WBG Advisory Board

The White Bear Group advisory board provides counsel, advice, contacts and professional skills and experiences that go well beyond that of the company management team. This select group of individuals are committed to delivering innovative ways to access, utilize and participate in the healthcare system.

John Miall
Miall Consulting

John Miall retired from the City of Asheville in 2005 after a 30 year career that spanned Human Resources, Benefits Management, and as Director of Risk Management. In 2000 he was name an "Honorary Member of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA.) In 2003 he received a "Benny Award" from Employee Benefit News for Outstanding Benefit Design." In 2004 he was named "Public Risk Manager Of The Year by The Public Risk and Insurance Management Association (PRIMA.)
As Director of Risk Management for The City of Asheville, Miall held major operational and budget responsibility for city-wide self-funded liability programs including $16million program for general, auto, public officials, law enforcement, and dams liability; $10 million annual group benefits program; $2million worker's compensation program; and four separate retirement programs, two of them self-funded and self-administered.
In 1997 John was one of a group of "visionaries" behind what became know as "The Asheville Project."

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Michael E. Puck, SPHR,
HR Executive and Corporate Health Coach

Michael Puck is the Head of Human Resources for a mid-size manufacturing company in Tennessee and has been appointed as strategic adviser by his corporate head office for the development of wellness and health care cost management initiatives for over 50,000 employees. Over the last 15 years Michael has worked as an HR Executive for small, mid-size, and large companies in Europe and the U.S.

An HR professional and economist by trade, Michael Puck has confronted the U.S. health care crisis first-hand. Through extensive research and hands-on experience, he has learned the secrets to applying economic principles to create practical solutions that cut costs and increase productivity beyond what most companies believe to be possible.

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James G. Blount, MD, CAQSM
Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine

Dr. Blount is founding partner of Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine. He teaches to family medicine residents as an Adjunct Clinical Faculty for the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also Medical Director for Impact Athletics and serves with his partners as providers of medical care for the Carolina Hurricanes, the Carolina Ballet, and USA Baseball.

Dr. Blount grew up in Edenton, NC, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his undergraduate training and then medical school at Wake Forest University. He completed his residency in family medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. He subsequently completed a fellowship in sports medicine through the Moses Cone Family Medicine program in Greensboro, NC; during which, he served as an assistant team physician for Elon University. Upon completion of his training, he moved to Cary, NC and became a founding partner of Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine. Dr. Blount serves as team physician for Green Hope High School.

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