Leadership & Board

Sandra L. Beretta, MD
Chair, Obstetrics & Gynecology

Dr. Beretta has been a Director since 2011, and served as a member of NORCAL’s Claims Advisory Committee from 2003 to 2015. She is a managing partner of a private practice partnership in San Mateo, CA, and has been a practicing OB/GYN for nearly 25 years. Dr. Beretta has been a past Department Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mills-Peninsula Hospital.  She also serves as a Director of Mills-Peninsula Medical Group.

Fabiola Cobarrubias, MD, MBA
Vice-Chair, Hospitalist

Dr. Cobarrubias has been a Director since 2012, and served as a hospitalist consultant to NORCAL’s Claims Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2015. She is a hospitalist at California Pacific Medical Center, where she held the position of Medical Director - Hospitalist Service from 2004 to 2011. She is also a founder, CEO and current board member of Pacific Inpatient Medical Group. She also serves as a Director of Brown & Toland Physicians. Dr. Cobarrubias holds an MBA from Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Steven Packer, MD
Secretary of the Board, President and CEO of Montage Health

Dr. Packer has been a Director since 2013. He is President and CEO of Montage Health and its related companies, including Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He assumed this position in January 1999, after serving as Chief of Staff of the hospital from 1997 to 1999, and Medical Director of the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit from 1988 to 1999. He is a former Chair of the California Hospital Association.

Scott Diener, MSIM, CPCU, ARe
President & CEO, NORCAL Group

Mr. Diener has been a Director since 2015, and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer for NORCAL Group since 2011. He has been a veteran of the insurance industry for nearly 40 years, specializing in medical professional liability. His work has spanned several areas of the industry including claims, risk management and business development. Most recently he earned his NACD/CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight.

Alice H. Gannon, FCAS, MAAA, CPCU
Actuary

Ms. Gannon has been a Director since 2009. As an actuary, she worked in the insurance industry for more than 40 years. She serves on the Board for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute. She is a past President (1999 to 2000) and Chair of the Board (2000 to 2001) of the Casualty Actuarial Society and served on the Board of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Roger M. Hayashi, MD
Vascular Surgery

Dr. Hayashi has been a Director since 2004, and served as a surgical consultant to NORCAL’s Claims Advisory Committee from 1996 to 2015. He has retired from practice as a vascular surgeon in Santa Clara County after 34 years. He served as Chair of the Department of Surgery and Chair of Cardiovascular Services at Good Samaritan Hospital. He has also served as a Councilor to the Northern California Vascular Surgery Society.

M. Diane Koken, JD
Legal Consultant

Ms. Koken has been a Director since 2009. She has been an attorney and insurance professional for more than 40 years, and served as the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner from 1997 to 2007. She was President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners from September 2004 through December 2005. Ms. Koken is currently a consultant and Director of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Capital BlueCross, The Hershey Company, and Hershey Trust Company. She is a past member of the Advisory Board for the American College Center for Ethics in Financial Services.

Rebecca J. Patchin, MD
Anesthesiology

Dr. Patchin has been a Director since 2011. She retired from practice as an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist in Riverside-San Bernardino counties after 22 years. She served on the American Medical Association Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2011 and as Chair from 2009 to 2010. Dr. Patchin served as Chair of The Joint Commission (2013 and 2014) and also served as Secretary and Treasurer. She also served as Chair of the Center for Transforming Health Care.

Scott C. Syphax
CEO, Syphax Strategic Inc.

Mr. Syphax has been the CEO of Syphax Strategic Inc., a management consulting and business development firm focused on the real estate development and community finance sector since 2017 and serves as chairman of Nehemiah Corporation of America, a community development corporation in Sacramento, California since 2011. He previously also held the position of chief executive officer of Nehemiah Corporation of America and its affiliates from 2001 to 2016. Mr. Syphax was a manager of public affairs for Eli Lilly & Company and Associate Director of the California Medical Association.