Coreen Dicus-Johnson

Coreen Dicus-Johnson knows how to define goals and knows how to make them a reality.

She earned a law degree but knew early in her career that she wanted to be a CEO of a major healthcare company one day, and she acquired the skills and experience to make that happen. In 2016, she was recruited to lead Network Health, a Wisconsin-based health insurer co-owned by Froedtert Health and Ascension Wisconsin. It provides coverage to over 115,000 Wisconsin residents.

On her first day as president and CEO of Network Health, she announced the company would complete a financial turnaround within three years and that it would improve its 4.5 Medicare star rating to five.

“Everyone smiled and thought she was just enthusiastic because it was her first day,” her team said. “We soon learned she was serious.”

Dicus-Johnson prioritized bringing on a great executive team. In 11 months, she recruited nine executives to join the organization. With the exception of one, they all came as a result of personal networking rather than executive recruiting. The result was a team with a combined 210 years of insurance industry experience.

Network Health completed the financial turnaround in two years, and it earned the coveted five-star Medicare rating, something that typically applies to 20 or fewer health plans nationwide.

Over the next five years, Network Health aims to reach $1.5 billion in topline revenue. When she arrived in 2016, revenue was $794 million and is projected to be just over $1 billion in 2022. The company has exceeded its revenue goals for each of the five years that Dicus- Johnson has been at the helm.

Dicus-Johnson was named a Power Broker by the Milwaukee Business Journal editorial staff in 2021, 2020 and 2019. She received the BizTimes 2018 Health Care Heroes Executive Leadership Award. In 2015, she was selected as a Woman of Influence and also received Donald Driver’s Driven to Achieve Award. She received a Marquette University Alumni National Award in 2014 and was inducted into the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation in 2012.

“I am humbled to be considered to be an influential leader,” Dicus-Johnson said. “With this honor comes a responsibility to stay well-informed, current and to share my time, talent and treasures. Accordingly, I will continue to be a lifelong learner, participate in experiences that advance my industry such as leadership in both regional and national associations and serve organizations that work to increase healthcare literacy and provide full access to healthcare in an equitable manner.”