HANYS’ Healthcare & Policy Speakers

As president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, Bea Grause is a passionate advocate for New York’s nonprofit and public hospitals, health systems and post-acute and continuing care providers. She also oversees HANYS’ nationally engaged for-profit business services. Since her tenure began in 2016, she has contributed her extensive clinical, political and legal know-how to the organization’s agenda and in discussions with state and federal healthcare stakeholders.

Throughout the tremendous challenges of the pandemic, Grause’s leadership ensured that New York’s hospitals and health systems had the resources, flexibility and government support needed to preserve care in communities across the state. Grause continues to advocate on behalf of New York’s hospitals and health systems as they face fiscal, workforce and payer challenges post-pandemic.

Prior to HANYS, Grause served as president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems for 14 years, successfully leading Vermont hospitals through a variety of reform initiatives, including the state’s single-payer debate, and building the hospitals’ brand as trusted, competent leaders.

Grause spent 10 years in Washington, D.C., in a variety of positions. She began her D.C. tenure as a legislative assistant, first in the office of Rep. Norman Y. Mineta and then for Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II. After she left Capitol Hill, Grause simultaneously held senior governmental affairs positions with the Tennessee Hospital Association and Massachusetts Hospital Association. She spent three years working as counsel with the law firm of Foley, Hoag. In this role, she developed tailored legislative and regulatory strategies for many healthcare clients. Grause previously worked as a registered nurse, primarily in the emergency room and intensive care areas at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center of California.

She completed a three-year term (2012 to 2015) as an at-large member of the American Hospital Association board of trustees, including a 2015 term on the AHA Executive and AHA CEO Search Committees. As part of her AHA board responsibilities, she also served as chair of the AHA Allied Advisory Committee on Medicaid.

Grause earned her Juris Doctorate in 1991. She earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Boston College in 1979 and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is also a 2003 graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute.

Cristina Batt oversees all of HANYS’ federal government relations and advocacy activity, working with lawmakers and HANYS’ members to advance the association’s legislative and regulatory agenda.

Before joining HANYS, Batt served as vice president, federal relations, for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. In that role, she expanded the profile of IHA’s Washington office and advanced IHA’s advocacy agenda, including successfully securing federal approval of a comprehensive redesign of the state’s provider assessment program.

Batt served nearly eight years in the office of U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and as senior policy advisor she managed his health portfolio on the Energy and Commerce Committee. After leaving Capitol Hill, Batt spent three years managing the federal relations portfolio for the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and four years as a program analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focusing on HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis prevention and workplace safety. She graduated from Hamilton College.

At HANYS, Jeff Gold works with the payer community, state and federal regulators and New York state government to address provider issues related to managed care. Gold has drafted, negotiated and helped secure major packages of managed care reform legislation that impact external appeals, administrative denials, claims processing and payer practices. He designed HANYS’ highly regarded Managed Care SWAT training program and coaches hospitals on claims denial management and contract negotiation strategies.

Before starting at HANYS, Gold was special counsel for healthcare to the New York state Attorney General. He served four Attorneys General in New York and was the founding chief of New York’s Health Care Bureau in 1997. Gold joined the Attorney General’s office in 1987 and oversaw units of the Attorney General’s office at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw; Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo; and the three State University of New York medical centers in Brooklyn, Syracuse and Stony Brook. Before 1987, he worked at two private law firms in New York City, with a focus on civil litigation. He is a frequent lecturer at Bar Association meetings, healthcare conferences and Healthcare Financial Management Association events and has published several articles. He is vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section. Gold has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School.

Kevin Krawiecki leads HANYS’ fiscal policy and data informatics division. He has compiled more than 20 years of Medicare and Medicaid fiscal policy experience during his tenure with HANYS, serving in various capacities, including data analyst and data product director for both HANYS and its analytic subsidiary DataGen^®, and associate director of federal relations in HANYS’ Washington, D.C., office during the development and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In his current capacity, Krawiecki focuses on the development of rational fiscal policy at both the state and federal levels. He received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Kathleen Rauch has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare quality, patient safety and regulatory and accreditation compliance. Working in the acute care setting, she has served as a lead on initiatives for adopting the Just Culture methodology, achieving zero preventable harm and implementing strategies to improve performance on value-based payment programs. Rauch has been published in the Journal of Healthcare Quality and has served as a presenter at regional conferences where she has shared readmission reduction strategies. As vice president of HANYS’ QARI division, Rauch provides strategic direction, planning, coordination and oversight for development and execution of HANYS’ quality and patient safety agenda. She oversees numerous quality improvement grant projects, directs the formulation of advocacy and education strategies for HANYS’ quality agenda, collaborates with HANYS’ members, advocates on their behalf with regulators and policymakers and develops collaboratives and other educational resources. She holds a Master of Science in healthcare quality and safety from Thomas Jefferson University.

As vice president of external affairs, Nick Henley is HANYS’ point person for interacting with the senior leadership of hospitals and health systems across the state. He directs HANYS’ member services, including industry-leading member engagement efforts, analysis of healthcare system and market trends and development of strategic public policy.

Henley also leads HANYS’ political action efforts, serving as treasurer of HANYS’ influential state and federal political action committees. Henley took on these roles in 2015 after working in HANYS’ governmental affairs division for ten years, including serving as director of governmental affairs.

Henley also serves as executive director of Healthcare Trustees of New York State, principally focused on assisting healthcare board members through education, communications and advocacy. In this role, Henley works directly with the HTNYS board and oversees HTNYS’ advocacy and educational initiatives.

Before coming to HANYS in 2005, he worked at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in Albany and in various capacities at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. Henley graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and from the School of Public Health at the State University of New York at Albany with a Master of Public Health concentrating in health policy and management.

As senior vice president, state policy, Amy Nickson oversees HANYS’ state-level legislative, regulatory and administrative priorities and related analyses and programs. She joined HANYS in 2018 as vice president, governmental affairs. Nickson’s extensive experience in the government and legislative arena allows her to navigate the complexities of state government and work to advance New York’s hospitals and health systems’ state-level priorities.

Nickson previously served as vice president, policy and external affairs, at Community Health Care Association of New York State. Before that, Nickson spent 10 years at the Department of Health, most recently as assistant commissioner of the Office of Governmental and External Affairs. In that role, she was responsible for advising the commissioner of health and senior officials in the governor’s office and the Division of the Budget on policy matters. Nickson also served as a key representative in executive budget development and annual negotiations with the Legislature. Prior to this, she served as deputy director of DOH’s Office of Governmental Affairs. Before joining DOH, Nickson spent a decade in the New York State Assembly, where she served as a legislative analyst working on a variety of human services-related issues. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Richmond.

Sandi Toll is HANYS’ General Counsel and is responsible for overseeing all of HANYS’ legal, compliance and contractual matters, including those of HANYS’ affiliated organizations and for-profit subsidiaries. She joined HANYS after serving as first assistant counsel to the New York state governor, a position she attained after serving as an assistant counsel to the governor for health-related matters.

Prior to joining the governor’s office, Toll was a partner at the law firm of Jenner & Block LLP. As a member of the firm’s healthcare litigation and complex commercial litigation practices, she represented clients on healthcare fraud and abuse matters, supervised and conducted internal investigations and maintained an extensive pro bono practice.

Toll has a J.D. magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a Bachelor of Science with Distinction from Cornell University.