Duly Health & Care names new CEO

Duly Health & Care, formerly known as DuPage Medical Group, has named a new CEO.

The medical group appointed Tami Reller its new CEO and co-chairman. Reller has been Duly’s president since May 2021.

Reller, 58, assumes the new role Sept. 16 and will replace Steve Nelson, who had been CEO since 2020. Nelson succeeded former CEO Mike Kasper, who died in May 2019. Nelson is taking a new job, but Duly would not disclose it.

Reller will report to the board of directors and work closely with Dr. Paul Merrick, Duly’s chief physician executive and co-chairman.

“I’m pleased, honored and feel a great sense of responsibility in taking this role,” Reller said in an interview. “I’m excited because I really believe in what we’re doing.”

Before joining Duly, Reller was chief mar­ket­ing, dig­i­tal and expe­ri­ence offi­cer at Minnesota-based Unit­ed­Health­care and held several leadership roles at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based pharmacy benefit manager Optum, includ­ing as chief financial officer and in mar­ket­ing and growth. Optum is a unit of UnitedHealthcare.

Before Optum, Reller worked at Microsoft for 13 years in operating roles. She currently sits on the boards of Minneapolis-based supply-chain software company SPS Com­merce and Seattle-based tax software firm Avalara.

Duly, one of the nation’s largest medical groups—and the second-biggest in the Chicago area by revenue—has more than 1,000 primary and specialty care physicians and about 7,000 other employees across 150 locations. Primary care is the main service Duly provides but it offers over 40 specialties, too, ranging from orthopedics and cardiology to dermatology and cancer care, Reller says.

Duly has been expanding into more parts of Illinois recently. It acquired Quincy, Ill.-based Quincy Medical Group late last year, which put Duly at the center of a dispute between Quincy and nearby hospital chain Blessing Health System. Blessing was opposed to a new small-format hospital QMG proposed but state regulators approved the project in April. Blessing has since appealed the decision.

Duly also expanded to northwest Indiana last year when it signed an agreement with the South Bend Clinic that brought more physicians into Duly’s network.

Reller says she plans to continue growing Duly’s presence across the Midwest, opening new clinics in the Chicago area, including in Schaumburg.

“We believe there’s a lot of continued growth in the Chicago area,” Reller says.

Reller added that Duly will also add more physicians focused on elderly patients on Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.

Like the healthcare industry broadly, Duly is facing economic challenges with inflation driving up prices on supplies and medications. But Reller says Duly remains financially strong. Duly reported $1.4 billion in 2021 net revenue, up 27% from the year prior, according to Crain’s data.

This story first appeared in our sister publication, Crain's Chicago Business.