Fellows: Class of 2025

Associate Chief Medical Officer, Associate Chief Quality Officer
Geisinger Health System

Dr. Alison Brodginski serves as the associate chief medical officer and associate chief quality officer for Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. She is also the medical director of documentation, coding, and quality improvement for the Geisinger Health System. From 2013 to 2023, Dr. Brodginski served as the northeast director of infectious diseases and continues to practice clinical medicine as an infectious diseases specialist for Geisinger. She completed her internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian – Weill Cornell and her infectious diseases fellowship at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Brodginski also holds an executive MBA with a focus in healthcare management. Her leadership centers on strategic quality improvement, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, advancing innovative approaches to patient care, and promoting a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, all while emphasizing enhanced financial performance.

Medical Director of Value Based Arrangements and
Director of Evidence-Based Medicine Education, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
CommonSpirit Health

Dr. Kavita Chawla is the medical director of value-based arrangements at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health since 2023 and the director of evidence-based medicine education for her primary care colleagues since 2018. She is passionate about value-based care as the solution to deliver on the quadruple aim in healthcare.

Dr. Chawla has been a dedicated primary-care internist for over a decade, taking care of multiple generations of families and individuals of diverse backgrounds. Her patients fuel her passion and bring fulfillment to her day. Her clinical interests include women’s metabolic and preventative medicine, transgender medicine, and intentional aging. She also enjoys teaching Virginia Mason Franciscan Health internal medicine residents and University of Washington medical students.

She earned dual Doctor of Medicine and Master of Health Administration degrees from The Ohio State University.

Executive Director of Belonging and Equity
John Muir Health

Anh Thang Dao-Shah is the executive director of belonging and equity at John Muir Health where she leads initiatives aimed to reduce disparities in workforce development, employee experience, health outcomes and patient experience throughout the health system. She is a belonging and equity strategist and researcher who has worked in both the public and non-profit sector. Before joining JMH, she was the director of equity and wellness at ZSFG and served as senior equity and policy analyst at the San Francisco Arts Commission where she led the agency’s initiative to pass the first racial equity action plan in the City and County of San Francisco. Anh received a Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California and taught women and gender studies, ethnic studies, and Asian American studies.

President, Onvida Health Medical Group
Onvida Health

Dr. Kristina Diaz currently serves as the inaugural president of Onvida Health Medical Group at Onvida Health. Prior to this role, she served as the executive medical director of primary care, chief academic officer, designated institutional official for GME and the program director for the family & community medicine residency at Yuma Regional Medical Center. She has received national recognition for her work as a program director. Dr. Diaz also recently served as president of the Association of Family Medicine residency directors as well as the president of the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Diaz is a graduate of the University of Arizona School of Business and Ross University School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center where she was appointed chief resident. She continues to practice as a family physician.

Chief Healthcare Experience and Population Health Officer
Providence Health Plan

Randi Escobedo is the Chief Healthcare Experience and Population Health Officer with Providence Health Plan. She is responsible for leading several key areas within the health plan including healthcare experience, health equity, CAHPS and HOS, strategic accounts management and risk adjustment.

Prior to joining Providence in 2021, Escobedo served on the United Healthcare Medicare and Retirement West Region team in a variety of roles overseeing strategic initiatives, member experience, quality, and risk adjustment for over two million Medicare Advantage members.

Escobedo has dedicated her career to improving healthcare in both public and private organizations. She began her career in public health where she expanded family planning access for teens, integrated mental and physical health services and resources in the jail setting, and worked with policy makers to implement local and state policies encouraging healthy communities.

She earned her BS in communications and MS in health education from Western Oregon University.

Associate Professor, Chair of Emergency Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital
University of Pennsylvania Health System

Dr. Jenice Forde is the first African American chair of emergency medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH), the nation’s first hospital. Since July 2022, Dr. Forde has led the transition of the PAH emergency department into the academic department of emergency medicine during a time of substantial growth with over 50K patient visits a year. In addition to practicing clinically, Dr. Forde advocates for emergency physicians and patients. She is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP), and in 2021 served as president of the New Jersey ACEP Chapter. Dr. Forde is a national speaker on provider bias and medical racism. Dr. Forde won the ACEP’s 2021-2022 Scientific Assembly Rookie Speaker of the Year award for her talk titled, Dx: Medical Racism, What is the treatment? Most recently, Dr. Forde received the Dr. Wes Curry Award in Executive Leadership during ACEP2024 National Scientific Assembly.

Chief Operating Officer, Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Melissa Feld Helicke is vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine, vice president and chief operating officer for the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians and executive director of the Clinical Practice Association.

In these roles, she ensures the success and efficient execution of all operations within the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians and the Clinical Practice Association, working in tandem with representatives from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the hospitals and the Johns Hopkins Health System on the shared vision of clinical growth and integration.

Previously, Helicke served as chief operating officer for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, where she was responsible for practice operations across all of the locations and led primary care expansion planning and implementation through practice integrations and new-build growth.

Helicke joined Johns Hopkins Medicine in 1996 as an administrative fellow. She then served as administrator for the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and assistant dean for the campus for nearly 15 years.

Helicke earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Pennsylvania State University and master’s degrees in health administration and business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Chief Administrative Officer, Crown Point
UChicago Medicine

Lauren Hull is currently the chief administrative officer at UChicago Medicine Crown Point. She had spent the first seven years of her career at UCM in various leadership roles and left to explore other facets of healthcare in 2014. She was at Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in Austin, Texas and Richmond, Virginia from 2014-2018 and then moved back to the Midwest as the chief operating officer at Porter Regional Hospital (Northwest Health Porter) from 2018-2021 and then became the vice president of surgical and procedural services at Little Company of Mary Medical Center from 2021-2022 before returning to UChicago Medicine in 2022. Hull has always enjoyed working with staff, leaders and physicians to improve operations and expand services. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea Ohio and a Master of Health Services Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio.

Senior Vice President and Regional President West
Henry Ford Health System

Shanna Johnson is the senior vice president and regional president west for Henry Ford Health System. Prior to her current role, she was the president of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. She joined Henry Ford Health in April 2022. She also serves as interim president of Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, since September 2023.

Johnson works in collaboration with the health system and hospital executive leadership teams and oversees the hospital’s strategic planning and operations. Her focus is on creating a high quality, safe environment while emphasizing patient, employee, and physician engagement.

Johnson is an experienced executive leader within complex and matrix organizations, including national integrated health systems, community, and large academic organizations. She is a transformational leader who understands engaging others through innovation and collaboration. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Health Services Administration degree from the University of Michigan. She holds numerous certifications and community leadership roles. Notably, she is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Chief Strategy Officer, South Region
CommonSpirit Health

Kate Jones is the Chief Strategy Officer, South Region for CommonSpirit Health. Prior to joining CommonSpirit she was the Senior VP and Chief Strategy Officer for Rush University System for Health. Kate joined Rush as the vice president of strategic planning in February 2020 and immediately distinguished herself as a results-oriented leader with expertise in operational efficiencies, financial performance and strategic growth.

Jones has been responsible for consumer, payer and competitor intelligence to support data-driven decision-making. She has partnered with internal and external leaders to identify opportunities to grow the network across all care sites and expand the ambulatory footprint in key geographies.
Jones brings a strong record of success as a leader from her previous roles at Navigant Consulting, University of Chicago Medicine and Barnes- Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

She earned her master’s in health services administration from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She has a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Arkansas.

Chief Wellness Officer
Sutter Health

Jill Kacher Cobb is the chief wellness officer in the office of wellbeing at Sutter. Prior to her current role she was the chief medical executive at Sutter Novato Community Hospital and the wellbeing co-lead for Sutter Health. She is a director for the Sutter Health Bay Board and chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee. After completing residency at the University of California San Francisco, she worked as a private practice anesthesiologist where she served as department chair and chief of staff at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (Summit campus) in Oakland, California.

System Vice President, Transformation Services & Chief of Staff
City of Hope

Rachel Laurs serves as a system vice president and leads a team that operates as an internal consultancy and center of excellence providing strategic advisory support and program and change leadership to accelerate the success of City of Hope’s transformation journey and strategic initiatives portfolio. Laurs holds a dual role as chief of staff to the EVP chief transformation officer with a specific focus on system organizational design, culture change, and governance effectiveness. Prior to joining City of Hope in 2019, Rachel was a senior manager in Accenture’s strategy practice and previously held human resources and business roles across multiple industries and geographies. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies and high-growth start-ups to transform their organizations and achieve strategy through enabling their operations and people to be more effective, leveraging her expertise in strategy, operating model, organizational effectiveness, large scale change, leadership development and talent strategy.

Chief Quality Officer and Vice President, UCSF Health & Clinical Professor, Anesthesia & Perioperative Care
UCSF 

Amy Lu, MD, MPH, serves as the chief quality officer and vice president, UCSF Health and clinical professor, anesthesia and perioperative care at UCSF Health where she leads initiatives to improve the quality of care in the ambulatory, inpatient and network settings. Her efforts are dedicated to improving value, creating innovative care models, establishing teamwork and improvement programs, and decreasing health disparities. She is a core faculty member for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement CQO program, co-chairs the Vizient Quality Executive Network, and was named as one of Becker’s patient safety experts to know.

Amy graduated from UC Berkeley, attended medical school at UCSF, and obtained an MPH at Harvard School of Public Health. Amy completed a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, medicine internship at Beth Israel Deaconess, and residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in anesthesiology, perioperative and critical care. She has practiced at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Health Care, and currently practices at UCSF.

Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Planning, National Capital Region
Johns Hopkins Health System

Anu Mullick serves as the vice president of strategic initiatives and planning for Johns Hopkins Health System in the National Capital Region. She leads strategy development and business planning to drive clinical growth and expansion across inpatient and outpatient platforms. Mullick is also responsible for implementing operational plans for key clinical service lines across the inpatient and ambulatory settings within the National Capital Region.

Vice President of Strategy and Growth, Wisconsin Region
Advocate Health

Montana Passero, MPA, PMP, is a dynamic healthcare leader known for adaptive problem-solving and strategic thinking. With over a decade of experience in strategy and business development, she currently serves as the Vice President of Strategy and Growth, Wisconsin Region for Advocate Health. Prior to joining AH, she was the Executive Director at Yale New Haven Health’s office of strategy management. Ms. Passero was responsible for developing and executing the system strategic growth plan, comprised of geographic and service expansion. Ms. Passero’s ability to navigate complex challenges and deliver innovative solutions resulted in the success of several high-impact projects that she led. Prior to Yale New Haven Health, Ms. Passero spent three years at RWJBarnabas, facilitating the system’s operational excellence program and developing strategic assessments and recommendations for the organization. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health and Master of Public Administration (Healthcare) from Rutgers University.

Vice President Finance
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Sherron Rogers enjoys working with large organizations to lead transformational change in a manner that empowers those closest to the work. She serves as the Vice President, Finance at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  Prior to her current role she was the Chief Financial Officer of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

Prior experience includes system leadership roles and transformational results at Eskenazi Health (2016-2021) and Indiana University Health (2004-2016). Rogers has a passion for improving organizations and communities, and swiftly moving ideas from strategy to action, and pursues this passion at work and throughout the community on various boards.

Chief Operating Officer
CountyCare, Cook County Health

Crissy Turino is the chief operating officer at CountyCare and Cook County Health where she has held progressive leadership roles since 2017 and now leads the plan-wide strategic planning cycle, accreditation, project and program management, member experience, and growth for a Medicaid health plan serving over 417,000 Cook County residents. She has committed her career to strengthening the health system and creating new resources to increase access to quality care. Prior to joining Cook County Health, Turino focused on health equity initiatives and advocacy programs at the Office of Student Health and Wellness at Chicago Public Schools, the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, and Champaign County Health Care Consumers. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Turino earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in maternal and child health, and a Master of Business Administration.

Vice President of Perioperative & Procedural Services
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)

Christine Wade is the VP of perioperative and procedural services since 2023. Prior to this role, she filled the role as interim chief nurse executive for one year, while managing her role of administrator and associate chief nursing and patient care officer from 2022-23.

From 2019-2023, Wade oversaw all campus operations as ACNO including three different hospital expansions. She has served in multiple roles between 2012-2019 at UTMB including interim vice president, health system operations and leader of the biocontainment unit, a program and unit which she designed and created.

She holds a Doctorate in Nursing from University of Texas at Arlington, and a master’s in nursing from Columbia. She is involved in health care volunteerism. Wade is involved with the American Heart Association serving as chair twice for Heart Ball, was selected as a Houston Woman of Impact in 2024, and has served on several boards.

Chief Medical Executive, Sutter Roseville Medical Center
Sutter Health

Dr. Vanessa Walker is a board certified pulmonary and critical care physician. She received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in 2007. She then completed internal medicine residency at University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine where she stayed an additional year to serve as chief resident. Dr. Walker pursued subspecialty training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Duke University where she also graduated with a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics from the Fuqua School of Business. She has had many leadership positions within Sutter Health including serving as the medical director of the Valley Area eICU and her current role as chief medical executive of Sutter Roseville Medical Center. She is involved in organized medicine and served as the 2024 president of the board of directors for the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society and is a delegate for the California Medical Association.

Associate Administrator
Mayo Clinic

Jennifer Walter is the Associate Administrator for the equity, inclusion and diversity committee at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. She joined Mayo Clinic in 1998 in the department of human resources and held various HR leadership positions. Prior to her current roles, Walter’s was the vice chair of operations for Rochester Primary Care and the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Practice. Previous positions included serving as the vice chair of administration for Mayo Clinic in Southeast Minnesota and Midwest Primary Care. Walter holds a Master of Science in Management from the University of Maryland and is certified as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

CEO/President
Sisters Together and Reaching, Inc

Randi Woods is a visionary nurse executive dedicated to driving innovation at the intersection of health equity and economic development.

As CEO of Sisters Together and Reaching, Inc. (STAR), Woods leads the organization’s continued growth, including its recent accreditation as a Community Health Worker (CHW) training institute, reimagining the public health workforce and improving community care in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Woods also serves on multiple boards committed to community empowerment, including at Health Care for the Homeless – a federal qualified health center (FQHC) and nonprofit provider of coordinated care, policy advocacy, and affordable housing services in Baltimore, MD.

Previously, as a population health leader in the insurance sector, she oversaw professional development for hundreds of nurses, delivering significant ROI and improved outcomes.

Her unique blend of experiences in nursing, public health, and business transformation has forged impactful national partnerships and large-scale programs that integrate health systems with community-based organizations.