Waterbury doctor among new appointees to Green Mountain Care Board

Sept. 10, 2022  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced the appointments of a chair and two members to the Green Mountain Care Board including a Waterbury emergency medicine physician. 

Owen Foster. Courtesy photo

Owen Foster, of Jericho, has been appointed as chair along with two new members of the five-member board: Dr. David Murman, of Waterbury, and Robin Lunge, of Berlin.

Per statute, the governor appoints members to the board from a list of candidates submitted by the Green Mountain Care Board Nominating Committee. 

The governor said the new appointees will help steer the board that oversees the state’s health care system as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic that has created new challenges to the industry. 

“The impact of the pandemic and inflation that followed significantly affected our nation’s health care system,” Scott said. “Stabilizing and modernizing the delivery system, prioritizing prevention and healthier lifestyles, and ensuring equitable access to care are essential steps toward making sure health care costs are not growing faster than Vermonters’ ability to pay. The road ahead will not be easy, and the challenges facing the health care system will be difficult to solve, but I’m thankful that Owen, Robin, and David are willing to serve on the board and join in the work address these issues.”

Dr. David Murman. Courtesy Photo

Murman currently leads resident and medical student education and works as an emergency medical clinician at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin. He previously was an emergency clinician and co-director of emergency ultrasound at the University of Vermont Medical Center and an emergency clinician at Baystate Medical Center. 

At Central Vermont Medical Center, Murman has been active on finance and operations committees and was a founding member of the diversity equity and inclusion committee. 

“As an emergency physician, I experience a day-to-day snapshot of much of the regional health care system. From primary care and nursing home challenges to mental health and regional transfer capabilities, I see these struggles and successes daily,” Murman said. “I will bring frontline and real-time information on the challenges patients have in accessing and navigating our health care system. I am honored to be able to add this perspective to the challenging and great work that the GMCB does to improve health care access, affordability, and quality in Vermont.”

Murman received a B.S. in psychology and his Doctor of Medicine from Tufts University. Before attending medical school, Murman worked in non-profit education/intervention programs for underserved youth, cardiac surgery clinical research, and public health research in Botswana.

Murman’s appointment will be effective Oct. 1 for a term expiring on Sept. 30, 2028.

The board’s new chair, Owen Foster, has served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont since 2014 where he is the health care fraud coordinator and the ethics officer. 

Foster was lead prosecutor on cases that have resulted in the largest recoveries in Vermont history, including healthcare fraud actions against electronic medical record companies eClinicalWorks, Inc., Greenway Health, LLC, and Practice Fusion, Inc. Foster was also responsible for the criminal investigation and prosecution of Purdue Pharma. 

His health care fraud prosecutions have twice been awarded the Department of Justice’s prestigious Director’s Award for Superior Performance.

“Our health care system is at a critical juncture, and we are facing serious challenges. I am looking forward to joining the talented team at the Green Mountain Care Board and working with all stakeholders to ensure Vermonters have equitable and timely access to high quality and affordable care,” Foster said.  

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Foster was a securities litigation associate for seven years in the Boston office of the international law firm Dechert, LLP.

Born and raised in Middlebury, Foster graduated from the University of Vermont in 2001 and from Columbia Law School in 2007. 

Foster replaces former chair Kevin Mullin, who retired last month. He begins on the board Oct. 1 in a term expiring in 2024.Jessica Holmes, who has served as interim chair since August, will return to her role as a member of the board; her term expires on Sept. 30, 2026.

Robin Lunge. Courtesy photo

Having been appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lunge has served on the board since 2016. Prior to joining the board, she served as the State’s Director of Health Care Reform. Her past experience includes working as a staff attorney at Vermont Legislative Council, where she drafted legislation and provided support to members of the Vermont Legislature relating to health and human services matters, and at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington D.C. as a senior policy analyst on public benefits issues.

Lunge holds a B.A. from the University of California Santa Cruz, a J.D. from Cornell Law School, and a Master of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College.

This new appointment extends her membership on the board to Sept. 30, 2023.