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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; As her last day on the job approaches, Denise Cesare is already thinking about what she will do next.</p><p>One thing is for sure, she will not retire.</p><p>Cesare, who has worked at Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania for 35 years, will no longer occupy the big office on the 9th floor of the building on North Main Street. The office, in fact, is nearly vacant. Boxes are stacked around the room, filled with 35 years of memories, hard work and seminal moments of her life and career.</p><p>As of June 1, Highmark is now in charge in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Cesare&#8217;s last day will be Aug. 1. It&#8217;s a day she is not looking forward to.</p><p>It will be a huge transition for Cesare. Yes, she received a generous severance package that has been reported. Financially, she will not be hurting. People can criticize her for that, but the fact is she ran the company for years and worked there for 35 years.</p><p>Cesare has spent most of her adult life at Blue Cross. She was married while working there. Her children grew up while she was there. She has seen mostly the same people every day for all those years.</p><p>&#8220;A huge piece of my life will be removed when I leave here,&#8221; she said.</p><p>And no matter what your feelings are about the state and cost of health care in this country, Cesare said she is proud of her accomplishments and those of her company. She has always identified with the mission of Blue Cross, she said. And that is, to help people.</p><p>&#8220;And the 700-plus people working in this building truly do care about people,&#8221; she said.</p><p><strong>Healthcare issues</strong></p><p>Cesare says health care is in dire need of improvement. She said the discussions of today are remarkably similar to the same discussions professionals had 35 years ago. She said the struggle remains to make health care better.</p><p>Health care has gotten bigger, much bigger. The Blue Cross/Highmark deal proves that out. Blue Cross has 700-plus employees; Highmark has 38,000 workers.</p><p>Cesare said she worked hard to preserve jobs at Blue Cross. She said the 550,000 subscribers can expect a better deal over time. She said the reality was her company couldn&#8217;t get any bigger.</p><p>Cesare and Blue Cross played a major role &#8212; $100 million &#8212; in the establishment of The Commonwealth Medical College. She said the goal was to create the school to bring new professionals to the region and to graduate physicians who will replenish the physician pool that is aging in this area.</p><p>Blue Cross also provided seed money for Volunteers in Medicine, a clinic for those who are under-insured or who have no insurance.</p><p>Two new charitable organizations &#8212; AllOne Foundation and AllOne Charities &#8212; will continue, Cesare said. AllOne Foundation will receive $60 million; AllOne Charities $10 million; and AllOne Health Resources $20 million.</p><p>These organizations are separate entities from, and are not affiliated with, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cesare said.</p><p>The former Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania has been dissolved. It was established in 2002 to invest in health education and prevention initiatives that produced measurable health improvements and helped manage long-term health costs for the residents of northeastern and north central Pennsylvania.</p><p>Between 2002 and its sunset earlier this year, the Blue Ribbon Foundation awarded more than $10.3 million in grant funding to nearly 200 non-profits to help meet the health and wellness needs of more than 195,000 at-risk individuals.</p><p>So now, as Cesare prepares to leave her position, she stated that health care standards have improved, as has the quality of care in the region. She said Northeastern Pennsylvania can now compare with nationally recognized standards. She credits the local health care systems, like Geisinger and Community Health Systems.</p><p><strong>Next chapter</strong></p><p>After Aug. 1, Cesare will catch up on her reading. She won&#8217;t be reading health care periodicals, at least not for a while. She hopes to spend some time at the New Jersey shore. And she will ponder her next career. She said it will probably be a business she will create.</p><p>Next time, Cesare won&#8217;t be working for anybody but herself.</p><p>With her office packed up, Cesare&#8217;s thoughts turned to her family, her husband and daughters and the many sacrifices made over the course of an impressive career.</p><p>The angels that were displayed on her window sills &#8212; gifts from close friends and associates &#8212; are packed away, but Cesare still feels their presence.</p><p>&#8220;God has been sitting on my shoulder,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL070915DeniseCesare1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Denise Cesare speaks about her time leading Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL070915DeniseCesare1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Denise Cesare speaks about her time leading Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Bill O&#8217;Boyle may be reached at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Departing NEPA Blue Cross executive Denise Cesare ready for next chapter