Pam Shipman, managed care pioneer, retires as Cardinal CEO

Pam Shipman, who helped create the managed care system that administers Medicaid spending for behavioral health in North Carolina, will retire next month as CEO of Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions.

Richard Topping, executive vice president and general counsel for the Kannapolis-based managed care organization, succeeds her on July 1.

Shipman started work with Piedmont Behavioral Health in 1987 and moved into a leadership role as it grew, changed its mission and took on a new name.

Cardinal Innovations now oversees government spending for mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities in 16 counties. It serves about 72,500 people with a budget of $635 million for the current year. Mecklenburg County joined its territory last spring.

Cardinal piloted the approach that has now been extended to the entire state. The nonprofit managed care groups are designed to improve care while cutting costs.

Topping, who has already assumed the lead role on an interim basis, joined Cardinal in 2009. He leads a team of attorneys responsible for legal services, strategy and policy, government relations, regulatory affairs and compliance.

Toppping has been a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina and deputy general counsel for Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg. He has represented the Center for Bioethics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Pam Shipman, managed care pioneer, retires as Cardinal CEO."