After Hours Event - Four Corners Brewing Company
2017-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Four Corners Brewing Company, 1311 South Ervay Street, TX, 75215, United States
Join members of the American College of Healthcare Executives North Texas Chapter (ACHENTX) and the Lone Star Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) for a great evening of networking, socializing and fun!
We will be visiting the Four Corners Brewing Company at it’s new location, just south Interstate 30 and Downtown Dallas.
This will be a special event in that $10 of each ticket purchased will be donated to the Texas Hospital Association’s Hospital Employee Assistance Fund which directly supports healthcare workers who were victims of Hurricane Harvey.
In addition to this contribution to THA’s Hospital Employee Assistance Fund, your ticket will also include:

Your first beer
Light snacks
Free parking
A tour of the brewery

We look forward to seeing you there!
Register

Breakfast with the Executive Vice President
2018-01-30 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | Moncrief Cancer Institute | UT Southwestern, 400 W. Magnolia Avenue, Fort Worth, TX, 76104, United States
Join us for our first Breakfast with the CEO event for 2018!

Mack Mitchell, M.D.
Interim Executive Vice President
Health System Affairs
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Mack Mitchell, M.D. was appointed Interim Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs in September 2017. He is responsible for overseeing the UT Southwestern Medical Center clinical enterprise, including the Medical Center’s University Hospitals & Clinics as well as patient-care relationships with Parkland Health & Hospital System and Children’s Health℠ Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Since March 2016 he has served as Chief Medical Officer for the Southwestern Health Resources Physician Network and Accountable Care Network. He is Vice President for Medical Affairs at UT Southwestern where he also is a Professor of Internal Medicine. Dr. Mitchell’s clinical and research interests are in gastroenterology and liver diseases. He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, and he has been listed as one of D Magazine’s Best Doctors in Dallas. Before coming to UT Southwestern, he was the Chief of Gastroenterology and the Medical Director of Ambulatory Services at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Chairman of Internal Medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and Chairman of Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is president of ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol Research, and he was honored with the Seixas Award for Distinguished Service by the Research Society on Alcoholism.
Thank you, Dr. Mitchell and UT Southwestern Medical Center for hosting this event!
Register

New Horizons Education & Networking Event
2018-02-08 17:30 (America/Chicago) | Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children – Frisco, 5700 Dallas Parkway, Frisco, TX, 75034
Register
This is our second annual New Horizons event, a special educational opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to be mentored by local Executives. Early careerist and others in transition also encouraged to attend.
Note: In addition to being able to hear and meet the below presenters, on a first-come/first served basis we will also be offering a limited number of registrants the opportunity to have brief mock interviews and resume reviews with healthcare human resources experts from around the metroplex. This will not be a job fair, but instead a professional development opportunity — enabling you to receive direct feedback from those who are conducting healthcare industry interviews and filtering through resumes on a day-to-day basis. A photographer will also be onsite (more details to follow) for those wanting professional headshots taken as well.
Presenters:
Dresdene Flynn-White, FACHE
Managing Director
Acquired Leadership Solutions
Winjie Miao
EVP, Chief Experience Officer
Texas Health Resources
Andrea Newman, RN, BSN CIC
Director of Quality
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville
Nayan D. Patel, CHCIO, FHIMSS, PMP
Avis Advisors, Managing Director
IT Strategy & Performance
Jared Shelton, FACHE
President
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen
Michael Wiggins, FACHE
Administrator, Children’s Medical Center Plano
Sr. Vice President, Children’s Health
Presenters’ Bios:
Dresdene Flynn-White is no stranger to success as both a business owner and a strategic business partner in the corporate world. First as an administrator in higher education, then on to a fifteen-year healthcare career with Kaiser Permanente. Leaving a lucrative career in corporate human resources and consulting, she started on her five-year entrepreneurial journey as an executive and business coach, advising and supporting small business owners.
Dresdene returned to corporate human resources as Vice President for Human Resources at JPS in 2010. She assumed the role of the network’s first Diversity Officer in January 2012. In this capacity she is responsible for the execution of the Hospital District’s Diversity strategies relating to the provision of culturally competent care for patients, the education and retention of a diverse workforce and an expansion of engagement with M/WBE and HUB VENDORS.
Having retired from the position of Chief Diversity Officer as of February, 2015, Dresdene has returned to healthcare consulting by establishing a boutique consulting practice focused on strategic leadership development.
Dresdene is a unique health care professional, having experienced both corporate operational and business ownership roles. She is a credentialed manager responsible for establishing, consolidating and realigning critical business areas (quality, utilization and risk management and performance reporting) to enable the initiation of new systems, definition of new business processes and responses to litigation and regulatory compliance issues.
Dresdene serves on several community boards including the Fort Worth Metropolitan YMCA, Health Babies, Healthy Moms, Healthy Communities (H3); is the current president of the North Texas Chapter of American College of Healthcare Executives, and Co-Chair of the Tarrant County Cancer Disparities Coalition.
Winjie Tang Miao is the executive vice president and chief experience officer for Texas Health Resources. In this role, she leads system efforts to deliver a seamless, holistic consumer experience across the entire Texas Health organization. The Experience division uses consumer insights to develop new products and services, establish and maintain a consistent, differentiated consumer and care team experience, enhance the Texas Health brand, and drive Texas Health’s strategic and operational transformation efforts.
Miao joined Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas in 2000 as an administrative resident. At Texas Health Dallas she oversaw the development of more than $500 million in construction and the growth and development of outpatient clinics and the oncology service line. In 2007, she was named president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle, a facility that is recognized for both quality and community health efforts. In 2011, she became president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance. Under her leadership, Texas Health Alliance opened in 2012, and has received national recognition for its innovative technology. Miao became Texas Health’s senior vice president of System Integration and Innovation in 2015 and was instrumental in systemwide efforts such as Reliable Care Blueprinting.
In 2013, Miao was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce-Southwest Region. She has been named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the “130 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” (2015) and “25 Healthcare Leaders Under Age 40” (2012). In 2008, she was honored as one of Modern Healthcare magazine’s “Up and Comers.”
A biomedical engineering graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Miao also earned a master’s degree in health care administration, with a concentration in financial management and quality management, from the University of North Carolina.
Andrea Newman, RN, BSN CIC
Director of Quality
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville
Andrea Newman is the Director of Quality/Patient Safety/Risk Management for Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville (THS) and is a member of the hospital’s Executive Team. In this role, she oversees quality, performance improvement, infection prevention, patient safety, risk management and medical staff affairs. Under her leadership, the Quality Department has helped lead the hospital to improved quality scores, hospital ratings and data driven performance improvement changes.
Andrea joined THS in 2009 as a labor and delivery nurse. In 2010, she accepted the Infection Prevention Coordinator position. While in this position she earned her certification in infection control (CIC). In 2013, Andrea became Director of Quality/Patient Safety/Risk Management. Andrea is a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.
In 2011, Andrea was recognized as a Texas Health Resource (THR) “Patient Safety Star” and in 2015 she was honored as a Dallas Fort Worth Great 100 Nurse. She has received multiple awards for her performance as well as recognition for leading many quality, safety and operational initiatives. In 2016, Andrea was chosen by THS leadership to participate in THR’s Talent Acceleration Program which she completed and obtained her certificate in 2017.
Andrea earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing from Murray State University in 1999, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Healthcare Administration at University of Texas, Arlington.

Nayan Patel is a Managing Director at Avis Advisors, a healthcare IT consulting firm with expertise in Strategy, M&A, and Operational Excellence. He recently served as the Director of Information Services on the executive leadership team for The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano for-profit cardiovascular specialty hospital, providing direction and oversight of all IT investments, operations, and governance. During his leadership, the hospital became the seventh largest heart valve program and the Top 1.7% of all heart surgery programs in the United States (per Society of Thoracic Surgeons). Through its growth, Mr. Patel maintained a tight budget while keeping a strong commitment to guests seeking safe, quality, compassionate care. Under his guidance, the hospital successfully integrated a secondary heart hospital, expanded cardiovascular technology services, and implemented ITIL processes to enhance service delivery and improve customer service. His efforts also included implementing a project management office (PMO) and the standardization of IT governance processes for Baylor Scott & White Health.
Nayan is a pragmatic thinker with a passion for improving the end user experience while delivering high quality service to clinical, business, and research operations. He received his BSEE and MSEE from the University of Tennessee, and an MBA from Southern Methodist University (SMU). Nayan achieved his Fellow status with HIMSS and the CHIME CHCIO designation in 2014.
A firm believer in giving back to the community, he currently serves on the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Planning Committee, the SMU Information Technology Operations and Management Advisory Board, the University of Texas at Dallas Healthcare Management Advisory Council, and the Sci-Tech Discovery Center Board. Nayan attributes his success to his family’s support and the strong leaders that have partnered with him throughout his career.
Jared Shelton, FACHE, serves as president of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen, a role he assumed in January 2016.
He has primary oversight of day-to-day activities and responsibility for the hospital’s annual operating plan and shares leadership responsibilities with Chief Medical Officer Robert Schwab, M.D., and Chief Nursing Officer Elizabeth Asturi, MSN, R.N., NE-BC.
Shelton previously served as vice president of Professional & Support Services for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where he oversaw clinical ancillary and support departments, including pharmacy, radiology, laboratory services, respiratory therapy, food and nutrition services, rehab therapies and medical physics.
Shelton completed his undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and a minor in Religion. He went on to earn his M.H.A. from Trinity University.
Shelton currently serves on the Board of Directors for the North Texas chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Allen Fairview Chamber of Commerce.
Outside of work, Shelton and his wife, Kathryn, enjoy parenthood with their toddler daughter, Mackenzie, and new son, Jack. They are active members at Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, where he serves on the Stewardship Committee. He is also an avid sports fan and loves to play golf and ski.
Michael Wiggins, FACHE, serves as Senior Vice President and as the Administrator for Children’s Medical Center Plano. He is responsible for the strategic direction, operational outcomes and financial performance of the Children’s Health℠ campus in Plano. Michael has 25 years of health care leadership experience.
Before joining Children’s Health, he was Vice President, Operations at Children’s of Alabama. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer for Lewis-Gale Clinic in Roanoke, VA and Executive Director of Mercy Health Center in Bentonville, AR.
Michael serves on the Board of Directors for the Child Advocacy Center of Collin County, Board of Managers for the Plano Family YMCA and the Board of Directors for the Legacy Association business district.
Michael is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. He earned a B.S. and M.B.A. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as a M.A. from Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, VA.
Register

First Quarter Double Panel Education Event
2018-02-22 15:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | TX
Register Now
Offering 3.0 Face-to-Face Credits (1.5 per panel)
Panel 1: Equity of Care
Quality of care should not vary based on the patients’ socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, or geographic background. It is known however, there is a healthcare divide in the U.S. especially in vulnerable populations including: those lacking health insurance, low income families, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBT populations. The Affordable Care Act aims to address access and equity of care issues by expanding health insurance coverage. The improvement in access to care will change 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 in order 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.
Moderator: Virginia Rose-Harris, MBA, FACHE
VP of Service Line Officer & Administrator
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
Panelists:
Tiffany Capeles, MBA
Director, Health Equity
CHRISTUS Health
Nydia A. Gonzalez, MS, CCDP
Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
JPS Health Network
James H. Sammons Jr., M.D., M.S., FACHE, FACOG
Chief Medical Officer
Texas Health Arlington Memorial
Panel 2: Diversity in Healthcare Management: Value-Added Business Sense
Diversity in healthcare management is of critical importance and this factor must be recognized in the health care industry as organizations explore their recruitment processes. An increasingly diverse patient population can place pressure on health care organizations to reflect the communities they serve. Healthcare leaders also recognize that diversity brings fresh perspectives and skills provided by diverse employees that can help produce a bottom-line benefit for their organization, resulting in added value as well as competitive advantage.
Often, there is disconnect between an organization’s diversity initiatives and the ability to promote diverse workforce within all levels of the organization. Many c-suite executives and managers fail to understand diversity, its value, and the importance of identifying, developing, and advancing diverse talent. Building a diverse leadership team will help drive organizational success and enhance cultural competence. It is important for healthcare leaders to begin a realistic discussion about diversity and their responsibility in effectively encouraging diversity within their organization and integrating into strategic initiatives
Moderator:
Guwan Jones, MPH, CHES
Vice President Workforce Planning/Chief Diversity Officer
Human Resources
Baylor Scott & White
Panelists:
Nkem Okafor
Vice President, Strategy & Planning
Methodist Health System
Jyric Sims
Chief Executive Officer
Medical City Fort Worth
Paula Turicchi, FACHE
Administrator of Hospital Operations
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Speaker Bios:
As Director of Health Equity, Tiffany Capeles is responsible for establishing and advancing the Health Equity strategy of CHRISTUS Health by working across the organization to ensure initiatives, resources and tools are effectively leveraged. She is particularly skilled at driving business results, as well as establishing processes to advance the health and wellbeing of vulnerable communities that align and support population health and other organizational goals. Ms. Capeles’s knowledge navigating the complex challenges of connecting the IT infrastructure for multisite hospital systems with different EMR platforms, to enable data collection, analytics, and reporting has positioned CHRISTUS Health to begin setting metrics on Equity of Care initiatives. She leads the implementation of innovative system changes that promote community health, reduce health inequities, and improve patient outcomes.
Prior to CHRISTUS, Ms. Capeles served as the Program Director for the Health and Wellness Alliance at Children’s Health in Dallas, TX. There she led a collective impact initiative that brought together over 60 community leaders to ensuring that every child with asthma achieves their fullest health, well-being, and potential. Her work in guiding this coalition resulted in long-term successes for both the community, as well as the children themselves. As a result of the community collaborative, Dallas Housing Authority is now smoke-free, the city’s decade old housing policy was revised to require landlords to maintain properties in alignment with the National Center for Health Housing standards, as well as training city code compliance officers to issue violations for potential health concerns, not just safety concerns.
Before her time in Texas, Ms. Capeles served as a Consultant at the Center for Health Equity & Wellness at Adventist HealthCare in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Throughout her tenure with the Center, she advised hospitals’ leadership and served as a pioneer in helping hospitals achieve health equity through the establishment of culturally and linguistically appropriate programs, services, and policy for underserved populations. Her portfolio of work also includes concerted efforts in enhancing organizational cultural competence through the development of lectures and e-learning modules for clinical and non-clinical personnel, as well as, conducting organizational cultural competency assessments, developing organizational strategic plans to achieve health equity, and mobilizing internal and external coalitions across domains to address the social determinants of health.
Ms. Capeles’s work has received attention from healthcare systems both nationally and internationally and has been presented her work at national conferences and webinars. Additionally, Ms. Capeles led a collaborative partnership with the National Diversity Program Office of Kaiser Permanente to re-develop their Qualified Bilingual Staff (QBS) Model for adoption in acute care settings, and then piloted it at Adventist HealthCare. Success and recognition of the revised program resulted in Adventist HealthCare training over 800 bilingual healthcare professionals on proper medical interpretation in 10 languages, both internally and externally, in the community. These efforts ultimately led to Adventist HealthCare’s designation as the state model for training bilingual dual-role health care professionals, by the Maryland Hospital Association. Ms. Capeles then later led the effort to launch the first QBS Train-the-Trainer for Maryland hospitals statewide.
Her passion for population health is sincere and evident as she continues to help communities realize health equity, improve access to care, and ultimately improve the health of her community.
Ms. Capeles earned her Master of Business Administration in Finance at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, and her Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. She currently resides in Richardson, Texas with her husband and two adored, highly spirited little girls. Her interests include health policy, teen mentoring and camping.
Nydia Gonzalez is the Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for JPS Health Network, Tarrant County’s tax-supported healthcare system that includes an acute care hospital, the county’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and only psychiatric emergency center and more than 60 unique points of care including 20 school-based health centers. JPS Health Network has been named among Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare, placing JPS among the top 150 healthcare companies in the nation. JPS is the only public entity in Texas included on the list of 2017 Best Places to Work, one of the most coveted honors in the industry.
Ms. Gonzalez’s division, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), oversees cultural competency education, diversity compliance affirmative action, and business supplier diversity. The role of the ODI is to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are considered at the highest levels of institutional governance and established as a core organizational competence.
Changing demographics, the emergence of a knowledge-based economy and increases among the racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse populations residing in Tarrant County have provided a focus on the benefits of cultural competence at JPS. At the patient level, the presence of culturally competent employees builds trust, provides patient confidence and reduces costs associated with various types of medical errors. At the provider level, advancements in cultural competency can improve quality and accreditation scores. Minimizing racial and ethnic disparities requires not only culturally competent clinicians but also leaders who create an organizational environment in which cultural competence is enabled, cultivated and reinforced.
During the course of her career, Ms. Gonzalez has held diversity leadership positions in academic healthcare with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in higher education with Yale University, and in corporate America with Dell Computer Corporation.
Ms. Gonzalez believes a global perspective matters and that the fabric of our lives are given color, shape and texture by those close to us as well as those we meet in passing. They are an important part of the fabric of our lives – creating a global tapestry of friendship.

Guwan Jones is the Chief Diversity Officer of Baylor Scott & White Health. She is an ongoing advocate for underserved and vulnerable patient populations. Through her work with three healthcare systems and other not-for-profits, she has worked on issues such as funding to increase access to health insurance for children, focusing community resources on providing health care access for low socio-economic populations, organizing resources for HIV/AIDS patients, designing meaningful interventions for minority diabetes patients, and designing analytic dashboards to measure human capital investment and patient outcomes. Guwan has helped advance Baylor’s work around access and health care improvement and produced the Baylor Health Care System Health Equity Performance Analysis. She participated in the nationally recognized Disparities Leadership Program designed to tackle racial and ethnic disparities in health care lead by the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA,. She served on the CitySquare board, an organization supporting basic needs for lowsocioeconomic Dallas families and homeless communities. She was featured as a case study in the 2014 book “Be the one to start change at work and in life: Make Waves” because of her reputation of marrying the business case for working in parallel on the diverse needs of both talent and patients’. Guwan holds a Master of Public Health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Guwan is also a Certified Health Education Specialist and received the 2008 U.S. Surgeon General’s Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future Champion Award.

Nkem Okafor is a senior healthcare executive with experience in strategy, business development, program management, hospital operations, and consulting. She is the Vice President of Strategy & Planning at Methodist Health System, a $1.4 billion, 9 hospital system in DFW. She oversees setting system-wide strategies and business planning, leads business development and growth activities, and guides market research and data analysis for the company’s decision-making.
Last year, Nkem was named one of the Top 15 Businesswomen in Dallas by the National Diversity Council. Previously, Nkem was a System Director at Houston Methodist Hospital System, where she oversaw programs focused on business development, operational improvement, global operations, community benefits, and population health management. Under her leadership, she expanded the company’s operations to new countries and turned a budget negative department into a profit-generating center, tripling revenue expectations. She also assisted in two acquisitions and improved operational performance, resulting in over $70 million in financial savings. She oversaw the system’s community benefits, totaling $530 million in funding for community health-related programs. She began her career at Deloitte Consulting as a Strategy & Operations Business Analyst.
Nkem has a Master of Public Health degree in Health Management from Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Management, and a Bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating cum laude and Honors with distinction. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and an active member of National Association of Health Services Executives and the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Leadership Dallas.

Virginia Rose-Harris serves an Officer for Texas Health Resources and the Administrator of The Margot Perot Center for Women’s and Infants at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital. In addition, Virginia heads up the community outreach initiatives and DSRIP/1115 Waiver programming forging relationships with community partners for Texas Health Dallas with an ultimate outcome of improving the health of the people in the communities Texas Health Resources serves. Most recently, Virginia led the organization in the development of a strategic relationship with Children’s Health and UT Southwestern resulting in pediatric specialty service offerings creating enhanced coordinated care for newborns and the neonatal patient population. The Margot Perot Center has achieved the distinction by Dallas Child as being the Best Place to Have a Baby for five years running.
Virginia is a graduate Fellow with the Texas Hospital Association and is a Leadership Dallas alum. She was formerly with HCA, Inc. out of Nashville Tennessee from 1990 – 2010 serving as Vice President and Strategic Development Officer and Chief Ethics and Compliance/Diversity Officer at Medical City Dallas Hospital, the flagship hospital for the system’s 166 hospital nationwide.
Virginia has been recognized most recently as one of the Inspirational, Accomplished and Engaging Women of Northeast Tarrant County, as one of Texas’ Most Powerful and Influential Women by the National Diversity Council and by the Dallas Business Journal for Women in Business Awards as a Change Maker for her significant contributions and achievements on the business front. In addition, community projects have resulted in recognition by D CEO Magazine for the Excellence in Healthcare Awards and by the Texas Hospital Association.
Virginia holds an MBA from Dallas Baptist University and is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. She has been a keynote speaker at the Greater Fort Worth Healthcare Summit and the Women of Visionary Influence Annual Recognition luncheon. She has been invited to speak on topics such as successful workplace engagement, patient experience, diversity, leadership, business operations and strategy in several venues including the North Dallas Chamber, the Texas Diversity Council National Conference, Southern Methodist University Roundtable, Dallas North Chamber of Commerce, Texas Diversity Leadership Conference, HCA, the Society for Healthcare Marketing and Strategy Development and The Gallup Organization. Virginia has also consulted for hospitals across the nation in the areas of leadership, operations and employee engagement.
Virginia serves as a board member for the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Women’s Foundation, the Texas Diversity Council, Texas Health Women’s Specialty Surgery Center, Southwest Diagnostic Imaging Center and the Texas Health Surgery Center of Dallas and has served on the Executive Leadership Team of the American Heart Association Go Red Initiative for the last six years. Virginia also works with the Vickery Meadow area “brain trust” of non-profits including Healing Hands Ministries to design programs to care for refugees and families in the community who need access to health care.
AFFILIATIONS AND VOLUNTEERING:
World Affairs Council, Society for Healthcare Marketing and Strategy, American College of Healthcare Executives, American Heart Association – Go Red Co-Chair-2012/2013, March of Dimes, Genesis Women’s Shelter, Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Destination Imagination, Vickery Meadows Learning Center, Carroll Independent School District.
FAMILY:
Virginia is married and has two teenage children.
Dr. James Sammons serves as chief medical officer at Texas Health Arlington Memorial. He is responsible for promoting clinical excellence and safety in patient care throughout all hospital departments.
Since 2012, Sammons has led many diverse efforts such as preventing hospital-acquired infections and decreasing Medicare spending per beneficiary. Additionally, Texas Health Arlington Memorial became the first hospital in the system to achieve certification by The Joint Commission for Fragility Fractures.
With more than 25 years of physician leadership experience, Sammons formerly served as vice president for medical affairs at two Virginia health care systems: Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News and Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center in Williamsburg. Having served in the Armed Forces for more than 26 years, Sammons is a retired colonel from the United States Air Force Medical Corps, where he completed clinical and leadership assignments during two wars.
Sammons graduated from Texas A&M University and Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Portsmouth Naval Regional Medical Center in Virginia. He also holds a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
He also serves the community as Texas Health’s representative to the Texas Hospital Association’s Council on Policy Development, an Advisory Board member for the Arlington Life Shelter and a member of the Board of Managers for the Texas Health Heart and Vascular Hospital.
Sammons and his wife, Cindy, who is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, have two grown children and four grandchildren.
Jyric Sims is the Chief Executive Officer at Medical City Fort Worth. Prior to his current position, Sims has served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) Tulane Health System, where he was responsible for daily operations of two acute care hospitals with over 500 beds and 35 hospital based clinics. His leadership is credited with remarkable improvements in patient experience, service line growth and recruitment of top talent to the organization. He led more than $50 million in construction and capital improvements over the past two years and exhibited a commitment to the community, having served on multiple community boards including the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Sims brings more than 17 years of healthcare experience to the role. His medical career began as a certified nursing assistant and quickly advanced to leadership and business development roles, including director of operations at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He joined HCA in 2011 serving as chief operating officer of St. Lucie Medical Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida and Associate Chief Operating Officer at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, Texas. Sims received a Master of Health Administration from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and holds an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University (LSU). He was also awarded the 2016 UAMS Alumnus of the Year and in 2015 the Modern Healthcare Up and Comer Award.
Paula Turicchi, FACHE, is Administrator of Hospital Operations, at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, Texas. She assists the Chief Operating Officer with all aspects of hospital operations including performance improvement, regulatory compliance, survey readiness, and project management. Parkland is an urban, inner-city, multi-specialty, academic health system with approximately 870 beds, a Level 1 Trauma Center, 39,000 adult and 1,500 neonatal ICU discharges, 18,000 surgeries 12,000 deliveries, and 1 million outpatient visits. Previously, she served as the Senior Vice President and Administrator of Women and Infant’s Specialty Health (WISH), overseeing outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services for one of the largest maternity services in the United States.
She recently served as the Chair of the Women’s Health Advisory Committee of Texas which was created by Senate Bill 200 of the 84th Legislature to advise the Health & Human Services Commission on consolidation of women’s health programs.
Paula 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.
A special thanks to Jyric Sims and Medical City Fort Worth for hosting this event!

Register Now

ACHENTX New Member Networking Blitz - Winter 2018
2018-02-27 16:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | TX
For new members from January 2017 to Present
The ACHE North Texas Welcoming Committee cordially invites you to the ACHE of North Texas chapter’s New Member Networking Blitz. This fun event will allow new members to get to know one another and some seasoned ACHE members as well. There will be special breakout sessions where fun activities and personal connections will be made. The intent of this program is to bring new members together to get a real in depth view of ACHENTX, to enable you to meet some of the chapter’s leadership and to help you map out how to best take advantage of the plethora of local and national benefits and opportunities available to you as ACHE members. It’s a way to “let us get to know you” as well and become a part of your professional network.
We are looking forward to meeting each of you.
A light meal and drinks will be served.
Register

2018 ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership
2018-03-26 07:00 - 2018-03-29 12:15 (America/Chicago) | TX
Attend ACHE’s 2018 Congress on Healthcare Leadership, March 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The opportunity to lead is an incredible privilege—a doorway to bring about positive change in the communities you serve. Congress offers you the opportunity to be inspired, to be part of the solution and to be among the best and brightest in the healthcare field. Year after year, Congress delivers cutting-edge professional development, practical solutions and unparalleled networking with a global community of healthcare leaders. Be Part of Something Bigger! To learn more and to register, visit ache.org/Congress. Join the conversation with #ACHECongress in all your social media posts.

Cocktails with the Chiefs
2018-04-03 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | The Mercury Grill, 11909 Preston Road, Dallas, TX, 75230, United States
Register Now
Our popular Cocktails with the Chiefs event is back in Dallas – once again at the trendy Mercury Grill.
Come listen as local industry leaders share their experiences, gaining insights on how to build leadership skills and leveraging them for professional growth. Learn from their successes and challenges and be inspired to further pursue your own professional and personal development goals.
The event will include some great networking opportunities as well.
Moderator:
Nancy Vish, RN, Ph.D., NEA-BC
President
Baylor Heart & Vascular Hospital
Panelists:
John A. Gillean, M.D., M.H.A.
Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
CHRISTUS Health
Ken Hutchenrider, FACHE
President
Methodist Richardson Medical Ctr
Winjie Miao
EVP, Chief Experience Officer
Texas Health Resources
Dr. Zach Mueller, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Division Chief Nursing Executive
Medical City Healthcare | HCA North Texas Division
Troy Thibodeaux
Regional President
Sound Physicians
Speaker Bios:
John A. Gillean, M.D. serves as the senior clinical executive of CHRISTUS Health, a faith-based, Catholic health care organization serving communities in the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia. In this capacity, Dr. Gillean oversees all clinical departments and programs needed for the delivery of high quality health care to fulfill the mission, “To extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.” His many areas of responsibility include quality and patient safety, health informatics, accreditation readiness, clinical research and academics, physician and nurse professional development, clinical risk management, and other areas that impact the care delivered to patients and communities.
After receiving his medical degree from the University of Arkansas in 1977, Dr. Gillean completed an internal medicine internship at Tulane University in 1978, and his internal medicine residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1980. He achieved his board certification in internal medicine in 1981. From the time he graduated until 1995, he served as an internal medicine specialist in a community group practice in Texarkana, Texas. Prior to 1999, when Dr. Gillean assumed his current role with CHRISTUS Health, he served in a variety of administrative capacities as Medical Director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arkansas, a physician-hospital association, in addition to managing a multi-specialty clinic and his own practice.
Dr. Gillean has a passion for quality health care delivery to meet the needs of individual patients and unique populations. He actively encourages physician and nursing input for problem solving and more effective transition of care from the acute care setting to ambulatory or home services. He continuously challenges CHRISTUS Health associates to move to a high reliability organization which first does no harm, and then optimizes health care outcomes.
Dr. Gillean has long supported the use of technology to improve the delivery of care through the use of evidence-based practices, implementation of best practices, and reducing human errors. As part of this commitment, he has co-authored a number of professional articles relating to the improvement of health care through the use of this technology. These include:

“A search for the ‘Holy Grail’ of health care: a correlation between quality and profitability.” Healthcare Financial Management, 2006.
“EHRs, CPOE and digital documentation: An effective component of the U.S. national response to the epidemic of medical error related deaths.” British Medical Journal, 2016.
“In defense of Meaningful Use.” Journal of Clinical Pathways, 2016.
“The impact of order source misattribution on provider CPOE performance.” (in peer review)
“Clinical impact and value of workstation single sign on.” (in peer review)

In addition to these professional outreach efforts through various publications, Dr. Gillean encourages his staff to actively participate in their professional organizations/associations on a national level. He believes that by sharing the learnings and best practices collaboratively, health care for all Americans can be improved.
Ken Hutchenrider, FACHE, joined Methodist Richardson Medical Center as President in July, 2010.
He has more than 25 years of executive experience with a result oriented record of substantially increasing financial stability and strengthening team management to build a tradition of providing the best care possible to the communities served.
During his tenure, Ken administered the assimilation of the hospital into the Methodist Health System, as well as the development of a $120M replacement hospital and its subsequent and ongoing expansions. Pam Stoyanoff, Chief Operations Officer of Methodist Health System has said “Ken is an outstanding leader with a proven track record in operational excellence.”
Additional accomplishments include the establishment of a new wound care center, recruitment and stabilization of the NICU physician group, development of the Da Vinci surgical program, and the successful recruitment/employment of new medical staff members. Under his direction, Methodist Richardson has received accreditations as a Chest Pain Center, a Stroke Center, and achieved nursing Pathway to Excellence.
Prior to July 2010, Ken served as the Chief Executive Officer of Galesburg Cottage Hospital, in Galesburg, Illinois. There, he successfully and effectively managed all facets of the 173 bed acute care facility, including a skilled nursing unit, inpatient psychiatric unit, a joint venture outpatient therapy unit, and a joint venture dialysis unit.
Previously in his career, Ken served in executive roles including Chief Executive Officer of the Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas. Ken started his career in a clinical position as a Paramedic Shift Supervisor in Pasadena, Texas.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Healthcare Administration from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.
Ken has received many accolades, including the American Heart Association SOAR Award, the Community Health System Outstanding Achievement Award, and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is actively involved in the community and currently serves as the Chairman of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Ken is an enthusiastic supporter of the PISD Health Sciences Academy.
On a personal note, Ken and his wife Melinda have two teenage daughters. When he’s not spending time with his family, you are most likely to find Ken on the golf course. He is also a private pilot.
Winjie Tang Miao is the executive vice president and chief experience officer for Texas Health Resources. In this role, she leads system efforts to deliver a seamless, holistic consumer experience across the entire Texas Health organization. The Experience division uses consumer insights to develop new products and services, establish and maintain a consistent, differentiated consumer and care team experience, enhance the Texas Health brand, and drive Texas Health’s strategic and operational transformation efforts.
Miao joined Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas in 2000 as an administrative resident. At Texas Health Dallas she oversaw the development of more than $500 million in construction and the growth and development of outpatient clinics and the oncology service line. In 2007, she was named president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle, a facility that is recognized for both quality and community health efforts. In 2011, she became president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance. Under her leadership, Texas Health Alliance opened in 2012, and has received national recognition for its innovative technology. Miao became Texas Health’s senior vice president of System Integration and Innovation in 2015 and was instrumental in systemwide efforts such as Reliable Care Blueprinting.
In 2013, Miao was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce-Southwest Region. She has been named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the “130 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” (2015) and “25 Healthcare Leaders Under Age 40” (2012). In 2008, she was honored as one of Modern Healthcare magazine’s “Up and Comers.”
A biomedical engineering graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Miao also earned a master’s degree in health care administration, with a concentration in financial management and quality management, from the University of North Carolina.
Zach Mueller, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, serves as division chief nursing executive (DCNE) of Medical City Healthcare. In this role, he oversees patient care, nursing practice, education, informatics, patient experience, research and operations for nurses and other caregivers at all Medical City Healthcare hospitals in North Texas.
Dr. Mueller joined Medical City Dallas and Medical City Children’s Hospital in 2011 and was promoted to senior vice president and facility CNE in 2015. Under his leadership, patient satisfaction scores for women’s services and the neonatal intensive care unit increased significantly, and Medical City Dallas received an unprecedented third Magnet® designation for nursing excellence. In 2014, he was named among the prestigious Dallas-Fort Worth “Great 100 Nurses.”
Known for his innovation, Zach created the Compassion Campaign, a multiphase patient experience initiative designed to create compassionate connections between nurses and patients. The campaign contributed to the highest registered nurse (RN) employee engagement in five years and notable improvements in patient satisfaction results.
Dr. Mueller brings a wealth of healthcare experience to his role, having worked in nursing for over 18 years, chiefly at the bedside as an RN in the emergency department. He has also served in a variety of leadership roles, including as director of education, director of pediatrics and director of cardiovascular services. He has been a leader within HCA Healthcare, the parent company, for over 14 years. Zach is active in several professional organizations, including the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). His career achievements include speaking nationally and internationally on a variety of nursing and healthcare topics.
Dr. Mueller holds two doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado, a Doctor of Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice, as well as a master’s degree in nursing and two undergraduate degrees. He is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a nursing executive, advanced.
As a dynamic nursing executive, Zach is passionate about nursing and leadership and is actively involved in driving organizational and system performance, and supporting a highly engaged and outcomes-driven workforce.
Nancy A. Vish, RN, PhD, FACHE, is president and chief nursing officer for the Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital. Since 2002, Dr. Vish has led north Texas’ first hospital dedicated solely to the care and treatment of heart and vascular disease. Her vision and commitment to quality, patient-centered care have enabled the hospital to become a destination of choice for patients in North Texas, across the state of Texas and from across the nation, seeking diagnosis and treatment for a wide variety of heart and vascular issues. Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital has become one of the leading heart disease research centers in the country thanks to Dr. Vish’s compassion and dedication to bringing tomorrow’s revolutionary cardiac interventions to patients today. Her laser-like focus on collaboration with world renown cardiologists, interventional cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons on the medical staff of Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital, has resulted in evidence-based care being delivered to every patient, every time. This has led to quality outcomes that consistently place Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital near the top of national quality performance metrics. Thanks to her experience as a nurse and her passion for leadership the hospital has earned many awards and recognitions, including:

The Guardian Award for Excellence in Patient Satisfaction and the Beacon of Excellence Award in Patient Satisfaction from Press Ganey
Top Performer on Key Quality Measures from The Joint Commission
Named one of the “Nation’s Best Cardiovascular Programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review
Magnet® status for excellence in nursing services from the American Nurses Credentialing Center
Named to Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work list in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015
Texas Award for Performance Excellence, the state’s highest honor for quality and organization performance, from the Quality Texas Foundation
2014 Mission: Lifeline® Gold Achievement award from the American Heart Association for efforts to provide prompt, evidence-based care for heart attack patients.

Dr. Vish holds a doctor of nursing degree from Texas Women’s University, a master of science in nursing degree from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor of science in nursing degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Prior to assuming her role as president/CNO for Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital, she was vice president of clinical operations/CNO for the hospital. She has also served as program manager/director for the cardiac cath lab, electrophysiology/PM(?) lab, coronary care unit and interventional cardiology unit at Baylor University Medical Center and as head nurse of the specialty care unit at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, TN. She began her nursing career at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA.
Dr. Vish has received many special honors during her career:

Top 100 Women in Healthcare to Watch by Becker’s Hospital Review in 2012, 2013 and 2014
Finalist for D Magazine Top Nurses-Administration
Nominated to attend Leadership Dallas by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce
Profiled by Health Leaders Media
Great 100 Nurses of Dallas

Dr. Vish is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, past president of the American Association of Critical Care Nursing (Dallas chapter), sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Society, Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals, American College of Cardiovascular Administrators Society of Critical Care Medicine, Vascular Nurses Society, American Nurses Association, Texas Nurses Association and Texas Organization of Nurse Executives.

As Sound Physician’s Regional President, Troy Thibodeaux provides operational and strategic leadership to drive value for patients, physicians, and hospital partners.
Throughout his 20 years of leadership experience, Troy has successfully worked to improve clinical quality, safety, patient experience and cost-effectiveness. With an emphasis on servant leadership, Troy works to develop and encourage teams to drive performance.
Prior to joining Sound, he served as President and CEO of Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, TX. Troy is a strong supporter of The American College of Healthcare Executives and has served in multiple roles that include President of the East Texas ACHE Chapter. He is also a recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives Regents Award.
Troy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Texas State University and a Master of Health Care Administration from Texas Woman’s University.

Thanks to Sound Physicians for hosting this event!
Register Now

Second Quarter Education Event
2018-04-26 15:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | CHRISTUS Health, 919 Hidden Ridge, Irving, TX, 75038, United States
Panels are approved for 1.5 Face-to-Face credits each (3.0 for both)
Register

Panel 1: Financial Implications: The Push from Inpatient to Outpatient Care
Moderator:
Brett McClung, FACHE
Executive Vice President & North Zone Operations Leader
Texas Health Resources
Panelists:
Tina Barker
Vice President, Strategy Management and Development
CHRISTUS Health
Leslie Pierce
VP Revenue Cycle
Methodist Health System
Steven R. Newton, MPH, FACHE
President
Baylor Scott & White West Region, North Division
Panel 2: Managing Your Clinical Supply Chain
Moderator:
Ben Isgur, FACHE
Leader
PwC Health Research Institute
Panelists:
Juliann Helsel, MSHM, BSN, RN
Utilization Director
ROi
Tony W. Johnson
Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer
Baylor Scott & White Health
Bill Lammers MHA, RT(R)(CT)
Service Line Director, Capital Equipment
CHRISTUS Health
Nathaniel Mickish, MBA
Vice President Strategic Sourcing
Texas Health Resources
Speakers Bios:
Tina Barker
Vice President, Strategy Management and Development
CHRISTUS Health
Tina Barker joined CHRISTUS Health in January of 2013 as the Vice President for Strategy Management and Development. The Strategy Management and Development office resides at the system office in Irving, TX and is responsible for planning, development and monitoring strategic plans for key system departments and the CHRISTUS Health regions both within the U.S. and Internationally.
Tina has over 15 years of relevant industry experience including roles at HCA, Tenet Healthcare, Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. She received her Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Trinity University, San Antonio and her undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Science in Genetics, from Texas A&M, College Station.
Immediately prior to CHRISTUS Health Tina worked for HCA in the corporate office based in Nashville, TN where she held a Senior Director role in their centralized planning and development group. In this role she supported planning and development for the Southwest region which included 46 hospitals located in Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma. In addition, she had national oversight for service line planning for multiple service lines, including Ortho, IP Rehab, Oncology, Pediatrics, and Cardiovascular.
Juliann Helsel, MSHM, BSN, RN
Utilization Director
Roi
Juliann Helsel, Utilization Director, with Roi and has extensive experience in healthcare operations specializing in projects, quality and cost management. Prior to joining ROi, Ms. Helsel worked for Vizient where she worked as a consultant and assisted hospital executives with supply cost reduction. While at Vizient she also assisted hospital executives in managing their Value-Based Purchasing requirements along with overseeing the operations, education and development of Vizient’ s new web-based clinical and analytical tools. She also has experience in working with physicians and executives on utilization, consolidation and quality improvement initiatives and has served as a Chief Nursing Officer. She has received recognition and multiple awards for her leadership skills. Ms. Helsel received her B.S. in Nursing from Baylor University and Master’s in Health Services Management from University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Ben Isgur, FACHE
Leader
PwC Health Research Institute
Benjamin Isgur leads PwC’s Health Research Institute. HRI is a dedicated research group that provides new intelligence, perspective, and analysis on major health-related business issues. In this role, he oversees thought leadership and research initiatives for the firm and clients. He also consults with healthcare systems, trade associations, and policy groups on strategic planning, and industry intelligence and trends.
Ben is a published writer and his research is often cited by health leaders across the industry. He has been quoted in media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Modern Healthcare and has appeared on the CNBC Nightly Business Report. In addition, he frequently speaks on a range of topics, including physician-hospital alignment, government policy, medical cost trends, consumerism, academic medicine and digital health.
Prior to joining PwC he developed health policy as a legislative director in the Texas House of Representatives and as a government relations officer for the City of Austin. Ben received a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin where he was a US Department of Defense fellow.
Tony W. Johnson
Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Office
Baylor Scott & White Health
Tony Johnson is a corporate senior vice president and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Baylor Scott & White Health. Tony joined Baylor Scott & White Health in July 2016. Tony is accountable for a system wide integrated supply chain and for controlling the cost of over $2B in annual spend for supplies andservices. Tony was previously an executive at Novant Health of Winston Salem NC. During his tenure at Novant, he developed an integrated supply chain that supported 13 Novant Health hospitals, 6 surgery centers, 71 imaging centers, and 356 physician practices in NC, SC, GA and VA. He has also developed a strategic sourcing organization that reduced Novant Health supply spend by over $300 million in 5 years, lowering Novant’s supply cost as a percent of net patient revenue from 19.5% to 14.3%. Tony also led a clinical engineering organization that self-maintained over 75,000 pieces of medical equipment to include over 200 CT’s and MRI’s. His supply chain and clinical engineering organizations were benchmarked as top performers in the country. Tony has an exceptional understanding of the healthcare supply chain, physician partnerships and optimizing costs for all non-labor expenses. As COO for Shared Services, Tony was responsible for operational improvements for 9 additional affiliated and managed hospitals.
Prior to joining Novant, Mr. Johnson served as Vice President of General Services for the Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also a retired army lieutenant colonel. Tony’s career includes leadership roles in civilian and military hospitals, a combat logistics battalion and a global logistics center located in Europe. He served as the Joint Task Force healthcare supply chain officer for the Department of Defense in support of the Rwandan refugee crisis in 1994. From Uganda, he provided medical supply support for healthcare operations in Rwanda, Uganda, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya.
Tony has an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s degree in business with a concentration in materials management. Tony served on local chambers of commerce and was a board member for the school of business at WinstonSalem State University and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC. Tony served as chairman of the operations council for the MNS supply chain network. Mr. Johnson has over 35 years of national and international healthcare operations and supply chain experience and has led and implemented several significant advancements in supply chain operations during his career that were adopted globally.
Bill Lammers MHA, RT(R)(CT)
Service Line Director, Capital Equipment
CHRISTUS Health
Bill Lammers is the current Service Line Director, Capital Equipment with CHRISTUS Health. He has over 30 years of healthcare experience. Bill’s medical experience started in the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. After the Navy Bill attended the Medical University of South Carolina and received his Master’s in Health Administration. He has research experience with capital equipment and life-cycle-analysis from working with MD Buyline and has spent many years negotiating capital equipment for large health care systems and GPOs. Bill maintains a license in both CT and radiography.
Brett McClung, FACHE
Executive Vice President & North Zone Operations Leader
Texas Health Resources.
Brett S. McClung, FACHE, is the executive vice president and North Zone Operations Leader for Texas Health Resources. He has operating responsibility for owned and partnered assets in the northern 6 county region of Texas driving over $1.4 billion in total operating revenue.
Prior to this role, McClung served as president of hospitals in suburban and large urban markets and has been associated with Texas Health Resources and Harris Methodist in various roles since 1993. Among others, McClung volunteers his leadership to: March of Dimes, Dallas Division Board of Directors, Healthy Tarrant County Collaboration (past chair), Trinity University Healthcare Advisory Council, and faculty/moderator for American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
McClung’s honors include being a Wharton Fellow with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and being a Marshall Memorial Leadership Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He also has been recognized as the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council Young Executive of the Year, the Early Careerist Healthcare Executive Award from ACHE, and “40 Business Leaders under 40” recognition from the Fort Worth Business Press. McClung earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Southwestern University and a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University. He and his wife Nancy have been married for 25 years and have two daughters, Madison a Graduate Student at Stanford University and Mackenzie, a sophomore at University of Southern California.
Nathaniel Mickish, MBA
Vice President Strategic Sourcing
Texas Health Resources
Nate Mickish is the vice president of strategic souring for Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Texas. He has been with Texas Health Resources since January 2013 and prior to that, he was with CHI Health (f/k/a Alegent Health) in Omaha, NE. In addition to his role at Texas Health, Nate serves on the board of the Bellwether League; an organization dedicated to the development and recognition of supply chain leaders in healthcare. Nate earned his Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Nebraska system.

Steven R. Newton, MPH, FACHE
President
Baylor Scott & White Health, North Texas Operations
Steve Newton is a senior vice president of Baylor Scott and White Health, and president of the DFW West Region, which has annual operating revenue of 800 million and more than 4,000 employees. Steve has 28 years’ experience in large integrated delivery systems in the for-profit and not-for profit sectors, and more than 20 years’ experience as president of tertiary/quaternary care hospitals.
Steve serves as a board member of the DFW Hospital Council Foundation, Grapevine Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Tarrant County, and the Healthy Tarrant County Collaborative, and is past chairman of the Dallas – Fort Worth Hospital Council and the American Heart Association Tarrant County affiliate. He was a founding board member of the Healing Shepard Clinic of Union Gospel Mission, and served as the 2016 Chair of the Tarrant County March for Babies campaign. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
He is a cum laude graduate of Williams College and received a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Yale University. He is married, has three children, and is an avid long-distance runner and veteran of 17 marathons.
Leslie Pierce
VP Revenue Cycle
Methodist Health System
Leslie Pierce is SVP Revenue Cycle at Methodist Health System. She is currently responsible for guiding highly skilled cross functional teams in the design, development, and implementation of best practice revenue cycle solutions and processes. She was previously an AVP Client Relations at Parallon Business Solutions. Leslie has 18+ years experience as a healthcare executive with multi-facility operational experience and is a proven leader in revenue cycle best practices consistently achieving revenue, cost, and productivity goals.
Register

Community Service Event - DME Exchange of Dallas
2018-05-05 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | DME Exchange of Dallas, 12015 Shiloh Road, Dallas, 75228
Join fellow ACHENTX members at the DME Exchange and help clean, repair or refurbish donated medical equipment to prepare them for their next use. Come out and help support the organization’s mission, meet ACHENTX members, donate unwanted equipment, and even earn credit towards Fellow status while giving back to your community.
The DME Exchange is a nonprofit agency that collects, repairs and sanitizes durable medical equipment and then distributes them to individuals living in Dallas county who have a doctor’s prescription for the item, are 200% below the poverty level, have no insurance coverage or have a gap in coverage. DME equipment includes: canes, crutches, walkers, rollators, bedside commodes, tub transfer benches, manual and power wheelchairs, Hoyer lifts, hospital beds and mattresses.
If you cannot attend the event and wish to donate supplies, please contact Betty Hersey, DME Exchange Executive Director at +1-214-997-3639.
*Dress is casual. (Open toe shoes or sandals are not appropriate)
Donation Items Sought:

Manual wheelchairs(especially 18”, 20” and 22” chairs)
2. Rollators
3. Shower chairs and tub transfer benches
4. Walkers with wheels
5. Hospital beds w/ vinyl mattresses

Register

ACHENTX Retirees/Life Fellows Breakfast
2018-05-08 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Irving, 1901 North MacArthur Boulevard, Irving, TX, 75061, United States
Register
The ACHENTX Life Fellows/Retiree Subcommittee would like to invite our Life Fellows, Retirees, and those approaching retirement to our May 8th breakfast networking event to be hosted by Baylor Irving. We will begin at 7:30 AM in the Board Room with breakfast and a roundtable discussion highlighting the many roads we’ve traveled during our “retirement”.
Our deepest appreciation to Julie Tosh, Nancy Vish and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Irving for hosting this event.

2018 East and North Texas ACHE Spring Education Summit
2018-05-25 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Denver) | TX
The ACHE of North Texas chapter and East Texas ACHE Forum join forces again, offering for the third year in a row, great quality education at an incredibly discounted price!
6 Hours of Face-to-face continuing education!!!!
Registration at 7:30am – 8:00am, First Session begins at 8:00am
Register Now
Panel 1: Physician Integration Approaches
Moderator – Scott Hurst, FACHE
Panelists:
Jennifer Beal
Roger Fowler, MD, FAAFP
Michael Hicks, MD, MBA, MHCM, FACHE
Panel 2: Customer Service in Healthcare
Moderator – Louise Thornell
Panelists:
Sherri Gould
Jennifer Blake
George Roberts, Jr., FACHE
Lunch will be provided onsite.
Panel 3: Executive Role in IT Decision
Moderator – Nick Kagal, FACHE, FHIMSS
Panelists:
Tim Pugsley, FACHE
Tom Cutler, RN, MBA, FACHE
Don Taylor, MHA
Panel 4: Executive On-Boarding
Moderator – Ekta Pathare, FACHE
Panelists:
Erich Koch, FACHE
Patty Boeckmann, RN, MHA, FACHE
David Helfer, FACHE, CMPE, MS, BA, R-CVT, EMT

Speaker Bios:

Jennifer L. Beal
Vice President Physician Integration and Shared Services
CHRISTUS Clinic Management Services
Jennifer joined CHRISTUS in 2015 and currently serves as the Vice President of Physician Integration & Shared Services for CHRISTUS Clinic Management Services. Jennifer is responsible for recruiting physician and advanced practice providers, onboarding clinicians, supporting provider wellness and engagement, and supporting marketing for all practices. Additionally, she has assisted in keeping the organization’s key customers apprised of the ongoing status of CHRISTUS Physician Group, while also providing support to regional leaders to ensure clinic operations meet the needs of the organization and the communities they serve. Prior to CHRISTUS, Jennifer was the Director of Physician Recruitment at Baylor Scott & White Health.
Jennifer Blake
Glenwood Site Executive Practice Manager & Women Health/Title X Project Manager
Tyler Family Circle of Care

Jennifer A. Blake is an Executive Site Manager of multiple Service Lines at the Tyler Family Circle of Care. She holds a Bachelors in Business Administration, a Master’s Degree in Clinical sciences, with a minor in Public health from the Strayer University. She has over 17 years of experience in practice management and has held various management and leadership positions in the healthcare industry throughout her career.
She currently manages three sites, a Dental, Family Planning, and Woman’s Health programs. She is also responsible for assuring that the services delivered by Tyler Family Circle of Care are consistent with the organization’s mission and are accessible to all people in the communities we serve. She is respected by those she encounters and goes above and beyond, for not only the patients, but her coworkers as well. She is a member of the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and a Student member for ACHE, and Golden Key International Honor Society.
Patricia Boeckmann, RN, MHA, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
Titus County Medical Center
Patricia Boeckmann, RN, MHA, FACHE, is a Chief Operating Officer who has a significant history of recruiting and onboarding executives in a variety of healthcare settings.
Before joining Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, Patricia was the COO for Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, one of four hospitals of Hawaii Pacific Health. At Straub, Patricia was accountable for operations, business development and physician alignment for a 159 bed adult tertiary medical center with more than 200 employed physicians. Previously, Patricia served in various executive roles with Allina Health in Minneapolis, MN, a comprehensive health system of 11 hospitals, 85 clinics, 15 community pharmacies and 4 ambulatory surgery/diagnostic centers employing more than 23,000 employees, 5,000 physicians and 2,500 volunteers.
Patricia feels fortunate to have been called on to onboard executives new to organizations, as well as to coach and mentor established leaders moving up in organizations.
As much as Patricia enjoys her work, she appreciates family time with her 9 children (2 hers, 6 his, and 1 ours), and 10 grandchildren (and counting); outrigger canoeing on Lake Bob Sandlin, and trying to keep her daughter’s dog, Zeppelin, from chewing up all the garden hoses.
Thomas Cutler, FACHE, MBA, RN
Senior Manager Information Resources
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Thomas Cutler, FACHE, MBA, RN has been an information technology leader at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for the past nine years. Prior to this he worked for seven years in Perot Systems Healthcare Division. He has over three decades of experience in various technology leadership roles. He has selected and implemented vendor supplied systems as well as lead teams to produce locally developed systems and interfaces. He has a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, a Master’s in Business Administration and is a Registered Nurse.
Roger Fowler, MD, FAAFP
Chief Medical Directgor of Population Health and Health Plans, CMO for the CHQCA and CLACOTrinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics
Roger began solo Family Medicine Physician in Kilgore, Texas, from October 1981 until November 1996. Provided full spectrum family medicine care. In 1996, he joined the newly formed Trinity Clinic, an employed physician group that incorporated 1 year earlier and part of the integrated Trinity Mother Frances Health System.
In November 2005, he moved practice to Lindale, Texas, practicing only ambulatory care. He ceased with direct patient care January 31, 2017, as he assumed present role with CHRISTUS Health.
While with the Trinity Clinic, he serve many roles including Trinity Clinic Board member for 9 years, serving the last 5 years as Chairman. He served on various committees including Finance, Customer Service and Quality. He provided medical leadership for the PCMH recognition for all of primary care in 2011. The Clinic achieved Level III PCMH recognition for all 120 primary care providers with re-recognition in 2014 and in process for 2017. He envisioned, launched and provided leadership for the department of Population Health for the Trinity Clinic in January 2015 until joining CHRISTUS Health in February 2017. He also served as Chief of Primary Care for 2 years until assuming full responsibility for Population Health for the CHRISTUS Health Trinity Mother Frances System.
Sherri L. Gould RN BSN
Executive Practice Manager- Pediatrics
Tyler Family Circle of Care FQHC
Sherri Gould joined Tyler Family Circle of Care in 2015 with 23 years of healthcare experience. Previous nursing leadership positions within the hospital, home health and/or hospice settings have led her to strive for the absolute best in patient outcomes, while maintaining compliance with regulatory agencies or federal guidelines. Mrs. Gould’s highlight of her career has been working in the FQHC forum of pediatric healthcare. Starting in 2015 with this current Executive Practice Manager position, she was asked to assist in the opening of a second clinic in Tyler for pediatrics. In 2016 she was also asked to assist in the opening of another clinic in Jacksonville, Texas, for family medicine/OB/GYN. She completed her BSN in 2015 at University of Texas at Arlington, and is currently a candidate for the Masters in Healthcare Administration with Grand Canyon University. She anticipates completion Fall of 2018.
Mrs. Gould is married for 19 years to Michael H. Belyeu, and has two children, Jason and Christina Gould, from a previous marriage (widowed), and two step-sons, Shawn and Michael S. Belyeu, who combined have given her 5 grandchildren.
Mrs. Gould’s hobbies are photography, boating, fishing, and the grandchildren, when she is not working on a school project or work related committee project.
She has joined with The American College of Healthcare Executives, and is a lifetime member of the Texas Nurses’ Association.
Mrs. Gould’s role at Tyler Family Circle of Care includes initial formalization of the Emergency Preparedness Plan for Tyler Family Circle of Care, along with the annual applications for FTCA malpractice grant for the business, and assisting in health fair events involving pediatrics. She also assisted in achieving the Patient Centered Medical Home III status for TFCC in 2017. She maintains a seat on the Advisory Committee boards for NETHealth Immunization Coalition and the Tyler Independent School District HEADSTART programs, and Region 7 ESC Headstart Home Services Advisory Committee.
Tyler Family Circle of Care is an FQHC with five clinics, three within Tyler, one in Jacksonville and one in Athens, Texas. Serving over 70,000+ visits to their combined clinics last year and having increased patient Medicaid and affordable healthcare population has added to their financially stable position in Smith, Cherokee and Henderson counties.
David Helfer, FACHE, CMPE, MS, BA, R-CVT, EMT
President
Texas Institute for Surgery at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital
Dave is currently the President of the Texas Institute for Surgery at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital, an acute care, for-profit partnered entity between independent physicians and Texas Health Resources system. He owns a home and his family lives in Nichols, SC and he commutes to his current role. Dave is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and holds a Master’s Degree in Adult Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences both earned at National-Louis University in Evanston, IL. While Dave works in Dallas, he commutes from his family and home who live in Nichols, SC near Myrtle Beach.
He earned an Advance Leadership Certificate course at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He is a Board Certified Executive, Personal and Career Coach ( CCE) and an Associate Certified Coach ( International Coach Federation) Dave has served as a mentor for the ACHE for many years both for individuals and groups and is often sought by colleagues to provide career counseling. He is a member of the University of Texas-Dallas Executive Healthcare Council.
He possesses an extensive clinical background as Emergency Medical Technician license in TX and VA, is a Registered Cardiovascular Technologist, Certified Pulmonary Technician and managed numerous clinical departments ranging from cardiovascular, emergency and surgical services.
Dave has worked in healthcare for nearly thirty years as a clinician, manager, executive and consultant in small and large health systems throughout the US. Before his current position, he was a Sr. Vice President with a physician owned consulting company and before that, worked as a Divisional Sr. Vice President and Executive Director with CHI St. Luke’s Health in Houston building and operating the Woodlands Hospital, Woodlands, TX. At the same time, he had executive responsibilities within the St. Luke’s Medical Center flagship hospital accounting for nearly $400 M in operational revenue leading nearly 1000 employees.
Dave has conducted private consultation throughout the US and has participated in numerous teaching and coaching relationships, some under the purview of the ACHE and University of Texas, Dallas as well as Arlington. He is the President-Elect for the Rotary Club of Dallas-Uptown and held officer roles including Secretary. Dave has been named a Board member of the UTD Healthcare Executive Council.
Dave served in the US Army between 1973 and 1976 stationed in Fort Bragg, 82nd Airborne Division and worked as a helicopter electrician. He was Honorably discharged as a Sergeant E-5. His first job in a hospital was as a phlebotomist drawing blood on patients working his way up to a President of a hospital.
Michael R. Hicks, MD, MBA, MHCM, FACHE
Executive Vice President, Health Partnerships & Clinical Affairs
University of North Texas Health Science Center
National Medical Director, HCA Ambulatory Surgery Division
Principal, The Leadership Frame
Senior Fellow, Texas Institute for Patient Safety
Attending Anesthesiologist, US Anesthesia Partners
I am blessed to work with several fantastic teams. At the University of North Texas Health Science Center I lead the clinical activities of the University’s health professions schools. This includes developing and managing the HSC’s relationships with the region’s health systems and clinical practice partners, leading the HSC’s clinical practice and its Institute for Patient Safety. I work closely with the Deans of the HSC schools to develop outstanding clinical educational experiences throughout North Texas. This includes the development of Graduate Medical Education opportunities for graduate physicians as well as Continuing Education for practicing health care clinicians and administrators.
I am also the National Medical Director for the Ambulatory Surgery Division of HCA. In this role I work with clinical teams of medical directors and surgeons, nurses, pharmacists and administrators that provide clinical care at over 130 ambulatory surgical centers that provide surgical services to approximately 800,000 patients annually.
With my multiple roles I am able to meld real world practical experience in health care delivery at HCA with the HSC’s vision of creating the clinical workforce of the future.
Previously I served as the CEO of EmCare Anesthesia Services, a division of Envision Healthcare Holdings (NYSE: EVHC) and as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Pinnacle Partners in Medicine (now US Anesthesia Partners) which under my leadership became the largest anesthesiology practice in the US. In these and other roles I have been actively involved in health care industry consolidation activities including physician practice rollups, mergers, and acquisitions in both the private equity and public market environments. I have served as a consultant to many US and international health care companies providing a variety of health care services including a significant presence in the field of perioperative medicine. On a personal level I serve as a mentor for young careerists from both clinical and administrative backgrounds.
I am a lifelong learner. I have a degree in chemistry from West Virginia University and an MD from West Virginia University School of Medicine, an MBA from the University of Dallas and a Master of Science in Health Care Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I trained as an anesthesiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas as well as the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. I have board certifications in Anesthesiology from the American Board of Anesthesiology and in Clinical Informatics from the American Board of Preventive Medicine. I am a member of a number of professional societies and am a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
My wife Michelle B. Hicks, Ph.D., an executive coach and former college professor, and I live in Irving, Texas. We have three adult daughters: Katie who is a practicing attorney, Rachel who is an Emergency Medicine resident physician and Rebecca who is in the final month of a Master of Medical Science degree program in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling at Emory University School of Medicine.
Scott Hurst, FACHE
Project Leader, Clinical Decision Support
Methodist Health System
Scott currently serves as a Project Leader in Clinical Effectiveness & Patient Safety at Methodist Health System in Dallas, TX. In this role, he is responsible for promoting and facilitating the assimilation and integration of clinical data across system resources in the pursuit of advancing quality or driving efficiency.
Prior to joining Methodist Health System, Scott spent four years with Children’s Health in Dallas, TX. During his time at Children’s Health, he had direct oversight of the Physician Outreach and Physician Information teams, fiduciary oversight of multiple budgets and responsibility for the development of clinically integrated networks. In October of 2014, he shifted into a dyad management role over the Pediatric Partners, a clinically integrated network, focused on protecting the practice of independent medicine while standardizing evidence-based protocols and pathways. Scott and his team of integrated network advisors were committed to seeing Pediatric Partners go from a conceptual idea to a world class group of over 350 pediatricians and pediatric specialists committed to raising quality and lowering cost while delivering an exceptional patient experience.
All told, Scott has spent the last 18 years working in the health care arena. In addition to working at Children’s Health, Scott worked with Lone Star Pharmaceuticals, EmCare, CHRISTUS Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi, TX and in retained physician search for multiple industry leaders including Goldfish Partners, Delta Physician Placement and Merritt Hawkins & Associates.
Scott resides in Lantana, TX with his wife Lisa who is an assistant principal at Guyer High School in Denton, TX. His stepson, Noah (22), is a student at Lamar University and a cycling coach, while his daughter, Anelise (15), participates in dance and art while enjoying the company of the two family Labrador retrievers, Amy and Kimmie.
Nick Kagal, MBA, FACHE, FHIMSS
Senior Regional Director
Premier, Inc.
Nick Kagal is the Southwest Informatics Senior Region Director with Premier Inc. He has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry,and has held leadership roles with several major DFW provider organizations including Parkland Health & Hospital System, HealthSouth & Medical Center of Plano. In his role at Premier, Nick has oversight for supporting Premier member hospitals achieve breakthroughs in operational & clinical performance improvement and engaging them in healthcare quality & safety collaborative efforts.
Nick also serves as the incoming President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of HIMSS. He has extensive experience working with multiple healthcare providers supporting their technology and informatics strategies. He has previously served as Vice President of Business Development for MediServe Information Systems and Ormed Information Systems. Nick received his BA in Biology & Psychology from Austin College and an MBA from the Texas A&M University. He is a Fellow of both ACHE and HIMSS. Nick lives in Plano, Texas with his wife and two children. He is an avid sports fan, a weekend warrior athlete and an extremely amateur musician.
Erich Koch
Chief Financial Officer
Tyler Family Circle of Care
Erich Koch is the Chief Financial Officer of Tyler Family Circle of Care which is a 5 location, $17 million dollar FQHC serving over 21,000 unique patients for over 70,000 visits. Prior to assuming this role, Erich served for almost 3 years as Chief Financial Officer of Robeson Health Care Corporation located in Pembroke, NC, during which time he helped lead the organization through a turnaround. Before Erich got there, the company lost $900K, and after Erich left, the company had a profit of over $800K.
Erich has more than 18 years of combined healthcare financial management and general accounting experience. Prior to joining Family Circle of Care in Tyler, Erich also served as a Chief Financial Officer or Controller for a Critical Access Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Acute Care Hospital, FQHC, and FQHC look-a-like. Erich specializes in FQHC’s and FQHC look-a-likes.
Erich is actively involved with the Health Financial Management Association (HFMA), the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), and The Texas Association for Healthcare Financial Administration (TAHFA). Erich is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Erich is a graduate of Heriot-Watt University (MBA, November 2005), and Lakehead University (BA Administration, May 1998). Erich is also a Fellow with ACHE (FACHE), a Fellow with HFMA (FHFMA), a Certified Public Accountant from North Dakota (CPA – ND), and a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator from Alaska (NHA – AK).
Ekta Pathare FACHE, MBA, OTR, CHT
President
CGAIT Global LLC
A nationally and internationally renowned Healthcare Executive speaker with over 15 years of management and leadership experience. During her career, EKTA has proven experience in business startups, turnarounds, business development, business analysis, program development, collaboration, change management, navigating complex regulatory environments, people development & coaching, resource management, patient centered care strategies, budgetary & regulatory compliance, employee engagement, ensuring patient satisfaction, setting and achieving objectives in alignment with organizational objectives, developing and managing projects.
Ekta received her MBA from the University of Dallas (2002) and her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Bombay (1995). Ekta is also a Nationally Certified Hand Therapist and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Ekta is also active with ACHENTX, ACHE, AOTA, and ASHT.
Timothy J. Pugsley, MBA, CPHIMS, CHCIO, FACHE
Chief Information Officer
Titus Regional Medical Center
Tim Pugsley joined Titus Regional Medical Center in 2015 and has twenty-two years of experience in Information Technology with sixteen of those in Healthcare. His previous position was CIO at Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital, a physician owned specialty hospital focused on the total care of the orthopaedic patient. Before being a member of the senior leadership team at NOH, Mr. Pugsley was Director of Corporate Technologies with Student Resources, a division of UICI, a leading provider of insurance with annual revenues exceeding 2.1 Billion dollars. Prior to UICI, Mr. Pugsley was Vice President of Information Technology and Client Services for i-Trax LLC, a national telehealth nurse triage and disease management provider. He also has extensive experience in system design, analytics, and operations management.
Mr. Pugsley earned both his Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems and Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Bellevue University in Bellevue NE.
He is a Fellow with The American College of Healthcare Executives as well as holding certifications with College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHCIO) and Health Information Management Systems Society (CPHIMS).
Mr. Pugsley is married to his wife of sixteen years, Amanda Pugsley and they have three children, Jordan, Madelyn, and Emma. His hobbies are focused primarily on outdoor sports including golf, fishing, boating, and hunting.
Mr. Pugsley’s role at TRMC includes oversight for the corporate Digital Strategy and Development as well as Health Systems Support Services including Clinical Informatics, PACS/CPACS, Systems Management, Biomed, Information Systems, Human Resources, and Program Management.
Titus Regional Medical Center is a 174-bed multi-specialty hospital with over $180 Million in Annual Revenues. The hospital is located in Mount Pleasant, Texas and serves over 50,000 lives within 5 counties. TRMC is Joint Commission certified and is recognized as a premier Stroke Center in North East Texas.
George T. Roberts, Jr., FACHE
Chief Executive Officer
Northeast Texas Public Health District
George T. Roberts, Jr., has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Northeast Texas Public Health District since November 2006. The Northeast Texas Public Health District is a local Health Department and is a political subdivision under the State of Texas established by the City of Tyler and Smith County. Services provided by the Health District include Community Outreach, Disease Surveillance, Environmental Health, Immunization, Tuberculosis Control, Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Regional Laboratory, Vital Statistics, and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program. The Health District primarily serves Tyler and Smith County but also provides some services in 21 counties in East Texas. The WIC Program serves a 20 county area and Public Health Preparedness serves a 7 county region.
Mr. Roberts has almost 40 years of health care experience, the majority of which was spent in hospital administration, having previously served at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, and Henderson Memorial Hospital in Henderson, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from SMU in Dallas and a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He currently serves on the Board of NACCHO as Vice President, the Episcopal Health Foundation, Carter Bloodcare, the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, and is the past Board Chairman for the Texas Health Institute Board of Directors. He is also a Past President of the Texas Association of City and County Health Officials (TACCHO). Mr. Roberts is active in a number of church, community, and statewide efforts. Mr. Roberts has been married to his wife Leslie for 30 years, and they have 2 children – Claire (25) and Travis (21).
Donald Taylor
Director of Southwestern Health Resources Integration
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Mr. Donald Taylor is currently the Director for Integration, Southwestern Health Resources at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. He provides project management and consulting in the development of an innovative clinically integrated health system. He also teaches healthcare leadership at UTSW. Previous to this, he served as the Associate Director at the North Chicago VA, which is the only fully integrated VA/DoD (Navy) federal health center. He has also supported the VA in El Paso and Phoenix. Mr. Taylor retired from the US Air Force in 2006 after serving in various positions across military medicine. He supported national federal health policy, international health strategy, and command positions at community hospitals and academic medical centers. He also served as the commander of the Air Force Theater Hospital (Trauma Center) in Balad Air Base, Iraq in 2006. He is also a member of the ACHE. A native of Lewisville, Texas, Mr. Taylor earned his Master of Healthcare Administration from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has also been on the Board of Directors of the National Air Force Association and founded their national Wounded Airman Program. He now serves as Chairman for the National AFA Veteran Retiree Advisory Council. He has been a volunteer leader in the community, serving as past chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and the Economic Development Council. He is a Board member for Walking on the Glass Floor Foundation and a mentor for the North Texas Warrior Golf Association. He also is Chairman of the UTSW, Veterans Advocacy Group. Mr. Taylor authored his first book, “The Quite Heroes” in 2016 and is married to Judy Hoberman, the founder/CEO of both, Selling in a Skirt and Walking on the Glass Floor companies.
Louise Thornell, PhD Candidate, MSN, MsBA, RN, NE-BC
Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
CHRISTUS St Michael Health System
Louise started her nursing career in Ireland over 37 years ago where she completed her initial training, she immigrated to the US in 1984. Louise describes her first love as a staff nurse in the Emergency Department. Louise has held a variety of leadership positions over the last 23 years in many areas and currently serves as the Vice-President/Chief Nursing Officer for CHRISTUS St Michael Health System.
Louise describes a life long journey in search of knowledge. This journey began with licensure in Ireland as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse and a Registered General Nurse, in the US she obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from University of Texas Arlington, Master of Science in Business Administration from Texas A&M- Texarkana, Master of Science in Nursing from Walden University, and is in the final stages of her PhD journey with a PhD in Nursing with a specialization in Public Health Policy.
Louise is a member of Emergency Nurses Association, American and Texas Organization of Nurse Executives, American and Texas Nurse Associations and American College of Healthcare Executives. She is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as Nurse Executive and in Bioethics by the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Register Now

ACHENTX After Hours Networking Event at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
2018-06-07 06:30 - 22:00 (America/Chicago) | TX
Register
Come out for a casual evening at the ballpark and enjoy a fantastic view of the game from the suite of our host, SBL Architecture, Inc., while the Rangers take on the Houston Astros. Watch the game from the temperature-controlled indoor lounge with flat screen televisions and indoor/outdoor seating.
All-American ballpark foods and beverages will be served.
The suite will be open to guests at 6:30 PM, and first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
SPACE IS LIMITED AND ON A FIRST COME/FIRST SERVED BASIS, SO REGISTER TODAY!!!
SBL Architecture, Inc. is a healthcare architectural, interior design and planning/consulting firm located in Arlington, Texas. Since 1994, SBL has worked on thousands of projects — with extensive experience in new construction, expansion, master planning and rehabilitation of older healthcare facilities. Healthcare design is their focus and their passion.

Register

Local Program Council Event: It's All About Vision -- The Role Vision Plays in Your Strategic Planning Process
2018-06-21 15:00 - 17:30 (America/Chicago) | TX
Offering 1.5 Face-to-Face Credit Hours
With today’s emphasis in the healthcare industry on population health and the integration of innovative technology, healthcare leaders must be ready to consider new avenues to reach patients and engage healthcare workers. The concept of Gamification, or Gaming, in healthcare is one such avenue. This innovation engages patients and trains healthcare workers to utilize competition and gaming in a new way to improve patient outcomes. Gamification will be presented in terms of compliance with HIPAA and HITECH regulations. This panel will educate participants in learning what Gamification is and will discuss how healthcare systems are using Gamification to engage patients, improve patient experience and quality measures/outcomes, and open organizational perspective to the endless possibilities for its use in healthcare.
Note: Space is extremely limited for this event. Registrations are accepted on a first come/first served basis.
Register Now
Agenda:
3-3:30 pm Registration & Networking
3:30-5 pm LPC Educational Program
5-5:30 pm Closing Remarks, Optional Tour and Networking
Moderator:
Christopher York, FACHE
President
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie
Panelists:
Michael Freeman
Associate Vice President for Health System Planning and Analytics
UT Southwestern Health System
Heidi Pandya
Vice President, Strategic Planning
Medical City Healthcare
Nkem Okafor, MPH, FACHE
Vice President of Strategy & Planning
Methodist Health System
Light snacks and beverages will be provided.
Speaker Bios:
Michael Freeman
Associate Vice President for Health System Planning and Analytics
UT Southwestern Health System
A senior healthcare and business professional with nearly 40 years of experience in strategic planning/business development implementation and administration, including 30 years in six academic medical centers. Expertise in strategic planning, business development, operations, administration, program/services development, hospital and physician acquisitions/affiliations, performance improvement, financial analysis, physician recruitment, personnel management, government relations, regulatory affairs, certificate of need, community and media relations, contract and grant management, tax planning, accounting, and budget development, as well as a proven track record of leadership and success in highly competitive and culturally diverse environments.

Heidi Pandya
Vice President, Strategic Planning
Medical City Healthcare
Heidi serves as the vice president of strategic planning for Medical City Healthcare where she is responsible for the long-range strategy development and the execution of plans for strategic growth and expansion of Medical City Healthcare. In addition, she leads the analytics and project management teams that support hospital operations and strategic planning.
Heidi most recently served as a Director in the Strategic Transformation Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers Healthcare Advisory Division. In this role, Heidi led a broad range of strategic planning and performance improvement engagements including strategy development through execution, cost management, change implementation, and revenue performance management. She provided direct oversight of strategy and process improvement activities for multibillion dollar healthcare clients. Her work has ranged across acute care providers, academic medical centers, outpatient clinics and international health systems.
Heidi holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and Masters of Science in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
She currently serves as President of the Trinity University Healthcare Administration Alumni Board, participates on the Trinity University Healthcare Program Advisory Council and recently served as a Board Member for the Community Council of Greater Dallas.
Nkem Okafor, MPH, FACHE
Vice President of Strategy & Planning
Methodist Health System
Nkem Okafor is a senior healthcare executive with experience in strategy, business development, program management, hospital operations, and consulting. She is the Vice President of Strategy & Planning at Methodist Health System, a $1.4 billion, 10 hospital system in DFW. She oversees setting system-wide strategies and business planning, leads business development and growth activities, and guides market research and data analysis for the company’s decision-making.
Previously, Nkem was a System Director at Houston Methodist Hospital System, where she oversaw programs focused on business development, operational improvement, global operations, community benefits, and population health management. Under her leadership, she expanded the company’s operations to new countries and turned a budget negative department into a profit-generating center, tripling revenue expectations. She also assisted in two acquisitions and improved operational performance, resulting in over $70 million in financial savings. She oversaw the system’s community benefits, totaling $530 million in funding for community health-related programs. She began her career at Deloitte Consulting as a Strategy & Operations Business Analyst, where she received a Service Excellence Award for her exceptional contributions.
In 2016, Nkem was named one of the Top 15 Business Women in Dallas by the National Diversity Council. She has a Master of Public Health degree in Health Management from Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Management, and a Bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating cum laude and Honors with distinction.
She serves as a Board Member of Woman of Purpose, and Junior Players. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an active member of National Association of Health Services Executives, and an alumna of Dallas Regional Chamber’s Leadership Dallas.
Christopher York, FACHE
President
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie
Chris has been serving hospitals and healthcare systems for more than 25 years. His leadership experience in the healthcare industry has been marked by progressively increasing responsibilities and consistently improved performance.
Chris originally joined Baylor Scott & White Health in 2007. He currently serves as the President for Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie. After overseeing the opening of the replacement facility in 2014, the hospital has experienced unprecedented growth and performance. Chris is passionate about driving excellence through a culture based upon: 1) love for one another, 2) receiving feedback as a gift, and 3) courageously leading change that drives continuous improvement. Prior to making the move to Waxahachie, Chris served as Chief Operating Officer for Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Grapevine; overseeing day-to-day operations and the construction of a $100M bed tower expansion project. He originally joined BSWH as Vice President for Surgical Services at Baylor University Medical Center.
In addition to BSWH, Chris spent time in the Atlanta market serving as Vice President of Hospital Operations with the WellStar Health System. He served two different four-year stints with Mountain States Health Alliance in positions ranging from Management Engineer to Vice President. Between the two periods with MSHA, he spent six years with VHA Performance Consulting traveling the country working with healthcare systems on a variety of strategic and operational improvement initiatives.
Chris is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He also serves on a number of community boards. During the first 15 years of his career, Chris was bi-vocational – serving as a youth pastor in the evening and on weekends.
He received a football scholarship to attend East Tennessee State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration. He later received his MBA, with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration, from ETSU.
Chris has been married to Dr. Jackie York, Neonatologist, for 25 years. They have one son, Jack, who is currently a senior at First Baptist Academy of Dallas. Jack recently accepted a football scholarship offer to attend the University of Minnesota, and will be playing in the Blue-Grey All-American game this December.

Register Now

Breakfast with the President - Joseph DeLeon
2018-07-31 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | TX
Please join us for the next in our Breakfast with the President series… this time with Joseph DeLeon, President of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.
Register Here
Joseph DeLeon became president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth in January 2018. He returned to Texas Health Fort Worth after almost five years as president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth.
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth is Tarrant County’s largest hospital with 732 beds, Level 2 Trauma Center, a 100-bed Emergency Department, a dedicated Heart Center, and a 60-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is the 4th busiest hospital in the State of Texas. There are over 4,500 staff members that serve the community 24/7 and 365 days a year.
Joseph first joined Texas Health in 2005 as vice president of professional services and business development at Texas Health Fort Worth, where he was responsible for ancillary services, strategic planning and business development activities for the hospital. In January 2013, Joseph was named president of Texas Health Southwest Hospital. Under his leadership, Texas Health Southwest achieved the Truven (an IBM Company) 100 Top Hospital three years in a row (2015-2017) and the Pinnacle of Excellence Award for Patient Experience from Press Ganey. Joseph also led the opening of the Texas Health Clearfork Hospital, a 54-bed orthopedic joint replacement facility.
Joseph is an active leader in the community, serving as chairman of the boards of the Texas Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Worth and the Tarrant County March of Dimes, and on the boards of North Texas Community Foundation and the Healthy Tarrant County Collaboration. He also serves on the Las Vegas Trail Revitalization Project team working on the Health and Wellness Focus Group. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce from 2013-2014. Joseph has been recognized many times for his leadership, including a 2017 Minorities in Business Award from the Fort Worth Business Press.
A graduate of Leadership North Texas and Leadership Fort Worth, he was previously named to the Fort Worth Business Press 40 under 40 and holds a Certificate of Leader Development from the U.S. Army War College Commandant’s National Security Program. He is also an associate with the American College of Healthcare Executives.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in business management in 1991 and a master’s in public administration in 1994 from Texas A&M University.
Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1988 as a private and in 1994 he completed Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. In 1995 he transferred to the U.S. Air Force and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps where he served three years on active duty and two years as an Active Reservist. He achieved the Air Force Commendation and Air Force Achievement Service medals and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain.
Most importantly Joseph is married to Monica, his life partner of 26 years. They have four children, two that graduated from Texas A&M University last year and were both married by the end of 2017. The two youngest boys, Jacob and Luke, are in Junior High and keep the family very active playing baseball, basketball, football and running track. Monica and Joseph absolutely love raising their family in, and being a part of the Fort Worth community.
A special thanks to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth for hosting this event!

Register Here

Mentorship Program Mid-Year Networking Event
2018-08-09 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | TX
This event is open to our 2018 ACHENTX Mentors and Mentees.
ACHE North Texas Mentors and Mentees are invited to this social event to mingle and network with each other and the Mentorship Committee. This will be a casual evening, giving us a chance to catch up and get together during the summer. We hope to see you there! Appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided by ACHENTX.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Register

Breakfast with the CEO - Charles Gressle
2018-08-16 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | TX
Please join us for the next in our Breakfast with the President series… this time with Charles Gressle, CEO at Medical City Plano.
Register

Charles E. Gressle
Chief Executive Officer
Medical City Plano & Medical City Frisco
With more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Mr. Charles Gressle assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Medical City Plano (formerly known as The Medical Center of Plano) in November 2013 and Medical City Frisco in April 2016, after serving as Chief Operating Office at Medical City Dallas Hospital.
Mr. Gressle came from HCA’s Continental Division in Denver, Colorado where he served as the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for the development and growth of outpatient services, partnership opportunities, service line initiatives, mergers and acquisitions, regional network development, and the overall competitive landscape of the Continental Division and HealthONE.
Prior to joining the Continental Division, Mr. Gressle was the Chief Operating Officer at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas. During his 3-year tenure, he led the HCA Houston Women’s Services growth strategy. He was also successful in leading the system from #2 to #1 share. He also helped lead the hospital to top national scores in Joint Commission, HCA’s QRS Survey, Physician Satisfaction, Patient Satisfaction, and Labor Management.
Mr. Gressle was an AVP in HCA’s Strategic Resource Group where he demonstrated similar results across various service lines and markets, notably the Western Group Cardiac Growth Initiative. He also maintains extensive expertise in ORs, EDs, and Labor Management from his consulting experience. Mr. Gressle is proud and fortunate to have started his healthcare career as a Certified Nursing Assistant and Nationally Registered EMT-Paramedic.
Mr. Gressle received his undergraduate degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill and his MBA degree with Highest Honors from Wake Forest University. Mr. Gressle is married with four children and enjoys family activities, golf, exercising and volunteering in the community.

Register

Thank you, Charles Gressle and Medical City Plano for hosting this event!

Third Quarter Education Event
2018-08-23 15:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Parkland Health & Hospital System, 5200 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX, 75235, United States
Registration: 3 pm
Panel 1: 3:30 – 5 pm
Reception 5 – 6 pm (Hors D’Oeuvres & Refreshments)
Panel 2: 6 – 7:30 pm
Panel 1: Care Coordination: Acute Hospital Becoming a Preferred Provider in the Narrow Network

Moderator: Leah Throckmorton, Director of 360 Services, Wise Health System
Panelist 1: Sunita Koshy-Nesbitt, Deputy Clinical Operations Officer, Southwestern Health Resources
Panelist 2: Aaron Bujnowski, FACHE, Chief Strategy Officer, Texas Health Resources
Panelist 3: Marilyn Callies, RN, MBA, ACM, SVP, Transitional & Post-Acute Care, Parkland Health & Hospital System

Panel 2: Improving the Bottom Line by Optimizing Patient Throughput

Moderator: Francesco Mainetti, Director of Business Sustainability/Development, Parkland Health & Hospital System
Panelist 1: Debi Pasley, FACHE, SVP & CNO CHRISTUS Health
Panelist 2: John Phillips, FACHE, CEO, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
Panelist 3: Karen Watts, EVP & CNO, Parkland Health & Hospital System

Register Now
Speakers Bios:
Aaron M. Bujnowski, FACHE
Chief Strategy Officer
Texas Health Resources
Aaron M. Bujnowski, FACHE, serves as senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Texas Health Resources. Bujnowski is responsible for developing system, zone and entity level strategy across the entire enterprise that includes wholly-owned and joint venture hospitals, as well as ambulatory and post-acute care.
Prior to joining Texas Health in 2010 as vice president of analytics and market intelligence, Bujnowski served as the director of strategy for Dean Foods in Dallas. His experience includes more than four years with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Dallas, where he served as project leader, consultant and a core member of BCG’s health care practice. Bujnowski previously held various leadership positions in business development, market development and innovation at Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, Texas, for more than nine years.
He 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 from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he graduated with honors. In 2015, Bujnowski became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).
Fluent in Spanish and basic American Sign Language, Bujnowski is co-inventor of four 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 Latter-Day Saint missionary and humanitarian volunteer in Chile, South America, and served as an executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America.
Marilyn Callies
Senior Vice President, Transitional and Post-Acute Care
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Marilyn Callies is a registered nurse with a Master’s degree in Business Administration and serves as Senior Vice-President of Transitional and Post- Acute Services at Parkland Hospital, overseeing Case Management, Social Work, Patient Transport and Parkland Nursing Homes. Prior to joining Parkland in 2013, Callies served as Director of Case Management at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, leading case management activities and overseeing hospital social work and case management programs. She is an experienced professional with 36 years in healthcare and has a 34 year track record in leadership, management, and organizational change. Marilyn is an energetic leader with a focus on team building, who cares about people and is results driven. She is an Accredited Case Manager and has received several honors and awards such as the Innovation in Case Management Award and recognized as one of the DFW Hospital Council Great 100 nurses. She is a member of the National American Case Management Association. She is an inaugural member and President of the Dallas Fort Worth chapter of American Case Management Association and is a Life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Francesco Manietti
Director of Business Sustainability and Development
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Francesco is the Director of Business Sustainability and Development at Parkland Health and Hospital System. After achieving a Master’s Degree with Honors in Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Francesco joined a management consulting company. During that time, he worked for several clients in different countries and industries (mainly healthcare, pharmaceutical and renewable energy) focusing on strategic planning, cost optimization, company restructuring and reorganization, and post-merger and acquisition (M&A) integrations. After the consulting experience, he joined Parkland in 2015 where he played a key role in planning and executing the relocation of the acute care hospital to the newly built campus. Subsequently, in addition to overseeing some of the 1115 Medicaid Waiver DSRIP initiatives, Francesco focused his work on improving hospital patient flow, from the emergency intake to the inpatient discharge. He achieved significant improvements in terms of throughput: 30% reduction in ED boarding time, 25% reduction in discharge turnaround time and one hour improvement in the overall patient discharge time. In his latest role, Francesco is tasked with improving the overall financial and operational performance of the hospital system by leading strategic initiatives, exploring additional revenue sources, and optimizing costs.
Debi Pasley, RN, MS, NEA-BC, FACHE
System Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer
CHRISTUS Health
Debi Pasley is the System Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for CHRISTUS Health. Visionary healthcare leader with 20+ years of experience improving quality of care, reducing costs, and improving revenue potential for nationally and internationally recognized organizations. Superior business leader with demonstrated clinical and administrative accomplishments in community and academic medical systems leading multiple clinical disciplines. Proven success in creation and growth of services, recovery of struggling hospitals and services, and in achievement of regulatory and professional accreditation. Able to improve outcomes, core measurements, and patient satisfaction through mentorship and development of team members, leading to excellence in all levels of care. Experienced in improving operational efficiency, strategic planning, program assessment, establishment of new services, medical staff relations, facility creation.
A few highlighted accomplishments include:

Led Nursing from high turnover/high vacancy and repeated unionization attempts to selfgoverningunits which were designated as an ANCC Magnet® facility in 2007.
Introduced and implemented a concept to share savings from staffing expenseimprovements (Jones, D. Savings Sharing: Rewarding Staff for Responsible Decisionmaking. JONA, 2005, 199-203).
Planned, developed and implemented such services as a boutique service for jointreconstruction, free-standing Emergency Department, LDRP Center, Acute Care of the Elderly Unit, and a Pediatric Urgent Care.
Expanded Occupational Medicine services and improved revenue realization of annualprofits by recruiting a full time occupational medicine physician and restructuring service delivery.
Renegotiated physician contracts for both employed physicians and medical directorshipsto enhance quality, capacity, and service availability.

Debi Pasley is a certified nurse executive (NEA-BC) and healthcare executive (FACHE). She has a strong background in creation of new services and reorganization of existing services. She has Last update: August 18, 2017 led a successful Magnet® journey and served in multiple Magnet® hospitals. Her leadership of multiple clinical disciplines has resulted in team successes which support employee engagement and improved operations.
Debi describes her leadership style as participative, creating teams which improve quality, reduce expenses, and optimize volumes.
John Phillips, FACHE
President
Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
John Phillips is president of Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. He oversees operations of a 254-bed non-profit acute care hospital with more than 1,000 employees and 200 physicians. Phillips has been instrumental in leading and growing the hospital, which recently achieved Magnet designation for excellence in nursing and is currently pursuing Level 3 trauma designation.
Under Phillips’ leadership in 2017, the hospital topped-out a new $11.8M professional office building and in 2015 opened a $118 million Amon G. Carter Foundation Heart and Vascular Center and patient tower.
The hospital has achieved exceptional safety scores, outperformed other hospitals in key quality measures to provide excellent patient care, and is certified by The Joint Commission as Primary Stroke and Chest Pain Center’s.
Phillips earned a MBA from Hardin-Simmons University and a Master of Health Care Administration from Trinity University.
Leah Throckmorton
Director 360 Services
Wish Health System
As Director of 360 Services, Leah is focused on readmission prevention initiative for the hospital. 360 Services is a program developed through the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments (DSRIP) program. Leah has a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Texas Tech University and Bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Karen Watts, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer
Parkland Health & Hospital System
As the Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Karen has been in this role at Parkland for 3 years. She has experience as a past CNO in 3 other health systems and a background in quality management, strategic planning, business administration, physician practice management and patient safety. She has spoken nationally on patient safety and other topics including innovations in nursing, as well as clinical and financial management related to nursing. Karen is passionate about nursing and patient care and is helping to advance professional practice and supporting future Pathway to Excellence and Magnet designation. She also helped develop the first Parkland Nursing Strategic Plan. Karen served on Emory University’s Center for Ethics Consortium and the Patient and Family Partnership Advisory Council for Quality and Patient Safety Development nationally. She is a member of American Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau National Nursing Honor Society, American College of Healthcare Executives, American Hospital Association and the American Nurses Association. Karen holds the ANCC National Nursing Executive Advanced certification. Karen received her Master of Science Degree in Nursing of Georgia Southern University.

Register Now
Speakers Bios:

ACHENTX New Member Networking Blitz - Fall 2018
2018-09-11 16:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Grapevine, 1650 West College Street, Grapevine, TX, 76051, United States
For new members from July 2017 to Present
The ACHE North Texas Welcoming Committee cordially invites you to the ACHE of North Texas chapter’s New Member Networking Blitz. This fun event will allow new members to get to know one another and some seasoned ACHE members as well. There will be special breakout sessions where fun activities and personal connections will be made. The intent of this program is to bring new members together to get a real in depth view of ACHENTX, to enable you to meet some of the chapter’s leadership and to help you map out how to best take advantage of the plethora of local and national benefits and opportunities available to you as ACHE members. It’s a way to “let us get to know you” as well and become a part of your professional network.
We are looking forward to meeting each of you.
A light meal and drinks will be served.
Register Now

St. Jude Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer
2018-09-22 07:00 - 12:30 (America/Chicago) | TX
Join other ACHE of North Texas members by volunteering to help with this year’s St. Jude Walk/Run to end childhood cancer. It will be a great opportunity to network and have fun, all while supporting a tremendously important cause.

Date: Saturday, September 22
Time: Approximately 7am-12:30pm

Location:
Panther Island Pavilion
395 Purcey St.
Fort Worth, TX
76102
ACHENTX Volunteer Registration (To help you be assigned a role at this event working alongside other ACHENTX members, please click “Volunteer” and make sure you sign up as an “ACHE volunteer.”)

To register for the walk/run as a participant and not as an event support volunteer, please click here.

Cocktails with the Chiefs - Fort Worth
2018-09-25 17:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Reata Restaurant – Fort Worth, 310 Houston Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102, United States
Date: Tuesday, September 25
Time: 5:30pm-8pm
Location: Reata Restaurant
310 Houston Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Register

Our popular Cocktails with the Chiefs event is back in Fort Worth – once again at the trendy Reata restaurant.
Come listen as local industry leaders share their experiences, gaining insights on how to build leadership skills and leveraging them for professional growth. Learn from their successes and challenges and be inspired to further pursue your own professional and personal development goals.
The event will include some great networking opportunities as well.
Moderator:
Anna Brewer, CVA
Partner, JTaylor
Panelists:
Laura Burnside
SVP, Chief Experience Officer / Strategy, JPS Health Network
Rick Merrill
President and CEO, Cook Children’s Health Care System
Rebecca Tucker
President, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth / Clearfork
Janice Whitmire
Chief Operating Officer, Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center
Speakers Bios:
Anna K. Brewer, CVA
Partner – Consulting Services
JTaylor
Anna has significant experience in the healthcare industry providing a number of services to healthcare providers.
She leverages strong analytical and financial analysis skills in the areas of managed care analysis, negotiation support, revenue cycle analytics, valuations, due diligence, physician compensation, joint venture development, and strategic business plans. Her list of clients includes physician-owned hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, community hospitals, multi-hospital systems, academic medical centers, and physician practices. Anna has also assisted clients in areas involving claims dispute resolution and litigation support.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas Christian University, Anna joined Arthur Andersen as a Consultant in the Finance and Economics group. Prior to joining JTaylor, she spent three years in the Health Sciences Advisory Services group at Ernst & Young.
Anna is contributing author in the field of healthcare for the Fort Worth Business Press. She is a member of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts and is a Certified Valuation Analyst.
Lara Burnside
SVP, Chief Experience Officer / Strategy
JPS Health Network
Burnside has been a healthcare professional for more than twenty years. She works with all levels of hospital leadership implementing strategies, processes and systems to create a great experience for patients, physicians, and employees. From 2008 to 2015, she worked with Children’s Health in Dallas, as a consultant and also as the Senior Director of Service Excellence.
Burnside spent 10 years working for a large healthcare consulting firm focused on service and operational excellence. As a consultant, Burnside worked with thousands of hospital leaders and physicians at over 150 health care organizations. Her concentration on employee engagement, patient experience, and creating a culture of service has led to organizations achieving their highest outcomes in service, quality, finance, human resources, and growth. Burnside has experience with large for-profit and not-for-profit health care systems, academic medical centers, and small rural hospitals.
Burnside has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications/Public Relations and a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration.
Rick W. Merrill
President and CEO
Cook Children’s Health Care System
As president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System since 2007, Mr. Merrill has led the Fort Worth-based organization at a time of unprecedented growth, including the historic expansion of Cook Children’s Medical Center, which nearly doubled the size of its campus in response to the growing need for its services. Under Merrill’s leadership, Cook Children’s began a new era by streamlining its mission and vision into a Promise to improve the health of every child in the region through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury.
As a not-for-profit, internationally-recognized pediatric integrated healthcare organization, Cook Children’s is comprised of eight entities – a Medical Center, Physician Network, Home Health company, Northeast Hospital, Pediatric Surgery Center, Health Plan, Health Services, Inc., and Health Foundation. With more than 1.3 million patient encounters per year, Cook Children’s growing reputation draws patients from near and far. Patients travel across Texas and come to us from around the United States, as well as internationally, to receive life-saving pediatric care at Cook Children’s.
A graduate of Texas Tech University, Mr. Merrill received his Master of Science degree in Health Care Administration in 1984 from Trinity University in San Antonio. For more than thirty years, Merrill has served in leadership roles in large academic/university-based health care systems, including both for-profit and not-for profit health care facilities.
Mr. Merrill actively serves on numerous national, state and community advisory boards, including the Children’s Hospital Association (Chair), Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (a collaborative of 110 children’s hospitals), the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas (past Chair), Texas Hospital Association, Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals (past Chair), the Dallas/Fort Worth Hospital Council (past Chair), Children’s Hospital International Executive Forum and All Saints Episcopal School (past Chair).
Mr. Merrill and his wife, Dr. Evelyn Merrill have two daughters.
Rebecca Tucker
President
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth / Clearfork
Becky Tucker currently serves as president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth (THSW). THSW opened in 1987 and serves the communities of Fort Worth, Benbrook, Crowley, Aledo and Granbury with advanced medical treatments and an experienced staff that provides compassionate care.
Becky 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 may include 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. In February 2017, Becky opened Texas Health’s third IHC outpatient campus, Texas Health Neighborhood Care & Wellness Prosper.
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 17 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 for the Alzheimer’s Association of North Central Texas, and a board member for CareFlite. In addition Becky is a Fellow with the Texas Hospital Association (THA) and the vice 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.
Becky is enjoying parenthood with her husband, Toby. She says their son, Tavin, who was born on Christmas Day in 2012, and was conceived with the assistance of the same Assisted Reproductive Technology Laboratory she developed, is the best Christmas present she has ever received. Becky, Toby and Tavin welcomed Landon, a baby girl, to their family in May. This family of four spend as much time as possible outside with their rescue dog, Stella.
Janice Whitmire
Chief Operating Officer
Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center
Janice Whitmire, MBA, HCM, currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. She oversees ancillary, support services and strategic service line growth.
Previously, Janice served as corporate vice president of the Baylor Annette C. & Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute. She successfully led this team in becoming the 2nd largest heart transplant program in the world. Janice has held a variety of leadership roles during her tenure, including her extensive, dedicated service to Baylor All Saints from 1989 to 2012.
Among her many accomplishments, Whitmire led the planning team for the construction and 2008 opening of the 110-bed Paul and Judy Andrew’s Women’s Hospital where she served as the Administrator and system leader for the women’s service lines.
Janice’s education includes a master’s degree in business administration and a certification in health science management from the University of Dallas. She is also a graduate of the SMU Cox School of Business Executive Leadership program. Whitmire was honored by the YWCA as an Outstanding Woman in Business, as well as being recognized as a Health Care Hero by the Fort Worth Business Press.
Ms. Whitmire is married with 2 children.
Thanks to our co-hosts for this event:
e4h Architecture
Texas Christian University

Register

Multi-Chapter Education Event
2018-09-27 08:00 - 15:30 (America/Chicago) | Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, 1100 Allied Drive, Plano, TX, 75093, United States
For the first time ever, the below four ACHE chapters are joining forces to offer an incredible education event. Offering up to 6.0 approved Face-to-Face credits, it’s a great opportunity to learn, meet new colleagues and network — all close to home and at an extremely reasonable rate!
Hosted by the following ACHE Chapters:
ACHE of North Texas
East Texas ACHE Forum
Sooner Healthcare Executives
Texas Midwest Healthcare Executives
Register
Panel 1: Integrating the Principles of Patient-Centered Care
Moderator:
Ken Hutchenrider, FACHE
President
Methodist Richardson Medical Center
Panelists:
Jan Althouse, FACHE, RDH, MHA
Patient Experience Coordinator, Patient Satisfaction
Cook Children’s Health System, Fort Worth
Brad Thompson
Manager for Patient Relations and Patient Experience
Hendrick Health System
Paul Wright, MD
Medical Director
SSM Health Medical Group, Oklahoma City
Panel 2: Physician-Hospital Integration in the 21st Century
Moderator:
Chris Whybrew, FACHE
Principal
Whybrew Medical Management
Panelists:
Kevin Lewis, MD, CPE, FAASM
Regional President and CEO
SSM Health Medical Group Oklahoma
Brett McClung, FACHE
Executive Vice President
Texas Health Resources
Shelly Miland
Vice President of Finance & CFO
Texas Health Methodist
Panel 3: Improving the Health of Your Community
Moderator:
John Allen, FACHE
Director, Practice Operations, Neighborhood Clinics
Cook Children’s Medical Center
Panelists:
Vida Amin, MD
Neighborhood Clinic Medical Director / Population Health Advisor
Cook Children’s Physician’s Network
Seetha Modi, MBA, MPH, CSSGB
Former Director of Population Health
OZ Systems
Matt Richardson, FACHE
Director of Public Health
Denton County
Panel 4: Palliative Care-Advancing Quality and Improving Costs
Moderator:
Alfred Levy MD
Medical director of Palliative Care
Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital
Panelists:
Brian Bessent, FACHE
Vice President
Hendrick Health System
Alvin Mathe, DO
Center for Geriatrics
University of North Texas Health Science Center
Sarah K. Minor, DO, FACOEP, HMDC
Medical Director
INTEGRIS Hospice and INTEGRIS Hospice House
Speakers Bios:
John Allen, FACHE
Director, Practice Operations, Neighborhood Clinics
Cook Children’s Medical Center
John spent 22 years in the US Coast Guard (USCG). He spent the early part of his military career working as an EMT and health services technician. As a commissioned officer, he worked as a practice administrator and regional practice director. After he left the USCG, he worked as a program director at UNT Health Science Center for a transitional care program. He now works as a Director of Practice Operations at Cook Children’s Physicians Network. He holds a masters in health administration from Baylor University and a masters in public health from the University of West Florida.
Jan Althouse, FACHE, RDH, MHA
Patient Experience Coordinator, Patient Satisfaction
Cook Children’s Health System, Fort Worth
Jan is the Patient Experience Coordinator, overseeing Patient Satisfaction at Cook Children’s Health System in Fort Worth. She was previously the Business Manager of Pain Management Centers at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas; Independent Contractor with JK Althouse, RDH in Fort Worth; and Dental Practice Management Coach & Consultant at Jameson Management in Davis, Oklahoma.
She received her Associate degree in Applied Science Dental Hygiene, from Shawnee State College; Bachelor’s in Business Administration Marketing from the University of Nebraska; Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Texas-Arlington and is a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt through Villanova University.
Vida Amin, MD
Neighborhood Clinic Medical Director / Population Health Advisor
Cook Children’s Physician’s Network
Dr. Vida Amin earned both her medical degree and completed her residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas. She has also completed executive leadership training via the TCU Advancing Healthcare Leadership Series in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Amin has served as a member of the Cook Children’s Health Plan Board, as well as the System Physician Board. Additionally, she has been the lead physician champion over multiple system quality initiatives and value based projects.
Dr. Amin currently serves as Medical Director of the Cook Children’s Neighborhood Clinics (NHCs), as well as Population Health Advisor for the Cook Children’s Healthcare System, located in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cook Neighborhood Clinics consist of seven community based clinics serving the Fort Worth area and surrounding communities.
During her years as medical director of the NHCs and board member of the health plan, Dr. Amin has helped successfully lead several collaborative efforts between the CCPN Neighborhood Clinics, Cook Children’s Health Plan, and the Cook Children’s Healthcare System. These initiatives have included, but are not limited to, topics such as Asthma Clinical Pathways, Pharmacy Cost Savings, Speech Therapy Project, and Complex Care Navigation.
Dr. Amin has also represented Cook Children’s Physician Network (CCPN) as the lead physician responder and population health advisor on multiple key public health issues in the local community. On a national level, she has represented Cook Children’s at the Children’s Hospital Association: Accountable Health Learning Collaborative, where she joins other children’s hospital representatives in exploring innovative approaches in the quality, cost, and delivery of care within our children’s hospitals. She remains active on several organizational committees, including the system Quality Committee, the Patient Experience Committee, and the Readmissions committee. Dr. Amin is the driver behind departmental process improvement efforts, and the principal force behind the development of various clinical training protocols.
Dr. Amin’s professional mission and passion for excellence contributes to the fulfillment of the Cook’s promise: “Knowing that every child’s life is sacred, it is the promise of Cook Children’s to improve the health of every child in our region through the prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury.”
Brian Bessent, FACHE
Vice President
Hendrick Health System
Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Hardin Simmons University in 1996 and Master of Science in 1998 from the University of North Texas. He began working at Hendrick in 1999 and served as Director of Rehabilitation and Director of Transitional Services until he was promoted to Vice President in 2013. Brian is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He oversees Rehabilitation Services, Long-Term Acute Care, Hendrick Medical Supply, Hendrick Hospice Care, Hendrick Housecalls Home Health, Pathways Palliative Care program, and the Skilled Nursing Facility as well as Patient Relations and Risk Management.
In 2011, Brian helped lead efforts to establish a full service Palliative Care program at Hendrick Health System which has now grown significantly over the past few years.
Brian is on the Board of Directors of the Abilene Industrial Foundation, Hardin-Simmons University Board of Development, Dyess Air Force Base Military Affairs Committee, the Institute of Healthcare Executives and Suppliers and the Texas Hospital Association, Education Committee. He serves as an Honorary Commander for Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene.
Ken Hutchenrider, FACHE
President
Methodist Richardson Medical Center
Ken Hutchenrider joined Methodist Richardson Medical Center as President in July, 2010.
He has more than 25 years of executive experience with a result oriented record of substantially increasing financial stability and strengthening team management to build a tradition of providing the best care possible to the communities served.
During his tenure, Ken administered the assimilation of the hospital into the Methodist Health System, as well as the development of a $120M replacement hospital and its subsequent and ongoing expansions. Pam Stoyanoff, Chief Operations Officer of Methodist Health System has said “Ken is an outstanding leader with a proven track record in operational excellence.”
Additional accomplishments include the establishment of a new wound care center, recruitment and stabilization of the NICU physician group, development of the Da Vinci surgical program, and the successful recruitment/employment of new medical staff members. Under his direction, Methodist Richardson has received accreditations as a Chest Pain Center, a Stroke Center, and achieved nursing Pathway to Excellence.
Prior to July 2010, Ken served as the Chief Executive Officer of Galesburg Cottage Hospital, in Galesburg, Illinois. There, he successfully and effectively managed all facets of the 173 bed acute care facility, including a skilled nursing unit, inpatient psychiatric unit, a joint venture outpatient therapy unit, and a joint venture dialysis unit.
Previously in his career, Ken served in executive roles including Chief Executive Officer of the Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas. Ken started his career in a clinical position as a Paramedic Shift Supervisor in Pasadena, Texas.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Healthcare Administration from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.
Ken has received many accolades, including the American Heart Association SOAR Award, the Community Health System Outstanding Achievement Award, and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is actively involved in the community and has served as the Chairman of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and President of the Plano Independent School District Foundation. Ken is an enthusiastic supporter of the PISD Health Sciences Academy. Currently, Ken serves as the Regent for Northern Texas for the American College of Healthcare Executives
On a personal note, Ken and his wife Melinda have two teenage daughters. When he’s not spending time with his family, you are most likely to find Ken on the golf course. He is also a private pilot.
Alfred E Levy, MD, FAAFP, DAAHPM
Director Supportive and Palliative Care
Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano
Dr. Levy received his MD from Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His Internship Residency was with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. This was followed with an active community family practice at Family Medical Center at Garland, in Garland, Texas. He transitioned to full time to specialty Supportive and Palliative Care at Plano/THHBP in January 2012.
Some of his highlighted accomplishments include:

Chairing the Family Practice department, having served on the executive committee at Baylor Garland
Serving as Director Baylor Plano Supportive and Palliative Care which is comprised of outpatient services, and hospital service at BSW THHBP and BSW Regional Medical Center Plano since its formation
Readmission Committee BSWRMCP
Oncology Board Advisory Committee BSW
Oncology subcommittee RMCBP,
Best Care Committee at THHBP.
Ethics committee both RMCBP and THHBP
LVAD committee THHBP
Best Care Committee for HTPN
Advisory Best Care for BSWQA
Oncology Advisory Subcommittee HTPN
Active member of BSWQA

Dr. Levy’s object: “My focus in medicine is in the area of palliative medicine. Palliative Medicine is the specialty in medicine that often deals with complex medical, psychosocial and spiritual issues in patients with life limiting circumstances. The primary mission is symptom burden relief, and assistance with advanced planning or direction. Our perspective at the Supportive and Palliative Care at BSW RMCP and THHBP is more of a global view of the patient with the aforementioned goals. It is different and distinct from hospice care in that our patients often are continuing active treatment with disease suppression with symptom burden relief as the primary goal.”
Kevin Lewis, MD, CPE, FAASM
Regional President and CEO
SSM Health Medical Group Oklahoma
Kevin is a Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine physician by clinical background practicing for 15 years before fully focusing on his journey as a healthcare executive. Kevin is currently the Regional President and CEO of SSM Health Medical Group Oklahoma based in Oklahoma City, OK. Former executive roles include Chief Medical Officer of the Parkridge Health System (HCA) and the Memorial Health Care System (CHI) in Chattanooga, TN, Chief Medical and Quality Officer for the Hillcrest Healthcare System and Utica Park Clinic (Ardent) in Tulsa, OK as well as Chief Medical Officer for Graymark Healthcare in Oklahoma City, OK.
Kevin is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio for Medical School. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine-Tulsa and Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine fellowship at the University of Kentucky.
Alvin Mathe, DO
Center for Geriatrics
University of North Texas Health Science Center
Dr. Alvin Mathe´ serves on the Palliative Medicine Consult Team at Texas Health Harris Fort Worth Hospital. He also serves as the Medical Director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship based at UNTHSC, training doctors who have finished a residency in Family Medicine or Internal Medicine and are now specializing in Palliative Medicine. The goal of Palliative Medicine is to prevent and relieve suffering and to ensure the best quality of life for patients and their families.
As the primary physician member of the Palliative Care Consult Team at Texas Health Harris Fort Worth, he helped open a 16-bed Palliative Care Unit, the only such facility in North Texas. He and his team help treat distressing symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath and constipation in hospitalized patients with severe life-limiting disease. They also help treat distressing symptoms in many patients at the end of life.
For more than three years, Dr. Mathe´ served as the local principal investigator of the MOPSE trial (Multicenter Osteopathic Pneumonia Study in the Elderly). He is a team physician for the inpatient unit for Vitas hospice in Fort Worth and serves as Vice President on the Board of Guardianship Services of Tarrant County.
Brett McClung, FACHE
Executive Vice President
Texas Health Resources
Brett S. McClung, FACHE, is the executive vice president and North Zone Operations Leader for Texas Health Resources. He has operating responsibility for owned and partnered assets in the northern 6 county region of Texas driving over $1.6 billion in total operating revenue.
Prior to this role, McClung served as president of hospitals in suburban and large urban markets and has been associated with Texas Health Resources and Harris Methodist in various roles since 1993. In addition to regional board positions, McClung volunteers his leadership to: Healthy Tarrant County Collaboration (past chair), Trinity University Healthcare Advisory Council (Chair), and faculty/moderator for American College of Healthcare Executives (2017 Regent’s Award).
McClung’s honors include being a Wharton Fellow with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and being a Marshall Memorial Leadership Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He also has been recognized as the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council Young Executive of the Year, the Early Careerist Healthcare Executive Award from ACHE, and “40 Business Leaders under 40” recognition from the Fort Worth Business Press. McClung earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Southwestern University and a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University. He and his wife Nancy have been married for 25 years and have two daughters, Madison a Graduate Student at Stanford University and Mackenzie, a sophomore at University of Southern California.
Shelly Miland
Vice President of Finance & CFO
Texas Health Methodist
Shelly Miland serves as vice president and group finance officer for Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. In this role, Shelly is responsible for Texas Health Resources hospitals in Fort Worth, Cleburne and Azle, as well as Texas Health Specialty Hospital. Through focused financial leadership, she worked to meet financial targets to the maximum level of performance in 2015. Instead of merely evaluating the bottom line, Shelly takes a comprehensive approach to analyzing strategic and operational projects. Her analysis always includes the Texas Health mission with regard to working with physicians and providing the highest quality of care to patients. Shelly worked diligently to meet financial goals as decreases in 1115 waiver funding occurred and also leads her hospitals in exceeding industry standards for all revenue cycle areas.
She began her employment with Texas Health in 1998 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas; in 2001 she became director at Texas Health Fort Worth. Shelly became vice president at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital HEB in 2005 where she assumed responsibility for finance, accounting, and the oversight of Springwood Psychiatric Hospital, a separately licensed 50-bed hospital on the Texas Health HEB campus.
In 2007, she advanced to vice president of finance at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and assisted with the conversion of all technology to Texas Health standard systems and was an integral part of the operations team in the opening of the Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital, a 48-bed hospital within Texas Health Arlington Memorial. Shelly began her current role at Texas Health Fort Worth in 2014.
Shelly received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is a Certified Public Accountant, a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Fellow in Healthcare Financial Managers Association.
Shelly has been married to her husband, Doug, for 30 years and has a daughter, granddaughter, and grandson. She enjoys mentoring, both professionally and in her church, and enjoys photography, travel and needlework.
Sarah K. Minor, DO, FACOEP, HMDC
Medical Director
INTEGRIS Hospice and INTEGRIS Hospice House
Dr. Sarah Minor is currently the Medical Director for INTEGRIS Hospice and the INTEGRIS Hospice House in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is a member of the Integris Hospice Board of Directors, the Patient and Family Advisory Council and the Ethics Committee at Baptist Integris Medical Center. After graduating from Oklahoma Christian University, she attended Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, serving as president of the Class of 2000. She then completed an emergency medicine internship and residency through the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Her initial practice of emergency medicine has expanded to include special interests in hospice and palliative medicine and addiction medicine. Dr. Minor is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine by the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM). She is also a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, a C.S. Costin Scholar with Advanced Certificate from the Costin Institute for Osteopathic Medical Education, a Certified Hospice Medical Director (HMDC) and holds an Advanced Studies Certificate in Essentials of Addiction Medicine through the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine. Prior to returning to Oklahoma to work with Integris, she served as Medical Director for the Hospice and Palliative Care program at Mercy Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Medical Director for Arkansas Hospice, in private addiction medicine practice, and as an emergency physician for Team Health and 360 Degree Medicine. She maintains active membership in the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Medicine Physicians (ACOEP), the American Academy of Addiction Medicine, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and the Oklahoma Hospice and Palliative Care Association (OHPCA). Outside of medicine, she is a wife and mother of three young men and an avid locally performing flutist.
Seetha Modi, MBA, MPH, CSSGB
Former Director of Population Health
OZ Systems
Seetha Modi is currently the National Director of Learning and Development for OZ Systems – a healthcare technology company that provides state health departments and hospitals with newborn screening solutions for better relationships, better care, and better outcomes. Formerly the Director of Population Health, she now supervises that department which has operational responsibility for all of OZ contracts with state health departments, association partners, grant-funded projects, and hospitals. In her current role, she also oversees OZ Systems’ care coordination services and education programs. Seetha started her career in public health at the American Heart Association and continued addressing cardiovascular health issues through her policy work at the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Seetha’s work focuses on systemic process and policy changes that improve the quality of care.
Seetha got her MBA and MPH from Emory University, but still considers herself a Longhorn from her undergraduate days. A seasoned healthcare executive, her career has spanned the public, private and nonprofit sectors. The common thread among her many roles is the satisfaction of knowing her work meaningfully impacts the well-being of others.
Matt Richardson, FACHE
Director of Public Health
Denton County
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 23 years and their two daughters.
Brad Thompson
Manager for Patient Relations and Patient Experience
Hendrick Health System
Brad Thompson is the Manager of Patient Relations, Risk Management and Lean Special Projects at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Texas. Brad earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from McMurry University, and his Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M-Commerce. He is certified as a patient experience professional by the Patient Experience Institute, as well as a certified health care risk management professional by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, is deemed a Just Culture Champion by Outcome Engenuity, and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt.
Brad’s background with Hendrick includes roles in human resources, patient relations, quality, risk management and process improvement. Brad has been an integral part of Hendrick’s data analytics efforts toward population health and chronic disease management as well as patient experience. Prior experience includes banking and finance.
Through Brad’s various roles at Hendrick, he has been involved in improvement efforts related to patient experience, facility and systems efficiency, patient safety, revenue enhancement and other quality improvement efforts. Most recently Brad has led implementation efforts to bring the health system’s patient experience surveys into the 21st century with digital outreach and shorter surveys to improve the use and value of patient outcome metrics. The Patient Relations department of Hendrick Medical Center also manages a robust discharge call program to ensure safer transitions for certain at-risk patient populations.
Paul Wright, MD
Medical Director
SSM Health Medical Group, Oklahoma City
Paul Wright, MD, is currently the Medical Director of the SSM Health Medical Group in Oklahoma City. He is also a Teaching Faculty Physician at St. Anthony Hospital Family Medicine Residency; a Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine; a Clinical Associate Professor at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences; and an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine, Oklahoma State University.
He previously served as President of the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians and Department Chairman of Family Practice and Emergency Services at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City.
He was an Active Duty Air Force Physician from 1985 to 1995 and Individual Mobilization Augmentee USAF Reserves from 1995 to 2008. He retired with the rank of Colonel.
Paul is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians; an Oklahoma State Medical Association representative; and members of the Medical Advisory Committee at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association, the Christian Medical and Dental Society, the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians and the Oklahoma State Medical Association.
Chris Whybrew, FACHE
Principal
Whybrew Medical Management
Chris Whybrew is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience serving for-profit health systems such as HCA, Community Health Systems, Vanguard Health System, and Capella. Mr. Whybrew has also served independent not-for-profit hospitals. During his career, Mr. Whybrew has served in executive roles ranging from Chief Development Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Whybrew has lead hospitals ranging from 60 bed community hospitals to 336 bed suburban regional referral centers.
While serving as a senior executive, Mr. Whybrew has led operational turn arounds, improved customer service performance, developed and implemented new clinical service lines, and developed regional referral networks. Mr. Whybrew has also lead design and construction of clinical units and facilities. Most recently, Mr. Whybrew lead the design team for an Emergency Center replacement at McAlester Regional Health Center, which incorporated significant Lean/Six Sigma process improvement and Lean construction design concepts.
Presently, Mr. Whybrew owns a healthcare consulting firm, Whybrew Medical Management, LLC, that serves physician groups, small to medium size hospitals, surgical hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Mr. Whybrew’s primary services focus on strategic planning, growth and development, operations improvement, as well as interim management services.
Mr. Whybrew is a native of Memphis and Nashville, TN, and currently lives in Tulsa, OK. He is a Board certified healthcare executive with the American College of Healthcare Executives and is President of ACHE’s Oklahoma Chapter, Sooner Healthcare Executives. He earned his Masters of Business Administration at The Jack Massey School of Business at Belmont University, in Nashville, TN. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management at Austin Peay State University. He is also an active member at Evergreen Baptist Church, in Tulsa.

Register

A special thanks to Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano for hosting this event!

ACHENTX Women's Breakfast
2018-10-02 07:30 - 09:15 (America/Chicago) | La Cima Club – Las Colinas, 5215 North O'Connor Boulevard #2600 , Irving, TX, 75039, United States
Be sure to attend the 2018 ACHENTX Annual Women’s Event. This year we have the following panelists (listed below) and Judy Hoberman as our special guest moderator. This year’s theme is based on Judy’s book, Walking on the Glass Floor: Seven Essential Qualities of Women Who Lead.
Register Now

Moderator:
Judy Hoberman
President, Walking on the Glass Floor and Selling In A Skirt
Author, Walking on the Glass Floor: Seven Essential Qualities of Women Who Lead
Panelists:
Teresa Chan-Leveno, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Patricia M. Currie, FACHE
President of Hospital Operations
Baylor Scott & White Health
Melissa McLeroy, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Medical City Dallas
Pamela McNutt
Senior Vice President & CIO
Methodist Health System
Speakers Bios:
Teresa Chan-Leveno, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Teresa Chan-Leveno, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Chan-Leveno attended the University of Pennsylvania for her undergraduate degree in Biological Basis of Behavior, received her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia and completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Chan-Leveno currently serves as Chief of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Parkland Hospital. Over the past 4 years she has served as VP and then President of the Medical Staff at Parkland. Most recently she was asked to serve as Acting Chief Medical Officer for 3 months while Parkland’s current CMO fulfilled a humanitarian infrastructure rebuilding project in Puerto Rico. She has actively engaged in committees and leadership at Parkland and UT including the Medical Executive Committee, Surgical Services Executive Committee, Executive Quality Committee, Peer Review Oversight Committee, Credentialing Committee, Bylaws Committee, and the Professionalism Committee among others. She is Chair of the Peri-Operative Value Analysis Committee and Physician Leader of the Tracheostomy Care Teams at both Parkland and UT Southwestern which she established from the ground up. Dr. Chan is an active clinician. She enjoys practicing and teaching the depth and breadth of Otolaryngology as a General Otolaryngologist. She has been invited speaker to several local symposiums on the topic of sleep medicine and tracheostomy care but has long resisted niching herself into a single subspecialty area of practice as she enjoys the complexity and diversity of all that Otolaryngology has to offer. Among the honors and recognitions Dr. Chan-Leveno has received are the UTSW Department of Otolaryngology Resident Appreciation Award and the American Medical Women’s Association Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Award. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Honor Society. Her husband, Matt, is also in medicine and serves as Medical Director of the Parkland Medical ICU. He, along with her 4 year old son, Luke and 10 year old dog, Otis, keep her balanced and grounded.
Patricia M. Currie, FACHE
President of Hospital Operations
Baylor Scott & White Health
Pat has 36 years experience in Healthcare Administration and is currently the President of Hospital Operations, Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not for profit healthcare system in Texas. BSWH is the result of a merger between two healthcare organizations each with over 100 years of history, Baylor Healthcare System and Scott & White Healthcare.
Pat is currently responsible for the operational oversight of the 24 owned and managed hospitals in central Texas and Dallas/Fort Worth and over 250 clinics in central Texas. She also serves on various System Committees and Councils.
Pat came to Scott & White in August 2004 as the Chief Executive Officer of the flagship hospital and has had continued expansion in her role over the 13 years. Prior to joining Scott & White Healthcare, Pat spent 23 years in Houston where her work history included positions held as Chief Executive Officer of Spring Branch Medical Center (1997-2004); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer for Rosewood Medical Center (1985-1997); and Clinic Administrator for Macgregor Medical Clinic (1981-1985).
Judy Hoberman
President, Walking on the Glass Floor and Selling In A Skirt
Author, Walking on the Glass Floor: Seven Essential Qualities of Women Who Lead
Judy Hoberman, President of Walking on the Glass Floor and Selling In A Skirt- International Speaker, Trainer, Coach, Author and Mentor. Her 30 years in business has given her both the knowledge and sense of humor about how men and women sell, work and live differently will enlighten you in learning how both genders can support each other’s successes in a more productive way.
Her audiences, from 10 to 10,000 are engaged with details wrapped in memorable stories that are easily implemented that same day. In 2016 she was a TEDx speaker talking about pre-judging people, something we all do without even thinking. She is the author of “Selling In A Skirt”, “Famous Isn’t Enough”, “Pure Wealth” and her latest book “Walking on the Glass Floor” already a best-seller, is about the soft skills of leadership. A complete training program rounds out the training and development of women in leadership and the men that champion them. As her book was coming off the printing press, Judy completed a program from Cornell University’s College of Business in Women in Leadership.
Judy’s mission…to help One Woman A Day by following an important philosophy-“Women want to be treated equally, not identically” ™
Melissa McLeroy
Chief Financial Officer
Medical City Dallas
Melissa McLeroy is the Chief Financial Officer of Medical City Dallas Hospital, which is an 839-bed facility with revenue of more than $355M in annual EBIDTA. Melissa oversees financial and operational areas including finance, accounting, materials management, asset management, clinical resources, revenue integrity, patient access systems, information technology and systems, scheduling, and case management.
Melissa’s career in healthcare began in 2002 at Medical City Dallas, where she served in roles as Senior Financial Analyst, Assistant Controller, Controller, and Vice President of Finance. In 2014, Melissa accepted the position as Chief Financial Officer of Medical City Plano and Medical City Frisco. While at Plano and Frisco, Melissa was responsible for revenue of more than $198M in annual EBIDTA. Melissa returned to Medical City Dallas in 2018 to serve in her current role as Chief Financial Officer.
Melissa earned a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Dallas Baptist University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Texas Woman’s University. She lives in Dallas and enjoys travel, reading, and spending time with family and friends.
Pamela McNutt
Senior Vice President & CIO
Methodist Health System
Pamela McNutt has served as the Sr. Vice-President and CIO for Methodist Health System in Dallas, Texas for 24 years.
Ms. McNutt has served as a Director on the HIMSS national Board (1998-2001) and as a Trustee for CHIME (2007-2009).
Pamela is a fellow in CHIME and HIMSS. She was awarded the John Gall CIO of the year award in 2002 and was named one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare in 2011 by Modern Healthcare.
Pamela serves as member of the CHIME Policy Steering Committee and the American Hospital Association Healthcare IT advisory committee. She has an appointment on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission e-Health Advisory Committee.

Register Now

Breakfast with the CEO - Frederick P. Cerise, MD, MPH
2018-10-16 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | Parkland Health & Hospital System, 5200 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX, 75235, United States
Register
Frederick P. Cerise, MD, MPH
President and Chief Executive Officer
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Fred Cerise, MD, MPH has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkland Health & Hospital System since March 2014. He leads one of the largest academic and public safety net hospitals in the country as well as 20 community-based clinics and numerous educational outreach programs. The system focuses on serving the comprehensive needs of a largely uninsured population.
Prior to joining Parkland, Dr. Cerise served as Vice President for Health Affairs and Medical Education of the Louisiana State University System. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Cerise was Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Prior to that he was the CEO of Earl K. Long Medical Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he began his career between 1991 and 2004 as an LSU Clinical Faculty member in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Cerise holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Notre Dame and earned his Medical Degree at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In 2001, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University School of Public Health. From 2010 to 2016 he served on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and currently serves on the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Nurse Family Partnership Board of Directors.

Fourth Quarter ACHENTX Education Event
2018-10-25 15:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | TX
Come join us for our Fourth Quarter Education Event
Offering 3.0 Face-to-Face Credits (1.5 Credits Per Panel)*
Register
Panel 1: Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare Delivery
Moderator: Paul Aslin, FACHE
Chief Transformation Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategic Alignment
Wise Health System
Panelists:
Dr. Andrew Masica
Vice-President and Chief Clinical Effectiveness Officer
Baylor Scott & White Health
Dr. Stuart Flynn
Founding Dean,
TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine
Bharath Thankavel, MD
Medical Director, Value Based Care
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Panel 2: It’s All About Vision: The Role Vision Plays in Your Strategic Planning Process
Moderator: Ken Huchenrider, FACHE
President
Methodist Richardson Health Center
Panelists:
Brent Lee, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
Capital Senior Living
Aaron Bujnowski, FACHE
Chief Strategy Officer
Texas Health Resources
Michael Sanborn, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer
Baylor Scott & White All Saints
Laura Irvine, FACHE
Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
Medical City Healthcare
*Note: Panel #2: It’s All About Vision — The Role Vision Plays in Your Strategic Planning Process is a repeat of the June Local Program Council topic. If you attended that event in Waxahachie in June, you are welcome to attend this duplicate session in October, but you will only receive Face-to-Face credits for the first one.
Speaker Bios:
Paul Aslin, FACHE
Chief Transformation Officer and Sr. Vice President of Strategic Alignment
Wise Health System

Before joining the Hospital in 2011, Mr. Aslin held management positions beginning in 1999 with AT&T and 2007 with Fidelity Investments. Mr. Aslin received his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington where he won first place in the graduate division of the national ACHE Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition in Healthcare Management. Prior to his current role as Chief Transformation Officer, Mr. Aslin served as Chief Population Health Officer for Wise Health System and Chief Operating Officer for Wise Health Clinics, a multispecialty physician group in Decatur, TX. He currently leads the system’s participation in the 1115 Waiver program and has administrative responsibility for quality, patient experience, population health, telehealth, value-based care, and organizational performance excellence. Paul resides in Haslet, TX with his wife, Amanda, and three daughters.
Aaron M. Bujnowski, FACHE
Chief Strategy Officer
Texas Health Resources
Aaron M. Bujnowski, FACHE, serves as senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Texas Health Resources. Bujnowski is responsible for developing system, zone and entity level strategy across the entire enterprise that includes wholly-owned and joint venture hospitals, as well as ambulatory and post-acute care.
Prior to joining Texas Health in 2010 as vice president of analytics and market intelligence, Bujnowski served as the director of strategy for Dean Foods in Dallas. His experience includes more than four years with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Dallas, where he served as project leader, consultant and a core member of BCG’s health care practice. Bujnowski previously held various leadership positions in business development, market development and innovation at Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, Texas, for more than nine years.
He 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 from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he graduated with honors. In 2015, Bujnowski became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).
Fluent in Spanish and basic American Sign Language, Bujnowski is co-inventor of four 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 Latter-Day Saint missionary and humanitarian volunteer in Chile, South America, and served as an executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America.
Stuart D. Flynn, M.D.
Founding Dean
TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine
Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., is the founding dean of Fort Worth’s new M.D. school, the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. Pending accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the school will begin in July 2019.
Flynn has led the development of the new School and built a team that is pursuing accreditation and creating an innovative and patient-centric curriculum. In a supportive environment, students will become excellent communicators, active listeners, life-long learners and become valued physicians, colleagues, leaders and citizens in their communities.
Previously, Flynn served as founding dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He also was a professor of pathology and surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, as well as an accomplished researcher, director of the residency program, a leader in the design and oversight of the school’s curriculum, and founding member of The Society of Distinguished Teachers at Yale.
Flynn received his medical degree and residency training from the University of Michigan and completed a fellowship in oncologic pathology at Stanford University.
Flynn has authored more than 100 articles, books and monographs. He has received numerous honors including America’s Top Physician’s Award from the Consumers’ Research Council of America, the Bohmfalk Teacher of the Year Award from Yale University School of Medicine and the Averill A. Liebow Award for excellence in the teaching of residents, also at Yale. He has been a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners Pathology Test Committee and USMLE Step I Test Material Development Committee.
Kenneth Hutchenrider, Jr., FACHE
President
Methodist Richardson Medical Center
Ken Hutchenrider joined Methodist Richardson Medical Center as President in July, 2010.
He has more than 25 years of executive experience with a result oriented record of substantially increasing financial stability and strengthening team management to build a tradition of providing the best care possible to the communities served.
During his tenure, Ken administered the assimilation of the hospital into the Methodist Health System, as well as the development of a $120M replacement hospital and its subsequent and ongoing expansions. Pam Stoyanoff, Chief Operations Officer of Methodist Health System has said “Ken is an outstanding leader with a proven track record in operational excellence.”
Additional accomplishments include the establishment of a new wound care center, recruitment and stabilization of the NICU physician group, development of the Da Vinci surgical program, and the successful recruitment/employment of new medical staff members. Under his direction, Methodist Richardson has received accreditations as a Chest Pain Center, a Stroke Center, and achieved nursing Pathway to Excellence.
Prior to July 2010, Ken served as the Chief Executive Officer of Galesburg Cottage Hospital, in Galesburg, Illinois. There, he successfully and effectively managed all facets of the 173 bed acute care facility, including a skilled nursing unit, inpatient psychiatric unit, a joint venture outpatient therapy unit, and a joint venture dialysis unit.
Previously in his career, Ken served in executive roles including Chief Executive Officer of the Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas. Ken started his career in a clinical position as a Paramedic Shift Supervisor in Pasadena, Texas.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.
Ken has received many accolades, including the American Heart Association SOAR Award, the Community Health System Outstanding Achievement Award, and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is actively involved in the community and has served as the Chairman of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and President of the Plano Independent School District Foundation. Ken is an enthusiastic supporter of the PISD Health Sciences Academy. Currently, Ken serves as the Regent for Northern Texas for the American College of Healthcare Executives
On a personal note, Ken and his wife Melinda have two teenage daughters. When he’s not spending time with his family, you are most likely to find Ken on the golf course. He is also a private pilot.
Laura Irvine, FACHE
Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
Medical City Healthcare
Laura Irvine serves as division executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Medical City Healthcare. Her primary focus is to expand Medical City Healthcare’s service footprint with an integrated approach to network access and regional outreach, hospital operations and strategic planning.
Irvine most recently served as executive vice president for integration and alignment for Dallas-based Methodist Health System. In this role, she led healthcare reform initiatives, integration and alignment of physician enterprises, accountable care organizations, expansion of care delivery centers, population health management and nonhospital healthcare delivery migration. Her leadership strengthened multiple tertiary service lines, improved quality and further enhanced emergency, trauma and critical care services.
Irvine holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a Master of Science in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio. Her accomplishments have been recognized by several professional organizations including Modern Healthcare magazine’s “Up & Comers” award, the American College of Healthcare Executives “Early Career Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award” and D CEO magazine’s “Most Influential Business Leaders 2016” recognition.
Brett D. Lee, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
Capital Senior Living
Brett D. Lee currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Capital Senior Living, overseeing the operations of 129 Senior Living, Assisted Living, and Memory care communities in 23 states.
Mr. Lee has spent 20 years in the healthcare industry as a clinician, clinical leader, and executive. He joined Capital Senior Living from Tenet Healthcare, where he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Dallas/North Texas market, and spent a majority of his career in pediatric healthcare, serving in executive roles at 4 of the nation’s top 10 largest children’s hospitals. Mr. Lee is also the bestselling author of four books, book including his latest publication, The Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Actions, Awareness, and Perception, which was recently named as the 2017 “book of the Year” by the American College of Healthcare Executives.
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 from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions.
In 2011, 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 in 2012,2013, and 2014, and was named as an “up and comer” by Modern Healthcare in 2013. In 2014, the Dallas Business Journal named Lee as one of their “Who’s Who in Healthcare”.
Mr. Lee remains active in leadership roles for community and professional organizations, serving as the chairman for the Rockwall area Chamber of Commerce, the chair of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, and as the founding chair of the Texas Hospital Association Leadership Fellows Program.
Mike Sanborn, MS, RPh, FACHE
President
Baylor Scott & White All Saints – Fort Worth
Michael Sanborn serves as president of Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth. He is responsible for the leadership and management of the 572-bed acute care hospital with more than 1,800 employees and 1,100 medical staff members. Before joining Baylor Scott & White All Saints – Fort Worth, Sanborn served as the President at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Carrollton. Prior to leading Baylor Scott & White – Carrollton, Sanborn served as corporate vice president of cardiovascular services. He was responsible for management of cardiac services for all Baylor entities with a focus on improving patient outcomes, program development and strategic planning. During his over 25 years in healthcare, Sanborn has taken on increasingly complex roles, initially in pharmacy leadership and then in healthcare administration.
Prior to coming to Baylor in 2003, he served as a corporate vice president for the McKesson Corporation and also held leadership positions in several large health systems and academic medical centers. Sanborn has a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a master’s degree in hospital pharmacy administration. He is a fellow of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, as well as the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Bharath Thankavel, MD
Medical Director, Value Based Care
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Dr. Bharath Thankavel is a physician leader engaged in addressing the challenges within the health care system through utilizing value based care.
As medical director of value based care at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), Dr. Thankavel is well positioned to make a difference. Working in tandem with BCBSTX’s Network Innovation Delivery team, this role helps further incorporate physician insights into the creation of the company’s new health care delivery models, such as accountable care organizations.
Born in San Antonio, Dr. Thankavel is Texas “born and bred.” He received his bachelor degree in biology from Baylor University, followed by his medical degree from Saint George’s University and his pediatric residency from the University of South Florida. As an inpatient physician at the University of Texas Southwestern and the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Dr. Thankavel has a wide variety of clinical experience.
As the medical director of the Home Care program at the Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Thankavel oversaw three departments that targeted care toward approximately 1,200 patients. This experience helped him better understand the need to analyze market utilization and population health.
Dr. Thankavel recognizes that doctors must practice what they preach, so he incorporates health and wellness into his life through sports – by coaching his son’s little league team and playing in a basketball league of his own. His love for travel has led him to several countries across the world, and he makes a conscious effort to expose his son to the same cultural opportunities.

Register

Thanks to Haynes and Boone, LLP, for hosting this event!
Thanks also to the Health, Wellness, & Life Sciences Council Urban Land Institute North Texas for their contributions in organizing the program.

2018 ACHENTX General Membership Dinner
2018-11-07 17:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Las Colinas Country Club, 4400 N O'Connor Road, Irving, TX, 75062, United States
Tickets will be selling fast. Be sure to take advantage of the early bird pricing options and get your ticket soon. Individual and table tickets are available.
Special guest speaker is Tony Hill, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Super Bowl XII champion and football broadcaster. Tony is also a former local hospital trustee as well.
Register Now

TONY HILL BIOGRAPHY
Tony Hill graduated from Stanford University with a 3.3 GPA in Political Science at the age of 20 and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. Nicknamed “Thrill”,
He spent 10 successful seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys where he helped them become “America’s Team” by leading them to Super Bowls XII and XIII and six playoff appearances. A Three-Time Pro Bowl selection, Hill is the third All Time Leader in receiving yards with 7,998. During his ten-year career with the Cowboys, Tony led the team in both receptions and yardage for eight of those ten years. His 479 receptions are fifth on the Cowboys’ All Time List behind Jason Witten, Michael Irvin, Dez Bryant and Drew Pearson. Hill’s 51 Touchdowns also rank fifth on the All Time Cowboy list behind Dez Bryant, Bob Hayes, Michael Irvin and Jason Witten. He finished his career with 8,072 total yards (Rushing and Receiving), making him the team’s fifth All Time Leader in that category behind Hall of Famers’ Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith and future Hall of Famers’ Michael Irvin and Jason Witten. Tony, Drew Pearson and Tony Dorsett were the first threesome to accumulate 1000 yds during a season in the NFC (National Football Conference). Known for his quick speed and big play ability, Coach Landry called him … “Our Home Run Hitter”. I have never seen a guy who can adjust to a ball in mid-air like Tony. He is a very explosive player; the type who can turn a short play into a big play in a hurry, because he has excellent running ability and speed.”
Tony is the Resource Development Manager for the City of Allen. He promotes parks and recreation activities and serves as a liaison between the recreation division and other divisions, departments and outside agencies. In his spare time, Tony serves as an analyst for Compass Media Network / Westwood One broadcasting the national collegiate game of the week. Tony was in the Broadcast booth doing the stateside television commentary for the CFL (Canadian Football League) as well as a fun stint on ESPN Hollywood as an “Inside Reporter” for the hit television show “Survivor – Guatemala”. Tony still works with the NFL for all Cowboy home games as a league representative, making sure sponsors are appropriately identified on the field and all the official rules for the players are enforced during the game. Some of Tony’s achievements include host of an All-Night Radio Call- in Show in Boston, Massachusetts, National Color Analyst for Arena Football on Prime Network and for two years, host of SportsTalk, a 5-7pm drive-time sports radio talk show in the Dallas area.
Tony served as the North Texas Honorary Chairman for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for 16 years. He also served as Vice Chair and member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Allen.
Tony is married to Millie. They have four children, Cassidy, Kelli, Leslie and Anthony.
Tony ranks second in receiving yards, third in receiving touchdowns and fourth in catches in Dallas Cowboys history. A graduate of Stanford University, Tony is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.

Register Now

Fall After Hours Networking Event
2018-11-29 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Waterproof Lounge, The Statler Hotel, 1914 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX, 75201
Come and join us for our final ACHENTX After Hours Event of the year, being held in the trendy Waterproof lounge perched atop The Statler hotel in downtown Dallas.
Perfectly timed to be the week after Thanksgiving and before the rush of the rest of the holiday season kicks in.
Catch up with your fellow ACHE members and friends, and make new friends and connections as well. You won’t want to miss this special time of conversation and networking!

Register

Breakfast with the Vice President - William Daniel, MD, MBA
2019-01-15 07:30 - 09:00 (America/Chicago) | UT Southwestern Medical Center – East Campus, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center Radiation Oncology, 2280 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX, 75235, United States
Come join us for our first event in the new year. Starting off our popular breakfast series for 2019 is
William Daniel, MD, MBA; Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Register
William Daniel, M.D., M.B.A.
Vice President for Health System Affairs
Chief Medical and Quality Officer
William T. Solomon Professor in Clinical Quality Improvement at UT Southwestern Medical Center
Professor, Internal Medicine
William Daniel, M.D., M.B.A. assumed the position of Vice President, Chief Medical and Quality Officer in November 2016. He is the William T. Solomon Professor in Clinical Quality Improvement at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Professor of Internal Medicine. Dr. Daniel has returned home where he grew up, went to medical school and completed cardiology fellowship, after spending 20 years in Kansas City, Missouri where he was the Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Saint Luke’s Health System. Saint Luke’s Health System is a 10-hospital system that has won national recognition for quality, including the Malcom Baldrige Award. Dr. Daniel is a recognized leader in driving clinical improvement in patient centered outcomes, safety and quality, as well as positive transformational changes.
Dr. Daniel earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, his M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical School and M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Daniel completed his residency at Washington University/Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, and cardiology fellowship at UT Southwestern. He also completed an advanced Cardiovascular Interventional Fellowship at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute.
A special thanks for Dr. Daniel and UT Southwestern Medical Center for hosting us for this event!
Register

2019 ACHENTX New Horizons Event
2019-02-13 17:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Texas Scottish Rite Hospital For Children – Dallas, 2222 Welborn Street, Dallas, TX, 75219
Register Now!
This is our third annual New Horizons event, a special educational opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to learn from local Executives. Early careerist and others in transition are also encouraged to attend.
Note: In addition to being able to hear and meet the below presenters, on a first-come/first served basis we will also be offering a limited number of registrants the opportunity to have brief mock interviews and resume reviews with healthcare human resources experts from around the metroplex. This will not be a job fair, but instead a professional development opportunity — enabling you to receive direct feedback from those who are conducting healthcare industry interviews and filtering through resumes on a day-to-day basis. A photographer will also be onsite (more details to follow) for those wanting professional headshots taken as well.
Agenda:
5:30-7pm – Optional Exercises (1st come/1st served) with Local Healthcare Human Resources Representatives
7-8pm – Panel Discussion and Q&A with attendees
8-8:30pm – Networking
Presenters:
John Allen, FACHE
Director, Practice Operations, Neighborhood Clinics
Cook Children’s Medical Center
John spent 22 years in the US Coast Guard (USCG). He spent the early part of his military career working as an EMT and health services technician. As a commissioned officer, he worked as a practice administrator and regional practice director. After he left the USCG, he worked as a program director at UNT Health Science Center for a transitional care program. He now works as a Director of Practice Operations at Cook Children’s Physicians Network. He holds a master’s in health administration from Baylor University and a master’s in public health from the University of West Florida.
Margaret Base
Executive Search Consultant
Witt/Kieffer Healthcare Practice
Margaret is an executive search consultant in Witt/Kieffer’s Healthcare practice. Margaret supports Witt/Kieffer’s national Healthcare team in conducting searches for CEOs, CFOs, CNOs, COOs, and many other executive roles within hospitals, health systems, integrated delivery networks, and other organizations.
Based in Dallas, Margaret has over 20 years of executive search experience that has included tenure with two F500 companies, an early-stage private-equity healthcare services start-up, and boutique executive search firms. Margaret’s most notable experience was her six years with Tenet Healthcare, an investor-owned hospital system with more than 50 facilities in 11 states. As Managing Director of Executive Search, Margaret led an internal team that recruited 75+ executives on an annual basis, focusing on Tenet’s hospital C-suite and corporate leadership, as well as roles within the system’s performance management and innovation team.
Margaret is a hands-on professional who supports client searches at both a tactical and strategic level. Her work is defined by a collaborative spirit, sense of urgency, and quality and thoroughness. Beyond executive search, she also supports clients in their succession planning, talent evaluation, facilitating offer negotiation with candidates, and leader on-boarding. Margaret is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Benjamin Isgur, FACHE
Leader
PwC Health Research Institute
Ben leads PwC’s Health Research Institute. HRI is a dedicated research group that provides new intelligence, perspective, and analysis on major health-related business issues. In this role, he oversees thought leadership and research initiatives for the firm and clients. He also consults with healthcare systems, trade associations, and policy groups on strategic planning, and industry intelligence and trends.
Ben is a published writer and his research is often cited by health leaders across the industry. He has been quoted in media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Modern Healthcare and has appeared on the CNBC Nightly Business Report. In addition, he frequently speaks on a range of topics, including physician-hospital alignment, government policy, medical cost trends, consumerism, academic medicine and digital health.
Prior to joining PwC he developed health policy as a legislative director in the Texas House of Representatives and as a government relations officer for the City of Austin. Ben received a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin where he was a US Department of Defense fellow.
Bernie O’Donnell
Lead Consultant & CEO
Performisys LLC
Bernie is Lead Consultant and CEO of Performisys LLC, a Dallas based consultancy focused on building high-caliber company cultures led by high-performance executive teams. His clients span virtually all industries across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
His unique concepts have been published in the Dallas Business Journal, Leadership Excellence, Sales & Service Excellence, Zig Ziglar Newsletter, and numerous trade journals. He has been a featured lecturer in the University of Texas at Dallas EMBA program.
Bernie’s background includes a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Richmond and twenty years of sales and leadership positions with IBM. He has served on numerous professional and community boards, including chairman of a private school, president of an economic development corporation, and Chairman of Sales and Marketing Executives International. He is currently President of the Alliance for Healthcare Excellence. Bernie holds a 2nd degree blackbelt in Taekwondo. Enjoys travel and good wine. He and his wife, Brenda, have 2 wonderful daughters.
Mike Waters, LFACHE
Retired President & CEO
Hendrick Health System
Mike served the last 28 years of his career at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Texas. Twenty-four as the President and CEO, and the last four years as Senior Consultant. He retired because he was of retirement age, and he wanted to consult, travel, and complete his “Bucket List.”
In college undergraduate school at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, Mike worked in the evenings at the Baptist Hospital. That experience was the motivating factor in his choosing to go to graduate school in hospital administration and pursue hospital administration as a career.
When asked to describe one of the more successful risks he took and why? Mike responded, “When I was 38 years old. The Board of Hendrick Medical Center, a 400 Bed Hospital, selected me to be the CEO of that Institution. I took a risk at that young age to undertake that task. With the help and support of my wife, Kathy, the Boards at Hendrick, and my colleagues at Hendrick, I enjoyed all 24 years as the President and CEO. In retrospect, I realize what a risk it was for me to undertake that position at such a young and inexperienced age.”
When Mike retired, his bucket list included travel and continuing activity in the field. He serves on four boards, serves as a volunteer concierge at Baylor University Medical Center on Gaston Avenue every Thursday morning, is a mentor in the ACHENTX Mentorship Program, and is just about to complete his Bucket List. His Bucket List included the following: Civil War Battlefields (He has visited over 25 battlefields . . . several more than once),The Alaska Highway, Wrigley Field, Machu Picchu, The Panama Canal, Voyageurs National Park, Yosemite, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, and Grand Canyon National Parks, and other places. Still to go on my list are Fenway Park, Key West, The Mormon Tabernacle (even though he is a devout Baptist), and Field of Dreams. Mike notes, “Other places might be added.”
He has been married to a wonderful woman, Kathy, for nearly 42 years. He says, “She is my soul mate, my friend, and my inspiration.” Mike adds, “Retirement has been great because I have my health, financial security, and a great wife to share it with me. My two grown daughters, their husbands, and our four grandchildren enrich my life.”

Register Now!

ACHENTX New Member Networking Blitz - Winter 2019
2019-02-19 16:30 - 20:00 (America/Denver) | Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children – Frisco, 5700 Dallas Parkway, Frisco, TX, 75034
For new members from December 2017 to Present. Existing members who are wanting to become more involved and/or who want to join us for this networking opportunity are also welcome to register.
The ACHE North Texas Welcoming Committee cordially invites you to the ACHE of North Texas chapter’s New Member Networking Blitz. This fun event will allow new members to get to know one another and some seasoned ACHE members as well. There will be special breakout sessions where fun activities and personal connections will be made. The intent of this program is to bring new members together to get a real in depth view of ACHENTX, to enable you to meet some of the chapter’s leadership and to help you map out how to best take advantage of the plethora of local and national benefits and opportunities available to you as ACHE members. It’s a way to “let us get to know you” as well and become a part of your professional network.
We are looking forward to meeting each of you
A light meal and drinks will be served.

Register Now!

First Quarter Education Event
2019-02-28 15:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Maggiano’s Little Italy, 6001 West Park Boulevard, Plano, TX, 75093
This event is approved for up to 3.0 Face-to-Face Credits (1.5 per panel)
Register Here

Panel 1: The Value of Developing and Implementing Alternative Care Models
Moderator: Kevin Stevenson, MBA, FACHE
Executive Director, North Texas Region
IntegraNet Health
Panelists:

Alyssa Endres, MHA
Director, Government Programs
BSW Quality Aliance

Bob McCullough, PhD, LCSW, CEAP
Clinical Director
SilverCloud Health

Marc Schmidt

Market President – Texas
naviHealth

Janelle Shepard, MBA, BSN, RN-BC
System Leader, Care Continuum Operations
Texas Health Resources
Panel 2: Behavioral Healthcare: Approaches to Increasing Value for the Organization and Meet Community Needs
Moderator: Benson Chacko, FACHE
Vice President, Operations
Methodist Dallas Medical Center
Panelists:
Ken Hopper, MD, MBA
Associate Professor and Physician Development Coach
TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, Fort Worth
Susan Holsapple, LCSW, ACM-SW
Director, Comprehensive Care Management
Baylor Scott and White Health, Baylor-McKinney
Sushma Sharma, PhD
Director, Community, Public & Population Health
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council
Sue Schell, MA
VP and Clinical Director, Behavioral Health
Children’s Health
Melissa Winter, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center McKinney

Thank you Smith & Nephew for hosting this event and providing us this special dinner at Maggiano’s!
Speaker Bios:
Benson P. Chacko, FACHE serves as the Vice President Operations to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, a 585-bed tertiary Level I Trauma Center providing compassionate care for over 90 years. Prior to joining Methodist Dallas, Benson was with Tenet Healthcare for nine years most recently serving as the interim CEO/COO at its joint venture hospital Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Lake Pointe. His healthcare career spans nearly two decades and covers a wide spectrum to include human resources, business development and hospital operations. In addition he was part of for-profit, non-profit, academic, and community hospitals. Born and raised here in the DFW metroplex, the majority of his time was spent outside of the area in Palo Alto, CA, St. Louis, MO and El Paso, TX.

Alyssa Endres, MHA started with the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (BSWQA) in 2013, its first operational year, and currently serves as the Director of Government Programs. She is passionate about understanding the complex, rapidly-changing health policies to drive strategic solutions and achieve the Triple Aim for an aging and underserved population. With the passing of the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), she is responsible for designing a Medicare strategy for Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) participation for Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH), the largest not-for-profit health care system in Texas.
She leads BSWQA’s participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), supporting the key initiatives around financial management, resourcing, clinical quality reporting, and compliance. With over 120,000 attributed Medicare beneficiaries, MSSP is BSWQA’s third largest value-based contract. More recently, Alyssa has been involved in the early implementation of CMS’s new voluntary program, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A), as well as BSWQA’s post acute care network performance and strategy development.
In addition, Alyssa has shaped the BSWQA’s Clinical Performance Compensation (CPC) program, responsible for distributing earned shared savings to thousands of eligible providers each performance year. Alyssa graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science and earned her Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University.

Susan Holsapple, LCSW, ACM-SW, is the Director of Comprehensive Care Management for Baylor Scott & White Medical Center of McKinney and the East Region of the DFW Market for Baylor Scott & White Hospitals.
Susan’s team is made up of over 50 experienced RN Care Managers and Licensed Social Workers. These team members work together to facilitate safe patient care transitions throughout the hospital continuum, with a focus on complex disease management and psychosocially complex care management. Susan also partners with various community agencies to identify and work to reduce gaps in services that many patients face.
While at BSW-McKinney, Susan has worked to reduce readmission rates, revamp multidisciplinary rounds and improve behavioral health transitions of care. Beginning in 2015, she co-lead with pharmacy and respiratory therapy a process improvement initiative focusing on reducing readmissions for the COPD population. This lead to a poster presentation in Washington DC at the American Case Management Association Conference, a published article in the Collaborative Case Management magazine and a first-place prize at the Bill Aston Quality Summit in 2017.
Susan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and also holds her Accredited Case Manager Certification. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work at Michigan State University and her Masters of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University. Susan sits on the board of the Community Health Clinic in McKinney and is a member of the American Case Management Association.

Dr. Ken Hopper is a healthcare strategist, experienced in structuring, staffing and incentivizing approaches that result in “health behavior change” along the social, health, and well-being spectrums. For 29 years, he has worked as a national leader in two major health plans, developed his own brand of systematic case review and team-based care in his clinic (The Hopper Group), and has contributed to the expansion of knowledge regarding the issues facing Psychiatry in the next iteration of health care delivery. His passion through the years remains, simply, the refinement of targeted, effective, and systematic solutions for conditions hidden by shame, guilt, and misunderstanding.
Dr. Hopper contributes to several organizations pushing forward best practices for Psychiatric care, overall health, and wellness. He is the Chair of the APA Medical-Behavioral Integration Committee. “The Argument to Payers for Funding Collaborative Care” is a critical personal authorship and collaborative output of the committee this year. Two peripheral, but equally important workstreams are forming. The Leadership/Clinical Tactics Matrix, as well as specific tracts for Psychiatrist Leader development “Beyond the CMO Role” are actively being discussed. As of September 2018, he was elected the President of the Tarrant County Chapter of The Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians (Texas’ APA branch). The line of site from local to national is extraordinarily beneficial in understanding the needs of all Psychiatrists.
Dr. Hopper’s population health roles have included National Medical Director of Integrated Care at the Anthem Government Business Division, and Chief Medical Officer/VP of Clinical Innovation at Humana’s Behavioral Division. He led or co-led early models of integrated telephonic care management and medical provider-specific psychotropic use education. Most recently, he and his team refined targeted field-based case management “on the streets” interventions to help the most vulnerable engage in health. For multiple years, both through efforts in his clinic and in health plans, Dr. Hopper has advanced increasingly targeted versions of collaborative/team-based care in large medical clinics.
As a new Associate Professor at the TCU/UNTHSC School of Medicine in Fort Worth (LCME Accreditation Candidate), Dr. Hopper is one of the architects and influencers of a Physician Development Coach program designed to promote physician leadership, impact, and empathy in a rapidly changing medical context. Dr. Hopper sees the resulting learning symphony as an exciting “primary intervention” for the concepts he has retrofitted for years.
Dr. Hopper has been a member of the Medical/Behavioral committee of the American Psychiatric Association since forming in 2011, is a founding member of the Medical Director Institute of The National Council on Behavioral Health, is a member of NAMI’s Leadership Alliance, and in his local community, is a board member of The Parenting Center of Fort Worth, and The Jewel Charity Ball (supporting Children’s Medical Center).
Degrees were awarded by Baylor University (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), The University of Texas Medical Branch, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Hopper also has an MBA from a combined program with The University of Texas at Dallas, and Southwestern Medical School (Gamma Beta Sigma International Honor Society)

Bob McCullough, PhD, LCSW, CEAP, is the Clinical Director at SilverCloud Health, a digital mental health treatment organization designed to deliver outcomes that are on par with traditional face to face therapy. His 25+ year career in mental health services has included community mental health, inpatient, managed care and crisis response. His current role responsibilities include overseeing clinical guidance, implementation, onboarding, training and account management.
Bob and the SilverCloud Health Team are committed to helping innovative health systems build new avenues to care across the spectrum with fewer resources, enabling organizations that have accepted risk to better manage the cost of care while maintaining quality for the largest number of patients.
Dr. Sushma Sharma manages public health research initiatives in her current role at DFWHCF. She serves as the North Texas Community Health Collaborative (CHC) leader, which has membership of more than 45 organizations, including 11 area health systems and 96 hospitals.
Dr. Sharma is a scientific executive with over 15 years of post-doctoral experience in scientific research and management. She has extensive experience in conducting and managing research and community programs. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, serves on the editorial board of international journals, and is an invitee reviewer for several journals. She has won several awards, most recent being the Dr. Ron J. Anderson Thinking Progressively for Health and Innovation Award-Texas Public Health Association 2017.
Dr Sharma’s work has taken her all over the world. In her previous role, she worked as a Senior scientist at the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. She was a Senior scientist and lab manager at the University of Highlands and Islands in Scotland, UK. She completed her post-doctoral research fellowship from the British Heart Foundation UK, after earning her PhD from India.
Dr. Sharma’s ongoing community initiatives:

addressing behavioral health (mental health and substance abuse) related disparities in 16 North Texas Counties,
training 10,000 North Texans in Mental Health First Aid (10,000 lives initiative)
standardizing domestic violence reporting and promoting data sharing among North Texas hospitals to facilitate early intervention and prevention of domestic violence
the SAMHSA-funded Dallas County ReJuvenATE (Revitalize Juveniles through Acknowledgement, Training and Empowerment) program to assist high-risk youth and families and promote resilience and equity in communities that have recently faced civil unrest (reference: Dallas shooting in 2016).

Sue Schell, MA, joined Children’s Health in 2014 as the Vice President and Clinical Director of Behavioral Health. In this role, she has extended behavioral health services into our community focusing on early identification of treatment needs and preventive care. She developed and implemented the Integrated Behavioral Health Program, School Tele-Behavioral Health Program and the Teen Recovery Program which treats adolescents with both mental health and substance abuse issues. Currently, she is also expanding the organization’s programs serving children with autism while increasing operational efficiencies. She is involved in local and national work groups coordinating programs to build community resilience.
Before joining Children’s Health, Sue held regional and national leadership positions in two managed care companies where she developed and oversaw clinical teams providing care management, utilization review and quality improvement programs. She has experience in community mental health and private practice. Sue earned her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a Licensed Professional Counselor.

Marc Schmidt is the Market President, Texas with naviHealth where he oversees all health system and health plan operations across the state. Marc joined naviHealth in early 2015 to launch their BPCI Classic program with 14 hospitals across the state, expanding to 31 hospitals with the launch of BPCI Advanced in Oct 2018. Prior to naviHealth, Marc held a variety of strategic and operations roles with Golden Living, a large national post-acute provider with skilled nursing, rehab and hospice operations.
Earlier in his career, Marc worked in management consulting for Bain and Deloitte, as well as in corporate finance roles for American Airlines and Dell. Marc graduated from Vanderbilt University and has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

Janelle Shepard, MBA, BSN, RN-BC, is a registered nurse with 40+ years’ experience in a variety of areas. She currently serves as the system leader for care continuum operations for Texas Health Resources in the Dallas Fort Worth Region. She supervises approximately 330 nurses and social workers in UR, care transitions and population health roles. Her other duties include work with payors, physician groups, community partners and multiple stakeholders in a complex region where the healthcare industry is competitive and complex.
Janelle has been appointed by 2 Texas governors to several state leadership boards including the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and she currently sits on the Texas Woman’s University System Board of Regents. She has been recognized by the Texas Organization of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Education leaders for working to increase and enhance nursing education in the state of Texas – particularly the doctorate of nursing practice programs.

Kevin W. Stevenson, MBA, FACHE has served in leadership roles in healthcare organizations, hospitals and systems for over 30 years with specific expertise in operations, network development, marketing and crisis communications. He currently serves as the Executive Vice President for the North Texas region of IntegraNet Health, an independent physician network with over 1300 physicians throughout Texas.
Kevin and his teams have been recognized regionally, nationally and corporately for operational and creative works. He was honored by the Greater Omaha Chapter of the American Marketing Association as its Marketer of the Year when he was a system executive for CHI Good Samaritan Health Systems.
He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration from Baylor University. Kevin has served on numerous community and corporate boards in a variety of leadership positions and is currently the Past President of ACHE of North Texas, the third-largest chapter in the country with over 1500 members. Kevin was also twice-elected to the Keller Independent School District’s Board of Trustees, serving as President for two years. (Ask him about charging for school bus service.)
A native of Dallas, Kevin and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters and are avid Baylor University football fans and tailgaters and are members of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas where Kevin sings in the Sanctuary Choir and serves as a deacon and Michelle is active in the women’s’ ministry. Kevin is particularly proud of his pathetic golfing skills.

Melissa Winter, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, was appointed chief nursing officer (CNO) and chief operating officer (COO) of Baylor Scott and White Medical Center – McKinney in 2011.
As CNO, Ms. Winter is responsible for planning, directing and coordinating nursing and clinical services to ensure the delivery of safe, quality, efficient and compassionate care. During her tenure at Baylor Scott & White – McKinney, she has successfully achieved Magnet® recognition, NICU III designation, Baby Friendly status, Stroke Certification and many more, all while leading the system in high quality metrics and leading RN retention.
Before joining Baylor Scott and White – McKinney, Melissa served as vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer for The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano (THHBP), which opened in 2007. While there, Melissa helped launch an advanced hospital that is consistently ranked in the top one percent nationally in patient satisfaction. THHBP received the American Nurses Credentialing Center Pathway to Excellence designation in 2009 and Magnet® designation in 2011.
Ms. Winter was listed among the Great 100 Nurses in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2009 and received the Dallas/ Fort Worth Hospital Council’s Young Healthcare Executives of the Year award in 2010.
At Baylor Scott and White – McKinney, Melissa serves as a member of the Executive Leadership team and collaborates regularly with the physicians to continually improve the hospital’s best practices while striving to achieve the hospital’s mission and vision.
Ms. Winter is a graduate of West Texas A&M University where she earned a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s in nursing administration. She received her Doctorate in nursing practice in December 2014.
She is a member in good standing of the Texas Organization of Nurses, American Nurses Association, and the Texas Nurses Association.

Register Here

A big thanks to Smith & Nephew for hosting this event and providing us this special dinner at Maggiano’s!
