Christine Bent honored as a 2020 Notable Hero in Health Care by Twin Cities Business

Twin Cities Business (TCB) has recognized Christine Bent, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime), as one of its 2020 Notable Heroes in Health Care. The honor is given to individuals serving as role models, driving change and innovation, and developing solutions that improve the lives of those in their community.

Christine’s servant leadership style makes her a Hero in Health Care. Throughout her 25 years of running complex health care operations, Christine has persisted with a laser focus on what matters most, serving the patients, members and employees of the organizations which she’s helped lead.

“There is no more deserving individual, nor a more compassionate and effective leader,” said Ken Paulus, president and CEO of Prime. “In her first year at Prime, Chris has made an incredible impact despite the challenges 2020 has presented. Her passion for serving health plans, their members and the community at large truly makes her special. More than anything, it is how she goes about her work that makes her a hero to many.”

In a tumultuous 2020, Christine helped make Prime one of the first Minnesota companies to transition 99% of its employees to a virtual work environment in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She stood up a command center to help the company respond in real-time to the daily influx of Covid-19 information. And her team monitored the drug supply chain, staffed contact centers to manage high-volume calls and protected drugs from stockpiling so members would receive their therapies without gaps in care.

Following the death of George Floyd, Christine’s team also worked quickly to ensure medications were accessible at alternate pharmacies in communities impacted by pharmacy closures. Christine also initiated a cross-functional team to work with Prime’s Diversity & Inclusion Council to determine how the company could help the community and employees. This work spurred the creation of a new Prime Together Foundation that will focus on providing ongoing support to many diversity issues. In addition to corporate community donations, employees received an additional paid volunteer day and volunteer opportunities filled within minutes as employees felt an overwhelming need to support the community.

Christine is known as a pioneer in transforming health systems to provide integrated whole person, digital and connected care. Her passion for well-being drives her relentless focus for serving people by removing friction in health care and making it easier through conveniences like telehealth.

Chris demonstrates her personal commitment to community through service on numerous boards. She is currently president-elect for Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, is an American Heart Association past board chair, and serves as a mentor and faculty advisor for the University of Minnesota healthcare administration program.

TCB’s Notable series honors the best-of-the-best across a range of industries. Leaders are nominated by their professional and community peers and will be profiled in a special Heroes in Health Care editorial section appearing in TCB’s December/January print issue.