People in Business
Santa Cruz Sentinel, September 17, 2007
Local Business
Dr. Richard Helmer, formerly of Laguna Beach, will succeed Dr. Barbara Palla as the medical director of Central Coast Alliance for Health, a nonprofit health plan serving 90,000 members in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Helmer previously was chief medical officer at Molina Medical Centers in Long Beach. He
founded Pacific Healthcare Group, a consulting firm on medical and managed care, and provided
consulting services to the Central Coast Alliance for Health.
His medical degree is from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed a residency in
family medicine at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and a
medical management fellowship at UC Irvine.