Seth Van Essendelft

Seth Van Essendelft is responsible for leading Enterprise Strategy at GuideWell, including the strategic planning process, collaboration with business units and functional leaders across the enterprise, and incorporating national, regional, and local competitive intelligence and consumer research.

He is accountable for planning and directing all aspects of achieving GuideWell’s growth through strategic investments and business development, including acquisitions, joint ventures, business consulting, divestitures, and private equity holdings on behalf of GuideWell and its family of companies. He leads all aspects of the deal transaction life cycle including sourcing, execution, and post-merger integration planning, as well as advisor engagement and management. Notable transactions include the acquisitions of Triple S and WebTPA, achieving a controlling interest in Lucet, and divesting Onlife Health to Pager.

He is also responsible for oversight of GuideWell Venture Group’s portfolio of businesses that add diversification, differentiation, scale, and industry-leading talent to GuideWell. These businesses include the wholly owned subsidiaries of GuideWell Source and PopHealthCare/Emcara, a majority position in Lucet, and a minority share in Pager.

Van Essendelft joined GuideWell in February 2020 with 20+ years of experience in corporate finance and the health care industry. Prior to joining GuideWell, he was Chief Financial Officer of Connecticut Children’s. He also previously served in other provider delivery system roles including the Senior Vice President, Finance at Lawrence + Memorial Delivery Network of Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS), Vice President of Financial Services at Vidant Medical Center, and Controller of Doctors Hospital, a subsidiary of Baptist Health South Florida. Leading to his provider experience, he served in payor financial operations at Cigna Corporation, where he held progressively responsible roles through the Financial Development Program, which culminated as an Assistant Vice President, Director of Strategic Planning & Control of Cigna Dental and Vision.

Van Essendelft retired from the United States Coast Guard as a Commander, after serving nine years on active duty and 11 years in the reserves spanning various seagoing, resource management and critical incident management assignments.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in management from the United States Coast Guard Academy and a Master of Business Administration with honors from The College of William and Mary.