North Texas Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives

ACHENTX Advancement Cohort Program
2021-03-01 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Denver)
Join Fellow ACHENTX colleagues preparing to become ACHE Fellows, by joining the next Cohort studying for the Board of Governor’s Exam.

To assist ACHENTX Members pursuing FACHE in 2021, the chapter will be providing study/ review sessions once a month in April, May, June, and August.

Cohort Structure (Virtual):
1. March 1st: Welcome Session
2. April 15th: Session I (Healthcare, Management and Leadership)
3. May 25th: Session II (Finance and Human Resources)
4. June 24th : Session III (Quality and Performance Management, Business, and Healthcare technology & Information)
5. August 19th: Session IV (Laws and regulations, Professionalism and Ethics, Governance and Organizational Structure)
Start Times: 5pm
End Times: 6pm
Cost: $50 per registrant (for all 5 sessions)
Note: These sessions do not count for ACHE Face to Face credits.

Register Here

2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Healthcare
2021-03-12 12:00 - 13:00
Are you planning to advance to become an ACHE Fellow? Let us help you prepare to sit for the Board of Governors Exam. ACHE of North Texas is offering a series of Review Sessions over the next few months. Stay close to home, pay a fraction of the cost, and spend brief periods of time learning test taking tips and review knowledge areas.
You may purchase a ticket for all eight sessions at a discounted price or one or more individual sessions. (Those who have registered to be a part of the 2021 ACHENTX Advancement Cohort, be sure to use the discount code being sent separately to you.)
Click here for more details and to register for this event.

2021 ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership
2021-03-22 08:00 - 2021-03-25 17:00 | American College of Healthcare Executives
Offering up to 12 ACHE Face-to-Face Credits & up to 120 ACHE Qualified Credits

Note: Early Bird Registration Pricing Ends February 22

Dates: March 22-25

This event is being offered virtually this year.

Check Out the Details and Register

2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Management, Leadership & Business
2021-04-02 12:00 - 13:00

Breaking the Glass Ceiling
2021-04-06 15:30 - 17:00
An ACHENTX Women’s Healthcare Executives’ Network (WHEN) Event

Regardless of where you are in your career as a healthcare leader – if you want to learn and thrive – join us to hear a panel of 3 senior healthcare executives share their journey and leadership experiences to inspire you and generate even more detailed discussions when you meet up in our breakout sessions. Our event is virtual and will focus on networking in the context of shared experiences.

Date: Tuesday, April 6
Time: 3:30-5pm
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Our Presenters:
Lillie Biggins, RN, FACHE
Former President
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth
Healthcare veteran who holds responsibility for enhancing the performance of Texas Health Fort Worth with regard to cost effectiveness, clinical outcomes, and patient satisfaction. Ms. Biggins first joined Texas Health Fort Worth in 1997 as vice president of operations, overseeing major departments such as Emergency Services, Trauma Services and Restorative Services.

Pat Driscoll, JD (Facilitator)
Professor
Texas Woman’s University
Accomplished educator and senior healthcare leader. Ms. Driscoll is the former President and CEO of Home Health Services of Texas, Inc. With more than 40 years of healthcare experience, including work in her private legal practice and roles in a variety of clinical, executive, consultant, and educational settings. Ms. Driscoll currently serves as Professor of Health Service Management and on a variety of Boards.

Nancy M. Green
Senior Vice President
Med Decision
Award-winning global healthcare and strategic business development executive with background in stimulating growth, bringing new and disruptive innovative digital technologies to the market. Ms. Green recently joined the all-female, high performing executive team at Med Decision, an Integrated Health Management Company supporting virtual care and digital health.

Niki D. Shah, MHSA, MBA, CCHW
Vice President of Community Health
Baylor Scott & White Health
Niki is an experienced healthcare executive with the passion, ambition and skills to transform communities and improve outcomes through innovation, partnerships, strategic development and focused execution.

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COVID: Some Silver Linings
2021-04-08 12:30 - 13:30
The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything many Americans can recall in their lifetime. Despite the many challenges, our nation’s hospitals, clinicians, and patients never abandoned their search for a way forward. While this pandemic challenged us all, it also unveiled meaningful opportunities to innovate with the use of new technology, strengthen our roots, and rethink the way we deliver care.
Join SCP Health’s Chief Clinical Technology Officer Stephen Nichols, MD, and Senior Vice President and Group Medical Officer Jude Malican, MD, MMM, FACEP, for an interactive discussion around the experiences that will improve the way we deliver care as we enter the next chapter of COVID-19.
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Speakers’ Bios:
Jude Malican, MD, MMM, FACEP
Senior Vice President, Group Medical Officer
SCP Health
Dr. Jude Malican brings an array of experience to his role with SCP Health. He is responsible for supporting and leading SCP’s efforts to remain a leader in the provision of management practices within Emergency Medicine & Hospital Medicine. In this role, he ensures consistent patient care and management practices in Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine that ensure high quality and dependable performance.
He formerly served as the Associate Regional Medical Director for Emergency Services for the Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston. While there, Malican had primary responsibilities for both the development and implementation of the EMR platforms for all the emergency departments in the system, as well as serving as the medical director for one of the busiest emergency departments in the system.
Dr. Malican completed medical school at St. Louis University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, MO, and his Residency in Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He went on to complete his Master of Medical Management degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Additionally, he has held academic appointments at UT Southwestern, Emory University, University of Connecticut, University of Tennessee, and currently has a faculty position with the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Malican has also held a wide variety of leadership positions. He has been the Medical Director of large trauma centers as well as the Medical Director at a variety of community hospitals. From being involved in multiple contract start-ups to the successful implementation of several hospital emergency department redesign projects, Dr. Malican has had experience in every facet of Emergency Medicine.

Stephen Nichols, MD
Chief Clinical Technology Officer, Disaster Response
SCP Health
Dr. Stephen Nichols is pragmatic and realistic, with a down-to-earth style and a methodical, thoughtful approach to problem-solving. His training in Internal Medicine and decades of practice in Emergency Medicine have provided him with the knowledge to find both innovative and incremental improvements for clinical operations. At SCP Health, Dr. Nichols focuses first on finding helpful insights from evidence, data analytics, and experience, then identifying existing technology—or designing new systems—that can improve patient experience, clinician practice, and hospital client performance.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, he has played a pivotal role in helping SCP Health’s hospital and health system clients adapt to rapidly changing circumstances in order to make critical adjustments and shift plans effectively. And this crisis wasn’t his first; Dr. Nichols previously helped SCP Health work its way through the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10 and has supported the company’s response to hurricanes and other natural disasters. Before working with SCP Health, Dr. Nichols also learned valuable lessons during the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, earthquake disaster response, and the Los Angeles riots of 1992.
Dr. Nichols completed his Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then went on to receive his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He is currently Board Certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

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2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Finance
2021-04-09 12:00 - 13:00

Confronting Medical Racism and Exploring Ethical Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic to Develop Strategies for a Better Future
2021-04-14 18:00 - 19:30
For this event, ACHENTX is partnering with The DFW, Golden State and St. Louis Chapters of NAHSE.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the health inequities experienced by the Black community and other communities of color. The arrival of two safe and effective vaccines has ushered in the dawn of a new day. However, not everyone is fighting to be first in line. Why? The answer to this question lies within a quote from the late great Maya Angelou: “You can’t really know where you are going, until you know where you have been.” The systemic racism that has led to inequities in health, has also led to the mistrust experienced by minority communities. Many of these injustices are not discussed in professional settings, and as a result, has left the medical community with an unfortunate gap in generating strategic initiatives to solve some of these great problems. Understanding this history will help guide and inform policy makers and the medical community on the best way forward, as we look to bridge the divides that our history has created. These are unique times for us as healthcare leaders to learn, grow, and gain new perspectives on how to be a voice for, and best engage with the Black community. Join us for an engaging conversation on understanding historic to present day clinical and management insights that reflect the untold, but ever-present reality of marginalized communities, as well as steps the healthcare industry can take to improve our current situation.
This year’s topic will be: Confronting Medical Racism and Exploring Ethical Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic to Develop Strategies for a Better Future. Our featured speaker will be renowned author and medical ethicist Harriet A. Washington. Harriet A. Washington is a prolific science writer, editor and ethicist who is the author of the seminal book: “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Experimentation from Colonial Times to the Present”. This groundbreaking book won a National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Oakland Award, and the American Library Association Black Caucus Nonfiction Award. She is also the author of five other well-received books, including “A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind” as well as the forthcoming “Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Informed Consent in Medical Research”, which will be published in 2021 by Columbia Global Reports.

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Sustainability of Healthcare Organizations
2021-04-22 11:00 - 12:30
This event has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face Credits!

Issues surrounding sustainability for healthcare institutions into the 21st century in the U.S., with regards to the era of healthcare reform, are very complex. Within the scope of priorities, this discussion will emphasize the necessity of understanding the key potential and existing operational and cost problem areas for healthcare system growth and sustainability as healthcare providers continue to face future operational, reimbursement, and environmental challenges. The primary goal of this discussion is to provide an overview of the models of current successes and solutions with a focus on a realistic plan of action.

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Our panelists include:
Aaron Bujnowski, FACHE
Director and Integrated Delivery Network Segment Lead
The Chartis Group
Monica Price, CPA
Vice President & Group Financial Officer
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital of SW Fort Worth and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital of Stephenville
Raza Rashid
Director of Finance
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Michael Sanborn, MS, FACHE, FASHP
President
Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center-Fort Worth

Speakers’ Bios:

Aaron Bujnowski is a Director with The Chartis Group and leader of the Integrated Delivery Network (IDN) practice area. Mr. Bujnowski’s healthcare career spans over 14 years. He focuses on developing innovative enterprise strategies that enable integrated delivery networks and their leaders to create lasting competitive advantage.
Prior to joining The Chartis Group, Mr. Bujnowski was the system Chief Strategy Officer at Texas Health Resources, where he spent nearly nine years. He was responsible for developing and implementing strategies across the entire enterprise, including acute, post-acute, ambulatory, physician, consumer, and value-based approaches. His experience also includes more than four years with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he served as a core member of BCG’s strategy and health care practices. Mr. Bujnowski previously held various leadership positions in new venture development and innovation at The Dow Chemical Company for more than nine years.
Fluent in Spanish, Mr. Bujnowski is co-inventor of six U.S. patents, certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt and has volunteered his services through many national organizations. To name a few, he was a Red Cross volunteer for Katrina Relief in New Orleans, a full-time missionary and humanitarian volunteer in Chile, South America, and served as an executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America. He was featured in the award-winning book, Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders by Amer Kaissi, PhD.
Mr. Bujnowski holds a master’s degree in business administration from The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with the highest honors. He also holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in chemical engineering with a biomedical emphasis from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he graduated with honors. In 2015, Mr. Bujnowski became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

Monica Price, CPA, is the Vice President and Group Financial Officer of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital of Southwest Fort Worth and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital of Stephenville, two acute care hospitals part of the Texas Health Resources System. Serving in her position as of mid-2020, she is responsible for financial operations and key support functions including strategic financial management, supply chain management, financial reporting, budgeting, decision support, and patient access. Ms. Price recently left United Health Services in Upstate New York where she served as the senior director of Finance, Hospital Division. Ms. Price holds a Master of Professional Accounting degree from University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Notre Dame. She has been a Certified Public Accountant since 2005 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Before her tenure with Texas Health Resources, she served in finance roles with other large health systems.

Mr. Raza Rashid is the Director of Finance for Parkland Health & Hospital System (PHHS). PHHS is one of the largest safety net hospitals in the country with 882 inpatient beds, multi-specialty outpatient clinics, post-acute facilities, an ambulatory surgery center, and a health plan. Mr. Rashid is responsible for all financial aspects of workforce management solutions and optimizing operations, a billion dollar salary budget function, productivity and benchmarking analytics, and ensuring operational efficiency. He has a varied healthcare skillset with experience in for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations and a proven track record in the following: financial and operations planning, leading various cross-functional teams, and implementation of data and clinical driven strategic initiatives to ensure high quality of care while optimizing operations.
Mr. Rashid earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from St. Louis University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a certified fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and a member of ACHE North Texas Association.

Michael Sanborn, MS, FACHE, FASHP currently serves as president of Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth. He is responsible for the leadership and management of the 574-bed acute care hospital with more than 2,400 employees and 1,100 medical staff members. Services include transplantation, heart/vascular, oncology, trauma, and one of the largest women’s hospitals in the area.
Before joining All Saints, Sanborn served as president of Baylor Scott & White – Carrollton where he was responsible for the hospital, three satellite medical offices and a freestanding diagnostic center. Prior to his position at Carrollton, Sanborn served as the corporate vice president of cardiovascular services for the Baylor Scott & White system. Throughout his 32 years in health care, Sanborn has taken on increasingly complex roles, initially in pharmacy leadership and then in health care administration.
Mike holds a B.S. and M.S. in Pharmacy and Administration respectively from the University of Kansas and is a Fellow of both ACHE and ASHP. He is active in a variety of community activities, including serving on the boards of the Fort Worth Chamber, Healing Shepherd Clinic, Health Tarrant County Collaborative (Chair) DFW Hospital Council, and the Executive Committees of Near Southside and Fort Worth Adolescent and Young Adult cancer program.

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2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Human Resources
2021-04-23 12:00 - 13:00

The Business of Healthcare
2021-05-04 17:00 - 18:30
The 2021 Business of Healthcare event will feature presenters providing participants a birds-eye view into a wide array of businesses working within and/or supporting the healthcare industry, but are outside the traditional hospital setting. Some of the areas of business being represented include: Patient Engagement, Medical Equipment Planning, Architecture, Law, Hospitalist Management and Support Services.
This year’s participants will include the following presenters. Invites have been extended to a few more presenters representing additional sectors of the industry as well.

Vishal Bhalla
Chief Experience Officer
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Ben Cheney
Business Development Manager
OneEQ
Alli Giacometto
Senior Designer
CRTKL
Jenny G. Givens
Partner
Gray Reed Attorneys & Counselors
Bethany Hale
Head of Marketing
Cedar
Christie Hutchinson, RN, BSN, MBA, CPEN, CPHQ, CPHRM, NEA-BC
Chief Executive Officer
QCC Healthcare Consultants
Clayton Lawrence, FACHE
Senior Vice President
Sound Physicians
John Raish
Senior Vice President
Parkland Health & Hospital System
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Speakers’ Bios:
Vishal Bhalla joined Parkland in August 2016 and soon moved into the role of Vice President and Chief Experience Officer (CXO), focusing on the experience of employees, providers, patients and their families.
Transitioning to healthcare a few years ago from a successful career in hospitality, Vishal completed his Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) along with a Healthcare Certificate from the joint Harvard-MIT Healthcare Innovation Initiative. Vishal also serves on the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council, representing Parkland as the Chair for the Workforce Collaborative and is a member for the Texas Hospital Association (THA) Fellows Program for 2019.
Vishal is passionate about leveraging analytics, technology and system sciences, along with his extensive experience in managing large service operations, to add rigor to the art of human interaction; thereby enabling meaningful employee and patient experiences. The Experience Team at Parkland has seen tremendous results, achieving the 90th Percentile rank in the National Press Ganey Database and the 93rd Percentile Rank in the University Health Systems. The strategy and its execution were cited in the 2019 whitepaper on Strategic Initiatives by Press Ganey : Accelerated Transformation – From Strategy to Action.
Prior to coming to Parkland, Mr. Bhalla was the Director of Operations for a hospitality firm, where he oversaw twelve facilities with more than 6000 rooms. He has worked on four continents and also previously served as a Director for Sandals Resorts International. He possesses a Master in Hotel Administration from University of Strathclyde, a General Managers’ Program certification from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is a Lean Six Sigma Master Blackbelt.

Ben Cheney is currently a Business Development manager with OneEQ, and has several years of experience with projects of all sizes and phases. He has helped design the reporting process, created and implemented project specific order of operations that reduce gaps in communications and diminishes redundancy. He helps facilitate work flow to stream line the procurement process, keeping resources to a minimum and maximizing project efficiencies, while reducing overhead and maximizing profitability. Ben also maintains multi-million dollar hospital procurement projects, providing a way to keep teams on schedule and clients informed.

Healthcare providers trust Jenny Givens to help them navigate the numerous regulatory frameworks impacting their businesses and to guide them through a variety of operational, privacy and corporate matters. She works with a wide range of providers with operations primarily in Texas but also in many states across the country, including hospitals, physician entities, ambulatory surgery centers, pharmacies, laboratories, neuromonitoring facilities plus many more. Jenny is Board Certified in Health Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and Certified in Healthcare Compliance by the Compliance Certification Board.
Jenny is the go-to advisor for healthcare providers that need strategic guidance on how regulatory compliance interacts with their everyday operations and long-term business planning. She has substantial experience in developing proactive policies and corrective action plans concerning several issues, including fraud and abuse, the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, EMTALA, licensure and certification, patient overflow and billing and reimbursement. Jenny also helps clients with a variety of transactional and corporate matters, ranging from employment contracts and coverage agreements to management services contracts and entity formation.
Before joining the firm, Jenny held in-house positions at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and City of Hope National Medical Center in Pasadena, California, where she handled a variety of transactional and compliance matters. Prior to entering law school, Jenny served as an assistant administrator for a community hospital in Los Angeles where she worked with medical staff committees, participated in all executive team committees and was responsible for strategic planning, service quality, licensing and accreditation activities and day-to-day operations of the hospital’s ancillary services.

Bethany Hale brings more than 20 years of experience across marketing and content strategy, brand development, demand generation, and experience design to lead the marketing team at Cedar, a patient financial engagement platform. She’s a creative storyteller and thought leader who has worked with notable brands including IBM (Watson Health), American Express and Samsung Electronics, among others. Bethany has an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in Journalism from Michigan State University. She currently lives with her daughter and French Bulldog in Brooklyn, NY.

Christie Hutchinson is the CEO of QCC Healthcare Consultants where she works with healthcare organizations to improve their compliance, quality, and operational efficiencies. As a healthcare risk manager, Christie is instrumental in identifying successes and areas of opportunities for her clients, assisting them in achieving the highest level of quality care for their patients. Her professional background includes ER nurse, COO for a pediatric urgent care system, and VP of Care Coordination for a publicly traded, healthcare organization.
Christie is the founder and president of the Texas Healthcare Advisory Council serving healthcare professionals in the DFW area. She also serves on the Baylor Scott & White Centennial Community Advisory Board and the North Texas Association for Healthcare Quality (NTAHQ) Board.

Clayton Lawrence serves as Senior Vice President at Sound Physicians. He brings with him over 20 years of experience in driving margin improvement and volume growth at physician-led organizations as well as leading hospital operations. He has been charged with driving operational and financial performance over the entirety of his career while also growing business units across multiple territories. Since 2006, Clayton has led several physician groups and has demonstrated numerous successes in collaborating closely with clinicians to improve patient outcomes and experience. Clayton most recently served as Group Vice President for Sound Physicians in the Gulf Region which included a portfolio of 21 contracted hospitalist programs throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
Clayton earned a Masters of Healthcare Administration from Tulane University after receiving a Bachelors of Science from Arkansas State University. He started his career in healthcare after completing the Paramedic training program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he earned his National Registry Paramedic certification. Clayton is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and an active member of the North Texas Chapter where he serves on the Membership and Networking Committee. Residing in Plano, TX, Clayton enjoys world travel, physical fitness, landscaping and, (as anyone living in Texas does) dining out.

John Raish is the Senior Vice President of Support Services at Parkland Health & Hospital System. He has been at Parkland for the past nine years and currently oversees the following departments: Real Estate, Planning Design & Construction, Facilities, Environmental Services, Laundry & Linen, Food & Nutrition, Disaster Management, Language Services, and the Police Department. John is a proud Georgia Tech Alumnus and continues to stay involved with their Industrial Engineering Department.

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2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Quality & Performance Management
2021-05-07 12:00 - 13:00

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification Course
2021-05-08 09:00 - 17:00
ACHENTX Student Council Presents: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification Course

Due to the high volume of requests and for those who missed one of the earlier opportunities, ACHE of North Texas’ Student Council is once again offering a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification course. (Be sure to watch future announcements for a Green Belt Certification Course as well. Note: You will need your Yellow belt first to be able to register for the Green Belt session.)

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What’s included:

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Course e-book
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification Exam
Simulated Project

Course Instructor: Tanya Stinson
Virtual Platform: Zoom

Hi there! My name is Tanya Stinson! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance! I would like to tell you a little about myself. I have a master’s degree in Healthcare Quality and Safety, a Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, and 14 years’ experience in leading, coaching, and mentoring professionals in completing Lean Six Sigma, Quality, Compliance, Risk and Safety projects. I have a well-rounded and knowledgeable skill set, as I have worked in various industries, such as mining, utilities, manufacturing, technology, and healthcare. I am passionate about helping others by sharing with them what I have learned and creating positive changes within any organization.
I have been working for Texas Health Resources since June 2017. Currently, I am a Supervisor of Data Governance Support for THR and before my recent promotion, I was a Performance Improvement Engineer/Coach. Since working with them, I have received several awards and accolades. Here are just a few of the recognitions I have received:

2020 ACHE of North Texas Mentor of the Year
Trailblazer Award – Texas Health Arlington Memorial, 2018 for Blood Culture Contamination Reduction Project
Quality Award (2) – Texas Health Fort Worth, 2019 for Neonatal Extubation Process Improvement Project and “Let’s Get Moving” Patient Ambulation Improvement Project
Discoverer Award – Texas Health Resources, 2019 for ED Discharge Scheduling Improvement Project
Transformer Award – Texas Health Resources, 2020 for Interventional Radiology Throughput Improvement Project

Outside of work, I am a wife and mother of 4 handsome young men, and I love fishing, camping, and racing just to name a few!
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope that you are as excited about the upcoming classes as I am! I look forward to meeting every one of you and growing the passion for PI!
Many blessings,
Tanya Stinson

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Multi-Chapter Panel #1 - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
2021-05-13 10:30 - 12:00
Join the ACHE East Texas, North Texas and Texas Midwest chapters for another in our special multi-chapter panels.

The communities for which healthcare organizations operate are rapidly diversifying. Not only do they provide care for a diverse community of patients and families, but their workforce is also changing, and at times does not reflect the patient community. This diversity is exhibited in a number of ways, including ethnicity, race, religion, socioeconomic status, language, age, sexual orientation/gender identity, and physical ability.

The business implications and imperatives healthcare organizations face concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion are immense. Diverse communities often require different care needs, improved quality, new or modified operational processes and services, and strategic planning for a varied patient demographic. The continuum of care will need to be considered to best meet the needs of these communities.
It is incumbent on healthcare organizations and their leaders to both understand and embrace the needs of diverse populations. Leader’s abilities to respond to the needs and preferences of a broader customer base will be critical to their financial and operational success.

This program has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits.
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Our Presenters:
Crissy Flake
Regional Quality Improvement & Compliance Manager
WelbeHealth, LLC
Aimee Greeter, MPH, FACHE
Senior Vice President
Coker Group
Alan K. Nevel
SVP & Chief Diversity & Human Resources Officer
The MetroHealth System
Kenneth Rates
Podcast Host, So You Want To Be A Healthcare Executive?
Ambulatory Care
Michigan Medicine and the University of Detroit Mercy

Speakers’ Bios:
Crissy Flake is an accomplished healthcare administrator with over 25 years of experience. Crissy has sought to improve healthcare delivery systems by applying real-world experiences and a variety of professional lenses. Crissy has focused her passion and energy on quality and process improvement projects within several organizations and is the Regional Quality Improvement and Compliance Manager for WelbeHealth, LLC. Crissy continues to champion healthcare systems adopting the National Association of Healthcare Quality knowledge domains, developing a “just Culture” philosophy to error reporting, and implanting the Agile methodology framework.
Crissy is currently pursuing her Doctor of Health Administration at Northcentral University. Crissy co-authored the paper “impact of cost in delay/deferral of care: A systematic literature review,” which was accepted for presentation at the 2020 Business and Health Administration Association annual conference and later accepted for publication in the journal of Applied Economics and Business. Crissy is also certified as Professional Project Manager, an Agile Project Manager, and a Professional in Healthcare Quality.
Crissy lives on a ranch with her husband, children, and extended family. Crissy is an avid endurance walker, needle arts enthusiast, paper quiller, and world traveler. Crissy volunteers with several organizations and is an active leader with her local 4-H program. When Crissy is not working, volunteering, or studying, she can be found in the company of her basset hounds or her goats.

Aimee Greeter is a senior vice president at Coker Group with specialized expertise in business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, transaction advisory, physician alignment, accountable care responsiveness, hospital service line development, clinical integration initiatives, strategic plan development, executive compensation, employee compensation, crisis communications, operational efficiency, and financial management. Ms. Greeter works with non-profit and for-profit hospitals and health systems of all sizes and larger single and multi-specialty physician practices to achieve their strategic and tactical goals.
Additionally, Ms. Greeter manages the firm’s delivery of alignment and transaction services. The team works with some of the largest and most prestigious health systems in the U.S., as well as independent community hospitals, academic medical centers, ambulatory surgery centers, critical access hospitals, outpatient facilities and medical practices in all 50 states on their business initiatives. Specifically, Ms. Greeter and her colleagues spend time with healthcare organizations in the provider space on their buyside acquisitions, divestiture of assets, strategic partnerships and related transactions.
Ms. Greeter is a popular program speaker and is frequently engaged by highly respected organizations across the nation to speak to health systems, medical groups, legal associations and other healthcare constituents. She has also authored numerous articles and books on topics such as hospital-physician alignment, clinician engagement, practice mergers, professional service agreements (PSAs), and executive leadership.

Alan K. Nevel was named Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity and Human Resources Officer for The MetroHealth System in June 2018.
In this integrated leadership role, Nevel is responsible for driving the human resources strategy to attract, retain and motivate a highly engaged workforce to implement MetroHealth’s mission while leading diversity, inclusion, cultural competency and work-life strategies to empower employees.
Nevel most recently served as Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion for Thermo Fisher Scientific, a Massachusetts-based global life sciences solutions, specialty diagnostics and laboratory equipment company, which he joined in 2012. Previous experience includes leading diversity and inclusion, HR strategy delivery, talent development and organizational change management during his eight years with fashion retailer L Brands. Additional experience includes working at Anderson Consulting/Accenture and the Sherwin Williams Company.
Nevel earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Cleveland State University.

Kenneth Rates is the Host of the podcast So You Want To Be A Healthcare Executive? His mission is to share the stories of highly successful executives in the hopes of striving you to achieve more in your career. He works in Ambulatory Care, currently holding positions at both Michigan Medicine and the University of Detroit Mercy. He is the current President-Elect for the Michigan Medical Group Management Association. Ken is a recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives Early Careerist’s Regent Award in 2019.

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Multi-Chapter Panel #2 - Crisis Management: Strategies to Effectively Manage a Healthcare Organization
2021-05-13 12:30 - 14:00
Join the ACHE East Texas, North Texas and Texas Midwest chapters for another in our special multi-chapter panels.

Preparing for an unplanned or unexpected event, such as a natural disaster, pandemic, civil disturbances, medical error or labor disputes (e.g., union labor) causes physical, psychological and emotional stresses that can overwhelm employees, medical staff, patients and communities. In the event of a crisis, the quality and efficiency of care delivery may be challenged and typically takes a toll on every part of the organization. Lack of the unknown or uncertainty is also a challenge that healthcare leaders face in the time of crisis. Healthcare leaders need to understand ways to prepare their organization for unforeseen circumstances, which includes developing a communication plan, managing organizational resources, such as medical supplies, levels of patient care and leveraging local and state resources and funding.

This panel discussion will provide insight and perspectives on ways to manage an unforeseen crisis within the healthcare organization and its community. It will include how healthcare leaders can better prepare and respond to a community or healthcare crisis, or health surge event or unanticipated response.
This program has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits.

Our Panelists:
Angela Beaudry
Vice President, Human Resources Operations
Ardent Health Services
Mary LaFrancois, SPHR, SHRM-CP, ACC
Division VP Human Resources
UT Health East Texas
Lisa Reynolds, Ph D, SPHR (Moderator)
Vice President
Change Management
CHRISTUS Health
Roberta Solo Rio, JD.
VP, Chief Human Resource Officer
Midland Health
Debbie Splinter, FACHE, MBA, CHHR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
Human Resources Director
Baylor Scott and White
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Speakers’ Bios:
Angela Beaudry is an Experienced Human Capital Strategist with over 20 years of multi-industry experience. She has a proven track record in supporting culture realignment, talent management, total rewards strategies, and operational excellence design and execution.
Angela has also demonstrated leadership in cost containment and risk avoidance strategies resulting in substantial savings supporting overall financial health. She has a strong background in employment law and labor relations, resulting in a high win rate for all EEOC charges, lawsuits, and arbitrations.
As an accomplished human resources executive, Mary LaFrancois has dedicated her career to ensuring leading health care organizations achieve top performance.
Her expertise in executing organizational policies, driving change, generating multimillion-dollar cost savings, and attracting, retaining, and leveraging human capital is extensive. Mary has excelled in executing HR strategies that align with the organization’s business objectives and is recognized for her expertise in developing business and people strategies and driving critical initiatives aligned with the organization’s core values.
Mary has spent the past 20 years leading HR teams in academic healthcare, faith-based healthcare and now is part of UT Health East Texas, a for-profit family.
Lisa Reynolds has been with CHRISTUS Health for over 20 years and is the Vice President of Change Management. Lisa leads the people side of organizational change and transformation, making sure there is a focus not only on the change process, but also on how people can engage with the change. Through creating awareness, involving those affected and offering support, change management can ensure CHRISTUS models its core values while implementing change. Prior to this role, Lisa was the Vice President of Talent Management and held previous roles in organizational development, patient experience and risk management.
Lisa has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Regis University, an MBA with a healthcare emphasis from Louisiana State University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Leadership Studies from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. Lisa is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, Certified Change Practitioner through Prosci, and holds several behavioral assessment certifications.
Lisa’s passion is being a development chemist who serves as a catalyst that assists others in discovering and unleashing their talents to discover their full potential. Lisa believes everyone has the power to manifest a positive emotional state and create his or her destiny.
Lisa also enjoys running, dark chocolate, volunteering for Back On My Feet, and laughing with colleagues, friends, and loved ones.
Since 2014, Roberta Solo Rio has served as Vice President, Chief Human Resource Officer for Midland Health. Midland Health is comprised of Midland Memorial Hospital, several affiliated physician practices, including practices in cardiology, orthopedics, family practice, and a hospitalist group. In addition to the traditional human resource functions, Roberta is focused on continuous improvement and enhanced efficiency and consistency across the health system. Most recently, this includes a current project to implement a new human capital management/payroll/timekeeping and applicant tracking system intended to support the system for years to come.
Before coming to Midland Memorial, Roberta held several human resource leadership positions in healthcare and manufacturing. Her human resource background includes benefits, compensation, employee relations, HRIS, performance management, and talent acquisition. Roberta holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Northern Michigan University and a Juris Doctorate degree from South Texas College of Law Houston.
In her spare time, Roberta enjoys her three Shetland sheepdogs and riding her bike.
Debbie Splinter has served as the CHRO/Human Resource Director for Baylor Scott & White Texas Spine & Joint Hospital in Tyler, Texas for the past 12 years. She has her Bachelor’s in Business Administration and her Master’s degree in Human Resources. Debbie has over 28 years of HR experience in Healthcare. She is responsible for the administration of recruitment/retention strategies, benefits, compensation, payroll, training, legal and regulatory compliance. Her primary focus is to provide support and guidance to management in employee relations and leadership development. Debbie prides herself on the family culture, low turnover, and high employee engagement BSWTSJH has accomplished.
In addition to serving as the President for the Texas Society of Healthcare Human Resources and Education, Debbie is the Treasurer and Chair for the Governance Committee with the East Texas American College of Healthcare Executives. She serves on the Membership Committee for ASHHRA. Debbie is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives, FACHE, and has obtained the following certifications: Senior Certified Professional by SHRM (SHRM-SCP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and the Certified in Healthcare Human Resources (CHHR) by the American Hospital Association. Debbie is a Fellow with the Texas Hospital Association and a graduate of Leadership Tyler. Locally she is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), volunteers for the Smith County Animal Shelter, and mentors’ young professionals in Human Resources. Debbie has been married for 34 years to Travis and they have 2 adult sons.

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Breakfast with the President - Becky Tucker
2021-05-18 08:00 - 09:00
Please join us for the next virtual program in our popular Breakfast event series . . .

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Becky Tucker currently serves as the president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth and Clearfork. As president, Becky leads the overall management and strategic programming of Texas Health Southwest and Clearfork hospital operations which consists of 263 combined critical, medical, surgical, and emergency beds, 1,400 employees, 650 active medical professionals and almost 100 volunteers.

Becky Tucker most recently served as vice president of Integrated Health Campuses (IHCs) at Texas Health Resources. As vice president of IHCs, Becky led the overall management of Texas Health Resources’ Integrated Health Campuses (IHC) operations and oversaw the alignment and evolution of all IHC care integration across the continuum. Centers included site-specific combinations of ambulatory surgical services, outpatient diagnostic imaging, emergency care and/or urgent care, rehabilitation/therapy services including cardiac rehabilitation, outpatient behavioral care services, chronic disease management, health behavior education and well-being services.
Becky served as administrator of Texas Health Neighborhood Care & Wellness Burleson, oversaw Texas Health Harris Methodist physician timeshares in Saginaw, Keller and Burleson and managed the development of Texas Health’s second IHC, Texas Health Neighborhood Care & Wellness Willow Park in Parker County, which opened in January of 2015.
Becky has been a part of the Texas Health family for 19 years. She first worked as an administrative assistant in the Medical Staff Affairs office of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano. While working at Texas Health Plano full-time, Becky completed graduate work in business and healthcare administration. She transitioned into a healthcare administrative residency position at Texas Health Fort Worth where she continued her fellowship.
In 2006, Becky transitioned to director of ambulatory clinics and physician services where she was responsible for the Assisted Reproductive Technology Service, Executive Health program and physician referral development.
In 2007, Becky began development of Texas Health Burleson. As administrator of Texas Health Burleson, she and her team signed more than 2,000 members to its fitness center, achieved patient satisfaction scores for Likelihood to Recommend in the top 5 percent of the nation, and secured Joint Commission accreditation for all new services, College of American Pathologists Commission on Laboratory accreditation, American College of Radiologists accreditation for MRI and CT, and chest pain accreditation from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care.
Becky earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a minor in biological science from The University of Texas at Austin. She also holds master’s degrees in health care administration and business administration from Texas Woman’s University.
Becky is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a past board member of the United Way of Tarrant County, former chair of United Way of Tarrant County Young Leaders Society, board member and vice chair for the Alzheimer’s Association of North Central Texas, and a board member for the Fort Worth Leukemia and Lymphoma Society where she also serves as the chair for the Man Woman of the Year executive committee. Plus, Becky serves as the president of her local early childhood PTA.
In addition, Becky is a Fellow with the Texas Hospital Association (THA) and the past chair for THA’s Leadership Development Council. In 2012, Modern Healthcare named Becky as one of it’s Up and Comers in Healthcare. In 2014 she was selected as one of Fort Worth Business Press’ 40 Under 40 and was awarded the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council’s Young Healthcare Executive of the Year award. Lastly, in 2019 Tucker was awarded the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fort Worth Woman of the Year and was recognized as a Fort Worth Business Press Healthcare Hero in 2020.
Becky is enjoying parenthood with her husband, Toby. Her son Tavin is 8 and daughter Landon is 2. Becky, Toby, Tavin, and Landon spend as much time as possible outside with their rescue dog, Stella.

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Multi-Chapter Panel #3 - Key State Health Legislative Issues Facing Leaders and Potential Responses
2021-05-20 10:30 - 12:00
Join the ACHE East Texas, North Texas and Texas Midwest chapters for another in our special multi-chapter panels.

Numerous public policy and legislative issues around healthcare delivery and public health affect healthcare organizations and demand involvement of their leaders to respond and adjust organizational policies and procedures. These issues often relate to improving population health, access and coverage through Medicaid and other programs, improving value, addressing consumer issues and workforce shortages, and more. Learning these issues and being involved in policy and organizational responses is important for healthcare leaders, regardless of how directly they may be involved.

This program has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits.
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Our Presenters:
Shannon Huggins
Senior Vice President, Contract Strategy and Population Health
Methodist Health System
Steve Love
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council
Matt Richardson, FACHE, DrPH, MPH (Moderator)
Director of Public Health
Denton County
Ted Shaw
Texas Hospital Association
President & Chief Executive Officer
Speakers’ Bios:

Shannon Huggins is currently Senior Vice President, Contract Strategy and Population Health for Methodist Health System. She began with Methodist in 2002 and has responsibilities for non-governmental payor contracting and relations on behalf of Methodist facilities, joint venture organizations, transplantation services, Accountable Care Organization and physician groups. Additionally she has operational responsibilities for the Methodist Patient Centered ACO (MPCACO). She also oversees the bundled payment projects within Methodist Health System. Shannon has designed and implemented contracting and pricing strategies for Methodist. MPCACO has successfully achieved for Medicare over $90 million in savings for the 7 years in participating in this program – an achievement only 18 other ACOs across the nation also have. The ACO also performed in the top quartile of ACOs who achieved savings in quality metrics.
Shannon has over 27 years of experience in contracting, payor relations, population health, financial analysis and decision support. Prior to Methodist, Shannon served in several roles at Baylor All Saints (formerly All Saints Health System) in Ft. Worth and various roles in a profit hospital organization. She has served on various civic boards and is currently President of the Alumni Association for her alma mater the University of the Ozarks. Civically, she was selected to be in Leadership Dallas class of 2014. Also, Shannon currently serves on several Board of Directors as a representative for Methodist Health System. She earned her BS in Marketing/Finance from University of the Ozarks and her MS in HealthCare Administration from Texas Woman’s University.

Dr. Matt Richardson was appointed as the Director of Public Health for Denton County in the summer of 2014. Dr. Richardson previously served as Director with the City of Amarillo and Potter/Randall Counties for 9 years. Dr. Richardson has authored peer-reviewed publications, testified to the Texas Legislature regarding public health issues and continues to advocate for public health practice and resources for Denton County and the state of Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Abilene Christian University and both Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Public Health from the University of North Texas. He is currently board certified and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Richardson also serves as an accreditation site reviewer for public health programs in universities across the US. Matt lives in Argyle with his wife of 24 years and their two daughters.

Mr. Steve Love is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council which promotes collaboration, cooperation and advocacy on behalf of its 90 member hospitals. The Hospital Council also has approximately 100 Associate Members (business and industry), including prominent accounting, legal and consulting firms. The primary mission is to promote patient safety, quality healthcare and coordination in the delivery of healthcare within the North Texas market. He served as 2015 Chair for the Conference of Metropolitan and Regional Hospitals Association in the United States. He also previously served on the Children at Risk Board for North Texas. He serves on the Southwest Region Board for the American Heart Association; Southwest Transplant Alliance; Cure Glaucoma Foundation Advisory Board; North Texas Eye Research Institute; the Metropolitan YMCA Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of Prism Health North Texas and Mothers Against Drunk Driving Dallas. Mr. Love has worked in healthcare management for over 40 years. He has demonstrated leadership in tax exempt, investor-owned, specialty and private hospitals in operations, finance and corporate governance. Prior to joining the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, Mr. Love was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of a Fortune 500 healthcare company that owned over 50 hospitals and managed approximately 200 facilities in the United States.

Walter “Ted” Shaw joined the Texas Hospital Association as the organization’s fourth president and chief executive officer in February 2014. Shaw brings expertise forged from a 40-year career in health care leadership to his role as key strategist and spokesperson on behalf of more than 450 THA member hospitals and health systems. As president and CEO of the largest state hospital association in Texas, Shaw is responsible for leading the industry in its advocacy work and positioning Texas hospitals to achieve their missions of delivering the highest quality health care to all Texans.
Prior to joining THA, Shaw served as interim executive vice president and chief financial officer for Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, where he led the development of the Medicaid Transformation Waiver in North Texas and the construction of an 864-bed replacement hospital. From 2004-2011, he was a partner with the Dallas-based Financial Resource Group LLC, a health care consulting firm where he specialized in interim operational turnarounds with facilities across the U.S. Prior to joining FRG, Shaw was president of the health care consulting firm W.T. Shaw Company from 1998-2003.
His legacy for leading impressive turnarounds includes assignments at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, the third largest public health system in the U.S.; East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La., both before and after Hurricane Katrina; Fletcher Allen Health Care in Vermont; and Maricopa Integrated Healthcare System in Phoenix. In addition, he has a strong background in health care technology and insurance, having served as chief operating officer of Health2Health.com, an Internet-based HIPAA solutions company; and with Dallas-based CareSystems Corporation, a workers’ compensation technology support firm.
He began his career with Ernst & Young in San Antonio, Cleveland and Dallas, achieving the role of partner with responsibility for the Southwest Region Healthcare Practice from 1973-1992. Shaw holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from The University of Texas at Austin, and is a certified public accountant and a fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

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Multi-Chapter Panel #4 - Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare Delivery
2021-05-20 12:30 - 14:00
Join the ACHE East Texas, North Texas and Texas Midwest chapters for another in our special multi-chapter panels.

Disruptive innovation, a term coined by Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen, is a transformative business model that leverages technology to help focus on making products and services more accessible and affordable. In healthcare delivery, disruptive innovations have the potential to decrease costs while improving both the quality and accessibility of care. Disruptive innovations enable new applications and changes in behaviors. The current thinking with many innovators is a belief that a host of disruptive innovations would have wide implications for payers by shifting payment models to reward precision diagnostic tests and abilities of providers. Several current disruptive innovations like retail clinics, telemedicine, medical tourism, and point-of-care medical payments are making a major difference in how health care is delivered. This panel will focus on the role of innovation in the medical marketplace and examples of disruptive innovations that will change lives in health care.

This program has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits.

Our Presenters:
Tamara Perry, BA-SLP, MA-IOC
Sr. Director Operations
Virtual Health and Innovation
Children’s Medical Center
Andrew Thorby
Chief Executive Officer
Care Continuity
Paula Turicchi, MHA,FACHE (Moderator)
Chief Strategy Officer
Parkland Community Health Plan
Dr. Leslie Wainwright
Chief Funding and Innovation Officer
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Dr. Hubert Zajicek, MD, MBA
Co-Founder, Partner and CEO
Health Wildcatters

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Speakers’ Bios:

Tamara Perry is the Senior Director of Virtual Health and Innovation at Children’s Health System of Texas. Tamara has over 20 years’ experience in communication, corporate training and organization strategy. Currently she serves as a national and international expert in the field of telemedicine; sharing her knowledge of telemedicine implementation, expansion and sustainability as a speaker at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) international conferences, Becker’s Hospital Review, American Pediatric Association and other virtual health technology and innovation conferences yearly. She is currently the Chair of the American Telemedicine Association Pediatric Special Interest Group. Her work has been featured in the Hospitals & Health Networks’ Most Wired issues, NRHA Rural Roads magazine, D Magazine Excellence in Healthcare and other national publications. Her recent work includes leading the deployment of virtual health care solutions including countries largest school-based telehealth program, the Children’s Health Virtual Visit direct to consumer app and virtual visit kiosks in locations across the DFW area. She has a bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology and Master’s in Interpersonal and Organization Communication.

Andrew Thorby has over thirty years of experience in technology-driven business disruption. A native of Australia, his early career was spent in the systems integration industry applying value chain re-engineering principles to Fortune 1000 firms in the telecommunications, financial services, and energy sectors. He first entered the healthcare industry in 2004 with the application of zero-defect manufacturing principles to the revenue cycle. It was here that he began to understand and address the “islands of information” dilemma that plagued healthcare and resulted in an overall lack of process integrity along the patient journey.
Andrew founded Care Continuity with the goal of improving the disconnected and confusing care delivery experience that patients and their families too often encounter during a serious illness or injury. Andrew’s prior experience in technology driven business disruption helped him realize that the disconnect lay with an incentive model which only paid for services rendered at the point of care and the patient journey which often spanned multiple providers and multiple places of service. Too often it was left to the patients and to individual providers to try and connect the dots. In other words, healthcare delivery networks were networks in name only.
As founder and CEO, Andrew has led Care Continuity’s evolution through three software platforms (with over 200 releases on the current platform), from a focus on technology to a focus on results and the patient experience, and from impacting the experience of a handful of patients each month to impacting thousands. During this time, healthcare has gone through a sea change in the core incentive model with value-based care and population risk raising the stakes to the point that operational integrity within care delivery networks has gone from a nice to have to a must have.
As CEO, Andrew is primarily responsible for setting the firms vision, supporting the Care Continuity team, and partnering with clients to ensure that the firm is accelerating its go-to-market strategies and providing its patients and clinicians with the proactive support they need.

Paula Turicchi is the Chief Strategy Officer at Parkland Community Health Plan in Dallas, Texas. The health plan serves more than 185,000 members in Medicaid’s STAR, CHIP, and CHIP Perinatal programs through a network of more than 3,000 providers and 25 facilities located in 7 counties in the Dallas service delivery area.
Previously, Paula served as the Vice President of Hospital Operations and Administrator of Women and Infant’s Specialty Health (WISH) at Parkland Health & Hospital System. She was instrumental in the design and construction of the New Parkland Hospital facility and the Moody Center for Breast Health. Paula played a key role in completing the System Improvement Agreement (SIA) and Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) from 2013 to 2018. In addition, she chaired the Women’s Health Advisory Committee of Texas which was created by Texas’ 84th Legislature to advise the Health & Human Services Commission on consolidation of women’s health programs.
Paula was a 2018 Texas Hospital Association Leadership Fellow. She is board certified in Healthcare Administration and holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University and Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Dr. Leslie Wainwright joined the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation [PCCI], as their Chief Funding and Innovation Officer in March 2019. Prior to this role, she oversaw RTI International’s Innovation Advisors health practice where she worked with health systems and technology developers to guide the development and adoption of impactful healthcare innovations. She has also served in executive roles at Sg2, AVIA and Business Models Inc., a Dutch-based innovation consultancy.
She is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, and has experience that spans academic research, pharma/biotechnology and healthcare delivery. Leslie has worked with executive teams from multi-national organizations and startups alike to design growth strategies, create alternative business models and evaluate emerging clinical and care delivery technologies. Additionally, she has spent several years addressing innovation and how healthcare organizations build their own sustainable innovation competencies. Leslie is a frequent speaker and facilitator on the future of healthcare, enabling technologies, disruptive innovation and emerging business models, both domestically and abroad.
Leslie received her PhD in microbiology at Northwestern University, completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development and received a B.A. in Biology from DePauw University. She serves as a clinical advisor on the Board of Start-up tech companies and has served as faculty teaching strategy and innovation at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Additionally, Leslie is passionate about STEM education and is in the Women’s Board of the Field Museum in Chicago, working with the museum to expand opportunities for girls in science.

Hubert Zajicek is co-founder, partner and CEO of Health Wildcatters, a top-ranked seed stage healthcare fund and accelerator in Dallas, TX. Health Wildcatters provides mentorship, capital and guidance to up to 12 healthcare related startups during an intensive 3 month program, annually. The fund has invested in 77 healthcare startups, which have attracted over $200M in capital in about 7 years. Over the past 10 years he has reviewed, evaluated, mentored and advised thousands of startup companies.
In March of 2020, Dr. Zajicek started the Health Hacking Crisis Network (HHCN), a non-profit organization that engages in bringing together a rapid reaction force to deal with acute problems arising in healthcare due to COVID-19. The organization has over 500 volunteer members and has supported the creation of a variety of initiatives that had a big impact on the North Texas region and beyond.
Prior to forming Health Wildcatters and HHCN he was managing director of medical technology at NTEC (North Texas Enterprise Center for Medical Technology – www.ntec-inc.org). He oversaw the construction of NTEC’s state-of-the-art 50,000 SF building and managed the facility including its roughly 10,000 SF lab space. During his tenure he created MedVentures, the Southwest’s largest medical technology investment conference, whose presenting companies raised a combined $274M in funding.
Hubert has over ten years of experience in the life sciences. Before joining NTEC, Hubert was on faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center where he was an NIH-funded Principal Investigator and co-investigator of research grants totaling more than $1M from various grant agencies. His areas of research included Nephrology and Cell Biology with a focus on membrane transport and membrane composition. His interests extend into biophysics, fluorescence and imaging techniques. He authored and co-authored over 15 scientific articles, more than 30 presentations at national and international meetings and 2 book-chapters.
Hubert received his Doctorate in Medicine (M.D.) from the University of Vienna, School of Medicine (1996), and his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in 2006 (Beta-Gamma-Sigma). He is a fellow of the American Society of Nephrology (F.A.S.N.)
He is an active speaker, panelist and thought leader on healthcare startups, digital health, entrepreneurship and funding topics. . He lives in Dallas, with his wife, Beth McNally Zajicek, MD and two daughters.

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2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Governance & Organizational Structure
2021-05-21 12:00 - 13:00

2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Healthcare Technology & Information Management
2021-06-04 12:00 - 13:00

COVID-19: What We Learned: Staffing/People Resources
2021-06-17 11:00 - 12:30
This panel has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits.

Emergency management requires precise identification and allocation of staff to align capabilities and capacity with the need to effectively deliver care for the community. The COVID-19 outbreak caused a substantial shift in the availability of staff and resources, and the accessibility of timely delivery of care. In response to the evolving needs, organizations have shifted staff in a variety of ways to ensure they were able to effectively screen, triage and care for patients. This panel will provide strategies and tactics of how their organizations adjusted their staffing structure to ensure that the most appropriate level of care is delivered during a medical surge such as the COVID-19.

Panelists:

Cheryl Flynn, SPHR
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Methodist Health System
Trey Greenwood
Director of the Human Resources Service Center
Texas Health
Brent D. Magers, FACHE (Facilitator)
Executive Associate Dean, Texas Tech University School of Medicine
CEO, Texas Tech Physicians
Patricia A. Rodriguez, MD, FAAP
Chief Medical Officer
North Texas Area Community Health Centers

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Speaker Bios:

Cheryl Flynn joined Methodist Health System as Senior Vice President/Chief Human Resources Officer in August 2013. In her role, Flynn serves as Methodist’s lead executive responsible for strategic transformational leadership. She develops policy and directs all human resources activities for Methodist Health System including talent acquisition, employee relations, employee engagement, compensation, benefits, HRIS, wellness, employee health services, organizational effectiveness, patient experience, pastoral services, and work community of choice initiatives.
Prior to joining Methodist, Flynn served as Chief Human Resources Officer for NCH Corporation in Irving, a global company with 8,500 employees in 52 countries. Prior to NCH, she spent the majority of her career with LSG Sky Chefs in a variety of progressively responsible roles, concluding with Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the Americas region during which she oversaw all human resources activities for more than 90 locations in North and South America.
Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Human Resources Certification Institute.

Trey Greenwood is a 10-year veteran of Texas Health. He spent five years as the Entity Human Resources Officer supporting strategic initiatives at Texas Health Cleburne, Texas Health Allen, and Texas Health Plano. While serving in this role he focused on achieving top-decile performance in employee engagement and retention. In his current role, Trey is responsible for designing and implementing new Shared Services functions within Human Resources.
During his time at Texas Health, he has played an integral role in developing new processes across the system to support HR operations, including automating job descriptions reviews for employees and leaders to comply with regulatory standards and creating new procedures to decrease workers compensation cost by bringing employees back to work in modified duty assignments. His knowledge and experience in HR operations supports his passion for designing new processes that will support the workforce.
Trey has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a Master of Arts in Psychology with an emphasis in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Stephen F. Austin State University. He is a certified professional in human resources.
Trey resides in Bedford, TX, with his wife, Caity. In his free time, Trey enjoys woodworking, building furniture, and scuba diving. He also sits on the board for the Assistance Center of Collin County.

Brent D. Magers has more than 40 years of experience in the health care industry. In his present role since 2007, he has been responsible for all aspects of Texas Tech Physicians. Prior to this, he served as the CEO and in other administrative roles at three hospitals.
He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Certified Medical Practice Executive of Medical Group Management Association. In 2012, he earned the FHMFA designation from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HMFA). Brent was also awarded an additional specialty certification from HFMA in accounting and finance.
Brent holds two master’s degrees – one from Trinity University in health care administration and one from the Texas Tech University where his thesis concentrated on health care marketing. He is an adjunct professor in the health organization management program of Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business.
He received undergraduate degrees from Abilene Christian University in communications and general business and Western Governors University in accounting.

Dr. Patricia Rodriguez is a board-certified pediatrician who graduated medical school from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where she also completed both her internship and residency. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Texas A&M University and is a proud Aggie. Before joining NTACHC, Dr. Rodriguez served as Vice President and Chief Health Equity & Inclusion Officer for Children’s Health in Dallas, where she spearheaded system-wide strategies and initiatives in pediatric health equity and inclusive care delivery practices. Prior to relocating to Dallas, she served as the Director of Pediatrics for a Houston-area federally qualified health center for nearly seven years and brings extensive experience and expertise in community health and clinic operations. She is a passionate healthcare advocate for vulnerable and underserved.

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2021 ACHENTX BOG Exam Review Session - Laws & Regulations and Professionalism & Ethics
2021-06-18 12:00 - 13:00

LinkedIn Bits & Bytes - Four Steps to Optimize Your Branding & Visibility
2021-06-29 18:00 - 19:00
Using the power of Linkedin to blast off your career and visibility.

During this event we will be sharing beginner to intermediate steps of how to leverage your skills and abilities for your next career move. We will share tips and tricks with you on amplifying the four basic components and content for your LinkedIn profile.
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Presented by:
Jennifer “J” Alexander, FACHE, is an Operations Manager for Imaging Services at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She received both her Masters of Business and Healthcare Administration at the University of Texas, Arlington. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a recent Board of Directors, the 2017 Volunteer of the year, and currently serves on the Communications and Mentorship Committees.
J. also volunteers on the Arlington Healthcare Advisory Board, the Texas Hospital Association Leadership Development Council, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, and the Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists.
J’s passion is to serve, connect, and mentor individuals in the healthcare industry. She is an avid learner and attends many healthcare talks/events in the Dallas, Ft Worth area. J. is also a LinkedIn influencer. She regularly posts about healthcare topics utilizing social media to inform her followers about the rapidly changing healthcare landscape and the branding and visibility necessary to stay relevant.
J. Alexander believes #weareallinthistogether

Brock Spencer is a Customer Service Manager for WebTPA in Irving, TX. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from the University of Central Missouri and his MBA from Western Governors University. He joined ACHE as a member in January of 2021 and is currently a mentee in the mentorship program, part of the social media committee, and part of the book club.
Brock is a huge proponent of personal branding and quit all other social media platforms in December to focus his efforts on LinkedIn and how to best utilize that space. He has grown his connections and following ten times what it was just six months ago while amassing almost a quarter million views on his content. He has also been tasked with helping his employer and coworkers with expanding their LinkedIn presence to drive recruiting efforts. Brock posts about healthcare, personal branding, customer service, and other various topics based on his life experiences.

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ACHENTX Diversity and Inclusion Happy Hour with NAHSE and NALHE
2021-06-30 18:00 - 19:30
Please join us for our ACHE of North Texas First Diversity and Inclusion Happy Hour.

This meeting is an opportunity to learn about the diverse networks that are offered through our chapter: ACHENTX’s Women’s Healthcare Executive Network (WHEN), ACHE’s Asian Healthcare Leaders Community and ACHE’s LGBTQ Healthcare Leaders Community. You will also hear from our phenomenal community partners: The National Association of Health Service Executives (NAHSE-DFW) and The National Association of Latin Healthcare Executives (NALHE). Participants will be able to hear about the goals and ideals of each group, while learning how to join and get involved! This is your time to network with fellow healthcare executives from around the DFW.

Through this partnership, our networks will promote dialogue, innovation, and collaboration across the healthcare community.

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ACHENTX Networking Blitz
2021-07-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Moody Outpatient Center at Parkland Hospital, 5151 Maple Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75235, United States
A tremendous networking opportunity for new and more seasoned members alike!

This event is for all ACHE of North Texas members who want to become more involved and/or become more connected/networked with their fellow ACHENTX members.
The ACHE North Texas Membership & Networking Committee cordially invites you to the ACHE of North Texas chapter’s Networking Blitz. This fun event will allow members to get to know one another in a very meaningful way. There will be special fun breakout sessions and activities, where personal connections will be made. The intent of this program is to bring members together to get a real in depth view of ACHENTX, to enable you to meet some of the chapter’s leadership and other fellow ACHE members, and to help you map out how to best take advantage of the plethora of local and national benefits and opportunities available to you through. It’s a way to “let us get to know you” as well and become a part of your professional network.
Our guest speaker for the evening will be Jyric Sims FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, Medical City Plano.
We are looking forward to meeting each of you and/or getting to know you better.
Light snacks will be offered.

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Cocktails with the Chiefs Event - Dallas
2021-07-22 18:00 - 20:00 | 1900 Pearl Street, 1900 N Pearl Street, Dallas, TX, 75201
Our popular in-person Cocktails with the Chiefs event is back!
This event always offers incredible networking opportunities and this year will feature the following special panelists:
Jim Allard, DNP, FACHE, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Medical City Children’s Hospital
Medical City Women’s Hospital-Dallas
Kevin Greene
Assistant Vice President & Administrator
Cook Children’s Medical Center-Prosper
Brett Lee, FACHE
President
Texas Health Hospital Frisco
Felicia Miller, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CHHR (Moderator)
Executive Vice President & Chief Talent Officer
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Benton Sprayberry, FACHE
Vice President of Operations – South Region
Steward Health Care
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A special thanks to Steward Health Care for providing the venue for this event and to Sound Physicians for hosting the food and beverages!
Speakers Bios:
Dr. Jim Allard is the Chief Nursing Officer at Medical City Children’s Hospital and Medical City Women’s Hospital – Dallas. Jim’s clinical and leadership tenure has span 23 years in nursing. As a frontline clinician he worked in pediatric critical care with a focus on pediatric congenital heart. As a driven nurse leader since 2008, Jim’s interests include civility, shared governance, evidence based practice, MAGNET and Just Culture principles. Jim’s current responsibilities include strategic development and oversight of nursing services, inclusive of all Women’s and Children’s areas.
Prior to his most recent role, Jim has served in various leadership roles in HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake, The Woman’s Hospital of Texas, Medical City Children’s, Children’s Health Dallas, Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Jim earned a Doctorate of Nurse Practice at Texas Christian University, and Masters in Nursing Administration from the University of Texas Arlington. He holds a certification from ANCC as a Nurse Executive Advanced and is a member of ANA, TNA, TONL, AONL and ACHE. He has served on the TONL Membership Committee, Texas Team Practice Committee and was appointed to the TNA Policy Council where he has chaired the Maternal Mortality Task Force and most recently serves as the Workplace Advocacy and Practice Committee Chair. Community service includes serving on the ANA Professional Issues Panel as a Steering Committee member, updating the fatigue position statement. Jim has been an ACHE member for 4 years. He is a member of the ACHE LGBTQ Healthcare Leaders Community, and recently appointed to a 2-year team on the ACHE LGTBQ Healthcare Leaders Community Committee. Jim also serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s Vice Chair. His personal leadership vision is “To develop the leader in every nurse.”
Kevin Greene is the Assistant Vice President and Administrator at Cook Children’s Medical Center Prosper, Cook Children’s Health Care System’s newest medical center in Prosper, Texas. Kevin’s current responsibilities include strategic development and operational oversight of all services for the ambulatory surgery center and medical center.
Prior to his current role, Kevin served in various leadership positions at HCA Houston Healthcare West, Lake Granbury Medical Center and Cedar Park Regional Medical Center. Kevin holds a Bachelors of Business Administration and Biology from Abilene Christian University and a Master’s of Science in Health Care Administration from Trinity University. Kevin has served on multiple leadership boards in Granbury and Houston, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Prosper Chamber of Commerce. Kevin also participates on the Texas Hospital Association’s Leadership Development Council and the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Policy Advisory Council and Innovation Task Force.
“Knowing that every child’s life is sacred, it is the Promise of Cook Children’s to improve the health of every child through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury.”
Brett Lee serves as the inaugural president of Texas Health Hospital Frisco (a unique joint venture between Texas Health Resources and UT Southwestern), being named to that role in 2019.
Lee brings a wealth of health care experience to the position, having spent the majority of his career in leadership roles in pediatric hospitals, including serving as vice president of operations and clinical services at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, where he worked closely with UT Southwestern to help plan the opening of a new hospital campus in Plano and collaborated on the recruitment of multiple faculty members. He also has extensive experience working in complex joint venture environments, having served as the president of a joint venture between Tenet Healthcare and Baylor Scott & White Health that operated five hospitals in North Texas.
Mr. Lee holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Oklahoma, a Master of Health Science Degree in Health Finance and Management from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, a Master of Science in Leadership Development Degree from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, and a Doctorate in Allied Health/Physical Therapy from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions.
Mr. Lee is the lead author of the bestselling book Growing Leaders in Healthcare: Lessons from the Corporate World, published by the Health Administration Press, and the subsequent American College of Healthcare Executives self-study course Creating a Leadership Development Program in your Healthcare Organization. He then went on to publish three additional books, Managing Clinically: What can Medicine Teach us About Leadership, Voices from Riley; a Collection of Prayers from a Top Children’s Hospital, and his newest book, The Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Actions, Awareness, and Perception (which received the James A. Hamilton Award as the 2017 “book of the Year” by the ACHE).
Mr. Lee was given the Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award as the national young healthcare executive of the year by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), was recognized as a “Rising Star” of the healthcare industry by Becker’s Hospital Review, was named as an “up and comer” by Modern Healthcare, and the Dallas Business Journal named Lee as one of their “Who’s Who in Healthcare”.
Lee is married to his high school sweetheart, Mindy, and they have one school-age son, Preston. In his free time, Lee is an avid runner and enjoys traveling with family.
Felicia Miller, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CHHR is the EVP & CTO at Parkland. Felicia has more than 30 years of leadership experience in healthcare HR across both non-profit and for-profit health systems, including more than 22 hospitals and approximately 187,000 employees. Her most recent experience as Chief Human Resources Officer for Tenet Healthcare Corporation’s Texas region saw her leading the charge for comprehensive talent management in a heavily data-driven culture while fostering cross-functional working relationships with executive counterparts across divisions.
Prior to her time at Tenet, Felicia spent 19 years with Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and Texas Health Resources. Her tenure with PHD included roles with increasing responsibility and seniority, having progressed from a career center coordinator to manager roles, senior HR generalist and director of HR.
Felicia received a Master of Business Administration from LeTourneau University. She also has dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Health Information Management and Health Professions from Texas State University. Felicia’s professional certifications include Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and Healthcare Huma Resources (CHHR). She is also an active community member, involved in multiple business organizations and the recipient of numerous professional accolades.
Benton Sprayberry is the Vice President of Operations – South Region for Steward Health Care, and has served in other roles for Steward Health Care since joining the organization in November 2018. She’s had responsibility for a variety of services, projects, and initiatives across the entire system during her tenure. Most notably, robotic service lines, wound care centers, hospital-based service providers, as well as hospital closures, divestitures and acquisitions. In her current role of VP of Operations, Benton oversees operations for 12 acute care facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida.
Prior to Steward Health Care, Benton served in operational roles for Community Health Systems at three of their acute care facilities in Alabama. Benton holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from Auburn University, a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB), and is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives.
In her free time, Benton enjoys taking and teaching both yoga and Pilates classes, volunteering with her French bulldog (Louis) through Therapy Dogs International, serving the community and state through a number of non-profit organizations, serving as a Board Member for the North Texas Chapter of ACHE, and traveling with her significant other.
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Thank you, Sound Physicians and Steward Health Care for hosting this event!

COVID-19: What We Learned: Supply Chain
2021-07-27 11:00 - 12:30
A Virtual Education Event Offered by ACHE of North Texas.
This event has been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face Credits!

Emergency management efforts are often coupled with changes to normal utilization of supplies and equipment. The COVID-19 outbreak created an increase demand for commonly used equipment including personal protective equipment, nasopharyngeal swabs, viral test kits and ventilators. This panel discussion will provide insights on what their respective organizations were able to accomplish to protect their employees and to optimize care delivery for their patients and community, in direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our panelists will include:
Jon Albrecht
Vice President & Chief Pharmacy Officer
Methodist Health System
Kevin Barnes, FACHE (Moderator)
Director of Finance
Southwest Transplant Alliance
Nate Mickish
VP Strategic Sourcing at Texas Health and President
OnHand

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Speakers Bios:

Jon Albrecht became VP and Chief Pharmacy Officer for Methodist Health System in Dallas, TX in January 2019. Jon was Director of Pharmacy Services for Methodist Dallas Medical Center from in 2008-2016, and then served as Chief Operating Officer from 2016-2018. Previously he spent 23 years at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Jon graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy from Auburn University. Jon completed a Specialized Pharmacy Residency in Nutrition Support at Rhode Island Hospital. Jon has also completed a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Walden University.
In his pharmacy career, Jon has worked in almost every hospital pharmacy role from pharmacy technician to director. He has managed pharmacy services in inpatient, emergency department, jail health services, home health, ambulatory clinic, and pharmacy informatics settings. In his hospital operations role, Jon managed oncology and GI services lines, radiology, pharmacy, food service, environmental service, physical plant, and construction.
Jon is also Clinical Assistant Professor for University of Texas College of Pharmacy and Clinical Associate Professor for Texas Tech University Health Science Center. Jon is a Fellow of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacy and a Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist.
Jon has published and presented on numerous clinical and management topics.

Kevin Barnes joined STA as Controller in July of 2014 and was promoted to Director of Finance in January of 2016. He is responsible for the management oversight of the finance department including budgeting, payroll, and financial reporting.
Prior to joining STA, Kevin was the Director of Finance and Information Systems at Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO) from the 2006 to 2014. As the highest-ranking financial leader in the organization, he helped lead revenue growth by more than 50 percent from 2006 to 2012. Net assets more than doubled in his tenure. Kevin led the negotiation and discounting of clinical bills which saved the organization more than $3,000,000 per year.
Kevin has more than 20 years of financial leadership experience in the organ procurement industry and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He has also served on the board examination committee of ACHE.
Kevin earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Perdue University, a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Indiana University, and has a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Nate Mickish is the vice president of strategic sourcing at Texas Health and the president at OnHand, a supply chain solutions company. Nate leads the contracting, category management and procurement teams supporting Texas Health’s operations. He also oversees the growth and performance of OnHand, a joint venture between Texas Health and Premier, Inc. (PINC). Nate joined Texas Health in January of 2013 after serving as procurement director with CHI Health (f/k/a Alegent Health) in Omaha, NE.
Nate received his BS in accounting and MBA from the University of Nebraska.

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ACHENTX Life Fellows & Retirees Luncheon
2021-07-30 12:00 - 13:30 | University of Texas at Arlington, College of Business Building, 701 South West Street, Arlington, Texas, 76010
Join us for a great time of conversation, idea exchange, networking and fellowship!

Our next ACHE of North Texas Life Fellows and Retirees Luncheon is going to be at the University of Texas in Arlington. Not only will you have the opportunity to reconnect with your healthcare community colleagues, but we will also be joined by some U T Arlington graduate students and Professors as well. It will be a grand opportunity for us to mix, mingle, and have a great conversation with this group!

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ACHENTX Third Quarter Education Event
2021-08-26 15:30 - 19:00 | Virtual
These panels have been approved for 1.5 ACHE Face-to-Face credits each (3.0 if you attend both).
Agenda:
3:30-5pm – Panel #1: Embracing a Dialogue about Gender Equity and Intersectionality
5:30-7pm – Panel #2: Equity of Care
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This will be a virtual event.
Panel #1: Embracing a Dialogue about Gender Equity and Intersectionality
As healthcare consumers become more demographically diverse, healthcare leaders seek to recruit and retain talent from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Gaining an understanding of intersectionality will equip leaders to build and retain team members across difference and in ways that establish common ground and cultivate inclusive cultures of belonging The concept of intersectionality recognizes that everyone has multiple identities that intersect and influence how we view ourselves and interact with others. Learning how to effectively apply intersectionality principles will help organizations move beyond the one-dimensional aspects of traditional diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
In the drive for gender equity, healthcare leaders have acknowledged the need for fully inclusive gender equity that recognizes the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other dimensions of identity. Efforts to improve women representation in the senior ranks of healthcare management must include women from all backgrounds and experiences. When intersectionality considerations are incorporated into gender equity strategies, organizations can reap tangible, proven benefits including better talent recruitment and retention, stronger DEI outcomes, and improved organizational performance.
Panel #1 Panelists:
LaSharndra Barbarin, MHA, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer
Medical City Lewisville
Patricia T. Driscoll, BSN, MSN, JD
Professor of Healthcare Administration
Texas Woman’s University
Dr. Cole Edmonson DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAONL, FNAP, FAAN
Chief Experience and Clinical Officer
AMN Healthcare
Travis W. Gill, JD
Assistant Vice President – Institutional Equity & Access
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dr. Marlette Jackson
Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Virgin Pulse
Pamela Stoyanoff, MBA, CPA and FACHE
President and Chief Operating Officer
Methodist Health System
Panel #2: Equity of Care
Quality of care should not vary on the basis of the patients’ socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, or geographic background. It is known however, that there is a healthcare divide in the U.S. especially in vulnerable populations including: those lacking health insurance (or are underfunded), low-income families, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ populations. The Affordable Care Act aimed to address access and equity of care issues by expanding health insurance coverage. Deficits in access to care changes the way healthcare is delivered and financed.
To embrace diversity is a core principle of the healthcare management profession and is also an ethical and business imperative. Healthcare organizations must ensure their staff is educated on disparities to appropriately address the needs of patients from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to provide equitable high-quality care to all. It has been shown that patient-centered care improves clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction while reducing medical errors and costs. Eliminating healthcare disparities provides a strategic component to ensure organizational excellence and long-term financial viability.
Panel #2 Panelists:
Daffodil Baez, FACHE, MPH, MBA (Moderator)
Assistant Director of Clinical Operations
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center- Frisco
Gary DiPersi BSN, MBAHA, CENP, FACHE (Moderator)
National Director of Patient Safety
Tenet Health
Catherine Oliveros
Vice President of Community Health Improvement
Texas Health Resources
Bianca L. Radney, MBA
Vice President of Patient and Family Experience
Texas Health Resources
Panel #1 Speakers Bios – Embracing a Dialogue about Gender Equity and Intersectionality:

A highly respected leader with a proven record of success, LaSharndra “Sharn” Barbarin is Medical City Healthcare’s first African American female CEO and 1 of 5 African American CEOs within HCA Healthcare. As CEO, Barbarin provides leadership, strategic direction and direct administrative responsibility for all aspects of financial operations, clinical quality outcomes and patient experience for Medical City Lewisville.
Since becoming CEO in 2015, Barbarin has proven to be a dynamic leader, driving record earnings for Medical City Lewisville for 4 consecutive years. Her strong business development acumen and exceptional leadership has led her team to double the facility’s operating margin and increase growth within a 12 month period. Under her leadership, Medical City Lewisville achieved the only Level III Trauma Designation and state Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Designation in Southern Denton County. Additionally, Medical City Lewisville added new service lines including robotics, bariatrics and peripheral vascular services, while expanding access points for patients through Solis Mammography Flower Mound and the Medical City Specialty Castle Hills and Corinth clinics.
Barbarin is a mission-driven leader committed to delivering unparalleled service and exceptional clinical quality for the hospital’s patients and families. Her team significantly improved quality outcomes for the hospital, while improving patient experience to the top quartile and sustaining top-tier employee engagement and physician satisfaction scores. During her tenure as CEO, Medical City Lewisville has sustained straight “A” Leapfrog quality performance scores; ranked #1 in clinical quality outcomes within HCA Healthcare’s vast network; and recently achieved ranking of #1 employee engagement and #1 physician engagement in Medical City Healthcare’s system of acute care hospitals.
Prior to this role, Barbarin served as Chief Operating Officer at Medical City Arlington from 2011 until her appointment as CEO at Lewisville in July 2015. Under her leadership, Medical City Arlington expanded services and achieved outstanding patient and physician satisfaction scores. She began her career with HCA Healthcare as an administrative fellow at Medical City Las Colinas and was quickly promoted to COO at Medical City McKinney, where she served nine years before her promotion to COO at Medical City Arlington.
Barbarin is proud to be an active member of the Lewisville and North Texas communities. In the Dallas-Fort Worth business community, she is highly regarded for her inspiring leadership style, passion for people, and ability to select and develop leadership talent. As Medical City Healthcare’s first African American female CEO, she is passionate about promoting cultural diversity as well as cultural inclusion within Medical City Lewisville through patient care, board representation, hiring practices, and promotions.
Barbarin currently serves on the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council Board of Trustees, as well as the Board of Directors for the Lewisville and Flower Mound Chambers of Commerce, the Medical City Healthcare Diversity and Inclusion Council, the HCA Healthcare Division Diversity and Inclusion Council, and the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund Board. She was selected by the Lewisville Independent School District Superintendent to serve on the Lewisville Independent School District’s Business Advisory Board and was appointed by the Denton County Judge to serve on the Denton County Public Health Advisory Committee. She is also a charter member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Cross Timbers Rotary Club.
Barbarin is a graduate of Louisiana State University and holds a Master of Health Administration from Tulane University. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She has been honored as a 2020 Minority Business Leader by the Dallas Business Journal, named an Outstanding Alumni by Tulane University’s School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, Top 25 Women in Business by McKinney Living, and as a Young Healthcare Executive of the Year Nominee by the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council.
Patricia T. Driscoll, BSN, MSN, JD, is an accomplished educator and senior healthcare leader; Pat Driscoll is the former President and CEO of Home Health Services of Texas, Inc. Prior to stepping into the CEO role, she served on the board of directors. She has more than 40 years of health care experience, including work in her private legal practice and roles in a variety of clinical, executive, consultant, and educational settings. Pat currently serves as Professor of Healthcare Administration at Texas Woman’s University. She was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for St. Paul Medical Center and served in managerial roles at Parkland Health and Hospital System and RHD Memorial Medical Center. In her role as a consultant, she advised Fortune 500 companies on health care strategy.
Pat has extensive expertise in acute and post -acute care, as well as community engagement. She is the Chair-elect of the board of directors of CHAP (Community Health Accreditation Partner) in Washington DC, and is involved in the development of standards for community-based care. Pat is the immediate past chair of the THR Community Leadership Council for Dallas and Rockwall, which is engaged in addressing social determinants of health with an emphasis on behavioral health in underserved zip codes. She served on the Board of Health First, an integrated health delivery system with four hospitals, a health plan, home health and hospice, and served as the Chair of the Board of the North Texas Health Industry Council.
Pat holds a JD from Southern Methodist University, as well as a BSN and MSN.
Dr. Cole Edmonson DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAONL, FNAP, FAAN is Chief Experience and Clinical Officer for AMN Healthcare. In his role, Dr. Edmonson oversees the company’s clinical and credentialing organizations, learning and research programs, and holds responsibilities related to clinical quality, compliance, and risk.
Dr. Edmonson comes to AMN from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, a three time Magnet hospital with a highly respected and decorated nursing staff, where he has been Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer since 2010. He held the same position at other hospitals since 1998. He brings three decades of experience as a nurse leader, along with deep involvement in research, professional organizations, health policy development, and community service. He has a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Texas Christian University and Master and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees from Oklahoma University. He is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Academy of Nursing, as well as being credentialed as a Nursing Executive Advanced, Board Certified by ANCC.
Dr. Edmonson is well known for his success in elevating the nursing leadership role and creating collegial teams across the clinical delivery continuum. He is a highly sought after national speaker and a published author of articles and a coauthor and contributor to several books. He is currently serving on the board of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. He is an alum of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow. Throughout his tenure as a nurse leader, he has initiated and led innovative programs to advance clinical quality, education, professional practice, patient experience and safety, and clinician safety.
Travis Gill, J.D. is the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Equity & Access at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In this role, Travis provides leadership in promoting and furthering the University’s commitment to inclusion and equal opportunity for all members of its community.  As AVP, Travis has oversight of UT Southwestern’s Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, Title IX, and Diversity & Inclusion programs and efforts.
As a scholar, practitioner, and consultant in diversity, equity, and inclusion, Travis is dedicated to removing barriers and providing equitable opportunity through systemic change. In his role, Travis oversees the institution’s strategic approach to promoting a culture of inclusion and belonging through programming, training, consultation, investigation & resolution, collaboration with business resource groups, and outreach across the wider Dallas/Fort Worth community.
Prior to joining UTSW, Travis served as a labor and employment attorney at an international law firm where he provided legal guidance and helped establish corporate policy to ensure a culture of non-discrimination and inclusion at several fortune 500 companies. Travis has also served as the Director of Institutional Equity & Access and Title IX Coordinator at Kansas State University and the Director of Investigations & Outreach in the Office of Institutional Equity at the University of Texas at Austin.
Travis proudly received his undergraduate degree (BBA) in Finance from the University of Oklahoma and his law degree (JD) from the University of Houston.
Dr. Marlette Jackson (she/her) is a researcher, educator, and cross-functional leader with over 8 years’ experience building and scaling DEI initiatives. Currently, Marlette serves as the Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I) at Virgin Pulse, where she leads the company’s global J.E.D.I efforts. In this role, she oversees all J.E.D.I programming, education and skill-building, conflict mediation, employee resource group engagement, and culture change management.
Marlette holds a PhD in Political Science from Stanford University and has published work on equity, diversity, and social justice in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the Journal of Political Behavior. In her free time, Marlette serves as a board member for the Stanford First-Generation and/or Low Income Alumni Network and as a board member for the BORNE Alliance, a non-profit providing neurological care to underserved communities in Ethiopia.
Pamela Stoyanoff, MBA, CPA and FACHE, is currently President and Chief Operating Officer for the 10 hospital Methodist Health System in Dallas, Texas. In that role she is leads strategic planning for the system and provides operational leadership for its hospitals, joint ventures and medical group. She is passionate about the Quadruple Aim and improving health by leading efforts that help to reduce health disparities.
She has been a member of numerous Boards and current serves on the Dallas Ft.Worth Hospital Council Education and Foundation Board, Business Council for the Arts Board and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Finance Committee.
Prior to coming to Dallas, Pam was the Chief Financial Officer for the St. Vincent Health System (4 hospitals) in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois and began her career at Arthur Anderson & Co.
Pam has her BS in Business Administration with a major in Accounting, is a CPA and has her Masters degree from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Lake Forest, Illinois. She is also a FACHE.
Pam has spoken around the country on many topics including revenue cycle management, robotics, cost reduction strategies and diversity in healthcare supply procurement.
She has been voted one of the top “100 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review, one of the top 25 Women in Business in Dallas/Ft. Worth by the Dallas Business Journal and was also selected by the Dallas Business Journal as a Health Care Hero (in recognition of contributions toward improving health care in North Texas).

Panel #2 Speakers Bios – Equity of Care:
Daffodil Baez currently serves as the Assistant Director of Clinical Operations at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center- Frisco overseeing the ambulatory multispecialty location. This regional campus is a joint venture between UT Southwestern and Texas Health Resources, which operates the hospital onsite.
Ms. Baez is also an entrepreneur and consultant. She is the founder and CEO of Fortress Therapeutics, a company focused on providing tools for optimal health. The main product line is comprised of organic tea blends to eliminate PMS, stabilize mood from anxiety and depression, and strengthen respiratory systems from allergies and other infections. Ms. Baez also provides consulting services for companies seeking to improve cultural sensitivity and connect with Latino healthcare consumers, streamline their outpatient operations, or launch virtual practice.
Daffodil received her Bachelor’s degree at Rice University before pursuing her Master’s in Public Health at Columbia University. She began her career as a financial analyst for a commercial health insurance payer before transitioning to practice management. After completing her Master’s in Business Administration at Arizona State University, she moved into an executive role for an integrated healthcare provider in Phoenix, AZ which focused on combining medical primary care with behavioral healthcare to the underserved community. In 2020, Ms. Baez was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Since high school, Ms. Baez has volunteered in the community as an educator, organized free health fairs, and is a contributing author to a healthy lifestyle book and curriculum. She is the president-elect for the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives (NALHE) inaugural Dallas Fort Worth chapter. Daffodil is also an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Health Service Executives (NAHSE) and is involved with several non-profit organizations focused on education and community health education. In her spare time she enjoys cycling, traveling, and baking. She is a native Texan, the first generation born in the US. Her family emigrated from the beautiful Dominican Republic.

Gary DiPersi, BSN, MBAHA, CENP, FACHE is dually certified as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and Executive Nursing Practice, Gary started his career as an orderly while attending a diploma based registered nursing program. During the course of his career, Gary spent the first 16 years as a critical care registered nurse eventually obtaining a BSN and MBAHA before transitioning to operations.
A proven leader with 30 years of experience in both the clinical and operations arenas, Gary DiPersi is currently the National Director of Patient Safety at Tenet Health and as such is the functional domain thought and impact leader for safety. Gary’s responsibilities include building a safety agenda that bridges across the three business units: Acute Care Hospitals, United Surgical Partners International, and Tenet Physician Resources. Prior to Tenet Health, Gary was the System Director for Nursing Operations and Performance Improvement at CHRISTUS Health and the System Director of Performance Improvement in both the clinical and operational areas for the Adventist Health System.
Gary’s leadership style has always been to engage those closest to the work in the problem-solving process and to sustain change through active engagement of the staff and leadership at the process and performance levels.
Catherine Oliveros is vice president of Community Health Improvement at Texas Health Resources.
Catherine provides strategic direction to and oversight of Texas Health’s Community Health Improvement initiatives, which aim to decrease health disparities and address social determinants with a special focus on underserved populations. In her role, Catherine oversees community health research and evaluation and is responsible for programs created as part of Texas Health Community Impact, the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program (DSRIP) and Community Health Ministry. Additionally, Catherine oversees the Texas Health Mobile Initiative: Wellness for Life and strategic trajectory projects established to disrupt current systems of care to improve health outcomes. Catherine is also responsible for building strong relationships with public and private organizations who share the Texas Health Vision of improving health and well-being across North Texas.
Before joining the Texas Health family, Catherine was director of community affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, where she developed strategies and collaborative partnerships to advance health and wellness, community engagement and business growth. Her 24 -year career includes six years with Susan G. Komen, where she was regional director for Latin America, including oversight of Komen’s Latin America research and community-based grants portfolio addressing the entire breast cancer continuum of care.
Catherine holds a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in public health from Loma Linda University in California, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
Community is also a priority for Catherine outside of work. She is a graduate of Leadership Fort Worth and Leadership North Texas and has served on the boards of The Concilio, North Texas American Diabetes Association, UNT Health Sciences Center: Women’s Health and Health Disparities, North Texas Hispanic 100, and Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation. Additionally, Catherine is a member of the UT Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Community Advisory Board.
Bianca L. Radney, MBA is the Vice President of Patient and Family Experience for Texas Health Resources. She has been in healthcare for over 20 years and has a background in psychology and performance improvement. She has the privilege of leading a diverse team, which includes a focus on consultation, insights, education, communication, language access, and most recently patient diversity/inclusion and health equity. Collaboratively, she and her team are leading work to define and support an exceptional experience of care for all patients and families across the THR ecosystem.

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Patient Safety Summit - Session #1
2021-09-09 10:00 - 12:00
Partnering again this year with the
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation
on their 14th Annual Patient Safety Summit

This year’s event will be virtual.

Dates: Thursdays, September 9, 16, 23 & 30
Times: 10am-12pm

Theme: Healthcare Heroes United
Keynote Speakers: Darryl Ross & Eric Kidwell, “Power of Two!”

Other featured sessions:

“Care for the Caregiver”
“COVID Processes- Learnings and Changes Panel”
“Burnout and Behavioral Health”

Learn More – Register Here
