Iris Berman has served as the vice president and leader of Telehealth Services and has been instrumental in growing the program from design through inception and operation. In this role, she has worked with a variety of disciplines to expand the reach of Northwell Health’s telehealth services across the organization and to the communities it serves.

Berman has a long history of service and quality delivery. She began her career in direct patient care in the critical care arena and has held a variety of positions over her tenure including nursing education, process improvement, management and supervisory roles prior to joining the clinical transformation and telehealth teams. Berman was also a member of the first cohort of the High Potential Program and has served as a mentor for the program.

Berman received her BSN from the University of Bridgeport and her master’s in nursing administration from Adelphi University where she was the recipient of the Gertrude Ujhely scholarship award. Throughout her career Berman has been involved in both community and professional organizations all focused on improving provision of care and education for at-risk populations. She has been a public speaker for HIMSS, Philips, American Heart Association, C- Tel, Beckers, ATA, World Congress and GNYHA; the chair of the Long Island Nassau-Suffolk AHA Chapter of Nursing Education and past president of the Nassau County Association of Critical Care Nurses; and served as the Acute Care and TeleICU special interest group chair for the American Telemedicine Association from May of 2017 to May of 2019. Most recently, Berman served as an advisory board member for CTel and has been involved in telehealth advocacy in both New York state and national/Washington, D.C. meetings.

A dynamic and influential leader, Dr. Ebony Caldwell is dedicated to the pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion for all. With a profound sense of responsibility for this work, Caldwell continuously examines historical structural inequities and uses her voice to elevate and transform the experiences of underrepresented and marginalized populations through organizational change leadership and strategic system impact throughout private and public sector settings.

Compassion for humanity led Caldwell to her current role as vice president of diversity, health equity and inclusion for the Rochester Regional Health system, an organization that reaches 300K+ community members each year. Tasked with leading strategic planning of training, policy and implementation of diversity initiatives, Caldwell is developing an office that prioritizes and operationalizes DEI and serves as the point of contact for diversity-related guidance throughout the health system. Through collaboration with RRH leaders, Caldwell is building a sustainable infrastructure that attracts and retains a diverse workforce to meet community needs; she is committed to delivering robust and ongoing cultural and social awareness opportunities and training standards to promote a welcoming culture based on continuous improvement. In response to the current public health crisis, Caldwell leverages resources to develop innovative strategies while leading regional efforts to reduce healthcare disparities in communities of color.

Caldwell’s work had profound statewide impact when she served as the inaugural diversity and inclusion officer within the operations division of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the top law enforcement official in the state with 900+ employees. In this role, Caldwell strategically prioritized and operationalized the agency’s commitment to DEI. She intentionally aligned diversity principles with divisional outcomes, leading tactical implementation of policies and forging partnerships with key community stakeholders that ensured long-term DEI impact. Caldwell also established and chaired the Diversity Leadership Council focused on continuous improvement.

While working as an administrator in higher education, Caldwell discovered her passion for DEI work and transformative leadership. She served as Title III project director at Monroe Community College for the Building a Culture of Engagement and Success program where she successfully managed a $2M project budget and promoted the transparent, consistent and systemic use of data by all faculty members. Her contributions as affirmative action coordinator were foundational to her legacy and development as a diversity advocate; in this role she worked to ensure the use of inclusive language during the hiring and recruitment process and facilitated intentional conversations to align practice with policy and procedures throughout the institution.

Caldwell is dedicated to learning, personal development and purpose. She received her Doctor of Education degree in executive leadership from St. John Fisher College and is passionate about mentorship and promoting growth in those she leads. She values the opportunity to make meaningful connections and has been praised for being collaborative, direct and decisive, emotionally intelligent, and mindful of the lived experiences of others. She is skilled at having difficult but necessary conversations and supports equity and providing others with the tools that they need to be successful. Caldwell hopes that her work will lead to awareness and growth in others that will positively impact future generations, communities and systems for years to come. An active member within her own community, Caldwell serves as an advisor and committee member with the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Black History and Cultural Committee and the NAC Human Resource Subcommittee.

Patty Charvat has served as the senior vice president, marketing and strategy, for the Mohawk Valley Health System for the last five years, and has been engaged in developing comprehensive initiatives related to community health and outreach, workforce and work with other external constituencies. Charvat has been engaged in healthcare communications, marketing and external affairs for 30+ years, holding senior-level roles for trade organizations and hospitals. Prior to joining MVHS, Charvat was an independent healthcare marketing and communications consultant and worked with more than 50 different healthcare organizations across the country including hospitals, health systems, healthcare/hospital associations, state and national quality associations and healthcare data/analytics companies. Before that, she launched her career at HANYS, advancing to vice president of corporate communications and marketing. Charvat earned her Bachelor of Science in public relations and journalism from Utica College of Syracuse University.

Terri Couts has been on an inspiring journey as a dedicated senior leader and trailblazer in technology-enabled healthcare. She serves as the senior vice president and chief digital information officer at The Guthrie Clinic. With a rich background as a pediatric neonatal and critical care nurse, Couts seamlessly merges her nursing expertise with a deep understanding of how technology shapes clinical care.

Couts’s passion for innovation led her to earn board certification in nursing informatics from the American Nurses Association and a masters in healthcare administration. As a board member of CHIME Healthcare and distinguished certified healthcare CIO, she brings over two decades of nursing practice to the table. Couts excels in bridging the gap between clinical and informatics realms, advocating for a unified "one-patient one record" strategic platform.

At The Guthrie Clinic, Couts leads the innovation pillar of the strategic plan, driving care model redesign through state-of-the-art technology. Her visionary leadership places The Guthrie Clinic at the forefront of healthcare excellence, particularly in rural New York and Pennsylvania populations.

Couts’s recent achievements speak volumes about her commitment to excellence. The Guthrie Clinic’s STARS 10 status places them in the top 4% of Epic customers worldwide for the fourth consecutive year. Couts has also been recognized as a Top Innovator in 2023 by Modern Healthcare and received the Health Technology Excellence Award 2023 from the ECRI Institute, setting new benchmarks in healthcare innovation.

Couts’s true mission is to infuse joy back into medicine through technology-enabled care. Under her guidance, The Guthrie Clinic is dedicated to shaping the future of patient experiences and imaging tomorrow, today. Couts is redefining healthcare at The Guthrie Clinic through a harmonious blend of compassion and cutting-edge technology, including seamless integration during merger and acquisition activities, reduction in total IT spending on disparate systems and introducing technology that enables a digital platform for care model redesign.

Shana Dacon-Pereira is a detail-oriented professional with over 10 years of progressive experience in healthcare. As assistant vice president for corporate health system affairs in Mount Sinai Health System’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion, she provides guidance to system leadership on establishing diversity, equity and inclusion strategic priorities and initiatives. Among other talent pathway initiatives, she oversees the system’s Administrative Fellowship Program and is a certified patient experience professional as well as a certified educator in unconscious bias and radical inclusion concepts.

Dacon-Pereira has been a featured speaker, panelist and moderator at local and national conferences and forums for AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, American College of Healthcare Executives, National Center for Healthcare Leadership and HANYS, to name a few. She is also the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, having been most recently recognized on Crain’s New York Business’s 2023 40 Under 40 and Becker’s 2023 Emerging Provider Organization Leaders under 40 lists.

Dacon-Pereira received a Bachelor of Science in management from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She subsequently received a Master of Public Health in health policy and management from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from New York University.

Beth Delricco has over 20 years of experience directing all aspects of client services and business growth in healthcare technology and medical staffing. One of Adaptive’s founding team members, Delricco helped craft its hands-on, consultative and customer-service-focused approach to workforce solution programs. Responsible for overseeing the development of Adaptive’s customized programs and overseeing its service delivery teams, she is a workforce solutions expert and a gifted problem-solver. Delricco has a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Penn State.

As the founder and CEO of AblePay Health, John Fistner has embarked on a mission to address the inefficiencies plaguing healthcare systems. Drawing from his extensive experience as the CFO and COO of a hospital network, he identified a pressing issue: the escalating burden of out-of-pocket medical expenses on both patients and medical providers.

In 2016, Fistner established AblePay Health, a unique business model that has redefined the way hospitals, health systems and specialty providers perceive post-insurance patient reimbursements. By implementing AblePay’s innovative program, these healthcare institutions have been able to streamline operations and enhance financial sustainability. Moreover, AblePay Health empowers healthcare consumers by providing them with practical means to manage and fulfill their financial responsibilities.

Michael Giuliano is the president of Planetree International, a mission-driven nonprofit setting the global standard for person-centered excellence across the continuum of care. Giuliano joined the organization after nine years of healthcare management work in Australia. Most recently, he was the executive director of the international and consulting divisions of The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards working across Australia and 15 countries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific to support improvements in safety, quality and outcomes. During his tenure, he led the development of standards focused on person-centered care and systems to encourage healthcare organizations to improve services for patients, staff, families and surrounding communities.

Previously, Giuliano worked at St. John of God Healthcare in Melbourne leading complex transformational programs such as division divestments and workforce optimization. He received his master’s in healthcare policy and financing from the London School of Economics and is pursuing a PhD from the University of Cambridge exploring the impact of person-centered care implementation on outcomes and healthcare value.

As president of HANYS, Bea Grause is a passionate advocate for New York nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies and other healthcare organizations. 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, most recently helping guide the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by healthcare providers and state and federal policymakers.

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 chairman 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.

Dr. Damara Gutnick is a change agent passionate about providing culturally competent, high-quality, patient-centered care in a way that addresses what matters most to each patient. In her former role as medical director of the Montefiore Hudson Valley Collaborative — one of 25 Performing Provider Systems in the New York State Delivery System Redesign Incentive Payment program — Gutnick guided health system and practice transformation efforts to support the transition toward value-based payment and also managed a diverse portfolio of innovative projects focused on improving health equity.

Gutnick championed the spread of the international “What Matters to You?” movement to over 30 healthcare and social service organizations in New York’s Hudson Valley, and led the creation of a WMTY Implementation Toolkit that has been downloaded in over 43 states and 25 countries across five continents. Gutnick currently serves as the WMTY faculty member for HANYS’ Age-Friendly Collaborative. An internist by training, she is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and is ardent about using co-design processes to incorporate the patient and community voice into healthcare delivery redesign.

Gutnick currently serves as senior director for Montefiore Medical Center’s Office of Community and Population Health and is a professor in the departments of epidemiology and population health, family and social medicine, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Thomas Hallisey formulates and executes HANYS’ state and federal HIT regulatory and legislative advocacy agenda. This includes working with government agencies, lawmakers and other organizations to advance HANYS’ HIT agenda on behalf of New York’s hospitals and health systems.

Hallisey’s career includes extensive HIT work in the hospital setting, beginning as an application analyst at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut, and then working at several hospitals in New York state. He served as director of information services at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, and as vice president, information management and chief information officer, at Cortland Regional Medical Center. Next, he joined Menusguide.com, a startup company, as chief technology officer, and served as CIO for United Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he was executive IT adviser and CIO at Hartman Executive Advisors, an IT consulting firm.

Hallisey received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, has an ITIL v.3 Foundation Certification and is an affiliate of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and Healthcare Information Management Systems.

Co-Director, UR Health Lab
University of Rochester Medical Center

Dr. Michael Hasselberg is the first chief digital health officer at UR Medicine and is the co-director of the UR Health Lab, the health system’s digital health incubator. He was named in the “Top 50 in Digital Health” list by Rock Health to recognize his work to improve health equity through technological innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Board certified as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Hasselberg completed his PhD in health practice research at the University of Rochester and a postdoctoral certificate in healthcare leadership at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.

His expertise expands health and technology as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar Fellow and committee member for the National Academies Standing Committee on Primary Care. He has been an advisor on digital health modalities for DOH, HHS and the National Quality Forum. He also serves as an independent consultant to several digital health start-up companies, private foundations and health systems across the country.

Dr. Lonie Haynes arrived at RRH in August 2023. He leads the organization’s efforts in ensuring a diverse, inclusive and culturally competent workforce and advancing health equity and justice, impacting it’s more than 20,000 employees and the 1.6 million patients it serves across Western and Upstate New York. More recently, he was the principal and founding partner of the global firm, RD Consultancy, a bespoke DEI consulting firm. Additionally, from 2020 through 2021, Haynes was the inaugural senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer at AmerisourceBergen, a Fortune 10 global company. From 2012 through 2020, Haynes was with Highmark Health, the second-largest integrated health delivery and financing network in the nation, with over 37,000 employees and $26 billion in revenue. At Highmark Health he served as vice president and chief diversity officer. Before Highmark Health, Haynes, a Georgia native, spent over 20 years at AT&T, Sprint and Bell South, serving in several management capacities across diversity and inclusion, service delivery, project management and customer care. Before arriving at Highmark Health, he was a doctoral intern for the American Institute of Managing Diversity in Atlanta and was a National Urban Fellow® at the Skillman Foundation, a leading community philanthropic institution in Detroit.

Haynes holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, master’s degree in management science from Boston University, master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College at the City University of New York and, in 2012, was awarded a doctorate in law and policy with distinction from Northeastern University, where his dissertation addressed the reduction of health disparities through healthcare workforce diversity. He has been a guest lecturer, visiting professor and scholar in residence at major universities and institutions and a host and panelist at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops in the U.S. and overseas.

Haynes is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the National Association of Health Services Executives, a national board member emeritus for the American Association of People with Disabilities, an adjunct professor of public policy at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and, in 2022, he was inducted into Marquis’ Who’s Who in America 2022, the preeminent register and publication of America’s most prominent citizens. Haynes is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army and a former guardsman of the Georgia National Guard.

Tom Koulopoulos is chairman and founder of Delphi Group, a 30-year-old Boston-based think tank named one of the fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine, and the founding partner of Acrovantage Ventures, which invests in early-stage technology startups. He is also the author of 13 books, an Inc.com columnist, past executive director of the Babson College Center for Business Innovation, past director of the Dell Innovation Lab and a professor at Boston University.

His insights have received wide praise from luminaries such as the late Peter Drucker, the father of modern management; Dee Hock, founder of Visa International; and Tom Peters, who called his writing, “a brilliant vision of where we must take our enterprises to survive and thrive.” His Inc.com column is read by over one million people annually.

Koulopoulos’s thirteen books include his most recent, Reimagining Healthcare, The Bottomless Cloud, Revealing the Invisible, The Gen Z Effect and Cloud Surfing. His upcoming book, Gigatrends, looks at the seven tech trends that are shaping the future of how we live, work and play.

According to his mentor, Peter Drucker, Koulopoulos’s writing “makes you question not only the way you run your business but the way you run yourself.”

Ruth Landé is the vice president for provider relations at RIP Medical Debt, a non-profit that uses donated dollars to purchase and erase medical debt for low- and middle-income households. Prior to joining RIP, Landé was VP of revenue cycle for two large New York health systems. At RIP, she brings her understanding of revenue cycle to a national effort to find solutions that support patients, providers and communities.

Alvin Lin is the vice president of ambulatory care transformation and innovation at SBH Health System where he develops care delivery models to improve quality, outcomes and satisfaction while reducing cost of care. He also oversees the new SBH Health and Wellness Center which aims to redefine patient experience and build a culture of lifelong wellness and self-empowerment. The center includes 314 units of affordable housing, Center for Culinary Medicine and Teaching Kitchen, rooftop farm, farm stand, fitness center and women’s health and pediatrics services.

Alvin co-chaired several New York Medicaid redesign and value-based care committees and represents SBH on the Health Equity Task Force. He received degrees from the University of Southern California and Johns Hopkins University.

Chief Executive Officer Emeritus
Grinnell Regional Medical Center

Todd Linden, president, Linden Consulting, is dedicated to leading ways to improve the wellbeing of individuals and advance the quadruple aim for healthcare. Leader, speaker, innovator, he received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Iowa, is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and retired after 24 years as president of Grinnell Regional Medical Center where he was named CEO Emeritus.

Grinnell Regional Medical Center was cited by The Washington Post for its optimal healing environment and by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for innovations in quality and patient safety.

Linden has received numerous honors including the University of Iowa’s “Outstanding Alumni Award”, the Iowa Hospital Association’s “Excellence in Leadership Award” and “The Board of Trustees Award” by the American Hospital Association. He has had the opportunity to testify in the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and special conferences with both President’s Clinton and Obama on healthcare and economic development issues.

Linden served on the boards of the American Hospital Association, Grinnell College, AHA’s Health Forum, University of Iowa College of Public Health and the National Rural Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

He is also an adjunct professor and executive in residence for the Health Management and Policy Department at the University of Iowa, as well as a regular faculty for the American College of Healthcare Executives. At ACHE he taught the CEO Bootcamp and served on the editorial board of Frontiers magazine. Linden is also an advisor for governWell, a nationally recognized governance excellence organization.

Domenico Montanaro is NPR’s senior political editor and correspondent. Based in Washington, D.C., his work appears on air and online delivering analysis of the political climate in Washington and campaigns. He also helps edit political coverage.

Montanaro joined NPR in 2015 and oversaw coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, including for broadcast and digital.

Before joining NPR, Montanaro served as political director and senior producer for politics and law at PBS NewsHour. There, he led domestic political and legal coverage, which included the 2014 midterm elections, the Supreme Court and the unrest in Ferguson, Mo.

Prior to PBS NewsHour, Montanaro was deputy political editor at NBC News, where he covered two presidential elections and reported and edited for the network’s political blog, "First Read." He has also worked at CBS News, ABC News, The Asbury Park Press in New Jersey and taught high school English.

Montanaro earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

As an expert physician-scientist, Dr. Nadkarni bridges the gap between comprehensive clinical care and innovative research. He is the system chief of the division of data-driven and digital medicine, co-director of the Mount Sinai Clinical Intelligence Center and director of the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine.

Before completing his medical degree at one of the top-ranked medical colleges in India, Nadkarni received training in mathematics. He then earned a master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and became a research associate at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. He completed his residency in internal medicine and clinical fellowship in nephrology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed a research fellowship in personalized medicine and informatics.

Nadkarni has authored more than 240 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including articles in The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine and Nature Medicine.

Nadkarni is the principal or co-investigator for several grants funded by the National Institutes of Health focusing on informatics, data science and precision medicine. He is also one of the multiple principal investigators of the NIH RECOVER consortium focusing on the long-term sequelae of COVID-19.

He holds several patents and is the scientific co-founder of investor-backed companies — one of which, Renalytix, is listed on NASDAQ. In recognition of his work as an active clinician and investigator, he has received several awards and honors including the Dr. Harold and Golden Lamport Research Award, the Deal of the Year award from Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, the Carl Nacht Memorial Lecture and the Rising Star Award from American Nephrologists of Indian Origin.

Julie O’Keefe is a dynamic and talented leader with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare staffing and vendor management industry. A recognized and respected innovator, she has worked with some of the most well-known healthcare institutions in the country, including large children’s hospitals, university healthcare systems and state hospitals, as well as state hospital associations. A managed service program pioneer, she has successfully developed managed service programs in multiple industries, including telecom, finance, IT, biotech and healthcare. In the healthcare space, she has been a hands-on manager in the implementations of multiple vendor management technology platforms, including Shiftwise, Fieldglass, B4health and VectorVMS. O’Keefe has a Bachelor of Applied Science in business communications from Indiana University.

Laura Palmer joined HANYS in February 2023 as the director of regulatory affairs. Prior to joining HANYS, Palmer worked as a program director at the New York State Department of Health in the Office of Aging and Long Term Care. Palmer began her career in healthcare as a nursing home social worker and holds a master’s degree in social work from the State University of New York at Albany. She brings a unique perspective to her regulatory work at HANYS with experience in both the public and private sectors. Palmer is proud to be part of the HANYS team and is committed to advocating for and educating members on regulatory issues affecting providers statewide.

In her role as associate commissioner for workforce development, Dana Politis leads special projects and initiatives to support New York’s workforce. Her goal is to ensure all New Yorkers are empowered with the right education, training and skills for the jobs of the future.

Before joining DOL, Politis was the founding director of community workforce programs at Montefiore Medical Center, leading community workforce development strategy and implementation. She implemented new partnerships with the New York City Department of Education, CUNY and other community-based organizations to design employer-led career readiness and workforce training programs in healthcare.

A Bronx native, Politis is a first-generation Greek American who was the first in her family to graduate from college. She has a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master’s degree in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Serving as the AHA’s top leader since 2015, Richard Pollack is widely recognized for his strong, effective advocacy and leadership on behalf of our nation’s hospitals, the patients and communities they serve, and the healthcare professionals those organizations support. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pollack built a coalition comprised of the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, state and regional hospital associations and other leading health organizations to support efforts in following public health guidelines, promoting vaccination, with a focus on vulnerable communities, and successfully obtaining the financial resources and regulatory flexibility to keep our hospitals open to care for their patients and communities during the most challenging public health crisis of our time.

As hospitals begin to recover and rebuild from the pandemic, Pollack is an influential leader in securing the field’s financial stability, as well as redefining the “H” to care for patients in more efficient and convenient ways. Under his leadership, the association launched a comprehensive effort to address historic workforce challenges. Through targeted investments, AHA is helping historically marginalized entrepreneurs spark bold innovation to improve healthcare access and affordability in underserved communities.

Pollack has shaped and grown what is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most respected and effective advocacy organizations. This includes both a sophisticated political and grassroots network in every congressional district in the country, as well as a political action committee, AHAPAC, that is one of the largest in healthcare.

Pollack has also guided AHA’s efforts to improve quality and patient safety, eliminate disparities in care and promote diversity in healthcare. Through its Health Equity Roadmap, AHA is leading a national initiative to drive improvement in healthcare outcomes, health equity, and diversity and inclusion. As an early leader committed to addressing the growing and evolving threats cyber crimes pose to patients and our healthcare system, Pollack launched a partnership with the FBI and other government agencies to help provide hospitals greater support and resources in this area.

A recognized advocate in expanding healthcare access, Pollack is a leader in many broad-based national coalitions that have improved healthcare coverage for patients. AHA is a founding member of the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, a media arm of the hospital field that leads an online community of more than two million activists dedicated to ensuring access to high-quality care for every American.

In addition to serving on AHA’s board of trustees and the board of directors of the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, Pollack is a member of steering committees for the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience and the Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector. In addition, he serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 and the Special Medical Advisory Group to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Pollack began his career in Washington, D.C., as a legislative assistant to Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, followed by serving as a legislative representative for the American Nurses Association. Pollack joined AHA in 1982, a tensure which has included more than 20 years as executive vice president for advocacy and public policy prior to becoming president and CEO. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications from the State University of New York at Cortland and a master’s degree in public administration from American University.

As director of nurse recruitment at University of Rochester Medical Center, Nancy Resseguie provides a strategic vision for nurse recruitment and retention. A graduate of Bloomsberg University, Resseguie’s clinical background is orthopedic nursing. In her over 30 years of nursing at Strong Memorial Hospital, she has served in a number of roles including staff nurse, nurse manager and recruitment coordinator.

Resseguie is passionate about the success of the new graduate nurse as it relates to transition to practice. She works closely with schools of nursing to prepare students for their future careers in nursing. Her 20 years of recruitment experience positions her well to navigate the current workforce challenges and design new approaches for recruiting and retaining the next generation of nurses and leaders. Under Nancy’s leadership, the Office of Nurse Recruitment also focuses on retention, leading the efforts to rebuild and stabilize the post-pandemic workforce. Resseguie is a member of the National Association of Health Care Recruiters and an expert in talent acquisition and creative strategies to support struggling new hires as well as leaders.

Dr. Carrie Roseamelia received her degree from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. With a decade of experience in primary care physician recruitment and rural health programming, she currently serves as director of the Office of Healthcare Workforce Innovation in the DOH Center for Health Care Policy and Resource Development. The office is focused on growing the supply of healthcare personnel to meet increasing demands across New York state, emphasizing the unique challenges and opportunities of expanding the workforce in underserved and historically marginalized communities. It addresses the state’s workforce shortage through program initiatives and data-driven policy recommendations. The office strives to collaborate with agencies and industries, gathering input from healthcare leaders, clinicians, educational organizations, employers, labor unions and other stakeholders to stay informed and ensure a meaningful impact.

After graduating from Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing in 1986, Suzanne Sullivan worked for two years as a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. After graduating from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 1991, Sullivan worked as an attorney for the IBM corporation. In November 1994, Sullivan joined the New York State Department of Health, representing them in legal proceedings against healthcare providers. Subsequently, she provided legal services to DOH executive staff and various DOH boards. She routinely provided legal guidance relating to healthcare facilities, clinical laboratories, medical radiation, health provider business transactions and healthcare practitioners.

In 2012, Sullivan joined the New York State Education Department as the executive secretary to the New York State Board for Nursing. She also served as the interim executive secretary to the State Boards for Medicine, Respiratory Therapy, Veterinary Medicine, Dietetics and Nutrition, Occupational Therapy, Acupuncture, and the Committees on Medical Physics and Athletic Training. In 2022, she was appointed as the executive secretary to the State Board for Clinical Laboratory Technology.

Dr. Eric Wei serves as senior vice president and chief quality officer for NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal safety net health system in the United States, serving over 1.3 million New Yorkers every year. He is professor of emergency medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and adjunct professor for the NYU School of Global Public Health. He is the fellowship director for the NYC Health + Hospitals Clinical Leadership Fellowship. He is a practicing emergency medicine physician who has rotated through all 11 emergency departments in the system. He serves on the board of MetroPlus Health and as faculty for the Greater New York Hospital Association/United Hospital Fund Clinical Quality Fellowship Program. He is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Wei previously served as interim chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in 2020 and NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in 2021. He was the interim chief quality officer and associate medical director for quality, safety and risk for LAC + USC Medical Center.

Wei received his bachelor’s degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology at University of California, Los Angeles. He completed the combined MD and MBA program at University of California, Irvine. Wei completed his emergency medicine residency and the Healthcare Administration Scholars Program at the University of Michigan. He was named in Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives and in the Becker’s Hospital Review Top Patient Safety Experts.