Melissa Gardner, Executive Vice President, Chief Population Health Officer

Melissa’s functional accountability is to lead Medical Services, Pharmacy Innovation, and Provider Network Engagement.  With a goal to drive population health and health equity in our communities, Melissa leads a team who engages members, care givers, providers, and the community to provide equal opportunity to high quality care that is also optimized and ultimately as affordable as possible.

Melissa began her career at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in February 2003.  During her time with the Health Plan, Melissa has held leadership roles in Marketing and Sales, Operations, Project Management, and Strategic Planning. 

Serving the community, Melissa is the Chair of the Board for Common Ground Health and serves on the Board of Hillside Children’s Center. She has been honored as an Athena nominee and one of the Rochester Business Journal’s Forty Under 40.

Melissa has a Bachelor’s of Science in Health Administration from Ithaca College and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.