ALBANY, N.Y. – October 22, 2025 – CDPHP today announced that the CDPHP Board of Directors has named Barry J. Thornton II CEO of CDPHP effective January 1, 2026. Barry succeeds Brian O’Grady, who is retiring from the health plan after more than a decade of dedicated service.
Barry currently serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for The Lifetime Healthcare Companies (LTHC), the parent company of CDPHP and previously held leadership roles at United Health Group. Now as CEO of CDPHP, Barry will bring his wealth of experience in health care to impact transformative change while preserving the brand’s longstanding history in Upstate New York, which stands to serve CDPHP well as the mission-driven, not-for-profit organization proceeds with its affiliation with LTHC.
Together with the recent appointment of Dr. Martin Stallone as Executive Vice President, Chief Healthcare Services Officer effective December 1, 2025, Dr. Stallone and Barry will join an exceptional statewide executive leadership team focused on innovative efforts to more closely align providers, insurers, and health care stakeholders. The ultimate goal for the physician-founded health plan is to establish a model for health care delivery that yields higher quality and more affordable health care options across all of Upstate New York.
“I want to thank the CDPHP Board of Directors for this incredible opportunity, as I fundamentally believe regional, not-for-profit health care is the best option consumers can choose,” said Thornton. “CDPHP is a rare combination of a high-quality health plan with superior customer service, deep roots in its community and a strong, longstanding commitment to local providers. I am committed to working alongside the outstanding, local CDPHP leadership team to honor and elevate this exceptional brand.”
“On behalf of the CDPHP Board of Directors, we welcome Barry to CDPHP. The board quickly recognized his strategic insight and decisive leadership, and we look forward to his guidance as CEO during one of the most transformative periods in our health plan’s history,” said Michael A. DeVito, MD, Chair, CDPHP Board of Directors. “Barry’s ability to build on the positive progress we saw under Brian O’Grady’s leadership will undoubtedly position CDPHP for even more success in the future,” added DeVito.
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About CDPHP®
Established in 1984, CDPHP is a physician-founded, member-focused and community-based not-for-profit health plan that offers high-quality affordable health insurance plans to members in 36 counties throughout New York. CDPHP is also on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.