Becker's Healthcare is pleased to announce the 26 recipients of the Becker's Healthcare 2015 Leadership Awards, which were presented at the 6th Annual Becker's Hospital Review Meeting in Chicago.
The awards recognize men and women who make remarkable contributions to not only the organizations they lead but also to the communities they serve and to the healthcare industry as a whole.
These leaders work at organizations of various sizes across the country. However, they all have demonstrated a range of talent, skill and passion in their work. We are delighted to honor them for their achievements and hope they serve as an inspiration to others.
Editors note: Becker's Healthcare received numerous nominations for the Leadership Awards. We appreciate the time and thought that went into each nomination, and all were considered by a panel of editorial team members and healthcare industry experts. Becker's Healthcare looks forward to highlighting exemplary careers in healthcare with annual Leadership Awards in years to come. Also, an * indicates the recipient received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nancy Howell Agee, RN. President and CEO of Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.). Carilion is a nonprofit care organization based in Roanoke, Va., that works to provide quality, accessible care for more than 1 million people. In 2013, Carilion spent more than $138 million to benefit the community through uncompensated care, education, research and outreach. Beginning as a hospital volunteer, Ms. Agee's career has taken her from nursing positions to many levels of healthcare management and administration. She was appointed vice president of Carilion Clinic in 1996 and in the subsequent years she served as COO and vice president of medical education as well.
While serving as executive vice president and COO for Carilion, Ms. Agee took steps to reorganize the system, turning it into the patient-centered, physician-led clinic it is today. Ms. Agee oversees a multi-specialty physician group, eight hospitals, the Jefferson College of Health Sciences and a joint ventured medical school with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Ms. Agee currently serves as a board member for the American Hospital Association and for The Joint Commission, the preeminent organization for quality accreditation for hospitals and healthcare organizations worldwide.
A. Scott Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City). Mr. Anderson joined Intermountain Healthcare's board of trustees in 2005 and became chairman in 2012. Since then, he has been a vigorous advocate for improving patient care, both in terms of quality and accessibility, at the Salt Lake City-based nonprofit health system. Through his focus on new social responsibility initiatives and commitment to providing charity care for those in the community who are unable to pay, he has supported Intermountain Healthcare's transition from a fee-for-service model to more a progressive model that has proved more operationally and financially successful.
The results of his efforts are reflected in the 19 independent community clinics that Intermountain Healthcare supports, which cared for patients in more than 300,000 visits just last year. In 2013, clinics within the health system provided a total of $282 million in charity care in nearly 277,000 cases.
In addition to patient care, Mr. Anderson's leadership efforts at Intermountain Healthcare are aimed at improving quality of life and well-being for residents and the community itself. During his time as chairman, he has prioritized recycling programs, responsible supply chain sourcing practices and participation in clear-air alliances for the organization while improving transparency.
Mr. Anderson's financial experience has helped Intermountain Healthcare achieve the highest bond ratings of any nonprofit healthcare system. During his tenure on the board, net operating income has increased by 130 percent, operating earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization increased 112 percent, operating revenue increased 85 percent and total assets increased 115 percent.
In addition to his work with Intermountain Healthcare, Mr. Anderson serves as a board member for the Advocates for Improved Understanding of Addictive Diseases, Citizens for Education Excellence and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, among many others.
Ruth Brinkley. President and CEO of KentuckyOne Health (Louisville, Ky.). KentuckyOne Health, the largest healthcare system in its namesake state, is a product of the integration of three distinct health systems that account for more than 200 locations and 13,000 employees. Ms. Brinkley, the system's president and CEO since 2012, helped to successfully navigate the merger of Louisville-based Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare and Lexington, Ky.-based Saint Joseph Health System despite logistical and financial challenges. The result has been a more efficient system with a stronger focus on more innovative patient care.
Since its founding in 2012, KentuckyOne Health has set its sights on population health management and has introduced industry-leading initiatives in managing healthy lifestyle and telehealth services. Ms. Brinkley oversaw the launch and ongoing growth of the KentuckyOne Health Healthy Lifestyles Centers, which aid Kentuckians in rethinking their approach to health by offering education in holistic medicine and lifestyle changes alongside traditional clinical expertise. The system also formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital and its affiliated James Graham Brown Cancer Center in late 2012.
Prior to her work with KentuckyOne, Ms. Brinkley served as president and CEO of Tucson, Ariz.-based Carondelet Health Network for four years and as president and CEO of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Memorial Health Care System for five years. Ms. Brinkley also spent a portion of her career as senior vice president for performance management with Catholic Health Initiatives. Today, she is senior vice president of operations for Englewood, Colo.-based CHI, KentuckyOne's parent organization, and was recently appointed for a second term to the Advisory Board for Kynect, the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, considered one of the nation's leading state-run health insurance exchanges.
Sandra Bruce. President and CEO of Presence Health (Chicago). In 2011, Ms. Bruce successfully united the Chicago-based Resurrection Healthcare system, for which she served as CEO since 2008, with Provena Health to create Presence Health. She has announced her retirement as CEO of Presence Health at this end of this year, book-ending a career in healthcare leadership that spans more than four decades.
At age 29, she was appointed to her first CEO position at Berrien General Hospital in Berrien Center, Mich. She was not only the hospital's youngest CEO, but the first female CEO in its history. Following her time at Berrien, she served as CEO of Trinity Health's Saint Alphonsus Health System in Boise, Idaho, for 11 years and as president and CEO of Mercy General Health Partners in Muskegon, Mich.
Ms. Bruce has been a strong advocate for improving access to quality care for all during the course of her executive career. She is currently the chair-elect of the Illinois Hospital Association board of trustees and a member of the American Hospital Association's Equity of Care Council, and she has served in the past on the boards of the Illinois Catholic Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States. She is a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives.
Peter Butler. President and Chief Strategy Officer of Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). Mr. Butler has helped lead one of the largest health systems in Chicago since 2004, and most recently helped the organization launch its $1 billion Rush Transformation, a comprehensive renovation and construction project that brought a brand new, cutting-edge inpatient tower to Chicago's West Side.
In addition to serving as president and CSO for the Rush University Medical Center, Mr. Butler is an associate professor and chairman of the Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University, teaching courses in leadership development for hospitals and care centers. He has more than 25 years of experience as a healthcare executive and has been a leader in innovation at Rush.
Before joining Rush in 2002, he served as president and CEO of The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, as well as senior vice president and CAO at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He has also been on numerous American Hospital Association councils, including chairing the Section for Healthcare Systems Council. In 2008, he was appointed to a three-year term as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Mr. Butler has a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and a bachelor's degree from Amherst College. He previously served on the board of the Health Research and Educational Trust and on the boards of the Michigan Hospital Association and the Texas Hospital Association.
Ronald DePinho, MD. President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston). Dr. DePinho is internationally recognized research in cancer, aging and age-associated degenerative disorders. He became the fourth full-time president of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2011. Prior to joining MD Anderson, he spent 14 years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he was founding director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber, professor of genetics in the Department of Medicine at Harvard, and an American Cancer Society Research Professor. Previously, he held numerous faculty positions during 10 years at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Dr. DePinho's laboratory has produced an array of discoveries leading to better methods of early cancer detection, improved cancer patient care and new cancer drug development. The range of his research includes cancer drug and biomarker development, cancer gene discovery, stem cell biology and development of genetically engineered mouse models to study cancer in humans. In a series of key experiments, Dr. DePinho established the concept of "tumor maintenance," which has contributed to cancer drug development by guiding identification of new therapeutic points of attack, as well as novel biomarkers that measure a patient's response to a drug during a course of treatment.
In addition to his presidential duties at MD Anderson, Dr. DePinho remains an active scientist in his laboratory and in the new Institute for Applied Cancer Science. He has served on numerous advisory boards in public and private sectors, including co-chair of the National Cancer Institute's Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium and the National Institutes of Health's Cancer Genome Atlas Project. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Judy Faulkner. Founder and CEO of Epic (Verona, Wis.). Ms. Faulkner founded Epic Systems Corp., best known for its EHR systems, in 1979. She coded its original software, developed one of the world's first databases organized around a single-patient record and taught computer science for several years in the University of Wisconsin system.
Some of the nation's largest and most prestigious hospitals and health systems use Epic's EHR system, including Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, UCLA Health in Los Angeles, Arlington-based Texas Health Resources, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Duke University Health System in Raleigh, N.C. In total, Epic has more than 300 customers, and 70 percent of HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 hospitals use the EpicCare inpatient EHR system.
Ms. Faulkner graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., and earned her master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She recently pledged to give away 99 percent of her assets, which total $2.6 billion, as part of the Giving Pledge.
Larry Goodman, MD. CEO of Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). In addition to being a clinician, researcher, medical educator and CEO of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Dr. Goodman also serves as president of Rush University, president of the Rush System for Health and principal officer of the Rush board of trustees.
In 1998, Dr. Goodman became senior vice president for medical affairs at Rush University Medical Center and the Henry R. Russe Dean of Rush Medical College. Before that, he served as medical director of John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago.
As a specialist and researcher in infectious disease, particularly gastrointestinal infections in HIV-positive patients, Dr. Goodman has written articles for publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Also known for promoting innovation in medical education, he has a written extensively on curricula and how students select a specialty for residency training.
Howard Grant, MD. President and CEO of Lahey Health (Burlington, Mass.). As a physician, attorney and healthcare chief executive, Dr. Grant has influenced patient safety and superior clinical care for more than two decades at some of the nation's most preeminent healthcare institutions. He has been president and CEO of Lahey since 2010.
In May 2012, Lahey Clinic Foundation and Northeast Health System formed Lahey Health, a healthcare system comprised of hospitals, primary care providers, specialist physicians, behavioral health, and senior care resources and services throughout Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. As president and CEO of Lahey Health, Dr. Grant is building what is next in integrated healthcare: high-quality care that is personal, innovative and accessible.
Dr. Grant previously worked with Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., and had a long tenure at Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, where he served in a succession of leadership roles, including executive vice president for hospital operations, senior associate dean for clinical affairs and CMO.
He began his medical career at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where, in addition to serving as a staff pediatrician, he directed quality assurance, risk management and utilization management programs while developing and managing home care programs. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Physician Executives, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Trish Hannon. President and CEO of New England Baptist Hospital (Boston). Prior to joining New England Baptist in 2009, Ms. Hannon served as COO for Baystate Medical Center and senior vice president for healthcare operations for Springfield, Mass.--based Baystate Health, a $1.7 billion integrated care delivery system comprised of three hospitals, 1,200 physicians and 10,000 employees serving Western New England. Ms. Hannon has more than 35 years of experience in healthcare administration.
Since Ms. Hannon took the reins of the 120-year-old hospital in Boston, New England Baptist Hospital has refocused its mission as New England's only orthopedic specialty hospital focused on patients who suffer with musculoskeletal diseases and related disorders. It has been recognized as a top hospital for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report and has also achieved top performance in clinical quality reported by The Joint Commission, Premier and Healthgrades. New England Baptist was recently honored with the Press Ganey National Guardian of Excellence Award for top performance in patient satisfaction, for the seventh consecutive year.
Ms. Hannon is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association's board of trustees and serves as a board member for the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University. She has an extensive history of service to community organizations, including Reading for the Blind, School Volunteers for Literacy, and the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts. She was awarded the honor of Woman of Distinction for her leadership roles in nonprofit organizations.
Rodney Hochman, MD. President and CEO of Providence Health and Services (Renton, Wash.). Before serving as group president and now president and CEO of Providence, Dr. Hochman was president and CEO of Seattle-based Swedish Health Services.
In his five years at Swedish Health Services, Dr. Hochman and his team helped transform the organization. He strengthened the community safety net, created a strong culture of safety, reinvented the business model from a downtown hospital focus to a regional system of care and helped foster the partnership that would become Providence Health and Services.
Dr. Hochman previously served as executive vice president, CMO and senior vice president for Sentara Healthcare, a major medical system based in Norfolk, Va. Before joining Sentara, he held numerous executive-level positions during five years with the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and he spent nearly 10 years with Guthrie Healthcare System in Sayre, Pa.
In addition, Dr. Hochman is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is the recipient of the 2001 Physician Executive Award of Excellence and under his leadership Sentara Norfolk General Hospital won the American Hospital Association's Quest for Quality national award in 2002.
Michael Israel. President and CEO of Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.). Mr. Israel serves as the CEO and president of Westchester County Health Care Corporation and interim president and CEO of Westchester Medical Center Foundation Inc.
WMC is an 895-bed regional medical organization serving New York's Hudson Valley region and beyond, encompassing a regional academic medical center, children's hospital, community hospital, two inpatient behavioral health centers, homecare and numerous outpatient health and related services. Mr. Israel brings more than 35 years of healthcare experience to Westchester. Mr. Israel and his team have been credited with a significant financial turnaround of the region's lifeline to advanced care, providing high-quality specialty care to more than 120,000 children and adults annually.
Prior to his position at Westchester, Mr. Israel served as COO of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, N.Y., and vice president of Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System, where he was responsible for the system's 1124-bed university hospital, 218-bed regional hospital, 319-bed community hospital, infusion center, hospice and an affiliated county hospital. He held various administrative positions at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and The Texas Heart Institute at the Texas Medical Center and as an Independent Director of SRI Surgical Express Inc. until 2012.
He received a United States Public Health Services Fellowship from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on the boards of New York Medical College, Greater New York Hospital Association, Yale University School of Public Health Leadership Council and Westchester County Association.
Stephen Klasko, MD. President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System (Philadelphia). Prior to his 2013 appointment as president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System, Dr. Klasko served as dean of the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida and CEO of USF Health. Jefferson is the largest freestanding academic medical center in Philadelphia, with over 12,000 employees and 3,700 students.
He has served in various leadership positions at Drexel University in Philadelphia from 2000 to 2004, including dean of the College of Medicine, CEO of Drexel University Physicians, and professor of OB-GYN He was also president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Physician Group in Allentown, Pa., from 1996 to 1999.
Within the past few years, Dr. Klasko has been appointed as a trustee for the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology and is also a member of the board of trustees of Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network and Resurrection Health System in Chicago. He is the author of the book entitled: "The Phantom Stethoscope: A Field Manual For an Optimistic Future in Medicine," which has served as the basis for the first medical school curriculum in the country based on healthcare leadership and information technology.
Dr. Klasko has served on the faculties of the Governance Institute and the American College of Physician Executives and has served as board chair of Casa Guadalupe, a nationally recognized Latino healthcare organization, and was awarded an Alliance for Healthcare Strategy Award for his creation of "Spirit of Women," a grass-roots women's health marketing and health improvement program, now adopted by over 100 hospitals.
Kevin Lofton. CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives (Englewood, Colo.). As a long-time healthcare executive, Mr. Lofton's background includes top positions in public, university, community and faith-based hospitals. Prior to being appointed CEO for Catholic Health Initiatives in 2003, he served as CEO of the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, CEO of Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and COO of University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Fla.
Mr. Lofton served as the 2007 chairman of the American Hospital Association board of directors and chairman of the Committee on Nominations and the Equity of Care Committee. He is a fellow and former regent at large in the American College of Healthcare Executives and was president of the National Association of Health Services Executives from 1995-1997.
Mr. Lofton is a former member of the board of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, which is dedicated to increasing the diversity of the health professional and scientific workforce and addressing the primary healthcare needs of people of color and underserved populations. His background in top leadership positions in so many diverse organizations provides a unique perspective on the problems and challenges facing the nation's healthcare system.
In recognition of his outstanding leadership, innovation, and management accomplishments, Mr. Lofton has been named one of the nation's most influential people in healthcare, the 2006 National Diversity Healthcare Leader of the Year by the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and included in Ebony Magazine's 2007 list of the "150 Most Influential Blacks in America." Among his many awards, he received the ACHE Robert Hudgens Award as the Young Healthcare Executive of the Year in 1993 and received the Gold Medal Award from ACHE this year, the highest honor ACHE gives to individuals.
William B. Leaver. President and CEO of UnityPoint Health (West Des Moines, Iowa).* Mr. Leaver has served as CEO of UnityPoint Health, the fourth largest nondenominational health system in America, since 2008. UnityPoint entities have more than 24,000 employees and serve more than 4 millions patients per year. As one of the nation's most integrated health systems, UnityPoint Health provides care throughout Iowa and Illinois and has relationships with 29 hospitals in both metropolitan and rural communities and more than 200 physician clinics.
Prior to his UnityHealth appointment, Mr. Leaver was president and CEO of Rock Island, Ill.-based Trinity Regional Health System, which is an affiliate of UnityPoint Health. He also has served in several senior executive positions at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit. Mr. Leaver has more than 35 years of executive healthcare experience.
A member of many civic and professional associations, he is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He serves on the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois board of directors, Principal Charity Classic board of directors and the University of Michigan's Griffith Leadership Center Advisory Board. He is a member of the Iowa Business Council, Health Management Academy, Greater Des Moines Committee and Greater Des Moines Partnership Chair's Circle.
Mr. Leaver has plans to retire in January 2016.
Vivian Lee, PhD, MD. CEO of University of Utah Health Care (Salt Lake City). As senior vice president for health sciences at the University of Utah, dean of the University's School of Medicine and CEO of University of Utah Health Care, Dr. Lee is responsible for an annual budget of more than $2.4 billion. Her management responsibilities also extend to a healthcare system comprising four hospitals, numerous clinical and research specialty centers, a network of 10 neighborhood health centers, an insurance plan, over 1,330 board-certified physicians and five colleges.
She previously served as inaugural vice dean for science, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of New York University Medical Center. She has been awarded the Chang-Lin Tien Education Leadership Award, Polytechnic-NYU Innovator's Award, Dynamic Achiever Award from the Overseas Chinese Association, Pathfinder Award from the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce and has served as mentor for over 40 faculty, fellows, residents and students.
Dr. Lee has served as chair of the Medical Imaging National Institute of Health study section and is a fellow and past president of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed research publications, a popular textbook, and in 2005, 2011 and 2012, received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
She received a doctorate in medical engineering from Oxford College in Oxford, England, and a medical degree in radiology from Harvard Medical School in Boston.
John Lloyd. President and CEO of Meridian Health (Neptune, N.J.). Before becoming president and CEO of Meridian Health, one of New Jersey's leading nonprofit healthcare providers, Mr. Lloyd was president of Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune City, N.J.. In that role, he helped lead the merger of Jersey Shore with two other community hospitals, the Ocean Medical Center in Brick, N.J., and the Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, N.J. That merger now also encompasses the K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital and Meridian Partner Companies, which include home care and hospice services, skilled nursing, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facilities, ambulance services, physician practice management and support services, ambulatory care and occupational health services located throughout central New Jersey.
Under Mr. Lloyd's leadership, Meridian Health has grown and evolved into a nationally recognized healthcare leader with a special focus on clinical quality, nursing excellence, and innovative technology applications. Most recently, the medical centers of Meridian Health were rated by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services among the top three health systems in the state for clinical quality.
In 1998, Meridian Health was the first healthcare system in the nation to receive the prestigious Magnet Recognition for Nursing Excellence at each of its hospitals. Meridian has been named one of the top 100 "Most Wired" health systems in the U.S. for over eight years; one of the "Best Places to Work in New Jersey;" and in 2005, was one of only three healthcare organizations in the nation to receive the prestigious John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality, a national award bestowed by the Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum.
Mr. Lloyd serves as chairman of the New Jersey Hospital Association and also holds board and leadership positions at organizations such as the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, American Hospital Association, American College of Healthcare Executives and QualCare. In January 2009, Mr. Lloyd was recognized by the New Jersey Hospital Association as its Healthcare Professional of the Year.
Gene Michalski. CEO of Beaumont Health (Royal Oak, Mich.).* Mr. Michalski is the first president and CEO of Beaumont Health, a $3.8 billion nonprofit healthcare organization created through an affiliation of Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care and Oakwood Healthcare in 2014. Prior to his appointment as Beaumont's CEO, he served as executive vice president and COO of Beaumont Health System from 2006 to 2010, and as senior vice president and hospital director of Beaumont Hospital, Troy from 1997 to 2006.
Mr. Michalski has previously held the position of executive vice president and COO of Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, Ill., as well as a number of administrative posts at Beaumont including senior associate hospital director and associate hospital director
He received the American Hospital Association's Most Valuable PAC Player Award for 2011. He is a former recipient of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Health Care Leadership Award, was named a "Newsmaker Of The Year" by Crain's Detroit Business in 2014, among other national recognitions.
Mr. Michalski is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He currently serves as the delegate for the AHA Regional Policy Board Region 5, is a former member of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Executive Committee and board of trustees, and is a current member of the Greater Detroit Area Health Council Executive Committee and board of trustees, the Oakland County Michigan Medical Main Street board and the Detroit Regional Chamber board of directors.
Mr. Michalski has plans to retire later this year.
Jayne Pope, RN. CEO of Hill Country Memorial Hospital (Fredericksburg, Texas). As CEO of 86-bed Hill Country Memorial Hospital, Ms. Pope has implemented initiatives to improve staff ownership of key initiatives, resulting in empowered teams, improved patient outcomes and leadership development. She served in several major initiatives that led to full Joint Commission accreditation, Texas Nurse Friendly status and Chest Pain Center accreditation.
HCM has garnished a number of awards under Ms. Pope's leadership, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which was established by U.S. Congress in 1987 "to raise awareness of quality management and recognize U.S. companies that have implemented successful quality management systems." HCM earned the award in 2014. For at least the fourth year in a row, HCM was named one of the country's 100 Top Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics in 2015.
Prior to joining Hill Country, Ms. Pope served as CEO of clinic systems at a large network of clinics in Central Texas and as CNO and assistant vice president of nursing while at St. David's Georgetown (Texas) Hospital.
Richard Rothberger. Corporate Executive Vice President and CFO of Scripps Health (San Diego). As corporate executive vice president and CFO of Scripps Health, one of San Diego's largest healthcare systems, Mr. Rothberger is responsible for corporate finance, treasury, financial and capital planning, payer contracting, revenue cycle, supply chain, real estate and construction and financial operations for all operating entities within Scripps Health.
Since joining Scripps Health in 2001, he has orchestrated a $120 million financial turnaround from operations and positioned the organization for profitable growth moving forward. Prior to joining Scripps Mr. Rothberger served as senior vice president and CFO for Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, a division of Catholic Healthcare West, as well as various other senior management positions at Mercy including director of finance and director of management engineering. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Health Management Academy.
José Sánchez. President and CEO of Norwegian American Hospital (Chicago). Mr. Sánchez is Chicago's only Latino hospital CEO. In his work with NAH, he is dedicated to enhancing the quality of services provided to more than 112,000 patients annually.
In his more than 30-year career as a healthcare executive, he served as senior vice president of the Generations +/Northern Manhattan Health Network, one of the largest healthcare networks in the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., at which time he oversaw three acute care hospitals and 34 community-based health centers throughout New York City.
Mr. Sánchez is the architect of the Urban Health Conference, an annual forum that brings together more than 300 healthcare providers to focus on the disparities in healthcare for minority populations and strategies to eliminate them. He was named one of 24 appointees by former Gov. Pat Quinn to the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Coordination Council and the Budgeting for Results Commission in 2011. He serves as a board member for the Illinois Hospital Association, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and the City Club of Chicago, among other organizations.
John Jay Shannon, MD. CEO of Cook County Health & Hospitals System (Chicago, Ill.). The CCHHS board of directors unanimously appointed Dr. Shannon to the position of CEO in 2014. He served as the interim CEO for the previous three months, while continuing to serve in his previous position as chief of clinical integration. In that role, he organized CCHHS' resources to deliver better patient care, oversaw professional health education and helped strategically position the leadership team within the health system.
He previously served as executive vice president and CMO at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, director of the Adult Asthma clinic at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and as an associate chair of the Department of Medicine and chief of the Divisions of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, also at Stroger.
Dr. Shannon served on the executive board of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, now the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. He also served five years on the executive board of the Chicago Asthma Consortium. While in Dallas, he served for two years as a trustee of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Hospital Council.
Bernard Tyson. Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.). As chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, Mr. Tyson heads one of America's leading integrated healthcare providers and nonprofit health plans. With annual operating revenue of more than $56 billion, Kaiser Permanente serves more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. His career at Kaiser spans more than 30 years and a variety of levels of management, from hospital administrator to division president before becoming president and CEO.
As chairman and CEO, Tyson is dedicated to leading Kaiser Permanente and the healthcare industry to deliver greater affordability for members, consumers, employers and government agencies. He also has been a strong advocate for the elimination of healthcare disparities among individuals by promoting the use of aggregated data from members' EHRs to determine the most effective treatments for optimal clinical outcomes.
Mr. Tyson co-chairs the World Economic Forum's Health Governors Community and is chair of the Future of Healthy initiative. He serves on the board of directors of the American Heart Association and on the AHA's CEO Roundtable, and he recently completed service as chair of the Executive Leadership Council. He was awarded the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund's 2014 National Equal Justice Award.
Michael Ugwueke. President and COO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (Memphis, Tenn.). Mr. Ugwueke added the role of president of of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare to his title as COO in May 2014. Previously, Mr. Ugwueke served as senior vice president for Methodist North and South Hospitals and as administrator and CEO of Methodist South Hospital.
At Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Mokena, Ill., Mr. Ugwueke served as vice president of operations where he was responsible for a major upgrade of the imaging department that resulted in reduced lead-times, increased patient volumes, and enhanced physician relationships. He also co-led an emergency department improvement project that reduced wait times by 50 percent and substantially improved patient satisfaction scores.
For more than 25 years, Mr. Ugwueke has served in planning and operational leadership roles for healthcare organizations in Atlanta, Sarasota, Fla., Washington, D.C., and the Chicago area.
Richard Umbdenstock. President and CEO of American Hospital Association (Washington, D.C.).* Mr. Umbdenstock is president and CEO of the AHA, which leads, represents and serves more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other healthcare organizations, in addition to 43,000 individual members. Mr. Umbdenstock has experience in a variety of levels of hospital administration, including health system, association and HMO governance, management and integration, and healthcare governance consulting. He has written several books and articles for the healthcare board audience and has authored national survey reports for AHA, the Hospital Research & Educational Trust and the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Mr. Umbdenstock is vice chair of the National Quality Forum, an ACHE fellow and co-chair of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare Provider Council. He also serves on the National Priorities Partnership and the Center for Transforming Advanced Care Steering Committee.
Mr. Umbdenstock has plans to retire at the end of this year.
Robert Wolterman. CEO of Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans). Mr. Wolterman is CEO of Ochsner Medical Center, overseeing Ochsner's flagship hospital while maintaining administrative responsibility for the Ochsner Group Practice in New Orleans.
He has served in several other roles at Ochsner, including vice president of operations, director of New Orleans Satellite Operations, assistant vice president of cardiology and radiology and as vice president of clinical operations at Ochsner Medical Center. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO at Ochsner Baptist, Rob served as interim CEO of Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank.
Mr. Wolterman is currently a member of the executive board for the Boy Scouts of America Southeast Louisiana Council and is a member of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce. He also has volunteered at Children's Hospital and participated in local rebuilding efforts in the New Orleans area.