Reid Brings Decades of Experience with Customer-driven Insurance Benefits to CEO Role
Baltimore, Maryland, April 1, 2021 – Effective today, Versant Health, a leading managed vision care company, announced James Reid as the Chief Executive Officer.
In January 2021, MetLife announced the completion of the Versant Health acquisition and appointment of Reid as CEO. James will replace Kirk Rothrock, who is retiring after serving as Versant Health’s CEO since March 2013.
“I am thrilled to lead Versant Health into the next stage of its evolution,” said Reid. “Under Kirk’s leadership, Versant Health has become a foremost voice on innovating access to vision care, and the team has created a managed vision care offering beyond compare. I am excited to continue forward on Versant Health’s path to growth through a customer-centric and purpose-driven lens. As I embark on this journey, one of my top priorities in my early days as CEO is to work with and learn from our extremely talented team, as we persist on our quest to deliver daily results for our members, clients and health plans.”
In addition to growth, Reid will play a critical role in the integration of Versant Health’s vision benefit plans into MetLife’s overall product portfolio, while maintaining and elevating Versant Health’s go-to-market strategy.
“I’m confident that James is the right person to lead Versant Health under MetLife,” said Rothrock. “His extensive background in customer-centric solutions will build upon Versant Health’s strong momentum and advance our offerings to the benefit of both our members and our client’s health plan members.”
Reid previously served as the Executive Vice President of MetLife’s Global Relationship Management and Versant Health integration. While at MetLife, Reid led the Global Employee Benefits (GEB) business, where he was responsible for expanding MetLife’s employee benefits business in 39 countries, broadening relationships and fueling growth across the globe. He also served as Chairman of the Board for the MAXIS Global Benefits Network. Before joining MetLife, Reid held various senior executive and leadership positions during a more than 20-year career with Aetna.
Reid received a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University and has completed executive programs at Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School.