John H. Austin M.D. -- 1944 to 2009

The untimely death of Dr. John Austin is a major loss for our small community of Boulder, Utah and for our Boulder Community Foundation (BCF) of which John and his wife, Jacqui Smalley, were major benefactors.

John and Jacqui had just completed construction of a home on their Boulder Creek Canyon Ranch (www.bccranch.com) and were literally in the process of moving from Oakland, CA to Boulder, UT, where John has been coming since he was 16 years old.

Jacqui has just recently joined the BCF Board of Directors and has been looking forward to living in Boulder and working closely with our community nonprofit organization. At Jacqui’s request, anyone wishing to offer expressions of sympathy can do so by donating to:

Boulder Community Foundation

PO Box 1351

Boulder, UT 84716

Dr. John Austin -- Conservationist

Aside from his commitment to medicine and offering medical services to underserved areas, John’s passion was focused on his Boulder Creek Canyon Ranch and his recent work in getting the ranch placed under conservation easement. Ultimately encompassing about 400 acres, John preserved one of the most historic and pristine ranches in this part of Utah.

John and Jacqui lovingly restored the ranch, including two historic barns which were shored up and restored as closely as possible to original condition. Touring the barns is a wonderful step back in time.

Boulder Creek, the primary tributary flowing off Boulder Mountain, traverses the entire length of the ranch. Due to the importance of this stream, the soils and the historic nature of the ranch, The Nature Conservancy of Utah stewarded the project through the process and the necessary fund raising steps. The ranch is now preserved in perpetuity as an organic working ranch with additional protections for the fishery and native habitat. It will never be divided or developed and will forever remain a keystone property in Boulder beginning in the mouth of Boulder Creek Canyon on the north and bordering All American Highway 12 on the south. (USDOT designation.) For more information, see Nature Conservancy press release link: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/utah/press/press2401.html

For further information, please contact Curtis Oberhansly, 435-335-7434 or Peg Smith, 435-335-7481.

Garfield County (Utah) Insider by Peg Smith

Some pass through the veil with a small sigh and a slight shuffling of the cosmic furniture. The sudden passing of John Austin, of Boulder, UT, and Susan Jordan, of Ukiah, CA, was a thunderclap, followed by the long, low rumbling of the cosmos pouring into a major void.

John H. Austin, M.D., ranch owner, pilot, prodigious businessman, and new retiree, died on May 29 along with a longtime friend, Susan Jordan, as they spent their last moments here doing two things both loved doing: flying and touring through spectacular canyon scenery. John’s wife, Jacqui Smalley, and Susan’s husband, Ronnie Wong, were waiting for their return at the Boulder ranch when they received the devastating news of the plane crash. Susan, a prominent L.A. attorney and also a pilot, had flown the couple’s Mooney from L.A. to the Bryce Valley airport to spend a week with John and Jacqui.

The plane John and Susan were flying in Friday morning, a two-seater Storch, was a plane John had procured years earlier for the purpose of locating straying cattle and sightseeing through the area. Unlike his Cessna, which John and Jacqui used to commute from Oakland to Boulder, the Storch was strictly a touring plane, specifically intended for low, slow flight. While John’s occasional Storch tours over the Boulder area raised a few eyebrows, those who have been on the receiving end of such a tour are forever grateful and in awe of that spectacular perspective. John was a careful pilot, meticulous in his care of the plane and his passengers. He welcomed any opportunity to take a visitor or a resident up for a ride, in either plane. In years past, John took schoolchildren on short plane tours as rewards for their schoolwork---a memorable part of Boulder childhood for many now-adults.

After his mother bought the house on Hwy 12, John has been coming to Boulder since he was 16 years old, spending summers riding, swimming, exploring, and working on various local ranches. In 2003, he acquired what is now Boulder Creek Canyon Ranch, originally part of the old Haws ranch, and put the 300-acre parcel under conservation easement, enabling the continuation of a working ranch while protecting the land from future development.

Although saving the viewshed of that incredible Boulder property was in itself a great gift to all of Boulder, John’s accomplishments and generosity extend far beyond. For years, John and Jacqui have sponsored a Libri grant to the Boulder Community Library for acquisition of new children’s books. They founded the Boulder-Escalante Scholarship Foundation in 2005, which has helped fund college educations for several area graduates. Last winter, John bought flu vaccine for whomever wanted to get flu shots locally, and he and Chyleen Mackay, an R.N. inoculated a small line-up of people. John and Jacqui were generous supporters of the nascent Boulder Community Alliance, a local nonprofit group that sponsors a wide range of community projects. And besides financial generosity, John would be the first to volunteer his time, his expertise, or his equipment whenever someone had a need. He wasn’t a person to hold back if he thought he could render assistance, and with his plane, his medical background, and his connections, he often did that, quietly and privately, for more people than most of us will ever be aware of. He was so much looking forward to his retirement, living in his new house with Jacqui, working on and managing his ranch, and getting even more involved in local projects.

To see John working around his ranch or chatting with neighbors, one would never imagine his “other self” as a high-powered Oakland businessman, working in the highest echelons of the medical insurance industry. John was founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Medical Officer of Arcadian Management Services in Oakland. Prior to founding Arcadian, John had occupied executive positions with many other medical-related businesses, including President and CEO of UniMed, a physician management company based in Southern California; Executive Vice President for Health Plan of America, a California HMO; Chief Operating Officer of HealthAmerica a Nashville-based HMO; Chairman of the Board and current Board member of Coventry Health Care. He received his M.D. degree from the University of California in San Francisco, in 1970, a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University in 1972, and was Board Certified in Internal Medicine.

To say John Austin’s departure leaves a void is such an understatement. Part of the grief is knowing that people who barely knew him will now never get the chance to know him better.

Plane Crash Claims Arcadian's Chairman and Founder, John H. Austin M.D.

OAKLAND, Calif., May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- John H. Austin, M.D., founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Medical Officer of Arcadian Management Services, was killed in an airplane accident on May 29th, 2009.

Dr. Austin's legacy includes leading Arcadian Management Services, a provider of high-quality, cost-effective administrative infrastructure and management services to health care provider groups, hospitals and health plans, which he founded in 1996. In 2005, he grew the company to offer Arcadian Health Plan, a contracted Medicare Advantage health plan. Through state or locally-branded health plans, the plan offers Medicare health plan options to Medicare beneficiaries who reside in secondary metropolitan and non-urban communities. With over 46,000 members in 11 states, Arcadian Health Plan continues to live his vision to serve the health care needs of traditionally under-served members of rural communities in a high quality and cost efficient manner.

"John passionately believed in the critical mission Arcadian provides to all of our members - that is to provide quality healthcare services to the underserved populations in many of our country's most needed rural areas. It is through his vision, diligence and commitment to this mission that has brought Arcadian to where it is today. His background as a physician, spirit of compassion and critical focus on providing further opportunities to medical choices for our members serve as his remarkable legacy. We are all deeply saddened by his passing and will carry on his mission in testament to him because we are committed to serving our members and clients with respect and care," states Robert Fahlman, Chief Executive Officer of Arcadian.

Prior to founding Arcadian, Dr. Austin was President and CEO of UniMed, a physician management company based in Southern California. From 1987 until 1992, Dr. Austin was Executive Vice President for Health Plan of America, a California HMO. From 1982 until 1987, he was with HealthAmerica a Nashville based HMO with over one million members, ultimately, as Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Austin was the Chairman of the Board of Coventry Health Care until January 1, 2005, a public managed care company with over 2 million members and $7 billion in revenues, and most currently was a Coventry Board member. Dr. Austin received his M.D. degree from the University of California in San Francisco, in 1970, a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University in 1972, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.