Jack Stoddard was the executive who understood how technology can fix health care services. He was a crucial early hire for Haven, the company formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase to lower costs and improve medical services for employees.
But Stoddard’s departure this week, after only eight months as Haven’s chief operating officer, is a tough blow for a company still getting its legs underneath it in a cutthroat and complicated industry, business experts said.
“When you start losing key members of the top management team, it’s disruptive,” said James Guthrie, a professor at the University of Kansas business school. “Someone is brought in because you think they’re a good fit, and that fit becomes tighter and tighter because you’ve woven things around that person.”
