Dayton-based CareSource announced leadership promotions this week, appointing Deirdra “Dee” Yocum as Ohio market president and expanding David Thomas’s role to regional market president, CareSource said in its announcement via PR Newswire.
Yocum, who has spent 14 years serving members across the state, succeeds Thomas in the Ohio role, CareSource said. Thomas’s new role includes oversight of Ohio, New York and future markets, according to the announcement.
“David and Dee have each shaped CareSource’s work in important ways,” Scott Markovich, EVP, markets and products at CareSource, said in the CareSource announcement. “Dee has built programs and relationships that connect our members to care and support in their communities,” Markovich said in the announcement.
As Ohio market president, Yocum will lead CareSource strategy, operations and performance across the state, overseeing financial and operational results, government affairs and provider and community partnerships, CareSource said. She most recently served as chief operating officer for CareSource Ohio, where she led the teams behind CareSource Life Services and health and social partnerships, according to the announcement.
“I’ve had the privilege of working alongside a team that cares deeply about our members,” Yocum said in the CareSource announcement. “I’m honored to lead CareSource Ohio and to keep building on the relationships we’ve developed with partners across the state,” Yocum said in the announcement.
Thomas joined CareSource in July 2025 and previously served as Centene’s chief executive officer of markets and Medicaid and as president and CEO of Fidelis Care in New York, CareSource said. In his expanded role he will also oversee ElderServe and lead growth into new markets, according to the announcement. A separate regional expansion in the same announcement expands Steve Smitherman’s leadership to include Georgia and Mississippi, CareSource said.
CareSource is a nonprofit managed care organization headquartered in Dayton with over 2 million members, offering Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace and Medicare products, according to the company. For Ohio members and providers, the change keeps the Ohio market under a leader who has worked in the state for 14 years while Thomas takes the broader regional brief.
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