Up-and-coming leaders at healthcare provider organizations are passionate about improving their establishments from within. These individuals are advancing patient safety, launching innovative initiatives, incorporating new technologies and more. Becker's is excited to honor these emerging leaders in healthcare, who are 40 years old or younger and are making a difference at their provider organizations.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included leaders or healthcare provider organizations. Leaders cannot pay for inclusion on this list. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order. We extend a special thank you to Rhoda Weiss for her contributions to this list.
Thanks to a high volume of nominations this year, we will be releasing multiple categories for this list. Please also refer to our hospital and health system and vendor rising stars lists.
Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments.
Jacques Ambrose, MD. Senior Medical Director of ColumbiaDoctors, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York City). As senior medical director, Dr. Ambrose manages 100-plus clinicians across 16 subspecialty mental health programs. ColumbiaDoctors Psychiatry sees over 100,000 annual clinical encounters across four ambulatory sites and generates $35 million in annual revenue. Dr. Ambrose has helped to address the post-pandemic mental health crisis via three additional clinical programs in treatment-refractory mood disorders. He also launched a wellbeing initiative that greatly decreased physician turnover rates. As a person of color, Dr. Ambrose is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, leading him to establish the Clinical Health Justice Consortium at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Kyle Asay. Director of Strategic Initiatives and the Project Management Office at Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. In his role as director of strategic initiatives and the project management office, Mr. Asay manages the organization’s overarching strategy, including it's five-year plan and 16 growth initiatives. He leads a team that implements a portfolio of innovative projects at Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley. Mr. Asay also leads the project management office, where he is responsible for standardizing processes and enhancing efficiency. During his tenure at Stanford, he established the Stanford Medicine Catalyst, a $10 million internal innovation accelerator, and supported the Stanford Transition Strategy team to open the $2.3 billion New Stanford (Calif.) Hospital in 2019. He has managed a portfolio of 30 growth projects throughout Stanford Medicine.
Ashley Ballah. Director of North Central Emergency Management Services at Fisher-Titus Medical Center (Norwalk, Ohio). Ms. Ballah directs North Central Emergency Management Services, a non-profit ambulance company owned and operated by Fisher-Titus Health. She handles day-to-day operations, including the oversight of six locations and 55 staff members. She maintains operational and financial systems and controls to ensure efficiency while also owning staff recruitment and retention. She has led the company into positive margins year over year after 2019, updated subsidy contracts, and partnered with new townships. In 2020, Ms. Ballah received the President’s Award for Fisher-Titus Medical Center, which recognizes a team member who makes significant contributions to the organization.
Christina Bell. Senior Director of Telehealth and Digital Patient Experience at Pediatrix Medical Group (Sunrise, Fla.). Ms. Bell's responsibilities span several different service lines at Pediatrix. She defines, creates and implements programs with clinical, operational and technology leaders to enable the remote delivery of specialty care for women, children and babies. She has implemented and standardized a telehealth platform for over 65 ambulatory practices across the U.S., blended and collaborated with cross department groups at Pediatrix, developed new digital care service lines, curated analysis of the patient experience and created more oversight in the telehealth department. She has more than 20 years of industry experience in digital development and planning. She is also patient about diversity, equity and inclusion in healthcare and the intersection of technology and access.
Kyle E. Benoit. Senior Vice President and COO of Riverside Healthcare (Kankakee, Ill.). Mr. Benoit was appointed senior vice president and COO of Riverside Healthcare in 2019, and originally joined the organization in 2014. In his role, he provides strategic leadership and oversight for the hospital's operations, with directors of cardiac services, facilities and engineering, and Riverside Medical Group cardiology, orthopedics, neurosciences and surgical services reporting to him. In addition, Mr. Benoir serves as a board member for Bishop McNamara Catholic School and the United Way of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties.
Stewart M. Benton Jr., MD. System Director for Interventional Cardiology and Director of PCI Quality and Outcomes at WellSpan Health (York, Pa.) and Medical Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at York (Pa.) Hospital. Dr. Benton, an internationally renowned cardiologist, serves as system director for interventional cardiology for WellSpan Health. In this role, he oversees five hospitals offering interventional cardiology services. He is also director of PCI Quality and Outcomes for the system, where he works to standardize multiple care pathways to enhance patient outcomes. Additionally, he is the medical director of York Hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory, which is one of the highest volume labs in Pennsylvania annually.
Erik Blutinger, MD. Medical Director of the Community Paramedicine Program at Mount Sinai Health Partners (New York City). Alongside serving as an attending physician and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in New York City, Dr. Blutinger serves as the medical director of the Community Paramedicine Program at Mount Sinai Health Partners. He oversees the medical direction of a home care and digital health program, develops innovative clinical care protocols, manages all medical components of the program and much more. He often authors peer-reviewed journal articles as the primary author and presents at national conferences.
Jace Brady. Vice President of Operations at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital (Virginia Beach, Va.). Mr. Brady is responsible for day-to-day leadership and strategic development for clinical areas including surgical services, imaging and cardiac services at Sentara. He also has oversight over support services, including food services and security. His span of control includes over 500 employees systemwide. He is currently leading a $10 million construction project to grow the operating room suite, construct a new medical unit and a wound care center. Mr. Brady is the first vice president of operations that Sentara has hired, and in his first 180 days in the role, he executed over $500,000 in cost savings.
Caitlin Campbell. Director of Strategy and Operations at Allina Health (Minneapolis). Ms. Campbell has worked since 2020 to substantially grow Allina's Health Cancer Institute, growing the team to over 50 oncologists at eight locations and three comprehensive cancer centers. She also created unique multidisciplinary programs for breast cancer and skin cancer. She has also developed a culture of partnership and collaboration at Allina. She has encouraged her team to partner with those in other departments, taking advantage of individual strengths and expertise to navigate staffing and burnout challenges. Ms. Campbell has also led efforts to bring early cancer detection to underserved communities in the state. She has led efforts from mobile screenings and technology outreach to the use of data to ensure effective screening and outreach programs.
Stephanie Cepec. Clinical Human Resources Business Partner at Fisher-Titus Medical Center (Norwalk, Ohio). As the clinical human resources business partner at Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Ms. Cepec collaborates with colleagues on a variety of human resource functions, including employee relations, risk mitigation, employee engagement, policy and process improvement, onboarding and organizational/operational effectiveness. She partners with the clinical leaders to help them achieve organizational goals, strategy and business plans.
Shana Dacon-Pereira. Assistant Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Mount Sinai Health System (New York). Ms. Dacon-Pereira's role as assistant vice president of diversity and inclusion at Mount Sinai places her in charge of leading organizational initiatives to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, eliminating patient care disparities and addressing healthcare inequities. Efforts she leads include recruitment initiatives, cultural competency training and advocacy for inclusive policy. During her time with Mount Sinai, Ms. Dacon-Pereira has been instrumental in the organization's implementation of their Road Map for Action program, a framework for combating health disparities and racism in healthcare. The program involves recruiting and training underrepresented staff and faculty, forming partnerships to accelerate anti-racism efforts in hospitals, and promoting innovative approaches to tackling structural racism.
Jennifer DeFrancesco. Associate Director and COO of Dayton (Ohio) VA Medical Center. Ms. DeFrancesco oversees all organizational operations as associate director and COO of the Dayton VA Medical Center. She is also responsible for operations of the organization's four community based clinics in Ohio and Indiana, which comprise over 2,500 employees. She oversees and manages the execution of a $630 million budget as well as operation service lines including fiscal, engineering, healthcare technology management, police, nutrition and food, prosthetics, patient business, pharmacy and strategic planning. Her accomplishments with the medical center include establishing an inpatient rounding team, increasing patient experience from the fourth to the first quintile, and supporting the procurement and use of AI for clinical applications. In addition to her position at Dayton, Ms. DeFrancesco also holds various council and board leadership roles, where she advocates for health equity, women's leadership, inclusive career development and more. Previously, Ms. DeFrancesco served as interim medical center director and CEO of VA Northern Indiana Health Care System.
Loubens Delice. Administrator of Neuroscience and Orthopedic Service Line at West Virginia University Medicine East (Morgantown). Mr. Loubens is responsible for driving strategic growth and development within WVU's orthopedic service line, creating regional centers of excellence and value across the care continuum. He is responsible for clinical integration, supply chain, best practices, decision making and analytics and clinical, operation and financial data management. He has started up multi-disciplinary practice groups, managed physician recruitment, contract negotiations, multi-million dollar capital projects and increased visibility for growth. He also played a pivotal role in advancing operational efficiency for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. He also has a nursing degree and is dedicated to working alongside other nurses to provide hands-on care.
Joanna Fazio. Vice President and Administrator of Inova Children’s Hospital and Inova Pediatric Service Line (Falls Church, Va.). Ms. Fazio has served as the vice president and administrator of Inova L.J. Murphy Children’s Hospital and the Inova pediatric service line since 2017, leading Northern Virginia’s only dedicated children’s hospital. She is responsible for the operational, strategic and executive leadership of both the hospital and the service line, which entails managing over 1,500 team members. Her leadership has led to HCAHPS scores in the 97th percentile nationally, the establishment of Inova Children's Sleep Center, an expanded outpatient specialty footprint at the children's hospital, and more.
Mariana Volpini Gattegno. Assistant Vice President of Quality and Safety at Wellstar Cobb Medical Center (Atlanta). Ms. Gattegno is responsible for quality and safety operations at the 372-bed acute care hospital. She is responsible for developing a vision and executing a plan to attain quality and safety across the hospital and all of its departments. She partners with external organizations to maintain regulatory compliance and best practice efforts at the system. She also focuses on opportunities to optimize performance, build internal competencies and create more rigorous approaches to quality and safety. Ms. Gattegno led the Wellstar system to receive the 2022 Georgia Oglethorpe Award. She also founded her own solutions company that uses AI to monitor the integrity of central line dressings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led an incident command center for a major Atlanta-based hospital system, ensuring accurate metrics tracking and reporting.
Alexander Gill. Senior Director of Strategic Services at Children's Mercy (Kansas City). Mr. Gill is responsible for strategic, operational and planning initiatives at Children's Mercy. He focuses on advancing the organization's overall strategic direction, providing support in operations, development, direction, communication, advocacy, research, innovation and more. He joined the practice management team at Children's Mercy in 2018, beginning his tenure on the medical administration team. By his third year, he expanded his responsibilities before pivoting to the senior director role. He has a diverse background, previously working in for-profit and not-for-profit health systems. He has been in both academic and private settings, small and large systems, acute care and long-term facilities, physician practice management and strategic services.
Ellie Hallen. Director of Population Health and Operations at Allina Health (Minneapolis). Ms. Hallen is a leader in population health for Allina and the communities it serves. She is dedicated to making healthcare safer, more accessible, more patient-friendly and more inclusive for patients and employees. She is also a pioneer of value-based care, focused on improving health rather than treating illness. She emphasizes preventive care to reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits, manages chronic diseases, improves care transitions, addresses health-related social needs, expands access to mental health care and ensures equitable care delivery.
Courtney Hicks, MD. Internal Medicine Residency Program Director of Unity Health Hospital (Searcy, Ark.). As the internal medicine residency program director, Dr. Hicks, a practicing infectious disease physician, oversees the education and training of 34 internal medicine residents at Unity Health Hospital. In addition to her treatment of infectious disease patients across Unity's hospital and clinic system and supervising residents, Dr. Hicks co-chairs the antimicrobial stewardship committee alongside Unity's infectious disease pharmacist. She also participates in the infection control committee, where she identifies and develops strategies for the prevention of infection and antimicrobial resistance across the hospital system.
Sister Marie Josepha Kluczny. Vice President of Mission and Ministry at Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, Oklah.). Ms. Kluczny is a certified nurse midwife in addition to serving as Saint Francis' VP of mission and ministry. She is responsible for ensuring the organization's continued dedication to the mission. She provides leadership and direction in mission integration and format and ensures awareness of compliance with the ethical and religious directives of the Catholic church. She works on staff orientation, education and advancement of the system's mission-driven approach to operations. Over the last few years, she has reimagined the way St. Francis' Catholic identity is presented to new and potential employees. She has also developed staff educational tools for continuous development and improvement. At age 39, she is the youngest member of the executive leadership team at St. Francis.
Mallory Koshiol. Vice President of Safety and Quality at Allina Health (Minneapolis). Ms. Koshiol oversees Allina Health's safety and quality team, where she is responsible for driving collaboration across the organization while developing and executing strategic plans in line with the organization's mission and values. She is also responsible for the evaluation of quality and performance improvement methodologies and recommendations for their use. Ms. Koshiol offers strategic direction and infrastructure in areas of patient and employee safety, occupational health, infection prevention and medical staff quality. Her accomplishments at Allina include leading her team through training 90 percent of employees in high reliability principles, the oversight of a new safety event review process, and implementing leader and individual safety skills among employees which resulted in a 52 percent reduction in serious safety events.
Hans Van Lancker, MD. Network Chief of Orthopaedics at Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance. Dr. Van Lancker serves as chief of orthopaedic surgery at Cambridge Health Alliance, where he oversees patient care delivery and leads the department's efforts to enhance throughput, volume and patient satisfaction. He is passionate about transforming the healthcare model for hospitals by broadly implementing protocolized care, hospital-at-home, and creative staffing methods. Through this, he aims to turn struggling community and rural hospitals into thriving bulwarks for healthcare.
Holly Lassere. Director of Marketing and Communications at East Jefferson General Hospital (Metairie, La.). In her role as director of marketing and communications at East Jefferson General Hospital, Ms. Lassere directs hospitalwide marketing plans and initiatives to help grow the hospital's market presence, disseminate internal and external communications, grow community outreach, and maintain a digital and social media presence. As the hospital is part of New Orleans-based LCMC Health, she works closely with the LCMC Health marketing and communications team.
Shawn Lee. Associate Director of Operations at the Central Billing Office for FPA Administration at Mount Sinai Hospital (New York). Mr. Lee's responsibilities as director of operations at Mount Sinai Hospital include overseeing the accounts receivable team on the legacy system, managing contracting reimbursement, acting as a liaison to the managed care contracting team and serving as an advocate for employee diversity to enhance department morale and inclusiveness. By implementing a workflow to identify and correct system errors, Mr. Lee has successfully increased underpayment collections from the contract reimbursement team by 25 percent. Additionally, he played a significant role in launching GOALS, an initiative to foster career advancement, mentorship and overall well-being for Black males within Mount Sinai. Mr. Lee also co-leads the Heritage of Latinx Alliance Employee Resource Group and is co-author of the Road Map for Action Bulletin newsletter at Mount Sinai.
Giancarlo Lyle-Edrosolo, DNP, RN. Chief Nursing Officer/Vice President of Nursing at Advocate Christ Medical Center (Oak Lawn, Ill.). Dr. Lyle-Edrosolo leads a team of over 2,000 nurses and 1,000-plus allied health professionals at Advocate Christ Medical Center, a teaching institution and one of the busiest trauma centers in Illinois. He is responsible for the strategic leadership of professional nursing practice at Christ, an 802-bed acute care, four-time Magnet recognized hospital. He also oversees operations for all inpatient units, emergency services, and women’s health services. Dr. Lyle-Edrosolo participated in a state-wide task force to address racism in nursing and healthcare, which created a toolkit for addressing systemic racism in healthcare in 2021.
Sara Mathew. Associate Director of Research and Operations Administration at Weill Cornell Medicine (New York City). Ms. Mathew directs the portfolio of research, clinical trials and grants for Cornell's department of surgery. She also leads operations, regulatory and strategic components for the pediatric trauma center and the burn center at Weill Cornell Medical Center. She has experience in healthcare administration, clinical and research personnel, budgeting, process improvement, physician practice development, digital marketing and revenue cycle optimization. In 2016, she created New York Presbyterian's ACS verified Level I adult and pediatric trauma and burn centers. In her role, she has also created a referral partnership between the health system, schools and veteran organizations.
Katherine McColskey. Vice President of Revenue Compliance and Alignment at HCA San Antonio Division (Nashville, Tenn.). Ms. McColskey leads multiple revenue teams in HCA's San Antonio in her role as vice president of revenue compliance and alignment. These teams include transplant finance, cardiac catheterization lab charging, denial prevention, revenue integrity, trauma charging, NICU level charging, chargemaster compliance and NCD/LCD compliance. Under her leadership, her department has ranked one of the highest in the system for employee engagement at 93 percent. She has succeeded in reaching top metrics for revenue in key indicators such as charge capture rate, denials reduction rate, NICU leveling accuracy and overall compliance metrics at the company. Ms. McColskey has spent 10 years with HCA, and previously served as director of denial prevention for the system's San Antonio Division.
Cassandra McDonald. Director of Patient Access at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (Reno, Nev.). As director of patient access, Ms. McDonald is responsible for all teams that have the first point of contact with patients at Saint Mary's. She ensures efficient flows, positive experiences for patients, as well as accurate data collection to aid in the revenue cycle. Additionally, Ms. McDonald mentors front-line teams in creating excellent patient experience as well as educates her teams and patients on the healthcare process, guiding patients to programs and resources in the community which assist in care and finance obligations. She is a regular collaborator with the patient accounting team, ensuring financial aspects of patient care flow smoothly and effectively with minimum patient burden. Ms. McDonald has also assisted in maintaining relationships with other Prime Healthcare organizations to guide them through system go-lives, staffing issues, process review and site visits. She has held multiple positions within the hospital system over the years, with her most previous role being patient access manager.
Richard Menger, MD. Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of South Alabama (Mobile). Dr. Menger has built the University of South Alabama's complex spine program from scratch, implementing best practice guidelines and pathways of care for the university. He is also responsible for running a clinical practice, setting up academic research, clinical pathways for spine care delivery, a research and teaching program for orthopedic residences and a team of physicians assistants and nurse practitioners. He is also a battalion surgeon for the U.S. Navy. His pediatric and adult spinal deformity practice performs over 350 surgeries per year.
Michael Messina, MD. Section Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery and Medical Director of Orthopaedic Surgery and Total Joint Program at Phoenixville (Pennsylvania) Hospital. Dr. Messina is both chief of surgery and medical director of orthopedic surgery at Phoenixville Hospital's total joint program. In his role, he oversees quality and safety within the orthopedic program and is an active participant in its Joint Commision review. In addition, Dr. Messina works with other joint replacement surgeons in developing improved protocol for care teams and patients. As section chief, he leads annual symposiums covering the latest advances in orthopedic surgery for both clinical team and community education. Currently, he is president-elect for the 506 member Phoenixville Hospital Medical Staff, and will provide executive leadership and guide physicians in best practices across the organization once he assumes the role.
Amit Patel, MD. CEO of Summit Spine & Joint Center (Lawrenceville, Ga.). Dr. Patel is an interventional pain physician with experience in treating degenerative conditions of the spine, multiple arthritic conditions, cancer pain and other chronic pain disorders. In 2014, he opened his practice, Summit Spine & Joint Center, which has since grown to 26 offices and 12 ambulatory surgery centers. Dr. Patel also serves as chief of pain management at Atlanta-based DeKalb Medical. He was recently selected for the Medtronic Emerging Leader program in the interventional pain field.
Anna Patrusheva. Administrative Director, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology of Boston Medical Center. Ms. Patrusheva has worked with BMC since 2018, and currently serves as the administrative director for the center's department of obstetrics and gynecology. Prior, she served as operations director of the department, a role in which she oversaw department financials, staff management, risk identification and mitigation, and the alignment of operations with the goals and values of BMC. Ms. Patrusheva has not only been instrumental in the promotion of high quality patient care at the center, but also diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the ASC space. She was instrumental in the development of the Ambulatory Leadership Acceleration Program, which aims to prepare BMC employees from underrepresented backgrounds for operations management roles, after her leadership of BMC's Ambulatory DEI Council proved successful. Before joining the obstetrics and gynecology department, Ms. Patrusheva served as operations manager of the department of radiology at BMC.
Davina Prabhu. Vice President of Ambulatory Care Operations and Division of Community and Population Health at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (New York City). Ms. Prabhu has served in her current role for seven years, focusing on strategic direction, leadership and operational management for outpatient primary care, specialty care and behavioral health across 46 sites. She also oversees 25 community programs for maternal health, reproductive health and more. She also leads the implementation of innovations and strategies for growth while enhancing operating performance and patient experience. She is also committed to diversity, equity and inclusion within the system. In 2021, she led a free-standing COVID-19 vaccination center to ensure equity in vaccine distribution. She is leading an initiative to partner with the communities New York Presbyterian serves to better serve patients and redesign care to promote overall equity.
Taylor Rhoades. Director of Operations, Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Diversity Officer of Mercy Ardmore (St. Louis). Mr. Rhoades supervises multiple departments within his oversight of Mercy Ardmore's cardiac catheterization lab. Additionally, he serves as the hospital's diversity officer. In his role, he has led the expansion of the organization's Pathway to Employment Program into Oklahoma City and Ada, Okla., and is currently leading efforts at Mercy Ardmore to provide leadership training with a focus on developmental disabilities. Mr. Rhoades is also chair of the diversity advancement council in addition to an active mentor in the organization's BIPOC mentoring program, which launched in 2023 and has seen high success in its first cohort.
Kara Roat. Digital Patient Care Manager of OSF Healthcare (Peoria, Ill.). As digital patient care manager, Ms. Roat leads the oversight of the many digital care programs offered through OSF Healthcare. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the digital care team, which includes medical office assistance, nurses and advanced care providers. In addition to working directly with her team Ms. Roat also collaborates with other departments, such as IT, in improving operational efficiency and solving problems. Her accomplishments with OSF have included the procurement of funding and support for a 24/7 digital program during the COVID-19 pandemic, the design and implementation of multiple programs to support the Medicaid population, and the implementation of a discharge program providing those at highest risk of readmission with education and access to a 24/7 care team. In addition to her role at OSF, Ms. Roat is a member of the Peoria Women in Leadership Group.
Ahmed Samad. CEO at Arkansas Surgery & Endoscopy Center (Pine Bluff, Ark.). Mr. Samad has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, managing and establishing surgery centers, clinics and ancillary services. He is currently the CEO for three healthcare companies and responsible for all strategic, business, development and financial performance for them. He is passionate about healthcare management and holds multiple credentials in the field. He is also a member of several societies, including the ASC Association and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Inderjeet Sandhu-Gay. Senior Vice President of Network Strategy and Development at WMCHealth (Valhalla, N.Y.). As senior vice president of network strategy and development at WMCHealth, Ms. Sandhu-Gay oversees the development and execution of strategic plans, business development and partnerships, and identification and prioritization of investments and initiatives across the organization's 1700-bed, nine-hospital network. She also oversees WMCHealth's partnerships with provider groups, local healthcare organizations and federally qualified health systems. Since her appointment to vice president in 2017, Ms. Sandhu-Gay played a leading role in preparing and launching a five-year network-wide strategic plan for WMCHealth, and led the development of the organization's Northern and Western regional plans to expand access, improve communication between sites and improve patient experience.
Lea Scopelliti. Director of Strategic Sourcing at The Guthrie Clinic (Sayre, Pa.). As director of strategic sourcing, Ms. Scopelliti is the central resource for designing and executing value-based cost savings across all areas of The Guthrie Clinic. During her tenure, she redesigned the clinical quality value analysis program, resulting in significant savings within the first six months alone. Her leadership of contract managers also led to cost savings within her first year.
Matthew Stripling. Foundation Director of Unity Health Hospital (Searcy, Ark.). Mr. Stripling oversees the development and implementation of Unity Health Hospital's fundraising strategies in his role as foundation director. He has been instrumental in bringing projects to support the New Life Center and the expansion of the Pyeatt Family Cancer Center to fruition. In addition, He is also a current member of the Searcy Rotary Club and a recent graduate of Leadership Searcy. Before joining Unity Health, Mr. Stripling served as executive director at the American Heart Association – Central Arkansas, and prior to that, senior director of rural health at the American Heart Association.
Roberta Tinch. President of Inova Mount Vernon Hospital (Alexandria, Va.) and Vice President and Administrator of Inova Musculoskeletal Service Line (Falls Church, Va.). Ms. Tinch oversees Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, a 237-bed acute care hospital, as well as orthopedic and rehabilitation services across the entirety of Inova Health System. Since joining Inova in 2019, she has developed the 32-bed Inova Critical Illness Hospital, helped expand the acute behavioral health program by 20 inpatient beds, developed partnerships with several community groups and much more. A seasoned healthcare executive, she brings nearly 15 years of hospital operations leadership experience to her roles.
Murat Uralkan. Director of Innovation at Houston (Texas) Methodist Center for Innovation. Mr. Uralkan is responsible for managing and expanding the digital innovation profile at Houston Methodist. He fosters a culture of innovation across Methodist's eight hospitals and 30,000 employees. He joined the system in 2018, serving as a key member in the launch of the innovation center. The group has since allowed the hospital to hyperdrive key innovation projects quickly and seamlessly, from IT projects to operational projects to clinical projects. Mr. Uralkan has also been instrumental in helping Houston Methodist plan and develop its "smart hospital of the future," its most technologically advanced and innovative center ever, opening in 2025.
Danielle Willis. CFO and Chief Administrative Officer at New Orleans East Hospital. Since 2016, when she became the hospital's first woman serving as CFO and chief administrative officer, Ms. Willis has produced strong outcomes in finance and strategic planning with the hospital, including its first year of profitability. Ms. Willis' ability to restructure the debt and reduce the balance of its line of credit by over 55 percent showcases her dedication to financial stability and long-term success. During the pandemic, she served as incident commander and executive lead for community testing and vaccination teams that reached thousands in the region. Her partnership with community groups, schools and housing authority resulted in an impactful, coordinated response to the pandemic and efforts that followed.
Yaolin Zhou, MD. Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Head of Molecular Pathology, Director of Quality and Test Utilization at ECU Health (Greenville, N.C.). Dr. Zhou is the only molecular pathologist in eastern North Carolina, providing her expertise to over 1.4 million patients. In 2020, she partnered with clinical colleagues to establish a healthsystem-wide initiative to reduce daily repeat lab tests, achieving a 15 to 25 percent reduction in unnecessary repeat daily testing throughout the system. She is also active as a teaching and clinical faculty member and a bioethics and quality improvement instructor. She is the only East Asian American woman in leadership throughout the system. She is passionate about achieving diversity, equity and inclusion systemwide. In 2023, she received a $250,000 industry-funded quality improvement grant to expand her molecular consultation services across practice in the 29-county North Carolina eastern region. She is using the grant to identify and address healthcare disparities in cancer care. She is a cancer survivor herself, and strives to bring quality and equitable cancer care to all patients.