Retiring The CHA Brand: A Letter From Our CEO
Senior Market Advisors began as Continental Health Alliance in 2007. A few weeks ago, we celebrated ten years since that initial company’s creation. Our company is growing drastically every day. Our personal “difference maker,” CEO Jeff Pitta, wanted to share his thoughts on the big changes happening for this company that he built from the ground up.
Last week was bittersweet. We retired the name Continental Health Alliance and assumed the name Medicare Health Benefits.
Most people don’t truly understand the emotions that come with raising a company from the ground up and then having to let it go. I liken it to raising a child and then watching him go away to college. Change is hard, but nothing great ever happens without it.
I am sad to close this chapter of CHA but am so passionate and driven to begin the next.
About two years ago, I realized I was bored. It felt like I had truly accomplished everything that I had set out to do with CHA. I felt stuck. I didn’t see any meaningful changes that I could make in the community other than what we had already attempted. Then, I got a call from Jane saying that she was going to retire. My first reaction was, “No way. I am too tired for this.”
After a few weeks of prayer and thought, my heart told me that this is our opportunity to serve. The MHB [Medicare Health Benefits] brand and reputation gives us the resources and the national footprint we need to change the way healthcare is delivered in our country. Profits will come, but they are only a yardstick to measure the service that our company provides.
SMA/MHB Is Made Of “Difference Makers”
[Our] Difference Maker campaign is incredibly exciting – It’s all about service. I want our company to become a community of people serving others. We can do that through sharing ideas, collaborating, and most importantly creating a meaningful impact on the ones we serve.
I know you hear a lot about growth. Anna [MHB COO] and I have had several discussions on this matter and we both agree. A company driven by money alone is one that is sure to fail. Money and profits act as a means to an end. We need growth to really build something that matters. Growth allows us to make changes and serve our communities in a way that I never thought would be possible even a year ago.
Together we are wiser, tougher, more empathetic, persistent, and so very different. Our uniqueness is going to be the secret sauce that changes the industry forever.I believe we can disrupt the healthcare landscape and give back to the community in a way that two years ago, I didn’t believe possible.
Our industry has become very profit-driven over the last few decades; consumers are picking heads or tails because of all of their provider choices that offer the same benefits. I truly believe that we can right this wrong – so goodbye to CHA, hello future.
After all, a name doesn’t matter – it’s what you do with that name that really matters.
– CEO Jeff Pitta, April 2017
