Our Team

Albert Lam, MD, Board President, Immediate Past President of CALTCM

Albert Lam, MD

Dr. Albert Lam studied Gerontology and Bioethics at the University of Southern California (USC), received his medical degree from USC, completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Kaiser Los Angeles – University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Geriatrics at UCLA. He is current Chair of the Department of Geriatrics at the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group and is passionate about building healthcare systems that align incentives for best care. Dr. Lam also served as Immediate Past President of CALTCM.

Medical Consultant

Bonnie Kwok, MD, MPH

Dr. Kwok is a Medical Consultant for the Population Health Management Division of the California Department of Health Care Services. She is Board-certified in Family Medicine. Prior to joining DHCS, Dr. Kwok served as the Physician Lead for Group Medical Visits, diabetes and Centering Pregnancy group visits facilitator, and Assistant Division Head at Contra Costa Health Services in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also served as clinical faculty at Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency Program where she completed her residency training. She received her MD from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and MPH from San Francisco State University. Her passions include chronic disease management, birth equity and narrative medicine.

Chief Analytics Officer, Health Care Access and Information (HCAI)

Christopher Krawczyk, PhD

Christopher is the Chief Analytics Officer with the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). In this role, Dr. Krawczyk provides overall strategic direction for analyses of healthcare quality, outcomes, and utilization; for data services that facilitate stakeholder access to using data in their own analyses and work; and engagement of stakeholders to increase the usefulness and impact of HCAI data and analytic products.

Senior Medical Director, Quality and Equity, Covered CA

David Campa, MD, MPH

Dr. Campa joined Covered California’s Health Equity and Quality Transformation (EQT) Division in April 2024 as Senior Medical Director, Quality and Equity, bringing 30 years of healthcare leadership experience in academic, rural & urban community health, and government settings. From 2012 to 2024, Dr. Campa worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ (DHS) Ambulatory Care Network (ACN) as their first Director of Primary Care and then as Medical Director of the ACN’s High Desert Health Center Group. Prior to joining L.A. County DHS, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for two large federally qualified health centers.

Dr. Campa earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, his medical degree from UC San Francisco, an MPH in Health Policy and Administration from UC Berkeley, and completed his residency at Harbor-UCLA. He also completed a fellowship in Health Services Research at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, CA, where he did health outcomes research using large administrative datasets. After his fellowship, he returned to UCSF for a faculty position in the Division of General Internal Medicine from 1993-2000. Dr. Campa is board certified in Internal Medicine and has remained active as a primary care internist throughout his career serving predominantly Spanish-speaking Latino patients.

President of Wolf Eagle Enterprises, LLC

Gretchen E. Alkema, PhD

Gretchen is President of Wolf Eagle Enterprises, LLC, a strategic engagement and organizational development consultancy for industry leaders in aging, longevity, and care delivery innovation.  Gretchen delivers trusted insights and advice, management support, and customized solutions to leaders eager to clear through operational blocks and rise to a higher level of success.

As a nationally recognized expert, strategist, and leader, Gretchen brings over thirty years of care systems and innovation experience to improve the lives of older adults, those with complex needs, and their family caregivers.  Gretchen has fifteen years’ experience in public and philanthropic investment, and five years as a Gallup® Certified Strengths Coach.

Previously, Gretchen served as vice president of policy and communications at The SCAN Foundation from 2009 to 2022.  Prior to philanthropy, Gretchen built her care system expertise through a variety of policy, research, academic, and practice-based roles.  Gretchen holds a Ph.D. in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and received post-doctoral training from the VA Greater Los Angeles.  She earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan, and bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.  Gretchen is a California native with Midwestern roots, an outdoor enthusiast, and a continuous seeker of the perfect cup of coffee.

Executive Consultant, MemorialCare

Helen Macfie, PharmD

Vice President, Quality/Patient Safety California Region, CommonSpirit Health

Holly Hessel-Altman RN, BSN, MS, CPHQ

Holly is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in Healthcare Quality Management, Performance Improvement, Regulatory Compliance, Patient Safety and Risk Management. She has a Bachelor Degree in Nursing, a Master Degree in Healthcare Management and certifications in healthcare quality and lean process improvement. She has worked at a number of hospitals and health systems including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, HealthEast, Minnesota Children’s Hospitals and Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center to name a few. For the past several years
she has served as CommonSpirit Health Southern California Vice President of Quality/Patient Safety and in April 2024, moved into the role of CommonSpirit Health California Region Vice President of Quality/Patient Safety.

Patient Safety Advisor

Joan Maxwell

Joan has 40+ years of experience in the fashion industry, working for retailers and brands.  Most recently, she spent 14 years at Vera Bradley, a company that makes womens’ handbags, accessories, and travel items.  As VP of Merchandising, she worked cross functionally to develop seasonal product assortments.  During that time, Vera Bradley grew from 27 million to over 500 million and opened almost 100 stores, creating a strong brand image and customer experience.  It was through that lens that Joan became a patient at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, and became passionate about the patient experience.  She is currently a Senior Advisor for MakerSights, a tech start up in the Bay Area working with brands to test future concepts with customers to inform decisions during the product development cycle.  She has been an advisor on the Patient & Family Advisory Committee at John Muir Health since its inception in 2015.  Joan is also working on a national level to encourage the voice of the patient in health care discussions.  She has been a speaker and on panels at various conferences and meetings.  Joan won the James Conway Patient and Family Advisor Scholarship in 2017 to attend the IHI National Forum.  In addition to serving on the Cal Healthcare Compare Board of Directors, she is on the Advisory Board of PFCC Partners.

Chief Medical Officer, CalPERS

Julia Logan, MD

Director of the Health Equity Program and Senior Research Scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Kathryn Kietzman, PhD, MSW

Kathryn G. Kietzman, PhD, MSW, is director of the Health Equity Program and a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. She is also an associate researcher in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research agenda focuses primarily on the long-term health and social care needs of physically, socially, and financially vulnerable populations, including older adults and people with disabilities who rely on public programs and other informal supports to maintain their independence.

Kietzman currently leads a California Health Interview Survey study to assess population-level need for, and access to, long-term services and supports in California. Other recent work includes projects conducted for the California Department of Aging: one to assist with the selection and visualization of long-term services and supports and caregiver indicators on the Master Plan for Aging Data Dashboard on Aging; the other project assessed the current and future demand for two Medi-Cal funded aging services programs in California. Previous research includes an evaluation of how older adults with serious mental illness are served through California’s public mental health delivery system, and an investigation of how dual eligible health care consumers (i.e., those insured by both Medicare and Medi-Cal) access and use information to make decisions about their health care options. Kietzman has also evaluated efforts to increase the use of clinical preventive services among the underserved 50+ population in South Los Angeles through multi-sectoral collaboration and enhanced linkages between community and clinical settings.

Kietzman currently serves on the Executive Board of the Center for Health Care Rights (the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program for the City and County of Los Angeles), the Advisory Board of the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC), and is a member of the California Aging and Disability Research Partnership, which evolved from California’s Master Plan for Aging. Prior to joining the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Kietzman was a Health and Aging Policy Fellow in the office of United States Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. She has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Society on Aging and as Chair of the Commission for the Senior Community in the City of Santa Monica,

Kietzman earned her doctorate in social welfare from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs where her dissertation research was supported by the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She completed both bachelor and master degrees in social welfare at UC Berkeley.​

 

Chair, CHC Board, California Health Care Coalition

Ken Stuart

Ken has over 45 years of experience in administration and consulting for employee group benefit plans. He served as the administrative manager of the San Diego Electrical Health & Welfare Trust, San Diego Electrical Pension Trust and the NECA/IBEW Drug-Free Workforce Program. He was previously, employed for 16 1/2 years by one of the largest third-party administration and consulting firms in the US servicing numerous Taft-Hartley, single employer and municipal employee group benefit plans. Ken was recently appointed Chairman of the Healthcare Payments Data Review Committee pursuant to California Assembly Bill 1810, works for the California Health Care Coalition, and is the Chair for the Cal Hospital Board of Directors.

Executive Director, Risk Management & Patient Safety, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region

Kevin Worth, RN, MS, CNS

Director, Market Analysis and Insight, California Health Care Foundation

Kristof Stremikis

Kristof Stremikis is director of CHCF’s Market Analysis and Insight team, which promotes greater transparency and accountability in California’s health care system.

He oversees the foundation’s work to provide research and analysis to policymakers and other health leaders across the state to give a market-wide view of the complex health care ecosystem and to support informed decisions about California’s health care landscape. Previously, Kristof served as associate director for policy at the Pacific Business Group on Health, where he also oversaw the Purchaser Value Network. Prior to that, he spent six years at the Commonwealth Fund as senior researcher to the president. Kristof received a bachelor’s degree in economics, political science, and history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; a master’s of public policy from the University of California, Berkeley; and a master’s of health policy and management from Columbia University.

Director of Payment Innovation, Blue Shield of California

Laura Fox, MPH

Laura Fox currently holds the position of Director of Payment Innovation at Blue Shield of California and is a leading expert in value-based care. Within the Health Solutions team, Laura leads a dedicated group focused on conceiving, building, testing, and expanding innovative approaches to appropriately reward and incentivize healthcare providers. Under Laura’s guidance, the Payment Innovation team has successfully developed and scaled more than 18 value-based payment models for primary care, hospitals, and specialty services throughout California. ​

Laura holds a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Brandeis University.

Founder and CEO, PFCC Partners

Libby Hoy

As the mother of three sons living with mitochondrial disease, Libby has over 25 years of experience navigating the healthcare system. Libby began volunteering as a Parent Mentor in 1995 and has been working to improve health systems and empower patients and families to be active partners in care ever since. Libby strives to build the infrastructure and capacity for healthcare organizations to engage all patients and families, from the bedside to the boardroom.

In 2010, Libby founded PFCCpartners to create a community of patients, families, providers and health care organizations committed to the shared learning of Patient & Family Centered Care practice. PFCCpartners also supports the PFANetwork, inclusive of more than 600 Patient Family Advisors working in healthcare settings across the country to partner for improvement in the quality, safety, experience and
the design of healthcare.

Director, Clinical Policy and Programs, CalPERS

Lisa Albers, MD

Lisa joined CalPERS in February 2022 as the Assistant Chief of Clinical Policy. She now serves as the Director of Clinical Policy and Programs. She oversees key initiatives for CalPERS including behavioral health policy development, pharmaceutical and benefit design programs, and clinical quality improvement. Her work ensures a high-quality and evidence-based approach to improve the quality and efficiency of the CalPERS Health Benefits Program.

Before joining CalPERS, Lisa spent 11 years with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), where she most recently served as the Chief of the Quality Improvement Section in the Managed Care Quality and Monitoring Division. In her role, she worked on performance measurement and quality improvement with their contracted managed care health plans and led a team of nurses, health educators, and analysts.

Prior to that role, Lisa worked in the auditing division, monitoring health plans and providers for contract compliance and quality of care.
Prior to DHCS, Lisa spent several years working as a forensic pathologist with the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. She saw firsthand how health care can so often fail people and communities, leading her to change to a career more focused on public health and health policy.

Patient Family Advisor

Mary Schramke, PhD, MBA

Mary is a seasoned consultant specializing in Life Sciences start-ups, business development, operations, corporate marketing, and strategic consulting. Her expertise encompasses creating business plans, devising partnering strategies, and developing, integrating, and implementing effective operations strategies. Additionally, she provides guidance to new businesses on technology acquisition, development, and profitable deployment. ​

Chief Medical Officer and a Chief Deputy Executive Director at Covered California

Monica Soni, MD

Dr. S. Monica Soni is the Chief Medical Officer, and a Chief Deputy Executive Director at Covered California, leading the organization’s Health Equity and Quality Transformation division. In this capacity she is responsible for health equity, health care strategy, medical policy, and other clinical operations to continuously improve not only the health services provided through Covered California’s contracted health plans, but also California’s delivery system.

She is a board-certified internal medicine physician with more than a decade of experience working in both inpatient and outpatient settings and continues to see patients. She is an Associate Professor within the UCLA Department of Medicine and the Charles R. Drew University Department of Internal Medicine, where she is committed to residency diversification and pipeline development.

Prior to joining Covered California, Dr. Soni served as Associate Chief Medical Officer within Evolent Health focused on the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective specialty care for the over 16 million supported Medicaid lives across the United States. During her time at the organization, she played a critical role in clinical informatics, provider engagement, value-based strategies and innovation.

Dr. Soni also served as the Director of Specialty Care for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second-largest municipal health system in the United States. There she ensured the delivery of timely and equitable specialty care across four hospitals, 20 ambulatory care clinics, the correctional health system and more than 200 community partners. She also worked as the Director of Continuity Care for Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center, where she led primary care, urgent care and transitions of care.

A graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Soni graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco with a focus in primary care. In addition, Dr. Soni was a fellow in the California Health Care Foundation Leadership Program and the Carol Emmott Foundation Fellowship. She is currently a board member for Mercy Housing California, a leading affordable housing organization, and previously served as a Commissioner for the Los Angeles County Hospital and Health Care Delivery Commission.

VP Quality, Patient Safety, Adventist Health

Patty Atkins, MS, RN, FACHE

Patty has 30+ years of health care leadership experience including: clinical and regulatory risk management, strategic planning, Lean Six Sigma, physician and employee engagement, data governance, contract negotiations, and implementation of large-scale cultural and digital transformation initiatives across an integrated health care system.

She has led teams to achieve top performance in external quality and patient safety rankings, embed a high reliability cultural transformation, and received the National Malcom Baldrige Quality Award®, the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. Patty is the recipient of the prestigious Press-Ganey Kerry Johnson Patient Safety Champion Award for her achievement of stellar patient safety results and her commitment to collaboration with organizations across the United States.

Patty is a strong advocate for excellence in geriatric care programs (ACEP, IHI, ACS) and promotes programs that support positive end-of-life experiences. As a mother of four young adults, she is also attuned to the perspectives, issues and challenges that young generations are facing. Her concerns for the future of healthcare, climate change, maternity care, and child development stir her motivation to contribute to impactful solutions that will make a positive difference in the lives of people across California. With an unwavering commitment to excellence in service and quality while maintaining a healthy bottom line, her success is built on the values of integrity, teamwork, caring, accountability, and respect.

Senior Director, Practice Transformation California Quality Collaborative, Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH)

Peter Robertson, MPA

As Senior Director of Practice Transformation, Peter leads the California Quality Collaborative’s (CQC) technical assistance programming. Most recently, Peter led the CalHIVE Network, a multi-year improvement collaborative that supported the expansion of virtual care tools for chronic disease management. Prior to his current role, Peter served as Director of Insights, Analytics and Data Management at PBGH.

Previously, Peter led the quality measurement activities of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). This work included the development and maintenance of quality measures stewarded by the AAO and the implementation of a broad range of measures for federal quality reporting within the AAO’s IRIS® Registry. 

Peter earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in International Management from the University of Manchester.

President, Hospital Quality Institute

Robert Imhoff

Robert joined the Hospital Quality Institute as President and CEO after heading the Maryland Patient Safety Center for seven years. As President and CEO there, he successfully partnered with hospitals to lead multiple improvement efforts, including their perinatal/neonatal quality collaborative, sepsis mortality reduction, falls reduction, and one of the most rigorous hand hygiene compliance programs in the nation. He also led efforts to pilot both an emotional support program for health care providers called “Caring for the Caregiver” and a patient safety certification program for hospitals. In his role with the patient safety center, he also oversaw the Mid-Atlantic Patient Safety Organization.

Imhoff brings two decades of senior executive experience in health care, education and non-profit work. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from George Mason University and a master’s in public policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Rochelle Ereman

California Association of Long Term Medicine

Terry Hill, MD, FACP

Terry Hill, MD, FACP, is a board-certified internist and geriatrician who served as COVID-19 Medical Director for the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association.  He has served as chair of the California Medical Association’s Administrative Medicine Forum since 2016.  Past roles include president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine, board chair of HealthImpact, and co-chair of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California.  Formerly in private practice geriatrics, his career has included executive positions at Hill Physicians Medical Group, Laguna Honda Hospital, California’s Quality Improvement Organization, and the California Prison Receivership.  His writing has addressed the epidemiology of COVID-19 in long-term care, quality improvement, professional self-regulation, palliative care, and the dynamics of moral judgment in clinical practice.  He received his MD from UCSF and his fellowship training at Stanford.

Patient Family Advisor

Barbara Kivowitz

Barbara is a clinician, consultant, and author specializing in health care innovation with
the goal of helping organizations shift to more relationship-based models of care. She is
the coauthor of Love in the Time of Chronic Illness: How to Fight the Sickness, Not Each
Other, a guide for patient-caregiver partners and for the clinicians who help them. She
has delivered programs based on her book at UCSF, Stanford HealthCare, Sutter Health,
Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Center, the Beryl Institute, and
elsewhere. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences for patient-caregiver groups and
for clinicians.

Barbara is currently on the Board of Directors of Sutter Health DCE which oversees care
for all Medicare and Medicaid patients, and she is also on Board of Directors of San
Francisco Village, an intentional community for older San Franciscans. She was previously
on the Board of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. She is on the Honorary Board of
Well Spouse Organization, on the Advisory Board of Patient and Family Centered Care
Partners, and on the Technical Advisory Committee for California Hospital Compares. She
participates in national patient/family focused initiatives through the American College of
Physicians, the National Institute on Aging, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). She serves as a Patient Family Advisor at Sutter Health.

She previously led the innovation practice for an R&D group within Lotus/IBM, provided
innovation consulting to large healthcare organizations and to the State of Vermont, and
worked as a clinical social worker in community based settings. She has graduate degrees
from Harvard and Simmons Universities, has worked as an advocate with refugee
populations, and speaks five languages

Chief Operating Officer, Health Plan of San Mateo

Colleen Murphey

Colleen Murphey serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM), a County Organized Health System that covers one in five residents of San Mateo County. She joined HPSM in 2017 as the Director of Provider Service. Colleen has been working in the health care sector since 2007 in strategic consulting and entrepreneurial roles.

Before joining HPSM, Colleen was a Director at the Health IT company Kyruus where she led work with large health systems for the company’s West Coast market. Prior to this, Colleen was a consultant for McKinsey & Company (2012 to 2015) serving healthcare clients on a variety of topics. She consulted for the Wharton Small Business Development Center from 2010-2012, helping early-stage health care startups develop business plans and secure funding, and briefly dabbled in launching her own startup. From 2007-2010, Colleen worked as an Analyst and Senior Analyst for The Advisory Board Company in Washington DC with a focus on Health IT. Prior to her career in health care, Colleen worked in public education in Chicago.

Colleen has published and co-published papers in several forums, and is a regular speaker on podcasts and at conferences. She is passionate about healthcare strategy and serving the safety net. She received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Chicago and her M.B.A. in Healthcare Management from The Wharton School of Business.

Professor, University of California, Irvine

Dana Mukamel, PhD

Dana Mukamel is Professor at the Department of Medicine with joint appointments in Public Health and Nursing at the University of California, Irvine.  She is also Director of the iTEQC Research Program (Translational Technology Enhancing High Quality Care).  Her research focuses on quality of care, development of quality measures, quality report cards, and studies of market incentives and government policies and regulations leading to high quality of care.  She is an expert in quality measurement using big data and quality report cards.  Much of her work focuses on long-term-care settings and care for the elderly.  She also develops mHealth apps to improve care in general, and patient decision making in particular, emphasizing the importance of preferences and personal choice in medical decision making.  Dr. Mukamel’s extensive research, with over 200 peer reviewed publications, is funded by NIH, AHRQ, PCORI and private foundations.  She serves on many national advisory and review boards, including CMS, AHRQ and MedPAC expert panels as well as journals’ editorial boards.  Her work has been recognized by a large number of awards, including a Life Time Achievement Award from the APHA.

Professor Mukamel holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Tel-Aviv University, Israel, an M.S. degree in Technology & Policy from MIT, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester.

 

 

 

President & CEO California Association for Health Services at Home

Dean Chalios

Dean Chalios is President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH).  In that capacity, he is responsible for overall policy development, management and operations of the largest state home care association in the nation.  He has been an association executive and health care policy advocate for over 20 years having held senior positions with the California Medical Association and the California Dental Association and has also served on the staff of the California State Assembly and the United States Senate. Mr. Chalios is a graduate of San Jose State University and holds a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco.​

Director of Clinical Affairs and Quality California Association of Health Facilities

DeAnn Walters

DeAnn Walters is Director of Clinical Affairs and Quality Improvement for the California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF). Ms. Walters provides membership support and policy guidance for providers of skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities for developmentally disabled individuals.

Ms. Walters has 18 years of experience in operations as a nursing home administrator.  Her experience includes overseeing short-term rehabilitation, Alzheimer’s care, and mental health programs. During that time, she attained both AHCA National Quality Bronze and Silver awards at multiple facilities.

Ms. Walters has been recognized with the Del Callaway Administrative Excellence Award from the California Association of Health Facilities in 2013. She is a current member of the Laguna Sunrise Rotary.

Physician Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation

Debra Saliba MD, MPH, AGSF

Debra Saliba, MD, MPH, AGSF holds the UCLA Anna and Harry Borun Endowed Chair in Geriatrics and is Director of the UCLA/Los Angeles Jewish Home Borun Center.  She also is a Senior Natural Scientist at RAND and a physician scientist at the Los Angeles VA Geriatrics Research and Clinical Center (GRECC).  Dr. Saliba is a nationally recognized leader in geriatrics and long-term care quality. She served as principal investigator for CMS national revision and testing of MDS 3.0 for nursing homes, introducing items that captured resident self-report of health needs.  Item development and testing engaged a national consortium of community and VA investigators, stakeholders and nursing homes.  Her research has engaged interprofessional teams in addressing a range of post-acute and long-term care quality challenges including: inappropriate re-hospitalizations; disaster response and emergency preparedness; resident safety; pressure ulcer care and fall prevention; quality measurement; staffing models; culture change; ethical resource allocation; and the implementation of training and quality improvement initiatives within nursing homes.

In addition to her current service on the National Academy of Science Committee on Nursing Home Quality, Dr. Saliba serves on the CMS Nursing Home 5-Star Technical Advisory Panel, the National Quality Forum (NQF) Committee on Person and Family Centered Care and the NQF committee on Post-acute and Long-term care. Dr. Saliba is past President and past Board Chair of the American Geriatrics Society. She serves on the Editorial Boards of three leading journals in aging, including serving as Deputy Editor for the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Director, Public Programs & Long-Term Services & Supports, Health Net

Edward Mariscal

Ed Mariscal is the Director of Public Programs & Long Term Services & Supports with Health Net.  A licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 2010, and Residential Care Facility for Elderly Administrator since 2021, he has worked in Southern California his entire career as an Administrator, Regional Administrator and Regulatory Compliance Specialist.  In his current role, he is responsible for the planning, implementation and oversight of Health Net’s current State Health Program services, Long Term Services and Supports Program, homeless services programs as well as driving Health Net’s Public Programs overall strategy.  Ed received his Bachelor’s degree at UCLA, and Master’s degrees at the University of Arizona.

Directing Attorney, Justice in Aging

Eric Carlson

Eric Carlson is a Directing Attorney at Justice in Aging.  Mr. Carlson has thirty years of experience in long-term services and supports (LTSS), including home and community-based services, nursing facility care, and assisted living facilities.  Mr. Carlson counsels attorneys from across the country, co-counsels impact litigation that protects LTSS consumers, and is author of the legal treatise Long-Term Care Advocacy (Lexis Publishing) and the advocacy guide 25 Common Nursing Home Problems — and How to Resolve Them.  Mr. Carlson recently served on the federal Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes.

President & CEO, LeadingAge California

Jeannee Parker Martin

Jeannee Parker Martin, President & CEO of LeadingAge California, and Vice Chairman of The Corridor Group Holdings, is a leader in the strategic development of healthcare programs. Jeannee served as TCG’s CEO, President and Co-Owner from 1995-2014. Active in health service planning, development and delivery of care for 30 years, Jeannee has assisted organizations around the world ─ spanning the U.S., Central and South America, Thailand, and Turkey, and for the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of State. Jeannee founded the first AIDS Home Care & Hospice Program in the US and is internationally recognized as an early pioneer in AIDS care and service delivery. In 2019, she was appointed to the California Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee to chart the roadmap for California’s older adult population, and in 2020 to the federal CMS Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes to help identify strategies and recommendations to the US response in nursing homes.

Jeannee is highly valued by boards and executive teams for her leadership and understanding of strategic, financial and governance matters, integrated health care delivery systems, and the impact of changes in health care delivery and payment initiatives on payers and providers.

Jeannee received her Master’s in Public Health from Yale University School of Medicine, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University. Jeannee has received numerous awards at the local, state and national level including induction into the National Association for Home Care & Hospice Hall of Fame, the Georgetown University School of Nursing
Alumna Award, the California Lillian O’Brien Award, and nomination to MedPac, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Vice President, Medical Management, Centene Corporation

Jennifer Lloyd

Executive Vice President, Commonwealth Adult Day Health Care Center

Kay Lee, MPH, JD

Kay Lee is the Executive Vice President at Commonwealth Adult Day Health Care Center in Buena Park, CA and the Administrator of Burlingame Adult Day Health Care Center in Burlingame, CA. Kay has served on the Board of the California Association for Adult Day Services (CAADS), currently as the Vice President and Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee. Kay has a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from University of California, Berkeley, a Juris Doctor (JD) from Georgetown University Law Center, with a bar license to practice law in the State of California. Kay continues work to improve quality of care and access to services for the adult day services committee, having worked alongside many colleagues throughout the pandemic and beyond on the Crisis Team/Vision Team, a joint collaboration between various state agencies (such as the California Department of Aging and the Department of Health Care Services) and other adult day services providers.

Program Director for New Sunrise Adult Day Healthcare Center and ECM Director

Lena Haroutunian, MSW

Lena is the Program Director for New Sunrise Adult Day Healthcare Center in Northridge and also serves as the ECM Director. She serves on the Board for CAADS as Treasurer, leads the ECM Learning Lab under CAADS, and is a member of the Vision Team since 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In addition, Lena is pursing her LCSW license. She received her MSW from USC in 2015 and has been working with the geriatric population since. 

CEO Emeritus, LifeLong Administrative Offices

Marty Lynch, PhD, MPA

Marty Lynch, PhD, MPA is CEO Emeritus, of LifeLong Medical Care where he served as CEO for 40 years.  Dr. Lynch co-founded the Elderly Sub-Committee of NACHC and is past Chair of California Primary Carae Association. Dr. Lynch served on the California Master Plan on Aging Stakeholder Advisory Group and has served on the Medi-Cal Stakeholder group. He is interested in aging and community health and the effects of Climate Change on health center communities. Dr. Lynch received his Ph.D. from UCSF, and an MPA from the Kennedy School at Harvard.

Meredith Chillemi, MA

Meredith has a background working in various social service and health care settings, including Life Plan Communities, a managed care plan and programs funded by the Older Americans Act, including home delivered meals, shared housing and case management. Meredith served as the Director of Medicaid and HCBS Policy for LeadingAge. Prior to joining LeadingAge, Meredith served as Director of Supportive and Health Services at LifeSTEPS, overseeing the organization’s affordable housing Aging in Place initiatives, long term services and supports collaborations and the award-winning Older Adult RN Coaching Program.

Meredith holds Masters’ Degrees in Gerontology and Health Administration from the University of Southern California. She is also a graduate of the UCLA Health Care Executive Program and the LeadingAge California Emerge Leadership Program. As the LeadingAge California Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Meredith manages relationships with state agencies and departments and she also engages with the State on the implementation of numerous initiatives, including CalAIM.

Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, University of California, Los Angeles

Neil Wenger, MD, MPH

Chair, Solano County Alcohol & Drug Advisory Board Professor Emeritus, Health Education San Francisco State

Ramon Castellblanch

Ramón Castellblanch is Professor Emeritus, Public Health, at San Francisco State University.  In 2019-20, he served on California’s Master Plan for Aging Research Subcommittee where he participated in the MPA workgroup developing measures for its data dashboard.  That dashboard will publicly track Master Plan progress.  Starting in 2021, he serves on the advisory board of the UCLA Elder Index.

President-CEO California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA)

Sheila Clark, CHPCA

Sheila Clark, CHPCA was appointed by California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA) board after a national search as the third President and CEO in June 2020. CHAPCA is a 501 3c and was founded in 1983. CHAPCA is the leading advocate and source of information in California for patients and families confronting a life limiting illness. ​

As President and CEO Sheila’s aim is to increase CHAPCA mission and vision across California by building stronger relationships within the hospice and palliative care provider community serving Californians. ​Sheila believes that “giving people information to make informed decisions is essential”. ​

Prior to serving as President and CEO of CHAPCA Sheila has over 28 years of senior leadership service in the hospice and palliative care community serving, patients, families, and those that serve at the bedside. 

Staff Attorney, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR)

Tony Chicotel

Tony Chicotel is from Huron, Ohio and a graduate of Muskingum University (B.A.) The Ohio State University College of Law (J.D.) and the University of California School of Public Policy (MPP).  Since 2006, Tony has worked for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, also known as CANHR.  His primary work is to promote the rights of residents in long term care facilities – through litigation, legislation, regulatory policy, and consumer education.  Tony’s focus areas include: civil rights, eviction defense, dementia care, incapacity and decision making, conservatorship, and end-of-life care.

Likes: burritos, baseball, beaches, and milkshakes

Dislikes: flat pillows, Costco parking lots, and tucking in shirts

Program Manager V, Quality Public Reporting, Medicare Strategy & Medicare Stars, Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Health Plan

Anna Khachikyan

Quality Improvement Manager, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

Ashraf Gulzar, MSN

Ashraf has over 26 years of healthcare experience. Prior to joining Santa Clara Valley Medical Center as a Quality Improvement Manager, she was Clinical Director of Quality, overseeing Accreditation, Regulation and Licensing (AR&L), Lead Quality Nurse Consultant and Department Manager for Oncology/ Hematology/Infusion clinic, at Kaiser Santa Clara. Prior to joining Kaiser, she was a Director of Quality Management and Infection Prevention and Control Program at O’Connor Hospital. She has also worked as Clinical and Business Manager of Wound Care Clinic and Hyperbaric Unit, Manager for Medical Surgical Telemetry Unit, and Clinical Educator for Oncology Unit at O’Connor Hospital. She was also the Consultant for the Joint Commission International. As a staff nurse, she has worked in Oncology and Cardiology units. She also has served as a faculty for School of Nursing at The Aga Khan University School of Nursing.

She received Master’s in Nursing Degree from San Jose State University, Bachelor’s in Nursing Administration and Diploma in Nursing from The Aga Khan University Karachi, Pakistan. She is certified as a HACP (Healthcare Accreditation Certified Professional), CPHQ (Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and Improvement Advisor (IA). She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau Honor society for nurses and several other professional members including National Association for Healthcare Quality and California Association for Healthcare Quality.

Chief Health Officer, California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI)

Ashrith Amarnath, MD, MS-SHCD

Patient Family Advisor

Barbara Kivowitz

Barbara is a clinician, consultant, and author specializing in health care innovation with
the goal of helping organizations shift to more relationship-based models of care. She is
the coauthor of Love in the Time of Chronic Illness: How to Fight the Sickness, Not Each
Other, a guide for patient-caregiver partners and for the clinicians who help them. She
has delivered programs based on her book at UCSF, Stanford HealthCare, Sutter Health,
Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Center, the Beryl Institute, and
elsewhere. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences for patient-caregiver groups and
for clinicians.

Barbara is currently on the Board of Directors of Sutter Health DCE which oversees care
for all Medicare and Medicaid patients, and she is also on Board of Directors of San
Francisco Village, an intentional community for older San Franciscans. She was previously
on the Board of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. She is on the Honorary Board of
Well Spouse Organization, on the Advisory Board of Patient and Family Centered Care
Partners, and on the Technical Advisory Committee for California Hospital Compares. She
participates in national patient/family focused initiatives through the American College of
Physicians, the National Institute on Aging, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). She serves as a Patient Family Advisor at Sutter Health.

She previously led the innovation practice for an R&D group within Lotus/IBM, provided
innovation consulting to large healthcare organizations and to the State of Vermont, and
worked as a clinical social worker in community based settings. She has graduate degrees
from Harvard and Simmons Universities, has worked as an advocate with refugee
populations, and speaks five languages

Chief Quality Officer, Scripps Health

Craig Uejo, MD, MPH, FACOEM

As Chief Quality Officer, Dr. Uejo oversees efforts to further elevate the quality and safety of health care at Scripps’ acute-care hospitals and outpatient clinics across San Diego County. He also directs performance improvement initiatives and ensures compliance with the data reporting requirements of regulatory agencies.

Dr. Uejo also serves as medical director of occupational health and safety at Scripps, a role he has held since 2012. In this position, Dr. Uejo manages the employee health and worker’s compensation programs for Scripps and oversees the clinical and administrative operations of the employee care clinics available for Scripps’ workforce.

Previously, Dr. Uejo served as Scripps’ lead corporate physician for infection prevention and employee safety. He also was medical director of Scripps’ employee wellness program. Dr. Uejo’s career as a physician spans more than 25 years, most of which has been in the fields of occupational and environmental medicine, as well as employee health.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Uejo earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California. He completed his medical residency at UC San Diego and UC Irvine and later earned a master’s degree in public health from San Diego State University. Dr. Uejo is board certified in preventive medicine with an emphasis in occupational health.

 

Co-Medical Director, California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative

Deirdre Lyell, MD, MFM

Dr. Lyell is a leading maternal-fetal medicine specialist and the Dunlevie Endowed Professor at Stanford Medicine. With over 25 years of clinical experience, she co-chairs the California Maternal and Perinatal Quality Care Collaboratives (CMQCC/CPQCC) and has led groundbreaking research on racial inequities in obstetrics, severe maternal morbidity, anemia, and prematurity prevention. Dr. Lyell directs several key programs at Stanford, including perinatal epidemiology, labor and delivery, and the Program in Placental Disorders. She is also the project lead for the NIH-funded Preventing Inequities in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity (PRIHSM) center.​

Nationally, Dr. Lyell serves on the boards of the Pan-American Society for Placenta Accreta Spectrum and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Foundation, is an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and has reviewed grants for the NIH. She earned a BAS from Stanford University and an MD from George Washington University, with residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Stanford.

Executive Director, Clinical Quality Programs, Data Analytics & Tele Critical Care, Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Health Plan

Elizabeth Scruth, PhD MPH RN CNS CCRN CCNS FCCM FCNS CPHQ​

Elizabeth (Lizzie) currently serves as the Executive Director of Clinical Quality Programs, Data Analytics and Tele Critical Care for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Lizzie completed her MPH and PhD in Australia and a post masters in cardiovascular advanced practice nursing at UCSF. Recently, Lizzie was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing.

Director, Regional Quality, Northern California, Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Health Plan

Lorelle Jacobson

Lorelle is a seasoned health care leader with 27 years of experience at Kaiser. Currently, she serves as the Director of Data Analytics, where she leads a dedicated team of 30 employees.

Lorelle and her team are responsible for managing regulatory required, publicly reported data for 21 hospitals in Northern California. She ensures that our region meets the Joint Commission and CMS requirements for the Inpatient Quality Reporting Program participation. Additionally, she holds the credentials of CPHQ and RHIA, which further support her expertise and commitment to her work at Kaiser.

Vice President, Quality and Risk Management, Memorial Care

Marty Jones

Maternal Data Center Associate Director, California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative

Melinda Kent, BSN, MSN

Melinda Kent is the Associate Director of CMQCC’s Maternal Data Center (MDC). She joined the team in May 2023 as a clinical lead and the Clinical Lead for the Low-Dose Aspirin (LDA) to Prevent Preeclampsia and Preterm Birth Initiative. She was promoted to the MDC role in November 2023.

A passionate perinatal leader, her interest in health promotion, advocacy, program planning, and implementation began early in her career.  She earned her Bachelor of Science in health education in 1995. After working several years as a labor doula, she became a labor and delivery registered nurse, where her love for perinatal quality and process improvement was discovered. Being a lifelong learner, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis on Nursing Education years later.

Prior to joining CMQCC, Melinda was involved in numerous CMQCC QI Academies and has presented as guest faculty on “Sustaining Quality Improvement.” She brings a unique skill set and over two decades of healthcare experience to the organization, from bedside nursing to leadership roles. She has held positions in clinical IT for a large non-profit hospital supporting perinatal units across five states and as the Nursing Outcomes Coordinator for a hospital just miles from Skid Row in Los Angeles. Melinda holds NCC certifications in electronic fetal monitoring, in-patient obstetrics, and obstetric and neonatal quality and safety.

Data Reporting and Analytics Consultant V, Quality & Risk Management, Kaiser Permanente Southern California

Patrick Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consultant, CalPERS Health Program

Rachel Brodie

Rachel is an experienced healthcare leader with broad expertise driving improvement in clinical quality, cost, access and equity. She is a strategic consultant assisting with development, management and evaluation of innovative health programs. Previously at Purchaser Business Group on Health, she worked with prominent purchaser, payer, provider and consumer stakeholder organizations to advance the quality of health care and put performance information to use for payment and decision-making. Rachel provided strategic leadership to manage and lead the methodological work for several statewide measurement and reporting collaboratives on health plan, physician group, and physician level performance. She also led the measure testing and development of patient-reported outcome-performance measures (PRO-PMs) for oncology care. She received a BA from Princeton University.

Director, Growth, Anthem Blue Cross

Rick Krum

Chief Medical Officer, Molina Healthcare of California

Sayeed Khan, MD

Dr. Sayeed Khan is a physician executive with two decades of experience in coordinated managed care delivery systems for both Medicare and Medicaid. He is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Molina Healthcare of California, which serves the needs of more than half a million members in both Southern and Northern California. He previously held leadership positions at several large medical groups in Southern California, namely Healthcare Partners Medical Group, Heritage Provider Network, and AltaMed Health Services.

Dr. Khan completed his undergraduate studies at Boston University, completed medical schooling in Chicago, Illinois at Rush University, did his internship and residency at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara, California. He is board certified in Internal Medicine. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Khan practices as a part time hospitalist in Long Beach, California.

Director, Performance Analytics, Hospital Quality Institute

Scott Masten

VP, Quality Support Systems, Cottage Health System

Sharon Lutz, PhD

Sharon K. L. Lutz, Ph.D., serves as Vice President, Quality Support Services for Cottage Health in Santa Barbara.  She obtained her Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University and her B.A. in Mathematics from St. Olaf College.  Dr. Lutz has nearly 30 years of extensive experience in Quality Management. She has served as a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Examiner and as an Improvement Advisor to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She has held Data and Quality Consultant and Management roles for Fairview Hospital and HealthCare Services, Park Nicollet Health Services and Regions Hospital in St. Paul Minnesota before moving to California in 2004. In her role at Cottage Health, Dr. Lutz oversees Quality Improvement, Risk Management, Case Management, Social Services, Infection Prevention and Control, Interpreter Services and Spiritual Care.

Quality Improvement Program Manager, Clinical Quality Blue Shield

Suk Brar

Business Analysis Program Manager at Blue Shield of California, with 9 years of experience in Quality Improvement, HEDIS Specifications and Requirements, Hospital Quality, NCQA, QRS, Commercial, Quality Health Plan, and CalPERS.

Ambassador, Stanford University - Patient and Family Partner

Ting Pun, PhD

Dr. Pun earned his doctorate from Columbia University and conducted research in high-energy physics at Stanford University and Berkeley Lab. He left the research environment in 1982 and ran a small business until his retirement in the 2000’s. Chronic illness in the family ignited his interest in health care and inspired his involvement in patient advocacy. He has been involved in healthcare issues since 2010. After attending the PCORI patient stakeholder engagement meeting in late 2012, he was convinced of the importance of patient-centeredness in health care. He has been a patient reviewer and is now involved in two PCORI-funded projects.

Principal Researcher

Jack Jordan

Jack Jordan has over 30 years’ experience in quality improvement, analytics and patient safety in both the private sector and the Federal Government. Prior to Joining AIR, as a Principal Research Associate, he worked at Henry Ford Health System for 22 years in a number of roles, most recently as the Director of Performance Excellence and Quality at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit where he led the effort to improve outcomes and develop a high reliability organization. He has also led the inpatient analytics work for the Henry Ford Health System where he helped leverage the investment in technology to improve care by making relevant actionable data available to improve value to patients.  

Previously he served as a Deputy Director of the Partnership for Patients at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. In that position, he was the lead subject matter expert on patient safety, evaluation and improvement methods for a 500 million dollar public and private partnership to reduce hospital-acquired conditions. This was a key program supported by CMS that help avoid over 3 million harm events across the nation and saved an estimated $28 billion dollars. This work was also awarded the Pinnacle Award from the American Pharmacy Association Foundation in 2016. Previously he was Director of Quality Initiatives at Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan.  In this role, Jack played a key role in the Baldridge Award-winning organization-wide quality improvement strategy and implementation.  He has served as a leader overseeing key improvement projects including a highly successful comprehensive No Harm campaign to reduce iatrogenic harm which was awarded the 2011 Eisenberg Award. Other projects included mortality reduction, surgical care improvement, tight glycemic control, ICU improvement, and implementing rapid response teams.   

Prior to working at Henry Ford Health System Mr. Jordan worked at General Motors Powertrain product engineering.  His role at GM involved developing a quality program in the technology development stage of engineering and supporting the organizational efforts to apply the ideas of W. Edwards Deming. 

Mr. Jordan holds a master’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in applied Statistics from Oakland University and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Iowa. 

 

 

Data Analyst, AIR

Shantoy Hansel-Kidney, MPH

Shantoy Hansel-Kidney is a Data Analyst II in the Health Division- Evaluation, Methodology, and Analytics program at American Institutes for Research (AIR). Her primary responsibilities include querying large databases, construct, and document analytical datafiles, and create customized, presentation-quality reports from data analysis results. She has experience in analyzing complex data and creating survey instruments. She also has 3 years of  SAS programing and utilizing macros, PROC sql, STATA for data analysis and R for data visualization. Previously, Hansel-Kidney was working on a longitudinal study for the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), and a genomic study at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Hansel-Kidney holds a master’s in public health degree from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2020 and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from CUNY Brooklyn College in 2014.

Clinical Professor, UC Davis School of Nursing and Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Deb Bakerjian, PhD, MSN, FNP

Policy Analyst, UC Davis School of Nursing

Kristen Bettega, BS

Data Systems Analyst, UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Shao-You Fang, PhD

Senior Health Policy Analyst, UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Dominique Ritley, MPH

Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics UC Davis School of Medicine and Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Patrick Romano, MD, MPH

Program Manager, Cal Healthcare Compare

Tracy Fisk

Executive Director, Cal Healthcare Compare

Bruce Spurlock, MD

Bruce Spurlock, MD is the Executive Director for Cal Healthcare Compare. He is also President and CEO of Convergence Health, a healthcare improvement organization whose vision is to create the day when suboptimal care is eliminated; when safe, reliable, and affordable healthcare is a reality for every patient. He leads and advises large improvement collaboratives at the regional, state, and national level designed to accelerate the implementation of evidence-based practices. He is a nationally known speaker on a broad range of health care topics including translating policy into practice, health care trends, and effectively engaging every stakeholder to drive improvement.

Director, Programs & Strategic Initiatives, Cal Healthcare Compare

Alex Stack, MPH

Senior Program Manager, Cal Healthcare Compare

AJ Rolle, MPH

AJ is joining Cal Healthcare Compare as a Senior Program Manager with nearly 10 years of experience in project management, analytics and quality improvement. Prior to this role, he was the Assistant Director, Quality Performance Improvement, at UChicago Medicine, leading a team of project and program managers in implementing QI initiatives across the health system.​

Previous to his work at UChicago Medicine, AJ spent 8 years at the American Hospital Association with a portfolio ranging from leading the measurement and evaluation of government-funded quality improvement initiatives to launching the 100 million mask campaign to support distribution of PPE during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as managing key initiatives within AHA’s behavioral health portfolio. ​

AJ earned an MPH, with a focus on Epidemiology, from University of Illinois – Chicago and Bachelor of Science degrees in Medical Microbiology & Immunology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.