Fellows: Class of 2019

Sutter Health, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
Area Operations Executive

Cecilia Aviles is an area operations executive for Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Aviles has 30 years’ experience in health care. She currently oversees the operations of PAMF’s Peninsula Divisions multi-specialty clinics. Experienced in both ambulatory and acute care, Aviles has served in several leadership positions in operations, strategy and business development. She holds her R.N. degree from San Francisco State University and Master of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business. Aviles was recognized in 2018 as one of the Bay Area’s Top Hispanic Nurses. She is passionate about improving the health in her community and exceptional patient experience.

Zyter | TruCare
Chief Value Officer

Joanne Berrios is the chief value officer for Zyter/TruCare where she leads the strategic planning, financial operations, value creation and communication to boards, management, and customer stakeholders. She is responsible for leading the pricing and product strategies to advance value-based adoption for both health plans and providers. Most recently, Joanne led the commercialization strategy for Salesforce’s Health & Life Sciences Payer division. Prior to joining Salesforce, Joanne held the chief financial officer role at a multi-billion-dollar health plan. Joanne was recognized as Jacksonville’s Top 50 Women Leaders for 2023. She holds a Master of Accounting from the University of North Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Florida. She is an active CPA and began her career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen, LLP.

Geisinger Health System
Chair, Geisinger Women’s and Children’s Institute

Dr. Sandra Culbertson joined Geisinger Health System in June 2017 as chair of Women’s Health department. As of January 2019, she takes the role of chair of the Geisinger Women’s and Children’s Institute. She is maintaining her role as chair of Women’s Health and will continue her work in expanding high quality comprehensive obstetric and gynecologic care for the women of central Pennsylvania. Culbertson is a clinical professor at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She is a board certified urogynecologist and she specializes in treatment of recurrent urinary incontinence and recurrent pelvic organ prolapse. Culbertson is a graduate of the University of Virginia (undergraduate and medical school) and she completed her residency and fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Rush University Medical Center
Professor and Chairperson, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Dr. Sheila A. Dugan has been at Rush University Medical Center since 2003, previously at Partner’s HealthCare. She is professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and section chief since 2017. She has been director of the Program for Abdominal and Pelvic Health and co-investigator on the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) since 2004. She is chair of the Rush Women’s Leadership Council since 2006. She is a co-investigator on the National Institutes of Health-supported community-based participatory research in health equity. She has served on the Board of the American College of Sports Medicine and Chaired the Strategic Health Initiative for Women, Sports and Physical Activity from 2005 to 2009.

(Fellowship sponsored by BDC Advisors)
North Mississippi Medical Center 
Vice President, Post Acute and Rehabilitation Services

Angie Everett began her career at North Mississippi Medical Center in 1990. She is currently serving as the VP for Post Acute and Rehabilitation Services, which oversees post-acute and rehabilitation services, oversight for care management and care transitions at North Mississippi Medical Center, the flagship hospital for North Mississippi Health Services, and the largest rural hospital in America. Everett provides strategic leadership to post-acute services across a robust continuum of care while aligning those services with the system’s clinically integrated network, host of community hospitals, and accountable care organization. She is a licensed certified social worker, a certified case manager, a licensed nursing home administrator, and serves as a surveyor for the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities. Everett earned her undergraduate degree in social work from Mississippi State University and her Master in Social Work from the University of Southern Mississippi. Everett has a passion for leading initiatives to improve patient centered care transitions.

Dartmouth Health
Chief Financial Officer for Dartmouth Health and System Vice President, Financial Planning

Wendy Fielding was appointed chief financial officer in 2021 and has been vice president of financial planning for the Dartmouth Health system since 2009. Fielding’s responsibilities include providing business and analytical decision support, overseeing the annual financial planning cycle for the organization, and developing long-term financial projections that align with the system’s strategic vision. Prior to joining D-H, Fielding held positions as the chief financial officer at Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, and director of financial reporting and analysis at Boston Medical Center. She is a trustee at Cheshire Medical Center and the treasurer of the AVA Gallery and Art Center. A 2015 graduate of the Leadership New Hampshire program, she holds a Master of Business Administration in healthcare management from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Bentley University.

CommonSpirit
System Vice President of Value Based Clinical Strategy

Dr. Melissa Gerdes joined CommonSpirit (Dignity) in May 2020 in the role of System Vice President of Value Based Clinical Strategy. This position is in the
Population Health Division of the Physician Enterprise office in San Francisco, working across the 21 states where CommonSpirit operates to set strategy and direction and assist in goal achievement via the physician enterprises. Previously, she was at John Muir Health in the role of medical director of clinical effectiveness with responsibilities for patient quality, safety, and value-based care in clinical integration, accountable care, and physician network areas. Gerdes earned a B.S. in communications at Northwestern University, her M.D. at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, and completed her residency at the University of Texas at Tyler, where she was chief resident.

Henry Ford Health System
Chief Operating Officer, Henry Ford Medical Group

Linda Gifford started her career in operations as a radiation therapist at Henry Ford Hospital. After earning her MBA, she moved to positions of increasing responsibility. As practice manager of the Cancer Institute, Gifford spearheaded a $5.4 million grant for the CMS demonstration project, “Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Cancer Screening and Treatment in African Americans.” After serving as senior administrator for neurosciences, she transitioned to the role of vice president of ambulatory operations. Gifford is now interim chief operating officer for the medical group while maintaining the VP role. Additionally, Gifford has strong ties to the community and serves on the boards of both Lourdes Senior Community and the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

HCA Lewis Gale Montgomery
Urogynecology

Dr. Tamera Howell is an ob-gyn physician at HCA Lewis Gale Montgomery, and a past president of Carilion Clinic New River Valley Medical Center. She is section chief of New River Valley Obstetrics and Gynecology. She also serves as a board member of New River Valley Medical Center, and director of the Urinary Sexual Health Center and Robotics Program Carilion New River Valley Medical Center. Howell has dedicated her career to family, community, God, and women’s health care. She is a passionate supporter of women leaders in medicine and committed to advancement of these individuals and other younger women in health care roles. She enjoys outdoor activities, including horseback-riding, kayaking, and riding motorcycles. A former college athlete, Howell loves many sports and supports The Virginia Tech Hokies.

Sutter Health
Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer

Cynthia Lee has been with Sutter Health for more than 15 years, starting her career at Alta Bates Medical Center and then moving to the system. Formerly, she was the system vice president of strategy and business development. Prior to returning to Sutter, she was employed by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Healthplan as the vice president of delivery system strategy and business development for the Northern California Region and led her own healthcare strategy consulting firm. She has more than 25 years of experience in market-facing strategy, mergers and acquisitions, network development and clinical service line development. She is married to Patrick and they have 3 sons: Tyler, a mechanical engineer; Evan, a college student majoring in business; and Max, a high school sophomore. Family time is spent playing music together, visiting Disneyland and cheering on their alma mater the Cal Bears during football season.

Duke University Health System
Associate Vice President of Government Relations

Catherine Liao is responsible for leading the implementation of a comprehensive and diversified federal government relations program, working to strengthen Duke Health’s identity and reputation on biomedical research, education, training, and service. Prior to joining Duke, she worked for nearly six years in the Washington Office of Congressman David Price, handling health, education, labor, and housing appropriations issues. She has worked as a research assistant at the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, assisting staff with review of federal health reform legislation and recommendations for implementation at the state level. She also completed an administrative fellowship and served in the Office of the Chief of Staff at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Liao holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.

San Diego County
Child Health Officer

Dr. Kelly Motadel grew up in a suburb of San Diego, where she lives and works now. She did her undergraduate education at Yale University before spending a year in Philadelphia volunteering with the homeless. She returned to San Diego for her medical education at University of California, San Diego before heading to Fresno for her pediatric residency training at the UC San Francisco-Fresno program. While in her residency training, she simultaneously achieved her Masters of Public Health from California State University, Fresno. After her chief residency year, she settled in San Diego county at Vista Community Clinic (VCC), quickly rising into leadership as the CMO. During her 15 years with VCC, the organization nearly tripled in size and now extends across three counties. Now she would like to extend her reach beyond the clinic and has recently been more involved with political advocacy work, especially as it pertains to healthcare for the underserved.

Kaiser Permanente
Vice President, Market Operations – Performance and Impact 

Ije-Enu Udeze Nwosu is an executive and key strategist at Kaiser Permanente, and formerly served as the chief of staff to the chairman and CEO since 2010. In her leadership role, Nwosu has provided high-level counsel to the CEO and to the senior executive team for one of America’s leading integrated health care systems and not-for-profit health plans. She has been accountable for leading key initiatives in support of the organization’s business priorities and shaping the strategic agendas for the organization’s executive forums. Joining the organization as a business analyst, she also served as a senior operations manager where she drove the development and execution of a region’s strategic, operational and service delivery plans, specifically leading a redesign of specialty care. Nwosu was named a “Top 40 under 40” executive by the San Francisco Business Times and was recognized by Modern Healthcare with both the “Up and Comer” award and as one of the “Top 10 Minority Executives in Healthcare to Watch.” A committed community leader, she serves on the boards of Girls Inc. of Alameda County, MAKERS@ (a partnership that is disrupting the ways companies think about female leadership) and Utuh USA (an organization supporting education and economic revitalization in Eastern Nigeria).

Temple University Health System
Chief Medical Officer, Population Health

Dr. O’Connor is the CMO of Temple Center for Population Health. Prior to Temple, she was the CMO at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Subacute and Therapy Services and CMO of Penn Medicine’s home health and hospice agencies, home infusion companies, home palliative care program, and community health worker program. Before her CMO appointments at Penn, Dr. O’Connor was the Chief of Palliative Care for Penn Medicine and Fellowship Program Director and was a Professor of Clinical Medicine at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. She also served as Medical Director at Arkansas Hospice in Little Rock and Faculty and Director of Community Medicine Curriculum for Chestnut Hill Family Practice Residency in Philadelphia. Dr. O’Connor earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University and her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She completed her residency in family medicine and fellowship in faculty development at the University of Virginia as well as a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dartmouth Health
Vice President, Regional and System Integration

Mary Oseid has 25 years of experience in healthcare finance, operations and leadership. In her current role as vice president of system integration and regional services for Dartmouth Health, Oseid leads the organization’s efforts to integrate clinical and support services across system member locations. She is also the organization’s leadership liaison to out-of-system regional partners, manages the New England Alliance for Health and has responsibility for the system’s telehealth program. Oseid has served in this role since 2014. Oseid started her career in finance as an auditor and consultant for a large accounting firm. She joined Dartmouth Health in 1994 in a finance role and worked her way up to Director of Finance for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic. In 2000, her professional focus shifted to operations when she assumed leadership for the ambulatory division at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

University of Chicago Medicine
Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer

Amy Ross is the executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer. She joined University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) in 2017. Currently, Ross’ role focuses on strategic planning, service line development, and integration, mergers, and acquisition activities. Prior to joining UCM, she held leadership roles at Northwestern Medicine and NorthShore University Health System and in healthcare consulting at The Chartis Group and Deloitte. Ross’ prior experience is in large academic medical centers and health systems where she worked in operations, strategic planning and service line development, and IT system implementation. Her roles have included clinical and non-clinical program management and development across the care continuum and day-to-day operations in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings. Ross holds a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the College of St. Benedict.

Yale New Haven Health System
Senior Vice President; Chief Operating Officer, Bridgeport Hospital

Pamela Scagliarini is the chief operating officer at Bridgeport Hospital and senior vice president of Yale New Haven Health System (2014 to present) having responsibility for patient care operations, ancillary services, and non-clinical operations for all inpatient and outpatient facilities ($540 million in revenue). Scagliarini oversees the development and execution of a seven-year capital plan comprised of approximately $50 million per year. Pam has profit-and-loss responsibility, leading significant programmatic growth and cost management initiatives while meeting the patient care and community mission of the hospital. She also co-created the Northeast Purchasing Coalition LLC with VHA, Inc. that continues to serve hospitals across the New England region. Scagliarini serves on the Girl Scouts of Connecticut Board and chairs the Board Development Committee and the Greater New England Supplier Diversity Council Board and chairs the inaugural Governance Committee. Pam is a Lean In Women’s Leadership Forum leader within her organization.

Marshfield Clinic Health System
Vice President for the Institute for Quality, Innovation and Patient Safety

Tammy Simon is the administrator for the Institute of Quality, Innovation and Patient Safety for Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS). She provides direction and support to the ambulatory and acute care operations leadership team for aspects of clinical care related to quality improvement, patient safety, clinical improvement, value based care, care management strategies, patient experience programs. Simon leads the organization in its efforts to develop a consistent model of high quality, patient-centered care while relying on evidence-based guidelines to produce favorable clinical and financial outcomes for patients with chronic conditions. Simon has been part of MCHS since 2001. Prior to MCHS, she worked in a variety of roles at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wis., and St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Simon received her BSN in Nursing at Concordia University in 1989 and her MSN with a focus on Nursing Leadership in Healthcare Systems at Regis University in 2009.