Our leadership

Wyatt Decker, M.D., MBA, joined Optum in 2019. In his role as chief executive officer of OptumHealth, Dr. Decker oversees the care delivery and ambulatory care capabilities of OptumCare, as well as major platforms serving Behavioral Health, Population Health, Complex Care, and consumer offerings at Optum. He is leveraging the full value of Optum's distinctive assets in data, analytics, technology and clinical expertise to improve the health outcomes and experiences for the millions of people receiving care in local care systems and everywhere Optum serves consumers and patients.

Prior to joining Optum, Dr. Decker served for more than two decades at Mayo Clinic, one of the largest not-for-profit, academic health systems in the U.S. He most recently held the dual role of chief medical information officer for Mayo Clinic, and CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Decker pioneered the use of innovative digital technologies, including telemedicine and AI, to deliver health care expertise to affiliated care providers nationwide, as well as leading the digital strategy around engaging and empowering patients.

Under his leadership, Mayo Clinic in Arizona was named the number one safest teaching hospital in the U.S., the number one hospital in Arizona by U.S. News and World Report, and achieved the highest possible CMS ratings for both patient quality and patient experience. He oversaw the launch of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine’s Arizona campus, and the building of an advanced, National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. 

Dr. Decker also has served as a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and directed the Emergency Medicine Residency Training program at Mayo Clinic. 

Dr. Decker holds an M.D. from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science from University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Paul Balthazor was named chief operating officer of OptumCare in June of 2018. His organization leads the National Core Operations team including technology, business integration, real estate, supply chain, credentialing and contract management, revenue cycle and operations.

Balthazor began his career with Optum in 2002 as part of the American Chiropractic Network (ACN) Group where he served as the CFO and later, the chief operating officer.  

In May 2007, Balthazor joined UHC Community & State where he served in a number of finance, operational and network leadership roles, including chief financial officer.

Most recently, he held the position of chief operating officer.  Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Balthazor worked for Arthur Andersen providing merger and acquisition advisory services to many clients including UnitedHealth Group.

Balthazor is a graduate of St. John’s University in Minnesota where he obtained degrees in accounting and management.

As chief strategy officer for OptumCare, Brian Mathis leads the payer engagement and new service line development teams.  

Mathis joined Optum in 2017 through the acquisition of Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA) where Mathis served most recently as the chief development officer and in a variety of growth related roles since 2009. 

Prior to SCA, Mathis served as a manager at Blue Ridge Partners and as an assistant analyst in the Macroeconomics Division of the Congressional Budget Office. Mathis serves on the board of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa honoree, and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

In 2017, Dr. Frank took a position leading the clinical performance department for OptumCare with a focus on effective implementation, monitoring and execution of clinical programs that improve the patient and provider experience, while delivering superior outcomes at a sustainable cost. 

In 2013, Dr. Frank’s role was expanded to a national scope as the senior medical director for OptumCare’s Clinical Documentation and Quality Improvement for OptumCare.

Originally from New York, Dr. Frank received his undergraduate degree in microbiology at the University of Florida where he graduated with highest honors. Dr. Frank then attended medical school at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.

Dewayne Ullsperger joined OptumHealth in 2017 leading Actuarial and Healthcare Economics. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Actuary for the commercial business and lead Healthcare Economics at UnitedHealthcare. Dewayne was the Principal and co-founder of Reden & Anders, which was acquired by United Health Group in 1998 after starting his career at Touche Ross.

Dewayne graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

As Chief Financial Officer of OptumCare, Alex Mitchell is responsible for the financial management across all care delivery organizations (local market primary and specialty care, surgery centers and urgent care), merger and acquisition activities, priority setting and growth. 

In this role, Alex focused on leveraging his creative financial and operational experience to develop OptumCare into an integrated and differentiated care delivery platform. 

Prior to becoming CFO, Alex led a team responsible for advancing UnitedHealth Group’s growth and long-term strategic position through the alignment of innovative partnerships, joint ventures and commercial relationships spanning the enterprise.

In addition, he was responsible for evaluating large-scale transformative mergers and acquisitions as well as influencing priority setting. Alex successfully developed UnitedHealth Group’s 2025 plan, the enterprise-wide roadmap for strategic growth. 

Alex had also been responsible for mergers and acquisitions across UnitedHealth Group for approximately 10 years previously, where he successfully completed transactions involving ~$20 billion of capital such as XLHealth, Catamaran, NAMM, and AxelaCare. Alex has extensive experience with complex financial structuring. 

Before joining UnitedHealth Group, Alex held various roles over 10 years at Ernst & Young. 

At Ernst & Young, Alex was a trusted advisor to chief financial officers, management, and audit Committees of Fortune 250 organizations on technical accounting, financial reporting, internal controls, risk management and tax topics. 

He held roles within external audit and business risk services practices where he served companies such as Target, Northwest Airlines and Berkshire Hathaway. 

Alex received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin. 

He currently serves on the Health-Tech Advisory Board of the American Heart Association (AHA).