Ingrid Summers

Managing Consultant
Press Ganey

Julie Samuelson

Managing Consultant
Press Ganey

Steve Kreiser

Partner, Strategic Consulting
Press Ganey

Dale Harvey, RN, CPHQ

Managing Consultant
Press Ganey

Altaf Stationwala

President & CEO
Mackenzie Health

Mary-Agnes Wilson

Executive VP, COO & CNO
Mackenzie Health

Pranav Desai

SVP & GM of Consumerism
Press Ganey

Pranav Desai, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Experience at Press Ganey, boasts over a decade of expertise in Local Marketing and Consumer Experience Management. Prior to Press Ganey, Pranav was the Chief Product Officer at Reputation.com where he was responsible for leading the Product, Design and Data Science teams and working closely with key clients across healthcare, automotive and hospitality. Pranav is a leader specializing in the Consumer Experience (CX) space who loves discovering opportunities in crowded markets and driving growth for his client partners.

Susan Haufe

Senior Principal, Consulting
Press Ganey

Mary Jo Assi, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Associate Chief Nursing Officer and Partner, Strategic Consulting
Press Ganey

Ryan Baca, MBA, CPXP

Care Experience Executive Director
Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Ryan Baca is the Executive Director of Care Experience at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, where she leads the organization’s patient experience strategic efforts and the development of language access for hospitals and clinics across New Mexico. Ryan’s advocacy focuses on amplifying the voice of the customer and transforming patient experience. With a deep commitment to addressing healthcare disparities, Ryan has driven significant progress in improving care experiences for limited English proficient patients. Her innovative strategies and dedication make her a key figure in advancing equitable healthcare delivery.

Tracey Deaner, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CPXP

Director of Patient Experience
CentraState Healthcare System

James J. Matera, DO FACOI CPE,

Sr. VP of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer
CentraState Healthcare System

Nicole Rossol, MS, CCLS

Chief Patient Experience Officer
Stony Brook University Hospital

Lindsey F. Schachter, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Assistant Director, Hospitalist Medicine, Associate Program Director, Geriatric Medicine
Stony Brook University Hospital

Marty Wright

Partner
Press Ganey Consulting

Derek Avera

Senior Consultant
Focus3

A native Texan living in the Dallas area, Derek is a proud graduate of Abilene Christian University. Prior to joining Focus 3 he was a successful Business Coach with a Fortune 250 company. He found great value in utilizing the key teachings of Focus 3 as a client before joining the team. His background includes sales management in the insurance and financial services spaces. Based on his experience, Derek is uniquely qualified to coach teams in developing leaders, strengthening culture and empowering people.

Outside of work, he spends quality time with his sweet wife of 36 years, two daughters, son-in-law and three young grandkids. Derek enjoys playing golf, working out and following all major sports.

Derek is passionate about leadership, coaching and relationship building through highly effective communications. He specializes in delivering dynamic presentations and facilitating interactive workshops for purposes of driving elite results.

Patrick T. Ryan

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Press Ganey

Katie Ledecky

Most Decorated U.S. Female Olympian

Katie Ledecky is a legendary swimmer and one of the most decorated female athletes in history, with 14 Olympic medals and 21 World Championships. She has also broken 16 world records. Beyond her swimming achievements, Katie continues to inspire others as an advocate for education and a role model.

Subashnie Devkaran, PhD, FACHE, CPHQ, FISQua, MScHM

Chair, Quality and Value
Mayo Clinic

Sean Dowdy, MD, FACS, FACOG

Chief Value Officer and Associate Dean of Practice Transformation
Mayo Clinic

Rajesh S. Mangrulkar, MD, FNAP

Professor of Medicine and Learning Health Sciences, Director Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education
University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine

Rajesh Mangrulkar, MD, FNAP is a professor of medicine and learning health sciences. He is a practicing physician whose work centers on organizational leadership and innovation, transforming education at scale. In 2021, he was charged with building an education innovation community of practice across 3 U-M campuses as Director of the Center for Interprofessional Education and RISE, an education innovation initiative that he founded. He is actively involved in helping other institutions transform their education programs through change management training and development. In 2023, he was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academies of Practice.

Nathan Hanke, MS

Strategy and Workforce Belonging Manager, Office for Health Equity and Inclusion
Michigan Medicine

Nathan Hanke, MS serves as the Strategy & Workforce Belonging Manager within the Michigan Medicine Office for Health Equity and Inclusion. In this role, he leads diversity, equity and inclusion strategic planning, supports identity-focused resource groups and personnel in DEI and health equity roles across the academic medical center. Before joining Michigan Medicine in 2022, he spent over twenty years as a higher education administrator working in Multicultural Affairs, Service Learning, Leadership Development and Campus Activities.

Devin Lippert, MBA

Administrative Director, Office of Patient Experience
Michigan Medicine

Devin Lippert, MBA has over 25 years of healthcare experience and is currently the Administrative Director in the Office of Patient Experience at Michigan Medicine. Prior to joining Michigan Medicine, Devin worked at Press Ganey as a Patient Experience Advisor partnering with healthcare organizations across the country aiding in the identification of improvement strategies that drive positive patient experience outcomes. Prior to her role at Press Ganey Associates, she worked at The Children’s Hospital of Michigan, a free-standing children’s hospital, located in Detroit as the Director of Service Excellence and at Beaumont Health system as the Director of Service Excellence. Devin holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from Oakland University and a Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Dietetics from Western Michigan University. She lives in Wixom, Michigan with her family.

Chloe Miwa, MPH

Administrative Fellow
Michigan Medicine

Chloe Miwa, MPH is an Administrative Fellow at Michigan Medicine. Ms. Miwa attended the University of Washington in Seattle for undergrad before pursuing her Master of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. She explored public health and healthcare administration through internships, research, and program development at health systems across the nation. As a first-year fellow, she assessed the current state of intra-hospital transport services, launched a pilot to expand urgent care, and supported capacity management projects. For her second year, she is working with the University of Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education to improve how our current and future health professionals deliver team-based care.

Linh Dang

Chief Experience Officer
Cook County Health

With over 20 years of health care leadership experience, Linh Dang currently serves as Cook County Health’s Chief Experience Officer – creating new initiatives to enhance both the patient and employee experience at the health system to ensure quality care and creating a healing, supportive environment for all. She oversees Patient Experience, Employee Engagement, Patient Relations, Auxiliary, Volunteer Services, and Chaplaincy. She is a contributing author to the published books: “Core Curriculum for Arts in Health Professionals”, “Healing Walls at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem”, and “The Covid-19 Response in New York City”. Ms. Dang combines her love for art and humanity by offering meaningful art programs to combat compassion fatigue, anxiety, and burnout at the healthcare facilities. She believes art can heal the soul where medicine cannot. Her goal is to spread joy in work at every healthcare system using the arts. And to ensure everyone feels worthy to be seen, heard, and acknowledged.

Erik Mikaitis

Chief Executive Officer
Cook County Health

Raji Thomas, DNP, MBA, CPHQ, CPPS

Chief Quality Officer (Interim)
Cook County Health

Raji Thomas serves as the Chief Quality Officer (interim) for the Cook County Health system. Ms. Thomas joined CCH in July 2022 as the System Director of Patient Safety. She has extensive experience leading multidisciplinary teams in implementing key patient safety and regulatory compliance initiatives and leveraging data to drive quality improvement. Prior to joining CCH, Ms. Thomas served as Director of Quality and Patient Safety at The Joint Commission and as the Director of Patient Safety and Performance Improvement at Rush University Medical Center. She has also held leadership roles with Advocate Health and Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. Ms. Thomas earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree (DNP) at Loyola University-Chicago, and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Lewis University.

James Driscoll, PhD

Director of Patient Experience / Employee Engagement
Cook County Health

Jacalyn Liebowitz, RNP, DNP, MBA

SVP, System Chief Nurse Officer
Adventist Health

Jacalyn Liebowitz, RN, DNP, MBA is a distinguished senior healthcare executive with a robust track record in system nursing leadership, clinical operations, and strategic innovation. Currently serving as the Senior Vice President and System Chief Nurse Officer at Adventist Health, Roseville, CA, Jacalyn oversees a comprehensive health system encompassing 28 hospitals, 360 clinics, and 5 skilled nursing facilities across California, Hawaii, and Oregon. With an annual net revenue of $6.5 billion and a workforce of 30,000 employees, Jacalyn has demonstrated expertise in advancing nursing strategy, clinical education, and patient experience. Prior to Adventist Health, Jacalyn served as Vice President and Corporate Chief Nursing Officer at Universal Health Service, Inc., where they implemented system-wide policy standardization, reduced RN agency utilization by $15 million, and improved patient experience and safety outcomes. She also held leadership roles at Mercy Health and Allegiance Health, demonstrating a consistent commitment to quality, safety, and operational excellence. Her career is dedicated to advancing healthcare delivery, patient safety, and achieving measurable improvements in patient and staff outcomes.

Patty Atkins, MS, RN, FACHE, CPPS

Quality & Patient Safety Executive
Adventist Health

Cyndy Gordon

Patient Care Executive
Adventist Health

Jenny Fry, MBA

Director of HR Strategic Partnerships, Western Region
OSF Healthcare

Jenny Fry has served the Sisters and Mission of OSF HealthCare since April of 2013. In her tenure, she has supported multiple executive teams in the Western Region of the organization. Jenny has a passion for cultivating relationships between leaders and staff to meet cultural visions and goals. She also works diligently to promote a highly engaged and effective workforce that will also meet their operational goals. Jenny strives to build a highly engaged, functioning and successful team as a leader herself. She leads and participates in the strategy development, design and administration for OSF’s Press Ganey survey. Jenny also spent eight years in Human Resources management in the pork production industry. Jenny has her Master’s of Business Administration from Western Governor’s University and her Bachelor’s of Arts Degrees from Monmouth College in Sociology, Anthropology, and Spanish.

Leigh Harmening

Organizational Development Professional
OSF HealthCare

Jillian Nordstrom

Human Resources Business Partner
OSF HealthCare

Thomas H. Lee, MD

Chief Medical Officer
Press Ganey

Baligh R. Yehia, MD, MPP, MSc, FACP

President
Jefferson Health

Yael K. Heher, MD, MPH, FRCP(C)

Chief Quality Officer
Beth Israel Lahey Health, & Associate Professor - Harvard Medical School

Michelle Wiles, MA

Vice Chancellor and Chief People & Culture Officer
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Frederick P. Cerise, MD, MPH

President & Chief Executive Officer
Parkland Health

Sven Gierlinger

SVP & Chief Experience Officer
Northwell Health

Joseph Narvaez

AVP, Business Intelligence, Patient Experience
Northwell Health

Carolyne Burgess

AVP, Digital Research & Analytics, Consumer Digital Services
Northwell Health

Jen Lorenz, DNP, MHA, MA, RN, CPXP, CNE

Chief Patient Experience Officer, VP Ambulatory Quality Operations & Analytics
University Hospitals Health System, Cleveland, Ohio

Ally Thomas, PhD

AVP, Quality Improvement
UPMC Health Plan

Cassandra Lawrence, MPH, BSN, RN

Director Operational Excellence and Member Experience
UPMC Health Plan

Cassandra Lawrence is a nurse with 35 years of experience at UPMC in the health services division and the insurance services division. She currently serves as the Director of Operational Excellence and Member Experience at UPMC Health Plan in the Quality Improvement Department. Cassandra Lawrence leads a team that develops, and coordinates implementation of quality improvement initiatives aimed at strengthening operational processes for improving or maintaining Medicare Star measure scores and drives initiatives to improve member experience across lines of business. She started her nursing career at UPMC as an intensive care unit staff nurse and served as a Unit Director and informatics nurse. As informatic nurse she helped train nurses, physicians, and ancillary support staff on use of electronic health record across the system. She assisted in the design of the intensive care unit nursing documentation and code documentation. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Carlow University and a master’s in public health from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a public health doctoral candidate at Walden University. She brings her professional and personal experience to her work serving as the founding Co-Chair for UPMC ENABLED Network, an employee resource group for employees with disabilities and allies. Found her purpose through participating in UPMC ENABLED to advocate for employees with disabilities and create awareness, sensitivity and cultivate an inclusive culture across UPMC.

Katie Robbins, MBA

Director of Patient Experience
Cleveland Clinic

Elizabeth Steuber, RN, MSN, PCCN

Nurse Manager, Cleveland Clinic

Elizabeth Steuber is the Nurse Manager on 3 Tower, a 26-bed acute care oncology unit at the Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston hospital. She graduated from Bloomsburg University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2005 and obtained her Master of Science in Nursing Administration and Financial Leadership from Florida Atlantic University in 2013. Elizabeth has worked as a bedside nurse in both oncology and critical care services for her entire career. She was promoted to Nurse Manager in Critical care and stepdown where she led her division for over 7 years. Most recently she has served as the Nurse Manager in Oncology for the last 6 years. She has been able to show in all areas a commitment to superior customer experience and excellent clinical outcomes. Her expertise has assisted her in chairing quality councils, obtaining Magnet designation for Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston and allowed her to present posters regarding workplace violence and transformational leadership. Elizabeth’s commitment to authentic leadership and accountability has guided her practice throughout her career. She looks forward to continuing to positively impact future generations of nurses and the lives of those they care for.

Dawn Semple, MBA, BSN, RN

Director Patient Experience
Cleveland Clinic

Dawn Semple is the Director of Patient Experience for the Florida Region. She graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1993 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 2003. Dawn worked as a level I trauma ICU nurse for over 10 years in positions ranging from bedside nurse to director of nursing. In 2013 her professional path lead her to the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, where she played an integral role in establishing the Office of Patient Experience in Florida. Dawn’s core values are empathy, respect, and teamwork. She enjoys facilitating courses that provide healthcare professionals tools that foster a culture of empathy.

Jessie Reid, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, CCRN, PCCN-K

AVP, Clinical and Operational Excellence
Orlando Health

Krysta Kishbaugh, MPH

Senior Director, Practice & Patient Care Improvement

Helen Loflin, MSN, RN, CCRN, NE-BC

Director, Nursing Operations
Orlando Health

Karen Byrnes, MSN, RN, CPXP

System Director Patient Experience Improvement
CommonSpirit Health

Karen Byrnes has been with CommonSpirit Health for 25 years, as a System Director for Patient Experience Improvement across the continuum of care since 2019. Prior to joining the national team, she was a pediatric nurse in AZ, where she was nominated three times for March of Dimes Pediatric Nurse of the Year, and then the Director of Patient Experience for 10 years, where she won the inaugural, peer nominated, Leadership Award. Karen was one of the first in the country to earn her Certified Patient Experience Professional certification in 2016. In her spare time, she enjoys kayaking, time on the pontoon, walking, scrapbooking, games, and anything with her 3 grown children, husband of 38 years and five grandchildren.

Swati Mehta, MD, FACP, SFHM, CPXP

Director of Quality & Performance Patient Experience and SMH Executive Council Pt Exp Chair
Vituity

Dr. Mehta is a board-certified internist working clinically as an adult hospitalist at Common Spirit Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California. She is Chair of Society of Hospital Medicine (S.H.M) Patient Experience Executive council & faculty member of the S.H.M Wellbeing Task Force. She is the creator of the 6H Framework for Human connection & R.I.S.E model to help with clinician burnout. Dr. Mehta is a certified patient experience professional coach & received her CPXP certification from the Patient Experience Institute. She is a fellow of American College of Physicians and Senior Fellow of Society of Hospital Medicine. As the National Director of Quality & Experience for Vituity, she leads programs designed to help health systems deliver world class care to greater than 8 million patients across the United states. Dr. Mehta received Vituity’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award for her contributions in training more than 300 clinicians in patient experience best practices. She also received Common Spirit Health’s National Circle of Gratitude Award in 2023 for her collaboration and work to create the 6H model for patient communication and education for adult hospitalists. She is a member of the Executive Physician Council for Beryl Institute, an international organization for patient experience excellence & an executive board member of S.H.M Bay Area Chapter. She has several articles published in The Hospitalist, the print publication for SHM. Prior to joining Vituity, Dr. Mehta completed her Internal Medicine training (MD) & Chief Resident at SUNY, Upstate, Syracuse NY followed by a Fellowship in Nephrology.

Marion Moore, MSN, BSN, RN, CPXP

System Director Patient Experience Improvement
CommonSpirit Health

Marion Moore is System Director of Patient Experience Improvement and Strategy for CommonSpirit Health (CSH). She is based in Highland, California. In this role, she is responsible for enterprise efforts to improve the patient experience across the continuum. She has a strong focus on nurturing the personal connection between staff, provider, patient and family. As a nurse leader with over 30 years’ experience in both acute and community care as well as education, she brings a strong background in building effective teams which support the transformation of culture from high negative energy to one of trust, shared ownership and respect. As a catalyst committed to the ministry, she strongly promotes the appreciative mindset that sees each one coming to care with positive intent. With a strong commitment to the ministry and focus on culture and formation, she partners to integrate the mission, vision, and values across the organization. When not working, Marion loves spending time with the godchildren and seniors, or exploring wonderful beaches near and far.

Michelle Sension, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC

Quality Improvement Consultant
Baylor Scott & White Heart & Vascular Hospital

Trenton Witt, RN

Director, Clinical Performance Measures and Informatics
Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital

Stacy Friedman

Quality Director
Doctors Healthcare Plan

Susan Griffin

VP Administration
Doctors Healthcare Plan

Darren Dworkin

President & Chief Operating Officer
Press Ganey

Kevin Phipps, MBA, CPXP

Director, Patient Experience
Emory Healthcare

Nathan Causey, MBA, CPXP

Sr. Manager of Patient Experience
Emory Healthcare

Patient Experience leader with over 30 years in various healthcare roles and settings. Experience includes 18 years of clinical experience as a Respiratory Therapist, 11 years of staff education, and over 14 years of service as a leader. Nathan began his healthcare career as a Certified Nursing Assistant. He later earned an associate’s degree in respiratory therapy, followed by a bachelor’s degree in allied healthcare management and a master’s degree in business administration. Nathan is currently a Sr Patient Experience Manger for Emory Healthcare. He is married with two adult sons 23 and 21. Nathan enjoys traveling and college football.

Theresa Scolaro, CPXP

Assistant Vice President, Patient Experience and Associate Communication
MedStar Ambulatory Services, MedStar Health

Andy Canning, MHA

Vice President, Operations
MedStar Ambulatory Services

Andrew Canning, Vice President, Operations, MedStar Ambulatory Services, has played a key role in the development and operation of MedStar Ambulatory Services’ (MAS) robust outpatient network. Over the last ten years, MAS added over 700,000 square feet of outpatient care space including urgent care, ambulatory surgery, outpatient imaging and rehabilitation centers throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. After earning his Master of Healthcare Administration from University of Florida, Andrew served as the Administrative Fellow at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Following his fellowship, Andrew joined MedStar Ambulatory Services and since then has been accountable for the development of two joint venture partnerships and an endoscopy center acquisition, as well as operationally responsible for a four-member business development and outreach team. He also served as a Director of Operations for MedStar Health’s largest outpatient care center, which is located in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Canning provided operational support for eleven urgent care centers and has led all of the MedStar Ambulatory Care Centers during his career at MedStar. As VP of Operations, Andy is now responsible for the operations of MedStar Health’s urgent care centers, outpatient radiology locations and a full-service regional radiation oncology operation and contact center. Andrew’s experience includes healthcare market development, hospital operations, ambulatory operations, business process management and redesign, engagement of internal and external stakeholders, healthcare strategic planning, practice acquisition, return on investment analysis, operating agreements, management agreements, professional service agreements, fair market value, management through influence.

Stephanie Hogberg, MSN, RN

AVP Patient Safety
Ardent Health Services

Stephanie Hogberg is a seasoned Registered Nurse with a passion for Quality and Patient Safety. Currently serving as the Assistant Vice President of Patient Safety at Ardent Health Services, Stephanie has built an extensive career in healthcare, starting as a Cardiovascular Nurse and progressing through various roles in house supervision, risk management, emergency preparedness, and quality patient safety. With a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Stephanie’s expertise lies in understanding the root causes of safety events and implementing strategies to prevent their recurrence. Her dedication to patient safety is evident in her approach to safety event management, where she emphasizes the importance of learning from incidents to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Stephanie’s journey with Ardent Health Services is a testament to her commitment to patient safety, and she will be sharing insights on this journey in her presentation.

Kelly Wood, MBA, BSCJA, CPPS

Director – Safety | Safety and Reliability
Bon Secours Mercy Health

Thomas Hopkins, LSSBB

Jonah, Director Patient Safety
Ardent Health Services

Thomas Hopkins is a retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant with a specialized background in Marine Corps aviation logistics and over seventeen years of expertise in Continuous Process Improvement. Throughout his career, he has developed a strong proficiency in Lean Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints, which he has effectively used to improve organizational performance. As the Director of Patient Safety at Ardent Health Services Patient Safety Organization, Thomas has been instrumental in developing and implementing the Patient Safety Event Analysis (PSEA) process. This initiative has enhanced the organization’s ability to systematically analyze patient safety events and identify areas for improvement, resulting in more effective prevention strategies. In his role, Thomas has also led the transition to the Press Ganey High Reliability Platform (HRP). His efforts in integrating HRP with EPIC have streamlined event reporting processes, increasing the volume of reports and yielding more actionable insights, significantly strengthening the organization’s safety culture. Thomas will be co-presenting with Stephanie Hogberg, offering insights into their organization’s patient safety journey. Their presentation will highlight the evolution of harm classification, the critical role of leadership in fostering a culture of safety, and the practical application of high-reliability principles alongside Lean Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints methodologies in healthcare. Drawing on his extensive experience in Marine Corps aviation logistics and process improvement, Thomas brings a disciplined and strategic perspective on how leadership and innovation can drive significant enhancements in patient safety and organizational effectiveness.

Luke Redding

Manager Workforce Insights & Operations
WellSpan Health, York PA

Joy Houck Jones

VP Organizational Development & Chief Learning Officer
WellSpan Health, York PA

Darren Dworkin

President & Chief Operating Officer
Press Ganey

Scott Galloway

Entrepreneur & Professor of Marketing
NYU’s Stern School of Business

Scott Galloway is a renowned marketing professor, serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and award-winning podcaster. He has founded multiple companies, including Prophet, RedEnvelope, L2, and Section, and served on the boards of major corporations, from The New York Times Company to Urban Outfitters.

Shawna Jaworowski, MA

Director, People Analytics
Hartford HealthCare

Shawna is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of healthcare experience in progressive roles. Leadership experience includes quality & people analytics, patient experience, engagement, clinical care and information technology. Presenting at several conferences in the last few years, Shawna is passionate about elevating and innovating the experience of people. She strives to share learnings and insights to drive changes in thinking and behavior.

Sally Strange, PhD, RN

Director of Human Experience-Analytics
Hartford HealthCare

Brittany Cushman, MAIOP

Business Systems Analyst
Hartford HealthCare

Brittany Cushman is a People Data Analyst with over 9 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She has a diverse background in acute-care Human Resources and corporate HR operations, as well as expertise in workforce engagement surveying and strategy. With a Master of Arts in Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Brittany is passionate about using evidence-based practices to optimize the caregiver experience. Her data insights and metric dashboards have led to new engagement programs at Hartford HealthCare, such as an internal career exploration tool and an engagement coaching program for leaders. When she isn’t diving into data, Brittany enjoys bowling, reading psychological thrillers, and planning her next travel adventure.

Brandi West

VP of Marketing and Consumer Innovation
AdventHealth

Julie Rish, PhD

VP of Consumer Experience
AdventHealth

Julie Rish, PhD is a clinical psychologist who joined AdventHealth as vice president of consumer experience in 2023. In this role, she leads the consumer experience delivery across AdventHealth, promoting a consumer-centric culture that seeks to build lifelong trusting relationships with consumers. Rish champions the customers’ perspective and leads the activation of AdventHealth’s consumer promises across the system. Working with the chief brand and consumer officer, Rish also provides leadership to AdventHealth’s aspiration to be a consumer-focused connected network, helping to activate consumer initiatives that aim to sustain AdventHealth’s culture and improve processes impacting the human experience. As a cultural leader for the organization, Rish promotes the deep-rooted foundation of AdventHealth’s service standards: Keep Me Safe, Love Me, Make It Easy and Own It, in all interactions with both consumers and team members. Prior to joining AdventHealth, Rish served as the associate chief improvement officer of design at the Cleveland Clinic. She also served as the director of communication skills training and as an assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College, a five-year program within the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Rish also led the Insights Studio, Cleveland Clinic’s integrated human-centered design capabilities, that seeks perspectives from both patients and caregivers to develop innovative strategies that help to improve health care. Rish leads from a place of curiosity. She’s a passionate advocate for designing solutions and experiences that reimagine the consumer experience, so health care is easy to access, simple to use and helps consumers feel whole. Rish received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Loma Linda University and a bachelor’s in psychology from Pacific Union College. She completed her psychology internship at Henry Ford Health Sciences Center and her postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology at Cleveland Clinic.

Carolina Anthony

Executive Director, Brand & Digital Content Strategy
AdventHealth

Carolina Anthony is an accomplished executive in digital brand and content strategy, currently serving as the Executive Director at AdventHealth since September 2020, overseeing digital omnichannel initiatives. Prior experience includes roles as Director of Web Marketing Strategy at Carolina Collective and Sr. Director of Marketing at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, where Carolina led teams in driving various marketing strategies. Additional experience encompasses significant positions at Miller’s Ale House Restaurants and Golf Channel – NBC Sports, where Carolina contributed to the establishment of digital marketing frameworks and strategies. Carolina’s career also includes a range of roles at Hilton Grand Vacations and a foundational role at Maxim Healthcare Services. Educational background features a BA in Communications & Business from Florida State University and a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Rollins College.

Reed Mollins

SVP Digital Services
Press Ganey

Dawn Robbins, MBA

System Associate Vice President, Patient Experience
Baptist Health System, Louisville, KY

Tom Tull, MBA, FACHE, CPXP

Vice President, Chief Experience Officer
Ballad Health

Tom has over 30 years in healthcare. Tom provides administrative and leadership support across the integrated health system and oversees the engagement and experience activities for patients/families, team members, and physicians. Tom has been a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and served as an examiner trainer for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and the State of Virginia Quality Award. He is a member of the Leaders Board for Service Excellence and a part‐time faculty member at East Tennessee State University. Tom earned a BS in communications from the University of Tennessee and a Master’s in business administration from East Tennessee State University. Tull is a fellow of the Advisory Board, a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a certified Patient Experience Professional, and a certified Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability Trainer. Tull has been recognized nationally by Becker’s Healthcare as a top CXO to watch.

Kristy Gay, MHA

Chief Experience Officer
Baptist Memorial Care Corporation

Kristy Gay is the Chief Experience Officer for Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. In her current role, she provides leadership and oversight with system and entity leaders and their teams to support patient experience, team member engagement, and provider engagement goals and initiatives. Kristy is responsible for the development and deployment of patient experience and engagement strategies across the system and works with system and entity leadership teams to identify, prioritize, plan, and oversee improvement efforts. Kristy provides consultation and coaching services to leadership and frontline team members relevant to their improvement efforts in addition to oversight of all aspects related to patient experience and engagement surveying and reporting of results. She works closely with engagement leaders to identify best practice and opportunity for teams and partners with physician leaders to provide insight and coaching to hospital providers including joint ventures. Kristy is also responsible for re-framing existing evidence based practices to better align with current healthcare practice. Prior to joining Baptist, Kristy served as a Senior Advisor with Press Ganey for seven years. During her tenure at Press Ganey, she worked alongside organizations to present integrated approaches to employee and physician engagement and patient experience. Kristy is originally from Arkansas and obtained her undergrad from Henderson State University later followed by her Masters in Healthcare Administration from Ohio University. Kristy is also involved in supporting the American Heart Association by serving as a STEM mentor and in 2022, was named as a Woman of Impact.

Amberlee Fay, MHA, CXP

Enterprise Director
UK Healthcare

Amberlee Fay serves as the UK HealthCare enterprise director for patient experience. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing the patient experience strategy across the health care system. Realizing the impact of engagement as a foundation of experience, Fay also focuses on improving employee engagement and the facilitation of feedback and listening in partnership with human resources. Fay is a certified relationship-centered communication coach and continues to utilize this skill set to focus on effective and empathic communication. She resides in Lexington, KY where she received a bachelor of business administration and a master of health administration degree both from the University of Kentucky.

Brian Carlson, MHA, MBA

Vice President, Patient Experience
Vanderbilt Health

Brian serves as the Vice President of Patient Experience at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. In his role he is strategically and operational responsible for patient experience programming, which includes areas like Patient Relations, Service Consulting, Guest Services and EMS Excellence. He also participates in organizational culture programming and patient engaging technology governance, including AI governance. Brian has dual master’s degrees from Xavier University in Health Services Administration and Business. Prior to his current role he was Administrator for the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, CEO of a multi-specialty private physician group practice in Olean, New York, and Practice Manager for a multi-specialty academic Ob/Gyn practice in Chicago, Illinois.

Jane Maksoud, RN, MPA

SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer
Mount Sinai

Jane Maksoud is the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Jane oversees a broad array of Human Resources functions, including Faculty and Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Learning and Development, Compensation and Benefits, Workforce Analytics, International Personnel and Recreation. Jane is passionate about continuously innovating talent strategies to attract, onboard, develop, and retain top clinical and administrative talent in a highly competitive labor market. Jane has held several clinical and administrative positions in her over 30-year tenure at Mount Sinai. Most recently, Jane was the Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Prior to Ms. Maksoud’s career in Human Resources, she was the Maternal Child Health Bureau’s Region II Coordinator for the 16 Hemophilia Treatment Centers in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a Nurse Clinician in Ambulatory Care and the Cardiothoracic ICU.

Vicki LoPachin, MD, FACP, MBA

SVP and Chief Medical Officer
Mount Sinai

Dr. Vicki LoPachin is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of the Mount Sinai Health System. In this role, Dr. LoPachin works to ensure the delivery of the highest level of quality, safety and experience for all patients being cared for by the Mount Sinai Health System. From 2014-2016, Dr. LoPachin served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of The Mount Sinai Hospital. Previously, Dr. LoPachin was the Medical Director of the North Shore University Hospital, part of the Northwell Health System. Dr. LoPachin began her career at Mount Sinai as a Resident in Internal Medicine. She later served as Chief Resident and then was an Internal Medicine faculty member for over a decade. Demonstrating leadership early in her career, Dr. LoPachin served the hospital in many capacities, including Lead Physician Advisor and Medical Director of Case Management, Chair of the Utilization Review Committee, member of the Executive Committee of the Medical Board, and President of the Association of Attending Staff.Dr. LoPachin is a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Physician Executives, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and she is an Invited Fellow of the American College of Physicians. She is part of the Executive Council for the Institute of Innovation for Press Ganey and a member of the Quality Steering Committee for the Hospital Association of New York State. Dr. LoPachin received her MBA with distinction in Health Service Management from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. She earned her MD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Ashley Brown, MHA

Patient Experience Director
UF Health

Kiran Lukose, MD, FHM

Clinical Assistant Professor
UF Health

Dr. Lukose is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Florida. He completed his residency at UF and joined the Division of hospital medicine in 2015. He currently serves as the Vice Chief of the division. He is also the Medical Director of the Care One Clinic. His academic interests are around care for vulnerable patient population and developing integrated care models in outpatient and in-patient settings. He is an avid promotor of interprofessional education to integrate multi discipline approach in patient care.

Patrick T. Ryan

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Press Ganey

Roxanna Gapstur, PhD, RN

President & CEO
WellSpan Health

Roxanna Gapstur is the President and CEO of WellSpan Health, an integrated delivery system with a vision to reimagine healthcare through the delivery of comprehensive, equitable health and wellness solutions. WellSpan encompasses more than 2,500 employed providers, 250 locations, nine award-winning hospitals, home care and a behavioral health organization serving Central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. She has over 30 years of healthcare leadership experience working in group practice, academic, and integrated health care systems with care and coverage. Prior to her appointment at WellSpan, Dr. Gapstur was a senior vice president and president within the HealthPartners system in Bloomington, Minn.

Dr. Gapstur has extensive experience in strategic planning, business development and operational leadership in both ambulatory and hospital settings. She has served in multiple executive roles including chief operating officer, chief nursing officer and as a senior executive accountable for population health. Dr. Gapstur obtained her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., and her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Wright Lassiter III, MHA

CEO
CommonSpirit Health

As CommonSpirit’s CEO, Wright leads one of the country’s largest and most diverse health care organizations, with an expansive network of over 2,200 care sites across 24 states. A seasoned health care executive, Wright brings 30+ years of leadership experience working in large, complex health systems, most recently at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan, where he led the system through the COVID-19 pandemic and two successful mergers, significantly expanding its footprint and growing revenue. Wright has regularly been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” and has been named to the “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare,” “Crain’s Detroit Business’ Newsmakers of the Year” and HealthLeaders Media’s “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better” lists.

Wright is an avid servant leader and community advocate, and a strong voice for improving health care. As the immediate past chair of the American Hospital Association and a former chair of America’s Essential Hospitals, Wright continues to actively advance the priorities of hospitals across the country, helping ensure their needs are represented and addressed effectively. Originally from Tuskegee, Alabama, Wright received his master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Indiana University, and completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry from Le Moyne, a Jesuit college in upstate New York.

Christine McKinney

Vice President, Customer Experience and Digital Transformation
Blue Shield of California

Rebecca Gale

Director, End to End Member Experience
Blue Shield of California

Kathleen Nightlinger, OTD, OTR/L

Director of Healthcare Quality and Safety
Shriner's Childrens

Kathleen has been with Shriners Children’s for the past 9 years. She has 20+ years of clinical experience as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist and has worked with patients and families in the NICU, early intervention and outpatient rehabilitation. Currently, Kathleen is the Director of Healthcare Quality and Safety at Shriners Children’s, working on both the patient safety side using the High Reliability Platform and also the human experience side with our patient, employee and provider surveys. Kathleen loves the Shriners mission, vision and values and how it aligns with our daily patient experience.

Courtney Millsap

Patient Experience & Safety Data Analyst
Shriner's Childrens

Lanie L. Dixon, MBA, FACHE, CPXP

Executive Director, Patient Experience
Atlantic Health

Cassie Voltzke, OTR/L, CPXP

Patient Experience Transformation Partner
Essentia Health, Duluth, MN

Tina Bennett, MPA

Chief Experience Officer
Yale New Haven Health

Tina Bennett, MPA, is a performance-driven healthcare professional with over 20 years of management experience and a proven track record of success in hands-on leadership, organizational development and strategic planning. Tina began her career at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2005 as a frontline leader, quickly moving through the ranks. Leading a culture transformation through innovation, relationship building, and technology. In 2019 Tina became System Director for Patient Experience charged with implementing strategies across the organization to improve patient care and experience. 2022 she transitioned to Chief Experience Officer and visionary leader for Patient Experience, driving the strategy of creating one focus, exceptional experience and care signature across the health system including 5 delivery networks. She is responsible for the experience focused outcomes and leadership of spiritual care, volunteer services, patient relations, language& guest services, and patient satisfaction.

Anna Vriesema

Director, Digital Marketing
Duly Health and Care, Downers Grove, IL

Camille Haycock, MS, APN, NEA-BC

SVP, Patient Experience
CommonSpirit Health

Jennifer Bollinger

SVP, Chief Consumer and Brand Officer
Sutter Health

Sunni Barnes, PhD

VP Patient Experience & Quality/ Survey Operations
Baylor Scott & White

Heather Geisler

EVP, Chief Brand & Experience Officer
Henry Ford Health System

Heather Geisler was appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Brand & Experience Officer in 2020. She provides leadership for brand strategy and consumer experience by bringing global brand builder expertise to this role. A gifted strategist and transformative leader, her skill and passion for consumer engagement position Henry Ford Health to make an even greater impact on the communities it serves through a unified mission, unparalleled customer experience, and the innovative care for which Henry Ford is known.

Previously, Heather was senior vice president of global brands for Hyatt Hotels Corp., where she served as senior vice president of Global Brands. She was responsible for leading global marketing, positioning and growth of Hyatt’s full and select service brands portfolio, and led the development and execution of cross-functional strategies to drive revenue, and targeted creative campaigns focused on engagement.

In 2018, Hospitality Management Magazine named her among its “30 Most Influential Women in Hospitality.” Prior to Hyatt, she was vice president of Brand Marketing at MSNBC, where she led the development of the TV cable channel’s brand positioning and growth strategy, including creating integrated consumer brand experience programs and award-winning advertising campaigns. She also guided the development and promotion of the network’s corporate social responsibility initiatives and sponsorships. She’s also served nonprofit and corporate clients at New York City marketing and advertising agency SS+K, including leading its efforts in support of initiatives by former first lady Michelle Obama. Heather is a graduate of the University of Iowa and completed the Punch Sulzberger Fellowship Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Thomas H. Lee, MD

Chief Medical Officer
Press Ganey

Tyler Carpenter

Vice President, People & Talent
Tampa General Hospital

Alicia Gomez Fuego

Sr. HR Business Partner
Tampa General Hospital

Alicia Gomez Fuego is the Sr. HR Business Partner for Corporate Services and Ambulatory Operations. In this role, Alicia is responsible for aligning People and Talent Centers of Excellence (COE) to ensure the leaders achieve their operational goals while focusing on retention efforts. Alicia joined TGH in March 2014 as an HR Specialist supporting provider (MD and APP) recruitment. She has served in various roles throughout her tenure to include Recruitment, Compensation, Team Member Relations, and now as a Sr. HR Business Partner. She completed various leadership development programs such as the Modern Advances in Leadership in 2020 and the Model of Improvement in 2022. She is also the co-chair of the Diversity Committee and participates in volunteer events through the system and community. She is also certified by the Society for Human Resources Management with her SHRM-CP. Alicia is originally from Cuba where she was born and raised until she was around nine years old. Alicia graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Public Health from USF in December 2011 and with her Master’s degree in May 2014. In her role as Sr. HR Business Partner, Alicia has been an integral part of the system’s implementation of Press Ganey resources such as the Onboarding surveys, their dissemination, and overall continued alignment to system goals to reduce turnover and improve retention efforts.

Holly Graziadio, CPC, CPTD

Sr. Director, Organizational Effectiveness
Tampa General Hospital

Abbey Knisley

Manager, Quality Improvement
VillageCareMax

Elena Marietti

Director of Customer Experience
VillageCareMax

Seth Kaplan, MPH

Director of Marketing and Customer Engagment
HonorHealth

Cammy Sanders

Business Operations Manager
HonorHealth

Melissa Price, BHA

Consumer Research Specialist
HonorHealth

Kathrynn Thompson, BSN, RN

Graduate Certificate in Patient Safety, High Reliability Program Lead
University of Michigan Health

Kathrynn Thompson, a registered nurse with over 25 years of experience, currently serves as the High Reliability Lead at University of Michigan Health (UMH). In this role, Kathrynn collaborates closely with the Patient Safety Officer and the Director of Patient Safety to manage and oversee programs aimed at enhancing high reliability and fostering a robust culture of safety within the organization. Throughout her 20-year career at UMH, Kathrynn has held a variety of positions, including Patient Safety Program Manager, IT Application Manager, and Nursing Operations Administrator for opening the new Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Additionally, she has provided compassionate patient care as a Neonatal ICU RN. Kathrynn’s passion for reducing preventable harm in healthcare is both personal and professional. As the mother of a critically ill newborn, it has shaped her career and given her unique insights into the healthcare system from both a provider and patient perspective. Motivated by these experiences, she is committed to identifying areas for improvement and is dedicated to being an integral part of the solutions that enhance patient safety and care quality.

Amanda Binnix, MBA, BSN, RN, CPHQ

Director of Patient Safety and Organizational Readiness
Methodist Health System Dallas Texas

Amanda Binnix is the current Director of Patient Safety and Organizational Readiness for Methodist Health System. Her focus is on building processes to sustain the system’s High Reliability efforts, managing the system event management platform to align with patient and workforce safety initiatives, overseeing improvements to our system policy & guideline process, and supporting efforts for continued readiness and successful Joint Commission accreditation for all of our hospitals. Amanda has over 18 years of clinical and leadership experience in Emergency Nursing, Trauma Program Management, Quality, Patient Safety, and Leadership. She holds Associate Degree in Nursing, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, a Masters’ Degree in Business in Healthcare Management, is a Certified Professional In Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB), and was previously a Certified Emergency Room Nurse (CEN).

Nicole Templeton, MHSA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Patient Safety Officer
University of Michigan Health

Nicole Templeton has been a registered nurse for over 25 years. Her nursing experience in the United States Army and Surgical Intensive Care, coupled with a degree in Health Services Administration, has helped prepare her for work in Healthcare Quality and Safety. Her true passion is patient safety and creating reliable processes, combined with desired behaviors, to ensure best care of patients. Currently, Nicole is the Patient Safety Officer at Michigan Medicine. The Patient Safety division focuses on Prevention, Detection, and Correction of preventable harm events and near misses at University of Michigan Health (UMH).

Laura Weber, MBA, BSN, RN, CPHQ

Vice President Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety
Methodist Health System Dallas Texas

Laura Weber, RN, BSN, MBA/HCM, CPHQ Vice President—Clinical Effectiveness & Patient Safety Laura Weber serves as the system Vice President for quality & patient safety at Methodist Health System in Dallas, Texas. In her current role, Laura provides strategic and operational leadership across the health system to advance a culture of reliability, safety and performance improvement. Laura has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare and began her career as a practicing RN in critical care. Prior to joining MHS, Laura served in several leadership roles focusing on performance improvement, patient safety and quality improvement in both entity and system level positions. During her career, Laura has led initiatives to reduce hospital-acquired conditions, implementation of strategic quality improvement practices including the Improvement Academy at Methodist and transforming organizational culture to one of high reliability. With a passion for improvement and reliability in healthcare, Laura has also previously served on the Board of Examiners for the National Baldrige Quality Program and the Texas Award Program for Performance Excellence. Laura holds a bachelor of science degree in Nursing and a Master of Business Administration/Health Care Management. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.

Amber Stanley

Experience Manager
UNC Health, Morrisville, NC

Healthcare leader with over 15 years of experience leading human experience in hospital and medical practice care environments.

Melissa Kochuk

Director of Experience and Operations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

As Director for Experience & Operations at UNC Physicians Network, Melissa oversees patient and teammate experience as well as project management to support operational and clinical long-term and special projects.

Barb Bobula, MSMOE, CPXP

Vice President of Patient Experience
Allegheny Health Network

Samantha Callen, MBA

Director, Patient Experience Service Excellence
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA

Samantha is a healthcare leader with over a decade of experience driving improvements in quality, safety, and patient experience. Currently, as System Director of Patient Experience at Allegheny Health Network, she leads system-wide strategy development and implementation, collaborating with senior leadership and diverse teams to achieve measurable results. Samantha’s experience spans various leadership roles, from managing large teams at AHN to overseeing operations at smaller facilities like Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation. This broad experience, coupled with her MBA and proven track record of success, positions her to make significant contributions to your organization. She’s eager to leverage her skills and passion for patient-centered care in a challenging and rewarding role.

Eugene A. Scioscia, Jr., MD

Chief Experience Officer
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA

Chief of Patient Experience for Allegheny Health Network for past 7 years. Practicing OB/Gyn for >35 years, Former Chair of OB/Gyn, Former Program Director of OB/Gyn Residency, Past President of the Medical Staff of West Penn Hospital(AHN).

Naseem Almulla

Customer Experience Director
Council for Health Insurance

Naseem Almulla is a Saudi Arabian healthcare leader with 20 years of experience. Naseem holds a BSC in Health Promotion, an MSc in Medical Education, and a Diploma in Healthcare Quality Management, as well as CPHQ designation. She holds Planetree Fellowship in PCC, CPXP certification, and has been trained by Press Ganey in Patient Experience Leadership and Service Excellence. Currently, she is working in the Council of Health Insurance as a Director of Service Excellence. Naseem is a passionate expert and speaker on Patient Experience, human-centric service design, and service excellence. Some of her achievements in patient experience include building interdisciplinary teams that work towards common goals, which resulted in improving performance in local hospitals. She is also competent in working with organizations to design localized service excellence programs. An important part of her work involved developing individuals to take the lead in patient experience and, to train competent trainers. Working in health services regulator, she led multiple initiatives to enable and engage the relevant stakeholders to improve the patients’ experience. Naseem’s mission is to reduce patient suffering in healthcare through service improvement and capacity-building.

Eman Alturaiki, MBA

Executive Director for Service Excellence & Outreach
Council for Health Insurance

Jenna Kelly

Director, Patient Experience
Lifepoint Health

Deborah Di Sanzo

President
Best Buy Health, Best Buy Co. Inc

Deborah Di Sanzo is president of Best Buy Health for Best Buy Co. Inc. She is responsible for the company’s health technology business. Best Buy Health enables care at home for everyone across the continuum of care based on Best Buy’s core competencies. Together, our integrated technology, personalized caring centers and technical services, logistics, supply chain, and omnichannel experiences enable consumers to develop meaningful connections with their caregivers, insurers, and clinicians. Best Buy Health includes our Lively brand of connected health and personal emergency response services for the aging population, which Best Buy acquired in 2018, as well as Current Health, a leading care at home technology platform which Best Buy acquired in 2021.

Deborah is an innovative leader with more than 30 years of experience at the intersection of health care and technology. Prior to Best Buy, Deborah was the General Manager of IBM Watson Health, and prior to IBM, she was the CEO of Philips Healthcare. She teaches “AI in Health” and “Managing Information in Health Care” at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Deborah holds a bachelor’s degree from Merrimack College and an MBA from Babson College. She is a Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow and serves on the board of AstraZeneca.

Matt Schaefer

VP Partnerships
Press Ganey

Sam Seering

Product Director
Epic

Stephanie Jones-Wood, MPH, COHQ

Director, Professional Experience & Fulfillment
Houston Methodist

Kimberly Goode, MA

Program Manager Professional Fulfillment & Experience
Houston Methodist

Kimberly is an accomplished healthcare professional with over 30 years’ experience in service excellence. Currently serving as the Program Manager for Professional Fulfillment and Experience at Houston Methodist Physician Organization. Her role involves providing strategic analytics support and management of initiatives designed to improve professional fulfillment and experience. Kimberly’s extensive career includes a significant tenure at Houston Methodist as the Director of Guest Relations and Service Quality where she led efforts to interpret and act on Patient Experience/HCAHPS results, facilitated complex mediation between patients and providers, and oversaw the CMS complaint and grievance process. Her leadership in developing the hospital’s daily HCAHPS huddle briefing underscores her commitment to real-time problem solving and communication. Kimberly began her career with a focus on Human Resources and Organizational Development. Her early experience in Human Resources at The Methodist Healthcare System provided her with a strong foundation in HR management, employee relations, and benefits administration. She holds a Master of Arts in Behavioral Science from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Houston. Kimberly is also committed to community involvement, serving as a volunteer with the Junior League of Houston and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where she supports educational initiatives and scholarship opportunities for youth. Kimberly’s career reflects a profound dedication to improving healthcare experiences for both providers and patients, driven by her expertise, leadership, and passion for service excellence.

Raven Pierre, MSN, RN

Professional Development Generalist
Houston Methodist

Marcello Khattar, MBA

Director Patient Experience
Adventist HealthCare, Gaithersburg, MD

Marcello Khattar has been the Director of Patient Experience at Adventist Healthcare since 2020. In this capacity, he leads the health system’s patient experience strategy, which includes developing the Service Culture, managing the Voice of the Patient Program, and overseeing Patient Experience Data and Analytics. Marcello has been a leader in patient experience since 2016, bringing valuable expertise from his previous career in the hospitality industry. During his 15 year tenure in hospitality, Marcello has held positions at Starwood Hotels (now Marriott) leading Brand Experience globally for multiple brands, and oversaw guest experience for a portfolio of 14 Ritz-Carlton Hotels in North America.

Kevin Hill, MBA, BSM, CPXP

System Director
ECU Health

Kevin Hill, MBA, BSM, CPXP has been in health care for 25 years. After the Marine Corps and graduating from NC State and East Carolina University, he began his leadership career in Human Resources. His primary focus in Human Resources started in recruiting then managing both commercial then hospital/healthcare offices. He then moved into managing ECU Health’s first ever Patient Experience office. With the addition of ECU Health’s first Chief Experience Officer, Kevin’s roll morphed into leading several programs and departments; Human Experience Analytics, Tell Us Now (compliments, complaints, and grievances), Workplace Aggression Triage and Concierge Services. His greatest efforts are in the understanding of how the Healthcare System, Team, Providers, Patients and Communities play a role in the health and wellbeing of eastern North Carolina.

Christina Bowen, MD, ABOIM

Chief Well-being Officer
ECU Health

Dr. Christina Bowen MD, ABOIM is board certified in family medicine, integrative medicine, hospice and palliative care and lifestyle medicine. She is the medical director of The Center for Healthy Living at The Outer Banks hospital where the focus is on integrative and lifestyle medicine for team members and the Outer Banks community. She serves as the Chief Well-being Officer for ECU Health. Her passion was fueled by the pandemic to extend her healing practices for patients to the ECU Health team, her colleagues and the health system.

Elizabeth Benz

Vice President, Strategy
Network Health

Jess Vander Zanden

Vice President, Operations
Network Health

Payton Lawton, MPH

Program Manager, Patient Experience
Cedars-Sinai

Maxwell Nicholson, MS

Associate Director, Patient Experience
Cedars-Sinai

Sylvain Trepanier, DNP, RN, CENP, FAONL, FAAN

SVP & System CNO
Providence

Veronica Scott-Fulton, DNP, MBA-c, MPH, BSN, BA, NEA-BC

System Chief Nursing Executive
Bon Secours Mercy Health

Shelley A. Parn

CHRO
OSF Health

Shelley Parn is an accomplished HR executive with over 25 years of experience in leading strategic HR initiatives in healthcare organizations. As the Chief Human Resources Officer at OSF Healthcare, Shelley is accountable for all aspects of human capital management, driving organizational development/effectiveness, HR Operations, talent development, physician and app recruitment/retention and employee engagement. With a passion for fostering inclusive workplace cultures, Shelley has implemented innovative diversity and inclusion programs that have impacted the culture of OSF HealthCare. Their strategic approach to talent acquisition and retention has positioned OSF Healthcare as an employer of choice within the industry.

Jeff Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN

Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
Press Ganey

Marcia Baker, DHA, MSN, RN, CPPS

Patient Safety Program Director
Novant Health

Marcia Baker has dedicated 32 years to the healthcare industry, beginning her career as a registered nurse in critical care. Over the decades, she has held several leadership positions that have showcased her commitment to patient safety. As a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Marcia has leveraged her experience to implement and oversee numerous safety initiatives, enhancing patient outcomes. She has passion for fostering a culture of safety and continuous improvement has made her a respected leader and advocate in the field.

Trudy Marks, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Patient Safety Program Director
Novant Health

Trudy Marks is a Patient Safety Director with the Institute of Safety and Quality at Novant Health, where she brings over 20 years of healthcare experience to the role. Trudy provides strategic direction for the organization’s safety program and is dedicated to building a strong safety culture with a commitment to the pursuit of zero events of harm. As a Certified Professional in Patient Safety, Trudy received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, and her Master of Health Administration from Queens University in Charlotte, NC.

Kristin Murphy, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, CPPS

Mgr Pharmacy Medication Safety
Novant Health

Kristin Murphy is the Manager, Medication Safety at Novant Health, having over 10 years of experience as a medication safety leader within adult and pediatric practice sites.  She received her BS in Neuroscience from the College of William and Mary and her PharmD from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She completed an ASHP-accredited residency at Inova Fairfax Hospital and served as the 2008-2009 ASHP Executive Resident in Association Leadership and Management. In addition to medication safety, her clinical passions include neonatal and pediatric intensive care.

Viji George, DNP, MA, RN, RNC-NIC, NEA-BC

Clinical Excellence Program Manager, Texas Health Resources, Magnet Program Director
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano

Dr. Viji George has work experience including multinational healthcare clinical & leadership experience as military nursing officer, staff development administrator, program director of clinical & nursing excellence, global leader mentor and leadership consultant. Her achievements include a doctorate in nursing practice on nurse executive leadership, an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Fellow, a Health Science Research Fellow, an AMN Chief Nursing Officer Academy alumna, certified EBP faculty and a certified resiliency training facilitator. Her professional passions have led to international ventures such as becoming Sigma’s International Leadership Succession Committee member and Global Leadership Mentoring Community mentor and coordinator and president of AAA chapter and regional coordinator of Sigma. She co-founded Indo-American Evidence-based practice fellowship academy through collaboration with Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP. She has done professional publications and presented as keynote speaker in national and international forums sharing best practices in healthcare, professional practice and wellness. She was nationally highlighted by Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation, received awards such as DFW Great 100 Nurse, Nurse Excellence in Leadership, & Visionary Leader.

Laura Massey, DNP, MHA, RN, CPN

Chief Nursing Officer
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano

Dr. Laura Massey is the Chief Nursing Officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, a Magnet designated hospital. Laura has over 25 years of clinical nursing and leadership experience. She obtained her Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Phoenix, a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of St. Augustine. She is responsible for developing, and supporting evidence-based nursing, professional practice, overseeing nursing operations, and performance improvement initiatives. Laura has a true passion for nursing excellence, creating a positive work environment, improving patient outcomes and patient experience. She has led many initiatives to improve employee and patient engagement throughout the organization. She is member of many professional organizations & executive committee member of March of Dimes. She has received many professional awards such as DFW Great 100 Nurse, D-Magazine Nurse Excellence in Leadership, and Woman of the month by Professional Organization of Women recognized for excellence for outstanding contributions and achievements in the field of nursing.

Vanessa Mona

Vice President, Consumer Insights and Experience
Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI

Julie Goldstein-Dunn

Director Experience Insights and Analytics
Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI

Anne Wellington

SVP, Strategy and Partnerships
Press Ganey

Miranda Merriman, MHI, CPXP

System Director, Ambulatory Patient Experience | Patient Relations
Inova Health, Fairfax, VAbar

Miranda’s healthcare journey began with personal experiences that underscored the importance of communication and perception in patient care, igniting a passion that has fueled her 15+ years in patient experience. Since 2010, when she officially entered the field, Miranda has focused on integrating operations, quality, and safety to enhance patient care. Her career includes three System Director roles: one in a 5-hospital system in rural South Dakota, another in a 3-hospital, 90+ clinic system in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, and now in Northern Virginia, overseeing over 300 ambulatory sites. Miranda’s experience in military medicine while in Germany and at Walter Reed has further deepened her understanding of patient care across the continuum. Her dedication earned her the Army Civilian Service Commendation Medal in 2019 and the Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) designation in 2021. Miranda values her family, especially her daughter, born on Christmas Eve, whom she considers her greatest gift. Whether enjoying coffee, cheering for Oklahoma football, or savoring life’s simple pleasures, Miranda remains committed to serving her family, community, & her role as the System Director of Ambulatory Patient Experience & Patient Relations at Inova.

Julie Edmond

Patient Experience Performance Advisor
Inova Health

Taruna Banerjee

Associate Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer
Cambridge Health Alliance

Taruna R, Banerjee is the Associate Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer at Cambridge Health Alliance. In this key leadership role she is responsible for promoting a culture of safety, patient and staff engagement, and performance excellence aligned with national patient safety goals. She has an extensive background in managing quality improvement efforts, developing a culture of high reliability and safety, quality measurement, accreditation and regulatory compliance, and standardization of care. Taruna feels deeply committed to Cambridge Health Alliance mission and vision and is particularly proud of her work in advancing health equity. Taruna is a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) and she has also completed the advanced training program (ATP) from Intermountain Healthcare. She received her BA from Wellesley College and her MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Taruna joined CHA in 2019 after serving as a Director of Quality and Safety at Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to this Taruna worked at Mass General Brigham overseeing ambulatory and hospital quality measurement and improvement efforts.

Brianne Goodwin

Senior Director, Risk Management & Patient Safety
Cambridge Health Alliance

Christopher Fonseca

Program Director, Clinician Patient Relationships
UCLA Health

Chris Fonseca is the Program Director of Clinician Patient Relationships within the Office of the Patient Experience Department. As Program Director, Chris constructed, implemented, and manages three new physician-led, multidisciplinary committees aimed at addressing patient conduct, infrastructure for physician transparency appeals, and enhance tools for communicating with the Office of Patient Experience. Chris earned his B.S. in Biology from UCLA before starting his career with UCLA Health as a volunteer Spanish interpreter. Soon after, Chris pursued his passion for helping patients by taking on a role as a patient advocate within the Office of the Patient Experience. Chris’s compassion and experience in mitigating and resolving challenges between patients and their providers proved to be paramount in his new role as Program Director of Clinician Patient Relationships.

Evelyn Curls, MD, MBA

Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine, Clinical Chief of GIM/HSR
UCLA Health

Dr. Evelyn Curls is the Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine for the Department of Medicine (DoM) and Clinical Chief of the UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research (GIM/HSR). She leads collaborative clinical practices across all DoM primary care and specialty ambulatory services. Her responsibilities encompass supervision and operational oversight of the DoM’s ambulatory healthcare delivery for over 100 multi-specialty and primary care clinics throughout Southern California and the Central Coast. She has a key role in building and optimizing clinical infrastructure, physician management and recruitment, professional development, and community engagement through local and regional representation of UCLA Health’s clinical and strategic interests. A Los Angeles native, Dr. Curls earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from USC and simultaneously completed her M.D. and MBA at UCLA. Before residency, she consulted for Johnson & Johnson and AMREF Health Africa, advising clinics on financial and operational strategies in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work included strategic planning for Federally Qualified Health Centers and HIV/AIDS-focused hospitals. In her clinical practice, she specializes in providing culturally competent care to a patient panel largely composed of women of color. Dr. Curls has served on the Executive Board of the Department of Medicine Professional Group (DMPG), ultimately becoming President and focusing on physician wellness. She implemented sustainability blocks to provide clinical faculty with greater schedule flexibility. Additionally, she collaborates with the Office of Patient Experience to enhance patient dismissal policies and chairs the Patient Safety Alert Committee, ensuring safety against workplace violence.

Ben Wolfe

Director, Digital Transformation
Rush University Medical Center

Phil Shaw

Director, Patient Experience
Rush University Medical Center

Ann Louise Tisdale-Ramos, MBA

System Director, Talent and Organization Effectiveness
UHS, Binghamton, New York

Lauren McCall

Patient Experience Director
Norton Healthcare

Jason Coffey

Dir, Employee Experience
Norton Healthcare

Jazzma Moore

Dir, Equality, Inclusion & Belonging
Norton Healthcare

Kaycee Nickell, DNP, RN

Sys Dir Nursing Development & Retention
Norton Healthcare

Kelly Johnson

Sys VP Risk Mgmt, Care Coordination, & Patient Safety
Norton Healthcare

Kelly Johnson is a registered nurse with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Bellarmine University. She holds a certification as a professional in patient safety. Dr. Johnson has served in leadership roles at Norton Healthcare for more than 20 years and is currently the System Vice President of Risk Management and the organization Patient Safety Officer. Her responsibilities include clinical risk management and patient safety for the health system which includes hospitals and physician practices in Kentucky and Indiana. She is responsible for the organization patient safety strategic plan which includes safety data collection, trending, analysis and dissemination. This also includes system-wide management of adverse events through investigation, analysis and actions to prevent recurrence. Dr. Johnson is known for her leadership of continuous improvement to drive high-quality, safe and equitable patient care.

Richard Corder

Senior Principal, Consulting & Professional Services
Press Ganey

Deirdre Mylod, PhD

Senior Vice President, Research & Analytics and Executive Director, Institute for Innovation
Press Ganey

Deirdre is responsible for advancing the understanding of the entire patient experience, including patient satisfaction, clinical process, and outcomes. Through the Institute for Innovation, Deirdre partners with leading healthcare providers to study and implement transformative concepts for improving the patient experience.

Deirdre is the architect of Press Ganey’s Suffering Framework, which reframes the patient experience as a means to understand unmet patient needs and reduce patient suffering.

Dusty Deringer

SVP Patient Experience
Compass One Healthcare

Lanie L. Dixon, MBA, FACHE, CPXP

Executive Director, Patient Experience
Atlantic Health

Bryanna Gallaway, MPA-HSA, CPXP

System Senior Director, Experience of Care
Sutter Health

Tom Mullgaard

Executive Director of Organizational Effectiveness
City of Hope

Julie Kennedy Oehlert, DNP, RN

Chief Experience Officer
ECU Health

For more than 20 years Dr. Julie Oehlert has been an advocate for people and culture in the workforce. Today, she serves as ECU Health’s Chief Experience Officer, where she is responsible for creating healthy, healing and sustainable experiences for team members, patients and surrounding communities.

Working as a champion of and spokesperson for the human experience, Julie leads by instilling confidence and compassion in providers, working from the inside out to ultimately shape and improve the patient experience in a health care setting.

Julie’s passion for health care began early in her career, as she earned a BSN in Nursing from Carroll University, and later acquired a Doctorate in Nursing Practice Health Innovation and Leadership from The University of Minnesota in 2014. Prior to her work at ECU Health, Julie served as the chief administrative officer & associate chief experience officer at the University of California, San Diego, as well as the vice president of Patient Experience at The University of Arizona Health Network.

Jaqui Dixon

Director of Patient Experience
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Megan Nghe, MSN, RN

Director of Patient Experience and Feedback
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Jennifer Danzig, MD

Associate Medical Director, Office of Feedback
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Jennifer Danzig is an Attending Physician in the Section of Hospital Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she also serves as the Associate Medical Director in the Office of Feedback. Within that role, she serves as the physician liaison for the grievance review process, partners to lead the strategy and operations of the Office of Feedback, and provides clinical support to increase the family voice in hospital initiatives.Dr. Danzig graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School. She completed her residency training in Pediatrics and fellowship training in Pediatric Endocrinology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Danzig is board certified in General Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Her clinical practice focuses on the inpatient care of medically complex patients.

Beth Skala, MSW, LCSW

Office of Feedback Supervisor
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Beth Skala is the Supervisor of CHOP’s Family Relations-Office of Feedback team. Beth received her Master’s in Social Work from New York University and completed a post-graduate certificate in Bowen Family Systems Theory. In her role at CHOP, Beth supports the amplification of the patient and family voice. Through supportive conversations and the review of the reported experiences, Beth and her team collect valuable data and track trends and themes to support improvements to the patient experience across the enterprise. In addition to her work at CHOP, Beth supports parents of children living with an oncology diagnosis as a consultant for the Cancer Support Community, as well as provides LCSW supervision to fellow social workers. Outside of work, Beth enjoys family game nights with her husband and 3 sons.

Lorelle Scheuer, BSN, RN

Advisor Ambulitory Quality and Patient Safety
OhioHealth

Chhavi Katyal

Senior Vice President, System Chief Quality Officer
Catholic Health

Beth Whetzel, PT

Advisor- System Quality, Accreditation and Patient Safety
OhioHealth

Shruti Patel, MHA

Project Manager, Quality Improvement
Providence Health

Mel Carrillo, MBA, BSN, RN, CPXP

Manager - Patient Experience
The Queen's Health Systems

Mel Carrillo, MBA, BSN, RN, CPXP, Manager – Patient Experience: Carrillo has over 25 years of experience as a Registered Nurse and nurse leader with a clinical background in leading system programs and management of inpatient, procedural and outpatient clinics. He is a Certified Patient Experience Professional with over 10 years of experience leading Patient Experience for various health systems. He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and Bachelor of Nursing from Rutger’s University.

Ryan Baca, MBA, CPXP

Care Experience Executive Director
Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Ryan Baca is the Executive Director of Care Experience at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, where she leads the organization’s patient experience strategic efforts and the development of language access for hospitals and clinics across New Mexico. Ryan’s advocacy focuses on amplifying the voice of the customer and transforming patient experience. With a deep commitment to addressing healthcare disparities, Ryan has driven significant progress in improving care experiences for limited English proficient patients. Her innovative strategies and dedication make her a key figure in advancing equitable healthcare delivery.

Beatriz Juarez Rivera, CHI

Language Access Supervisor
Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Patricia L. Jackson, MBA, SHRM-CP

National Director, Affiliate Engagement
Planned Parenthood

Jill Lupinetti, MPH

Supervisor, Online Reputation Management
Universal Health Services, Inc.

Mickey Foster

Chief Executive Officer
FirstHealth of the Carolinas

Susan Beaty, MSN, RN

President of Eastern Region & Administrator
FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Hoke

Shannon Smith, RN

Associate Nurse Executive
FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital

Jessie Reich, PhD, RN, ANP-BC

Director of Patient Experience and Magnet Programs
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Penn Medicine

Janelle Harris, MSN, RN, NE-BC

Clinical Director of Advanced Medical Nursing
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Penn Medicine

Regina Shupe, DNP, RN

Executive Director Patient and Guest Services
The Christ Hospital Network

Dana Cheyne, MHSA

Manager, Patient and Guest Services & Volunteer Services
The Christ Hospital Network

Alana Newman

Manager, Patient Safety
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Alana Newman is the Manager of Patient Safety at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Chief Quality Office. She earned her Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work degrees from Tulane University. Currently, she oversees a team of patient safety specialists, serves as a liaison to physician representatives in Patient Safety Quality Officer Program, and manages numerous institutional quality and safety strategic initiatives along with the institution’s safety event reporting system. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she collaborated with a multi-disciplinary team to establish a dedicated testing site on campus and served as an operations manager for employee vaccine clinics. Alana has a passion for conceptualizing initiatives in safety, quality improvement, and health equity and she is often recognized for her collaborative skills and ability to unify efforts across a variety of roles and departments in her organization.

Carmen Gonzalez, MD, MSHQS

Chief Patient Safety Officer
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Carmen Esther Gonzalez, MD, MSHQS, is a practicing board-certified professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine with clinical expertise in oncologic emergencies and the Chief Patient Safety Officer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Gonzalez’s administrative expertise is in patient safety and organizational development. Dr. Gonzalez is certified in Quality Medicine by the American College of Medical Quality and obtained a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Safety degree at Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gonzalez currently leads the Patient Safety Quality Officer Program. She co-leads various institutional safety/quality initiatives, including High-Reliability Organizing, the Tiered Readiness Briefing, the Patient Safety Officer on-call, the Actionable Findings Vigilance Unit and the Patient Safety Incident Command at MD Anderson Cancer Center.In 2024, Dr. Gonzalez was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the 90 Patient Safety Experts to Know.

Michelle Burtchin, MSN, RN, CNML

Chief Nursing Officer
Bon Secours Mercy Health

Jodi Pahl, RN-BC, DNP

System CNO Workforce, EOC, and Outcomes
Bon Secours Mercy Health

Jodi Pahl, RN-C, MSN is the Chief Nursing Executive for Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Acute Care. In this role, she is responsible for leading professional nurse recruitment and retention and improving quality and experience of patient care across forty Bon Secours and Mercy Health markets in South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. In her more than 25 years with the Mercy Health ministry, Pahl has worked to ensure patient safety and quality care through emboldened leadership, shared governance and the empowerment of nurses. She advanced from a critical care nurse to Chief Nursing Officer, serving at Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio, and Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center and St. Vincent Children’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. Through her efforts, she has helped Bon Secours Mercy Health hospitals achieve national recognition for their quality, commitment to nursing excellence and being preferred workplaces. Awards achieved through her leadership include Mercy Health – Lima Market receiving the 2019 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health, 2017 Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare, 2017 Everest Award and The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade – “A” Rating. In Toledo, under her leadership the market achieved comprehensive stroke recertification and received the Best Place to Work award. Pahl also was instrumental in improving ED and inpatient experience scores to top quartile, opening of a new emergency department and opening a hospital in Perrysburg, Ohio. Pahl received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Toledo/Medical College of Ohio in 1990, a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix in 2000 and will be completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2024. She is committed to furthering nursing excellence and innovation by sharing her experiences and expertise. Pahl published an article in Telemedicine and E-Health on the My Chart Bedside application and co-authored an article in the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management on the impact of clinical crisis management following a prolonged strike by nursing, technical and support staff.

Jeff Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN

Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
Press Ganey

Kristen Long, DNP, RN

Vice President/Chief Nursing Executive
North Mississippi Medical Center

Betty Jo Rocchio

Executive Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive
Advocate Health

Mike Thompson, MS

Chief Analytics Officer
Press Ganey

Keith Laffler, MS Ed

Patient Family Advisory Committee Manager
University of New Mexico Health System

Keith Laffler has served the University of New Mexico Hospital for six years. In his current role, Keith manages The Patient Family Advisory Committee, which is located in The Patient Relations Department of the organization. Keith began his career at UNM Hospital working as an instructional design analyst in the Computer Learning Technologies department, teaching new staff and providers the electronic medical record system used at UNM Hospital. He has also worked in the Organizational and Professional Development department as a specialist. His work as a specialist included onboarding new staff and leadership positions to the organization as well as managing large scale change projects with areas and departments in the UNM Health system. Keith also taught managerial “soft skills” classes to leaders and staff that included conflict resolution, communication styles, and emotional intelligence concepts. Prior to his work at the University of New Mexico Hospital, Keith was an elementary and middle-school teacher for 14 years. Keith has a passion for the patient experience as well as engaging patients and families in the healthcare journey at UNM Hospital.

Jennifer Rice

Manager, Patient Experience
University of New Mexico Health System

Jennifer is a local to the Albuquerque area and began her career as a Paramedic in June 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her passion for healthcare led her to a variety of roles in the industry including pharmaceuticals, working for the Department of Defense (DoD) as a HIPAA Privacy Officer, a Healthcare Quality Manager, and eventually a medical Group Patient Advocate and Patient Experience Officer. In 2014 she left her role as a Manager of Major Accounts with a Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Facility to move with her active duty Air Force spouse to Hawaii. In 2016, she started as an Office Support Assistant for the Army’s Schofield Barracks Health Clinic in Hawaii and was quickly promoted to Customer Relations Specialist, given her excellent networking and problem solving, while also earning her Green Belt Certification in process improvement. Continuing her dedication and passion for excellent healthcare within the military, Jennifer served as both a Group Patient Advocate and a Quality and Risk Manager while at Cannon AFB, New Mexico, where she was vital to the patient satisfaction and continued excellent accreditation record for the clinic. She was selected as the Group Patient Advocate and Patient Experience Officer for Kirtland, AFB in 2022 where she continued to strive for excellent medical care for all beneficiaries. While working for Kirtland AFB Jennifer partnered as a volunteer with the University of New Mexico Hospitals Patient Family Advisory Committee. By bringing a voice of the patients from KAFB this helped the two medical institutions improve on processes and quality of care. In July of 2024 Jennifer accepted a position as the Manager of Patient Experience with the University of New Mexico Hospital in an effort to continue to build and improve patient care for the many diverse families here in the state of New Mexico. Jennifer is the mother of one son, Tyler, who is in the 5th grade. Her husband, Chad, is retired from the Air Force after 21 years of service. She enjoys her early morning boxing/kick boxing classes before work and watching her son swim for the local Charger Aquatics swim team.

Deirdre Mylod, PhD

Senior Vice President, Research & Analytics and Executive Director, Institute for Innovation
Press Ganey

Deirdre is responsible for advancing the understanding of the entire patient experience, including patient satisfaction, clinical process, and outcomes. Through the Institute for Innovation, Deirdre partners with leading healthcare providers to study and implement transformative concepts for improving the patient experience.

Deirdre is the architect of Press Ganey’s Suffering Framework, which reframes the patient experience as a means to understand unmet patient needs and reduce patient suffering.

Laura Klick

Vice President, PXO
Tampa General Hospital

Jackie Beckerman

Chief Patient Experience Officer and Senior Director of the ICARE Commitment
University of Rochester Medical Center

Dawn Robbins, MBA

System Associate Vice President, Patient Experience
Baptist Health System, Louisville, KY

Tiffany Zimmerman

VP of Patient Experience
OSF HealthCare

Dwight McBee

Sr VP Chief Patient Experience Officer
RWJ Barnabas Health

Tabatha Cooper

Senior Director, Care Experience Operations
HCA Healthcare

Tabatha joined HCA Healthcare in 2016, with a background in statistics and analytics. She has supported data and analytics work for Patient Experience, Trauma Research, Health Equity, and Safety. Tabatha earned her BS in Biology and MS in Animal Science with a concentration in statistics from The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN (Go Vols!). Prior to healthcare, she worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. as a statistician supporting the national bovine genomics program. Her greatest strengths are all centered around a passion for connecting with people (Positivity, Responsibility, Empathy, Adaptability, Includer). Tabatha strives to bridge the gap between a technical environment of data, computer science, and analytics to those who provide care to the patients we serve. She is eager to continue learning and developing alongside leaders in the healthcare industry who she is fortunate enough to work with each and every day.

Jessica Dudley, MD

Chief Clinical Officer
Press Ganey

Jessica leads efforts to support organizations in increasing clinician engagement and improving patient care outcomes, particularly among physicians. Her areas of expertise include leadership development, clinical care redesign through outstanding teamwork, addressing clinician burnout, and advancing professional fulfillment. Jessica also leads Press Ganey’s Workforce Well-Being Collaborative, an initiative designed to help healthcare organizations identify, understand, and respond to the varied and disparate needs of their workforce.

Elizabeth Harry, MD, SFHM

Chief Well-being Officer
Michigan Medicine

Christina Bowen, MD, ABOIM

Chief Well-being Officer
ECU Health

Dr. Christina Bowen MD, ABOIM is board certified in family medicine, integrative medicine, hospice and palliative care and lifestyle medicine. She is the medical director of The Center for Healthy Living at The Outer Banks hospital where the focus is on integrative and lifestyle medicine for team members and the Outer Banks community. She serves as the Chief Well-being Officer for ECU Health. Her passion was fueled by the pandemic to extend her healing practices for patients to the ECU Health team, her colleagues and the health system.

Stephanie Jones-Wood, MPH, COHQ

Director, Professional Experience & Fulfillment
Houston Methodist

Julie Kennedy Oehlert, DNP, RN

Chief Experience Officer
ECU Health

For more than 20 years Dr. Julie Oehlert has been an advocate for people and culture in the workforce. Today, she serves as ECU Health’s Chief Experience Officer, where she is responsible for creating healthy, healing and sustainable experiences for team members, patients and surrounding communities.

Working as a champion of and spokesperson for the human experience, Julie leads by instilling confidence and compassion in providers, working from the inside out to ultimately shape and improve the patient experience in a health care setting.

Julie’s passion for health care began early in her career, as she earned a BSN in Nursing from Carroll University, and later acquired a Doctorate in Nursing Practice Health Innovation and Leadership from The University of Minnesota in 2014. Prior to her work at ECU Health, Julie served as the chief administrative officer & associate chief experience officer at the University of California, San Diego, as well as the vice president of Patient Experience at The University of Arizona Health Network.

Tiffany Pankow

VP Chief of Caregiver Wellness and Patient Experience
HonorHealth

Dr. Tiffany Pankow is a Family Medicine physician at HonorHealth and currently sits as Chief of Caregiver Wellness and Patient Experience. Her responsibilities include oversight of ongoing well-being initiatives including emotional and peer support, Blue Zones Worksite Certification initiatives, employee health, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and Patient Experience. In her prior role as Associate Chief Medical Officer in the HonorHealth Medical Group, she represented primary care on the Quality and Safety Committee and BEST care council, served as Medical Advisor to the Diabetes Education Center, and led the HonorHealth Medical Group efforts on Social Determinants of Health and Behavioral Health initiatives with the collaborative care model. She completed her undergraduate and medical training at the University of Virginia and her residency as Chief Resident at Banner Good Samaritan Residency Program in Phoenix.

Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM

Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist Physician Organization and Executive VP, Chief Physician Executive
Houston Methodist

Prior to joining Houston Methodist, Dr. Schaal served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UMass Memorial Medical Health. She also served as the President of UMass Memorial Medical Group, one of the largest medical groups on the East Coast, and as senior advisor to the Dean for health strategies at UMass Chan Medical School.

Dr. Schaal is host of the Houston Methodist Quality Time with Dr. Schaal podcast that advances quality in health care through conversations with clinicians, researchers, physicians, industry experts and thought leaders and the Women in Surgery YouTube series that profiles many of Houston Methodist’s extraordinary surgeons—all of whom just happen to be women.

Doug Johnson

Patient Experience Officer
Endeavor Health

Debbi D Seibel, MSW, LCSW

System Manager, Patient Experience
Endeavor Health