Becker's Healthcare is pleased to honor 66 healthcare leaders under 40 years old as rising stars in the industry.
Individuals on this list have achieved executive positions at hospitals and health systems across the country, founded companies and reached prominence within their organizations. Several are entrepreneurs and thought leaders in advancing patient outcomes and care management.
Many have been recognized for their innovative approach to patient care and health system improvement, overseeing crucial expansion projects and growing companies, departments and practices from the ground up. Keep an eye on the members of this list for the next generation of healthcare leaders.
Becker's accepted nominations for this list and selected leaders through an editorial review process. We asked nominations to be 40 years old or younger by April 1, 2019. The list includes Becker's Healthcare partners, but partners did not pay for inclusion on this list. If you have questions about this list, please contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.
To nominate for the 2020 Rising Stars list, click here.
Ann Allen. COO of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group (Oakland, Calif.). Ms. Allen leads over 1,200 Kaiser Permanente employees and 325 physicians at eight medical office buildings that are part of the Permanente Medical Group at the South San Francisco Medical Center. Under her leadership, the medical center was awarded the Kaiser Permanente Alan Whippy Award for Excellence in Patient Safety in 2018. She was among the top performers in Northern California for outpatient quality. Additionally, under Ms. Allen's leadership, the radiology department won the Kaiser Permanente Everyday Hero Award for outstanding patient service and quality.
Natasha Bhuyan, MD. West Coast Regional Medical Director and Family Physician at One Medical (San Francisco). Dr. Bhuyan leads clinical strategy and care delivery for One Medical, the largest independent primary care organization in the U.S. Within the next year, Dr. Bhuyan will expand One Medical into two more cities. She also serves as chair of the Arizona Care Network's Medicare Shared Savings Program board of managers.
Katrina Blissett. Clinical Informatics Training Coordinator at Jackson Health System (Miami). In her role, Ms. Blissett is a vital link between the health system's end users and those who build the EHR system. Ms. Blissett is responsible for training staff and coordinating user programs for the health system's EHR, which comprises over 10,000 employees. She also is vice president and secretary of the Miami chapter of the American Nursing Informatics Association.
Emily Brantley Roarty, PhD. Director of Research, Planning and Development at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) and Executive Director-Moon Shots Program at MD Anderson. Dr. Roarty manages strategic execution and administrative oversight for grants for clinical trials for patients with head and neck cancers. Dr. Roarty played a formative role in creating he Lung Cancer Moon Shot at MD Anderson, which ranks among the top 13 active moon shot programs at the hospital. In addition to the program for lung cancer, Dr. Roarty partnered with faculty to oversee the Moon Shot for HPV-Related Cancers, making her the only hospital staff member to manage more than one moon shot program. She also developed a research administration curriculum and certificate program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
John Budd. Vice President of Physician Enterprise of Columbus (Ind.) Regional Health. In his role, Mr. Budd oversees physician practice operations, human resources management, organizational leadership and the patient-centric experience. He was responsible for restructuring employed physician practice leadership and leading the hospital's adoption of the Epic EHR. In the last decade of his career, Mr. Budd has led the integration of 18 academic faculty practice plans into a single integrated medical group and has evaluated and planned transactions in excess of $100 million.
Franco Cardillo. Manager of Patient Financial Experience at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In his role, Mr. Cardillo manages a team that serves as a direct point of contact for patient cost inquiries within Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Through the efforts of Mr. Cardillo and his team, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia patient cost estimation team was featured in an article by the Advisory Board highlighting how they reduced patient complaints related to pricing. Mr. Cardilllo also runs the hospital's billing response and collection committee, where he facilitates discussions that promote a positive patient experience.
Hyung Cho, MD. Chief Value Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Through his role as NYC Health + Hospitals' first chief value officer, Dr. Cho works to eliminate unnecessary testing and treatment that can cause patient harm at 11 hospitals, five post-acute care facilities, and 70 outpatient centers that serve 1 million people per year. Over the last eight years, Dr. Cho has won over 50 awards for his work in value, quality and safety, including the Society of Hospital Medicine Award of Excellence for Clinical Leadership for Physicians. Dr. Cho also sits on the editorial board of Hospitalist magazine and serves as a chair for the Society of Hospital Medicine High Value Care Committee and the Right Care Alliance Hospital Medicine Council.
Carlie Cohen. Director of Ambulatory Operations at Children's Health (Dallas). Ms. Cohen is responsible for the operations of 17 subspecialty clinics representing more than 80,000 annual outpatient visits at Children's Health, the eighth-largest pediatric healthcare system in the U.S. Ms. Cohen supports a team of seven practice administrators and over 200 staff members, and most recently led an organizationwide initiative to increase overall appointment access to outpatient subspecialty programs and efficiency in appointment scheduling practices. Ms. Cohen has been recognized as a rising star at Children's Health by its executives and leadership committee.
Paul Coyne, DNP. President and Co-Founder of Inspiren and Assistant Vice President at Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). Dr. Coyne is an assistant vice president at Hospital for Special Surgery, where he oversees a team of more than 50 nurse practitioners and nurse navigators and leads the hospital's clinical informatics strategy, analytics efforts and operational implementation in the nursing and other clinical departments. He also co-founded Inspiren, a startup that developed an AI platform for patient safety monitoring and staff engagement. Dr. Coyne previously served as manager of analytics and insights at NewYork-Presbyterian, and before transitioning to healthcare, as a derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs.
Cameron D'Alpe. CAO of Physician Practices and CEO of Packard Children's Health Alliance at Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.). Ms. D'Alpe helps foster partnerships between Stanford Children's Health and Stanford Medicine physicians and helps extend access to complex pediatric care for local communities through partnerships with hospitals and physicians. She has led several redesigns at Stanford Children's to improve the patient family experience and helps oversee the organization's digital health strategy, including the implementation of telehealth programs and the MyChart patient portal.
Ray Davis. Vice President of Supply Chain at Universal Health Services (King of Prussia, Pa.). Mr. Davis serves as the executive leader of end-to-end supply chain functions for the entire Universal Health network, the largest behavioral health provider in the U.S. He is responsible for more than $1.5 billion in supply and purchased services spend at 350 facilities in 37 states. Before joining UHS, Mr. Davis was the senior director of supply chain for Banner Health.
Parikshit Deshmukh, MD. CEO and Medical Director of Balanced Wellbeing (Oxford, Fla.). Dr. Deshmukh is a geriatric and addiction psychiatrist. He is a consulting psychiatrist at Promise Hospital of Florida and at Florida-based addiction rehab centers Recovery Solutions, Sunshine Recovery and The Guest House, and is the co-founder, co-owner and CEO of Balanced Wellbeing, which provides psychiatric services to geriatric patients in long-term care facilities. Dr. Deshmukh also conducts clinical research in behavioral health, is regularly invited to speak at conferences and other events and has received many awards and recognitions, including fellow status in the American Psychiatric Association.
Kyle Dorsey. Vice President of Operations for Baptist Medical Center and Wolfson Children's Hospital (Jacksonville, Fla.). As vice president of operations, Mr. Dorsey not only heads up clinical support departments, including imaging, laboratory and rehab, but also oversees an array of both clinical and nonclinical support areas, from EEG services and diabetes and weight management counseling to volunteer services, security and shuttle services. Mr. Dorsey, who previously served as health center administrator at Duke University Health System, has received several awards, including the American College of Healthcare Executives' Regent Award for Early Careerists.
Carter Dredge. Chief Transformation Officer at SSM Health (St. Louis). Mr. Dredge leads the short- and long-term strategy for SSM Health's transition from a traditional, fee-for-service model to one of value-based care and population health management. He led the four-state system's adoption of the CMS bundled payment program, expanded SSM Health's telehealth offerings and grew its post-acute care business unit. Previously, Mr. Dredge led similar transformation-focused initiatives at Intermountain Healthcare.
Stacie Dusetzina, PhD. Associate Professor of Health Policy and Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Dr. Dusetzina's research centers on the effects of medication costs on drug adherence and healthcare outcomes in the U.S. and has informed legislation to improve access to high-priced prescription drugs, regardless of ability to pay. She was the most junior member appointed to the National Academy of Medicine Committee and testified about improving access to affordable care before the Senate Special Committee on Aging in March.
Jonah Feldman MD. Chief Transformation Officer of NYU Winthrop (Mineola, N.Y.). Since being appointed chief transformation officer in 2016, Dr. Feldman has led multiple hospitalwide initiatives to advance patient care and improve outcomes, such as standardizing communications during transitions of care and improving clinical documentation. He was also the co-lead of NYU Winthrop's Epic Ambulatory implementation, spanning more than 550 providers and 140 locations. Since 2014, he has served as the founding director for the hospital's Center for High Value Medicine and Health Delivery Innovation. Dr. Feldman is a board-certified general internist and physician informaticist.
Bobby Floyd. CEO of the Healthcare Division at Hospital Housekeeping Systems (Dripping Springs, Texas). Mr. Floyd oversees operations of several healthcare division service lines in the U.S. and South America for Hospital Housekeeping Systems, including culinary, environmental services, laundry and linen utilization, patient flow and integrated facilities management. He also led the creation of the company's university, a management, development and training tool for Hospital Housekeeping Systems managers across the country. Under his guidance, the organization has maintained a 97 percent retention rate and an annual growth rate of 15 percent for the last three years.
Mathew Gaug. Vice President and CIO at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center (Jasper, Ind.). Mr. Gaug assumed his current role at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in August, where he oversees IT operations at the 137-bed Memorial Hospital in Jasper and 33 healthcare offices across seven counties. He was previously CIO at Lima (Ohio) Memorial Health System. In his previous role, he led the design and launch of a new data center as well as oversaw the upgrade of the health system's ambulatory EMR system.
Caroline Gay. Vice President and Chief Analytics Officer of Lakeland (Fla.) Regional Health. Ms. Gay is Lakeland Regional Health's first chief analytics officer, responsible for data management, analysis and delivery. She oversaw the development of the health system's enterprise data warehouse bus architecture, a process-driven model to assist in the transition of its billing system. She also leads strategy guiding the organization's population health and value-based care programs.
Dr. Irina Gelman. Commissioner of Health for Orange County Department of Health (Goshen, N.Y.). Dr. Gelman has served as commissioner of health for the Orange County Department of Health since 2018, implementing local public health policies and leading the response to emerging health issues, including epidemics. Dr. Gelman was previously director of public health in Fulton County, N.Y., for nearly five years. She is the recipient of the New York State Public Health Association's 2018 Hermann M. Biggs Award and the American Public Health Association's Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work in 2018, winning the latter for a pilot project focused on a telehealth initiative in Fulton County.
Jeff Hignite, ECG Management Consultants (Seattle). Mr. Hignite is a senior manager in the ambulatory surgery practice of ECG Management Consultants, a national healthcare management consulting firm. In this role, he works with ASC, physician group, and health system clients focusing on growth strategies including M&A transaction and integration services, value creation through payer contracting as well as service line and specialty expansion. Prior to joining ECG, Mr. Hignite served as director of managed care at Surgical Care Affiliates. He has also previously held roles with UnitedHealthcare and Humana in network management and provider contracting capacities.
Robbie Hughes. Founder and CEO of Lumeon (London and Boston). Mr. Hughes founded Lumeon, the provider of a care management pathway solution, 14 years ago in the United Kingdom. Today, 65 healthcare organizations use the solution in the U.K., U.S. and Europe. Lumeon helps organizations drive patient engagement with care coordination and best-practice care pathways. In 2017, Lumeon was accepted into the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator, powered by Techstars, which facilitated its entry into the U.S. healthcare market.
Moses Ike. Director of Investments and Mergers and Acquisitions at Blue Shield of California (Oakland). As director of investments and mergers and acquisitions at Blue Shield of California, Mr. Ike develops business development processes and tools; identifies potential acquisition, alliance and licensing opportunities; and oversees a $100 million corporate venture fund for the insurer. He played a key role in Blue Shield of California's $1.2 billion acquisition of Care1st Health Plan. He was previously manager of strategic investments at San Francisco-based Dignity Health, where he co-developed and managed a $50 million investment fund for healthcare technology.
Vijay Ramnath Jayaraman. Business Strategist at Cerner Health Ventures (Kansas City, Mo.). Mr. Jayaraman is responsible for leading strategic growth initiatives, investing in innovative companies and launching businesses. He manages the commercialization and innovation partnerships with health systems that result in the creation of intellectual property for CHV and its partners. Mr. Jayaraman is also a founding member of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Chapter at CHV.
Aaron Johnson. COO of Twin Cities Orthopedics (Minneapolis). Mr. Johnson has worked at Twin Cities Orthopedics for eight years, currently overseeing all practice functions, including ASC operations and development, as well as health system relations and value-based care initiatives. He led the development of the practice's first ASC in 2011, and since then its ambulatory operations have grown to seven centers. He is a past president and current board member of the Minnesota Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.
Brian Kates. Director of Risk Management and Performance Improvement for Newport News (Va.) Behavioral Health Center. As director of risk management and performance improvement of Newport News Behavioral Health Center, Mr. Kates leads compliance, acts as a hospital liaison for all regulatory visits, and conducts risk assessments and analyses. He also focuses on improving patient safety, developing staff training to enhance documentation, and implementing tools to improve the incident reporting process. He was one of the youngest risk directors at King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services in 2018 at the age of 26.
Adam Kirking. Director of Operational Performance and Analytics at Imperium Health (Louisville, Ky.). As director of operational performance and analytics, Mr. Kirking oversees analytics and reporting processes at the ACO development and management company. He is also the consultant leading performance, compliance and engagement for up to 10 of the company's 30 ACOs as of 2018. In his leadership role, he has overseen the implementation of a client relationship management tool, coordinated the onboarding of 1,100 providers at eight ACOs, and created several different toolkits and webinars to drive organizational strategy.
Dr. Burke Kline, DHA. CEO of Greeley County Health Services (Tribune, Kan.). Dr. Kline leads Greeley County Health Services, which includes an 18-bed critical access facility, one long-term care facility and two rural health clinics. Under his leadership, the hospital began a $13.7 million renovation and added 10 new service lines. He also oversaw the establishment of a specialty infusion center within Greeley County Health Services in the last year. Dr. Kline serves on several Kansas Hospital Association committees.
Kyle Klosterman. Vice President of Mission Integration for Mercy (St. Louis). Serving as vice president of mission integration, Mr. Klosterman provides strategic and operational leadership to Mercy as it integrates Mercy's mission, values and Catholic identity into the hospital's day-to-day work. He notably authored Mercy's strategic plan for mission/formation integration at the ministry's every level. Mr. Klosterman is also the primary driver of Mercy's mission culture initiative. The Catholic Health Association named Mr. Klosterman a Tomorrow Leader in 2018.
Ravi Koganti. Vice President of IT and CIO of Englewood (N.J.) Health. Overseeing the teams responsible for Englewood Health's technology systems, Mr. Koganti ensures the hospital's day-to-day operations are handled smoothly. He used his engineering background to modernize the hospital's IT teams to better focus on patient care and quality. Previously, Mr. Koganti was corporate director of IT at NewYork-Presbyterian and earned a CIO 100 award for leading the development of the health system's NYP Care+ app.
Matthew Krauthamer, DO. National Director of Special Ops and Regional Performance Director of Northeast Group at TeamHealth (Knoxville, Tenn.); TeamHealth Emergency Department Medical Director of Lourdes Hospital (Binghamton, N.Y.). The man behind TeamHealth's Special Ops Team, Dr. Krauthamer built the program that assists other hospitals when they need it most: during a staffing shortage. Since the 2011 launch of the Special Ops Team, Dr. Krauthamer has recruited more than 150 clinicians and 15 interim medical directors to ensure hospitals across the nation are properly staffed. Dr. Krauthamer also played a quintessential role to support the American Telemedicine Association's efforts, drafting a case study on the financial benefits of telemedicine.
Omkar Kulkarni. Chief Innovation Officer at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Mr. Kulkarni is responsible for fostering innovation across Children's Hospital Los Angeles as the chief innovation officer. He launched an enterprise virtual care program and implemented new digital health tools to improve patient care. Mr. Kulkarni previously served as executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator, powered by Techstars, where he helped build and launch the program. He has experience evaluating more than 3,000 healthcare start-ups and providing extensive mentoring to the companies.
Nikhil Kumta, MD. Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Surgical and Bariatric Endoscopy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York City). Dr. Kumta started his career at Weill Cornell Medical College before moving to Mount Sinai Hospital and rising through the ranks to become the director of surgical bariatric endoscopy. Additionally, he directs the Sinai Laboratory for Innovation and Developmental Endoscopy. Dr. Kumta completed his residency and fellowship before completing a postdoctoral clinical fellowship at New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Kate Liebelt. Life Sciences & Health Care Management Consultant at Deloitte Consulting (New York City). One of the minds behind Deloitte's Precision Health for Health Care Community of Practice initiative, Ms. Liebelt leads the company's team that provides services to medical centers as well as pharmaceutical and medical device companies. She's involved in mentoring other professionals in the company and extends her storied work ethic into the community, serving as president of the Ellevate Network Chicago and serving as an adviser for The Advancement League's Young Health Leaders Summit. Ms. Liebelt's accomplishments were recognized by the Chicago Innovation, the Women's Business Development Center, The Chicago Network, and the ARA when they named her an Empowerment Partner.
Kito Lord, MD. Assistant Professor and Medical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Regional One Health-University of Tennessee Health Science Center (Memphis). The driving force behind University of Tennessee Health Science Center ED's quality, finance, clinical design and growth initiatives, Dr. Lord started at Regional One in 2017. Since joining the system, he has led several quality improvement projects, improving the health system's sepsis, stroke and cardiac care programs. Dr. Lord has also helped expand the hospital's reach into the community, establishing partnerships with local EMS, psychiatric and police departments. The Memphis Business Journal named Dr. Lord a Healthcare Hero finalist in 2018.
Lyanna Ly. Senior Director of Service Line Program Development at City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.). Tasked with developing business for service lines, services and products, as well as overseeing the enterprise telehealth initiative, Ms. Ly leverages her knowledge to ensure that not only are patient needs met, but that those needs are consistently surpassed. Ms. Ly has more than 12 years of experience working for health systems and has a wealth of knowledge concerning the technological side of things.
Theresa Madaline, MD. Healthcare Epidemiologist in the Division of Infectious Disease at Montefiore Health System (New York City). At the forefront of Montefiore Health System's infection protection and control efforts, Dr. Madaline is the youngest physician to hold the hospital epidemiologist position. Also serving as an assistant professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City's Bronx borough, Dr. Madaline is dedicated to ensuring patients are protected against infectious disease and educating clinicians on how to beat infectious diseases. Dr. Madaline has received several awards throughout her burgeoning career, including Montefiore Medical Center's Infectious Diseases Leadership Award for Clinical Service in 2015.
Brittni McGill, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer of Norman (Okla.) Regional Health System. Tasked with overseeing Norman Regional's nursing staff, Ms. McGill is also helping to lead the hospital's innovation efforts around care delivery. During her time at Norman Regional, Ms. McGill ascended the ranks to her current role. Her efforts notably contributed to a successful Joint Commission accreditation survey and saw the expansion of the hospital's vascular access specialist team. Ms. McGill is also involved in her community, serving as a board member for The Virtue Center.
Santosh Mohan. Managing Director of Digital Health Innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). Mr. Mohan is responsible for growing digital health innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is leading the hospital's iHub strategy in digital health, enabling innovators to accelerate projects and bring them to market by collaborating with a network of physicians, researchers and hospital administrators. Mr. Mohan is also a member and past chair of the HIMSS Innovation Committee and an adviser to the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute in Houston.
Annette Morgan. Vice President of Operations and Chief of Staff at City of Hope (Irvine, Calif.). Ms. Morgan is overseeing the development of a $300 million cancer network in Orange County, Calif., which aims to accelerate the development of new drugs to provide patients with the latest advances in cancer care. Previously, as vice president of wellness at Renton, Wash.-based Providence St. Joseph Health, Ms. Morgan helped establish the Wellness Corners initiative, where she managed relationships with Orange County employers and achieved significant outcomes and cost savings for clients. She was a board member of Providence Speech & Hearing from 2016-18.
Steven Palmer. Vice President of Development at United Surgical Partners International (Dallas). Mr. Palmer joined USPI in 2013 as an internal deal analyst and quickly progressed into an external development lead. In the last two years, he completed several material acquisitions of ambulatory surgery centers, totaling almost $100 million in aggregate merger and acquisition spend. He works with various new physician and health system partners to plan, build and open new ASCs in strategic growth markets. Mr. Palmer played a key role in USPI's partnership with a 75-physician, 17-office GI practice in Florida in 2018.
Tracy O'Daniel. Division Director of Quality, Risk and Patient Safety at UT Health East Texas (Tyler). Ms. O'Daniel is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of projects across quality, safety, performance, outcomes and care for UT Health East Texas, which includes 10 hospitals and over 50 clinics. In her previous role as a quality consultant at Intermountain Healthcare Riverton (Utah) Hospital, she helped the facility achieve a Truven's Top 100 Hospital Award, a HealthInsight Quality Award and a Leapfrog safety grade of "A" in 2018. Ms. O'Daniel studies HCAHPS survey data, identifies areas of improvement and implements new strategies, as well as supervising patient advocates and We Care employees and initiatives.
Pretima Persad. Program Officer for Helmsley Charitable Trust's Crohn's Disease Program (New York City). Ms. Persad is responsible for Helmsley's disease management portfolio of grants. She has experience identifying and evaluating potential new initiatives to help people with Crohn's disease. Prior to joining Helmsley, Ms. Persad held leadership roles at Mount Sinai Health System, Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery, all in New York City.
Daniel Priece. Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Health Recovery Solutions (Hoboken, N.J.). As co-founder and chief technology officer, Mr. Priece led the development and creation of the HRS telehealth software that have been used by over 45,000 patients. He manages HRS' research and development as well as the application of data science. Under Mr. Priece's leadership, HRS launched three-way video conferencing and launched mobile platforms for clinicians, patients and caregivers last year.
Sunitha Reddy. Vice President of Operations at Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Ms. Reddy directs Prime Healthcare's operational strategy and initiatives and is responsible for hitting financial and operational goals. She led a culture shift toward transparency and an increased focus on data and reporting to achieve operational improvements in revenue cycle. Ms. Reddy earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University in Boston and a master's in public health from Columbia University in New York City, where she received the Foster G. McGaw scholarship award for academic excellence.
Bhavya Rehani, MD. Founder, President and CEO of Health4TheWorld (Palo Alto, Calif.). A diplomat of the American Board of Radiology, Dr. Rehani is certified in both diagnostic radiology and neuroradiology. She leads a team of almost 200 professionals including physicians, nurses and software engineers. She oversaw the launch of the stroke mobile app H4TW, which utilizes machine learning and virtual reality, and was downloaded more than 1,000 times in 22 countries. Dr. Rehani's recent accolades include the Gold Women in Business Stevie award for Female Innovator of the Year and two Women in Business Stevie Silver awards for Most Innovative Woman of the Year.
Kenneth Scher. Senior Vice President of Consulting Services at Nexera (New York City). Mr. Scher began his career as an analyst at Nexera in 2010 and progressed to senior vice president, to which he was promoted in July. As vice president he spearheaded the consulting division, managing sales, project delivery, team growth, business strategy and service development in the areas of financial and operational improvement, as well as clinical engagement. Under his direction, Nexera expanded its clients to over 135 healthcare facilities in the U.S., added new positions to support national growth and continued to save over $350 million for its clients.
Nathaniel Schlicher, MD, JD. Regional Director of Quality Assurance for the Emergency Departments of CHI Franciscan (Tacoma, Wash.). Dr. Schlicher, a former Washington state senator, leads multiple teams to achieve high quality care by improving risk management, advocating for public health and integrating system level care beyond the emergency department. He also serves as the first vice president of the Washington State Medical Association in Seattle, where he leads the state's response to the opioid crisis and engages in political advocacy to ensure proper access to care and viability of medical practices. In addition, Dr. Schlicher is associate director of litigation for Knoxville, Tenn.-based TeamHealth, where he supervises risk management and early claims analysis for a staffing company with more than 20,000 providers.
Niki Shah. Vice President of Community Health at Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas and Temple, Texas). As vice president of community health at Baylor Scott & White Health, Ms. Shah has been a leader in implementing several programs at Texas' largest nonprofit health system, which includes 50 hospitals and employs over 7,500 physicians. Since starting her role, Ms. Shah has led the administrative implementation of over 50 Medicaid 1115 Waiver programs serving over 300,000 patients. She also serves on the North Texas Community Health Collaborative, which seeks to better understand health and disease determinants and disparities through the use of replicable models. Previously, Ms. Shah served as the vice president for equitable care and vice president of digital health at BSWH.
Abhinav Shashank. Co-Founder and CEO of Innovaccer (San Francisco). Since co-founding Innovaccer with a friend in 2014, Mr. Shashank has led the data activation company in providing 25 healthcare organizations and over 10,000 providers with Innovaccer's products. Microsoft's venture fund M12 recently invested in the company, which has seen a four-year revenue growth of 400 percent year-over-year under Mr. Shashank's leadership. Mr. Shashank has also published more than 300 articles on the company's approach to health IT with international media outlets.
Edward Sheen, MD. CMO of Market Development and Solution Design of Lumeris (St. Louis). As chief medical officer of market development and solution design at Lumeris, Dr. Sheen has led the population health managed services operator in developing long-term relationships with several large health systems. He also serves as an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University and as a motivational speaker for the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Sheen as one of 15 White House Fellows in 2014, which led to Dr. Sheen serving as senior health policy advisor for two secretaries of defense. Prior to starting his role at Lumeris in 2018, Dr. Sheen was associate chief medical officer at Stanford's University Healthcare Alliance.
Ruvini Schultz. Ambulatory Supply Chain Manager at Centura Health (Centennial, Colo.). Ms. Schultz brings expertise and attention to detail to her role as ambulatory supply chain manager at Centura Health. She is known for her commitment to excellence and dedication as a team leader. During her tenure, she has navigated complex contract negotiations and spearheaded the implementation of a new distribution partner at more than 250 locations throughout the health system.
Ric Sinclair. Chief Product Officer of Waystar (Louisville, Ky.). Mr. Sinclair drives product vision, strategy and execution as chief product officer of Waystar, a software company founded in 2017 that serves over 400,000 providers and has billions of annual transactions. Mr. Sinclair and his team at Waystar seek to simplify revenue cycle processes to free up time for healthcare providers to spend with patients and communities. Mr. Sinclair previously served as head of product for ZirMed, an earlier iteration of Waystar, and he earned his MBA from Indiana University.
Nidhie Singh. Manager of Health Care Provider at Deloitte (New York City). As Deloitte's manager of health care provider, Ms. Singh advises national healthcare providers on implementing clinical and financial system changes, among other topics. She is a lead administrator of Deloitte's Revenue Cycle SharePoint and intellectual property and plays a supporting role on Deloitte's Physician Revenue Cycle Team. On behalf of the American Medical Association for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Ms. Singh wrote a 10-year review of trends in physician services. She is a guest lecturer at the New York City-based Mailman School of Public Health.
Johnny Smith Jr. Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Ascension (St. Louis). As senior director of marketing and communications at Ascension, Mr. Smith oversees public relations, public affairs and thought leadership for a $23 billion organization comprising over 2,600 sites of care in 21 states and the District of Columbia. He has secured more than 600 media placements for 65 Ascension leaders in the past fiscal year, worth over $31 million in publicity value. His team champions the public relations strategy for Ascension's service line priorities, and he leads change management communications for the national system. Mr. Smith serves on the American Lung Association National Board of Directors and the St. Louis board for the Marillac Mission Fund. He earned his master of arts degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and bachelor of science degree from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
Caroline Sommers. Senior Vice President of Clinical Quality of Oak Street Health (Chicago). Since assuming her role as senior vice president of clinical quality in 2015, Ms. Sommers has led Oak Street Health in opening over 20 new centers and serving thousands of new patients. She started plans to open a 24/7 call center to handle Oak Street Health patient calls in 2017, when the organization was having trouble managing a high volume of calls. The call center grew to over 100 employees between February and October 2018 under Ms. Sommers' leadership. Previously, Ms. Sommers served as the director of medical group operations at NorthShore University Health System's department of surgery.
Jason Strauss. COO of Surgical Care Affiliates (Deerfield, Ill.). Mr. Strauss began as an analyst at Surgical Care Affiliates 10 years ago and became COO in 2018, serving over 215 surgery centers and 8,000 team members at one of the country's largest ambulatory surgery centers. He played a key role in developing and implementing SCA's physician quality incentive program, which awards physicians for performing appropriate procedures and meeting quality metrics. He is also committed to diversity and serves as executive sponsor of the facility teammate resource group, which provides resources and support for diversity challenges at the company's ASCs.
John Stewart. CEO, Partner and Founder of Physician Advisors (Orlando, Fla.). As CEO, partner and founder of Physician Advisors, Mr. Stewart manages the operations of several clinical practices that specialize in neurology, spine and orthopedics. He is also the partner, founder and COO of ASC Management & Collections, a Physicians Advisors company, and the partner and founder of United Surgical Associates. Mr. Stewart previously served as vice president of Deuk Spine Institute and Millennium Medical Management.
Nicholas Sullivan. Vice President of Stroke and Neurosciences at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Since assuming his role as vice president of stroke and neurosciences at Novant Health in 2018, Mr. Sullivan has helped lead the health system's 15 medical centers, over 1,500 physicians and over 500 locations across four states. He added 32 neuroscience physicians to increase the neuroscience staff in the Charlotte region by 400 percent. He also recruited 31 support staff team members, a 300 percent increase. Mr. Sullivan previously served as vice president of stroke and neurosciences at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, where he led a $15 million investment strategy to rebuild and grow the hospital's stroke and neurosciences service line.
Patrick Swindle. CEO of UT Health Quitman (Texas), UT Health Pittsburg (Texas). Mr. Swindle serves as CEO of UT Health Quitman and UT Health Pittsburgh, both 25-bed acute care hospitals previously part of East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System. ETMC merged with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (Texas) to become UT Health East Texas in 2018. Mr. Swindle joined ETMC in 2012, serving as a program manager for the system's health information exchange at age 23. Four years later, he was named CEO of UT Health Quitman. Two years after that, he also took the reins at UT Health Pittsburg. In his current role, Mr. Swindle oversees a combined staff of 71 providers and more than 440 employees across two hospitals, two level 4 trauma centers, five rural health clinics and one urgent care center.
Zebulon Timmons, MD. Director of Quality at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Dr. Timmons joined Phoenix Children's as an emergency medicine physician after completing a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at the hospital in 2013. Today, he serves as both program director of the pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program and director of quality at Phoenix Children's ED. Dr. Timmons also oversees several multi-institutional studies on sepsis care. Under his leadership, the hospital has decreased average length of stay for ED patients who present with sepsis by 45 percent and cut more than $945,000 in annual treatment costs.
Shoma Sarkar Thomas. Chief Marketing Officer of WellSky (Overland Park, Kan.). Ms. Thomas previously served as senior vice president of marketing for Kinnser Software, which was acquired by Mediware in May 2017. Less than 11 months after joining the Mediware team, Ms. Thomas oversaw the two companies' rebranding to WellSky. The effort involved combining 30 different health and community brands under one name. She also serves as an advisor to Austin, Texas-based Miracle Foundation, which cares for orphaned children around the world.
George Weldon Jr. Director of Telecommunications at Northern Westchester Hospital (Mount Kisco, N.Y.). Mr. Weldon served as Northern Westchester Hospital's communications manager for one year before stepping into his director role in 2016. He oversees all wireless communications at Northern Westchester Hospital, including the nurse call alarm system, clinical alarm responsiveness data analytics and several other integrated technologies. Mr. Weldon was inducted into the Westchester Business Council's Rising Stars class of 2018.
Adam Willmann. President and CEO of Goodall-Witcher Hospital Authority (Clifton, Texas). As CEO of Goodall-Witcher Hospital Authority, Mr. Willmann oversees a 25-bed critical access hospital, a 43-bed nursing facility, two rural health clinics staffed with 12 medical providers, a home health agency and a communitywide fitness center. He also sits on multiple boards, including the Texas Hospital Association Leadership Development Council and Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospital Boards of Directors. Prior to joining Goodall-Witcher, Mr. Willman served as CEO and administrator of Blakely, Ga.-based Pioneer Community Hospital of Early.
Christopher Valente, MD. Chief of Pediatric Emergency Department at Reading Hospital (West Reading, Pa.). Dr. Valente completed a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2016. Shortly after, he joined Reading Hospital to help design and implement the facility's pediatric emergency department, which opened in February 2019. Dr. Valente oversees all clinical care at the ED, where nearly 30,000 children will be treated annually. He also serves as a clinical assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University's Sidney Kimmel College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
Regine Villain. Vice President of Supply Chain at Ochsner (New Orleans). In her role at Ochsner, Ms. Villain is developing a shared mission for the health system's supply chain network. She is responsible for standardization across the health system and overseeing utilization and waste management for all technologies, processes and systems related to supply chain. She previously served as vice president in the office of supply chain management at NYU Langone Health in New York City.
Ginna Yost. Acting Executive Director of Discover Alliance (Blairsville, Ga.). Ms. Yost oversees the nonprofit Discover Alliance, which aims to promote interoperability. The organization has developed and established an interoperability marketplace called the Living Library, which links care data to technologies. Through the organization, she also promotes technologies to reduce the burden of prior authorization by leveraging the use of application programming interfaces.