelper, chief operating officer in the Middle East & Africa, will take on the additional role of general manager for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait.

The move comes at a time when Cerner Middle East & Africa has established a strong presence in the region and is working with client organizations to support a focus on population health management. Dey has more than 18 years of experience in IT managed services, with a primary focus on client relationships, transition, transformation, and service delivery. Before joining Cerner Middle East & Africa, Dey had leadership positions with Electronic Data Systems, Hewlett Packard and Injazat Data Systems (a Mubadala company).

Dey’s new appointment is in support of the plans of Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and other leaders in the country. Dey will be responsible for advancing Cerner’s government-level relationships with providers and suppliers to help facilitate improved health outcomes.

“Adrian will be a key member of our management team, identifying opportunities to collaborate more closely with the ministry and our existing client organizations to fulfill their strategic vision,” said Mike Pomerance, vice president and managing director, Cerner Middle East & Africa. “I am confident that Adrian will lead Cerner on the next phase of our journey in Qatar.”

Schelper joined Cerner in 2009 and has had various regional leadership roles, including in business development, sales, consulting, mergers and acquisitions and operations. As the chief operating officer for Cerner Middle East & Africa the past two years, Schelper has led Cerner’s core business operations including quality, performance management and new market entries. In his new role, Michael will oversee strategic client alignment and development with clients to shape the future of health care.

Schelper’s focus will be to support the UAE and Kuwait governments to achieve a world-class, seamlessly integrated health care system that manages the population, one person at a time.

“Michael has proven to be both a dynamic leader and accomplished at strategy execution. Under his leadership, we’ll continue working with Cerner’s client organizations to enhance the health care experience for patients and caregivers,” said Pomerance.

Over the past 26 years, Cerner has collaborated with leading health care organizations in the Middle East to create integrated health care systems designed to help improve the patient’s experience with the person at the center of care. This highlights the region’s vision to create a healthy population by having a health care system whose services are accessible to the entire community.

Dey and Schelper join Ali Slimani and Bachir Awad as Cerner Middle East & Africa general managers.

Slimani joined Cerner in 2005 and has had client-facing and implementation roles. As a general manager, Slimani manages all facets of the Cerner business development relationship with health care organizations to facilitate making the vision of these prospective clients a reality.

Awad joined Cerner in 2006 and has worked in different leadership capacities around the globe. In his current role, Awad oversees strategic collaborations with the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Health and Prevention, Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company. The alignment between Cerner and its clients helps accelerate the use and adoption of health IT with the goal to improve the health and well-being of the UAE population.