Schedule

Dennis Wichern is a partner in Prescription Drug Consulting LLC, focusing on medical prescriber protection, compliance, and risk mitigation. His experience includes 30 years of public service as a DEA Special Agent retiring in 2018 as the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division where he directed all federal operations in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota with a team of approximately 550 employees.

Dennis is a recognized expert on the dangers of heroin and the prescription drug opioid epidemic and routinely speaks to healthcare providers to identify methods to better safeguard their practices and reduce the professional and operational risks emanating from these threats. Dennis was the first to develop basic and advanced CME prescription drug classes focusing on prescriber safeguards, ASC's, DEA compliance, MAT, pain and drug destruction.

Jack’s entrepreneurial spirit has shaped StratX’s sales and account management teams to benefit our clients. His teams have the mindset to embrace critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement.

Before StratX, Jack served as founder and President of Professional Data Systems, Inc. with responsibilities including all sales, business development, client service management, and new technology acquisitions. Additionally, he oversaw all sales and marketing activities for Proven Backup, Inc., an online, healthcare specific, backup service (now owned by StratX). Prior to PDS, Jack held the position of Regional Sales Manager for G Barry & Associates where he was responsible for selling their PMS software and overall management of the Northeast territory.

Jack graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Political Science.

Terry is Vice President of Ambulatory Surgery Centers for Community Health Systems in Franklin, Tennessee. The CHS portfolio includes over 100 hospitals and 25 ASCs throughout the United States. Terry served as President of the national ASC Association (ASCA) from 2014 to 2016 and as President of the California Surgery Center Association (CASA) from 2012 to 2014. Terry was Vice President of Operations for two national surgery center companies and has managed surgery centers and surgical hospitals in 15 different states.

Terry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC). He holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and an undergraduate degree in Accounting. He served as faculty for the University of Florida as adjunct assistant professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program. He retired as Commander in the United States Navy Reserve after 24 years of military service.

Ms. Sariego, RN, BS, CASC, joined Physicians Endoscopy in 2011 and has over 30 years of healthcare industry experience focused in the hospital and outpatient surgery center setting. She has a strong background in business and clinical operations in ambulatory surgery center arena, including ASC/hospital joint ventures, with extensive knowledge of state, federal and accrediting agency regulatory and compliance standards. She oversees business and clinical operations for PE’s New York and New Jersey Centers, holds the CASC credential, and serves as a member of the board of directors for the ASCA PAC.

Brian Orgen, Senior Vice President, Operations oversees PE Practice Solutions (PEPS) day-to-day business operations. He has served in operational roles in the healthcare industry for the past 15 years, most recently as the national Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management for Privia Health, Inc. His areas of expertise include scaling operational efficiency, strategic planning, identifying/activating new growth opportunities, performance management and launching population health strategies.

My architectural firm, Marasco & Associates, has helped design/develop almost 400 ASC’s across the country, making us unparalleled in the industry. I have lectured at AAASC, ASCA, Becker’s ASC, OOSS… & written for The Monitor, OR Today, SurgiStrategies, Outpatient Surgery… on ASC design/development. I was the first architect to be recognized by Today’s Surgicenter as a “How’s Who in the Ambulatory Surgery Industry.” And most importantly I am a long standing member of ASCA.

Greg Zoch has been involved with the marketing of health care organizations and services and with the recruitment of health care professionals since 1990. Greg's deep knowledge and healthcare industry experience has given him keen insight into the issues, trends and motivating factors that are fundamental to business development, career growth, satisfaction and retention.

His singular focus is on the strategic growth and staffing initiatives of client companies, who develop, manage, consult with, and/or own and operate ambulatory surgery centers, and surgical hospitals throughout America.

Greg's assignments are primarily for clinical and operational leadership positions. These are typically corporate and facility level CEOs, COOs, CNOs, ASC Administrators and Directors of Nursing, and Regional to National Directors, VPs & C-level individuals in Facilities Development and Operations.

A partner, managing director, and shareholder in Kaye/Bassman International, Greg is a perennial top producer who has demonstrated both technical competency and a distinguished track record of success.

Greg has been an active member of the ASC Association since 2002 and is a frequent contributor of articles to trade publications, sought out as a subject matter expert, and presenter at numerous industry conferences.

Lee Anne Blackwell has over 30 years in healthcare services, with focus in ambulatory surgery nursing and management. She also developed clinical education and training topics related to the ASC clinical setting, including infection control, instrument processing, sterilization and high-level disinfection. Lee Anne currently serves as the VP of Clinical Services with Practice Partners in Healthcare, Inc., a Birmingham, AL based ambulatory surgery center management and development company, which is a subsidiary of Surgical Care Affiliates. Lee Anne and provides direct support to ASCs in multiple states regarding clinical and quality of care, support to quality committees, medical staff credentialing, and ASC accreditation and regulatory compliance. She has authored topics on patient care, and survey and regulatory information impacting ASCs in the AORN Journal and OR Manager Publication and has presented on various ASC topics at numerous healthcare conferences. Lee Anne actively maintains membership AORN, ASPAN, SGNA, APIC, IAHCSMM, and currently serves on the ASC Quality Collaboration Technical Expert Committee. Lee Anne serves on the infection preventionist certification examination task force for the development of the CAIP (Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist) certification, the newly recognized ASC designation for the infection preventionist in the ASC.

Gina Throneberry is the Director of Education and Clinical Affairs for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). In this role she educates members and non-members to the Medicare Quality Measure Reporting Program for ASCs. She also works with federal agencies (Medicare, CDC, FDA, OSHA) in regards to clinical, regulatory, and quality issues/concerns among the ambulatory surgery center industry. Ms. Throneberry is a board member of the Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. She is also a surveyor with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC).

For over 20 years, Janie Kinsey has been serving and delivering excellence to the healthcare industry. She is a seasoned veteran who genuinely loves what she does. Her passion dates back to 1998 when she began her career as a surgical nurse. Janie later grew into an administrative role where she managed staff members and directly focused on patient satisfaction. Today, Janie serves as the Administrator at Saint Luke’s Surgicenter in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. With CASC credentials, Janie strives to provide progressive care by developing and implementing programs that improve patient experience.

In addition to her daily duties, Janie stays active in the healthcare community by attending conferences, speaking at events, and serving as a board member. Janie is consistently asked to speak on various topics, educating her peers in the healthcare field. In the past, Janie furthered her engagement by serving as the Vice President, and later President, of the Kansas Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Today she serves the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association as the Secretary of the Board of Directors. In her personal time, she loves vacationing and traveling with her family. Janie is, and will continue to be, an outstanding healthcare provider for the Kansas City Metro area.

Kelly Bemis, RN, BSN, is the Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) for National Cardiovascular Partners, a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care, North America. Kelly’s entire career has been spent in the healthcare arena, first providing patient care as an operating room circulator, and later in a succession of high level management roles. In her capacity as CCO, Kelly is responsible for the overall strategy, direction and oversight of all clinical and nursing aspects of the organization. She also sits on the Joint Commission Ambulatory Care Advisory Council and represents NCP’s interests with the Outpatient Endovascular and Interventional Society (OEIS).

Andrea Lessner is currently the Director of Orthopedic Services at Tenet Healthcare in Scottsdale, Arizona. Andrea has focused her perioperative career in Orthopedic and Neurosurgery service lines and the implementation and execution of robotic technology. In addition to her hands-on clinical experience, she acted as the perioperative clinical supply manager for an Arizona based hospital system where she led value analysis and new product and technology committees reviewing the most current surgical implants and capital technologies. Early recognition of industry site of care changes provided Andrea the opportunity to use her hospital robotics program expertise to design an implementation strategy specific to ambulatory surgery centers. Under her direction, robotics cases were performed in just 3 business days after the delivery of their robotic system. Andrea credits multidisciplinary clinical pathways focused on precision and reproducibility for service line success and supports robotics in our value-based care era.

Rebecca S. Twersky, MD, MPH is the Chief of Anesthesia for Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Josie Robertson Surgery Center (JRSC) in NY. Dr. Twersky is an internationally recognized expert in ambulatory anesthesiology and prior to her coming to MSK in 2015, was at SUNY Downstate, where she was a Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Anesthesiology, Medical Director of the Ambulatory Surgery Unit, and Chair of IRB. She received her MD in 1983 and her MPH in 2005 from Downstate, and has established a solid national and international reputation as an expert clinician, researcher, leader, and educator in ambulatory anesthesia.

Dr. Twersky’s extensive professional activities have included serving as Chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Section on Professional Standards, ASA Annual Meeting Chair, NYSSA PGA General and Scientific Program Chair, past President of the Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA), liaison to the FDA, Joint Commission and continues to serve on advisory committees to New York State Department of Health. She has presented extensively on preop evaluation and patient selection for ambulatory surgery, ERAS, outpatient anesthetic techniques, quality assurance, sedation safety and office based anesthesia. She has authored over 80 publications, including The Ambulatory Anesthesia Handbook, the only handbook devoted solely to outpatient anesthesia. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions including the 2005 Distinguished Service Award of the Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia and the 2020 Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA).

Kecia Norling, MBA, RN, CNOR, CASC has been an RN for 33 years with 20 of those in ASCs. She has led two de novo surgery center projects and functioned as both a clinical director and administrator. Kecia has experience in independent, surgeon owned centers; and joint venture centers between surgeons, corporate owners and hospital systems. In May 2019, she became the Director of Operations for Surgical Care Affiliates in the Portland, Oregon market, where she oversees five Providence/SCA surgery centers. Kecia is a past president of OASCA, current vice president of ASCA and current board member of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission – representing ASCs. Kecia is married with 7 children and 7 grandchildren. Her hobbies include golf and Oregon Ducks football.

Dawn Q. Onofrio RN, MSA, CASC, CAIP, CNOR Dawn Onofrio is retired from full time employment, continues to perform surveys for AAAHC and engages in ASC consulting on a part-time basis.

Dawn has developed and managed more than 40 surgery centers and HOPDs in 30 states during her career. She has worked as management and staff in both hospital and ASC settings.

Ms. Onofrio earned her diploma in nursing from Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Indiana, and her Master of Science in Administration from Notre Dame.

She has been a speaker on many topics including, HIPAA, Clinical Competency, Surgical Scheduling, Quality Improvement topics, Infection Control, Credentialing and Privileging, and Risk Management for the ASC environment.

Dawn served on national committees for ASCA including the HIPPA Task Force and the CASC and the CAIP Committees and served as a AAAHC Surveyor since 2001.

With over 16 years of experience in healthcare, Todd Logan leads the Surgical Information Systems sales team in delivering comprehensive information technologies to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and surgical hospitals, helping them achieve their goal of delivering safer care while maximizing productivity and profitability. Over his career, Mr. Logan has held numerous roles in healthcare IT, including implementations, product development, ASC administration, and sales leadership. Mr. Logan served as Vice President of Business Development for Partners Medical Consulting where he was engaged as Administrator of a multi-specialty ASC as well as a urology clinic. Previously, he held the position of Regional Vice President of Sales for Source Medical. Mr. Logan holds an undergraduate degree from St. Cloud State University and a MBA with a Healthcare Management emphasis from Regis University in Colorado. He is also a Six Sigma Green Belt and Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC).

Mrs. Young has served as the Administrator of Surgery Center of Farmington for the past 20 years. The Surgery Center of Farmington has two operating room and two procedure room and provides multi-specialty outpatient surgical services. This facility has 20 physicians and allied health professionals on staff.

Mrs. Young’s accomplishments have included successful three year Accreditations with AAAHC, C.A.S.C. certification (Certified Administrator Surgery Center) in 2007, C.A.I.P certification (Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist), in 2018. She currently serves on the MASCA board (Missouri Ambulatory Surgery Center Association board), BASC board (Board of Ambulatory Surgery Center Certification), and has served on ASCA/ASF board. Mrs. Young has spoken at several ASCA conferences, ASCA’s webinars, and assisted with writing an education module on credentialing for Med trainer.

Mary learned to scrub and circulate in the OR and was appointed the Director of Nursing role for a start up surgery center in 1998. She then became the Administrator 2001. Mary also held positions such as Regional Manager and Clinical Consultant for Health Inventures. She assisted start up centers as they became certified and helping centers achieve or maintain accreditation. Additionally, Mary has served as a Group Clinical Director for Surgical Care Affiliates responsible for the clinical results for 18 centers in the Midwest. She frequently speaks at Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) meetings. Mary was one of the founding members of the Iowa ASC Association and served as the first President as well as multiple recurrent appointments as president. Mary currently serves on the Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification (BASC) for ASCA and is one of the speakers for the Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC) prep course.

Cynthia Armistead has served as the Administrator of Campbell Clinic Surgery Centers since October of 2006. The Campbell Clinic Surgery Centers are owned and operated by the orthopaedic surgeons and physicians of Campbell Clinic P.. , Established in 1909 by Dr. Willis C. Campbell as the first orthopaedic practice in the world, the physicians of Campbell Clinic perform over 10,000 orthopaedic procedures annually in the Ambulatory Surgery Center setting. Ms. Armistead was a member of the development and implementation team of surgeons, clinical , and business office staff developing policy, procedures ,and protocols for total joint arthroplasty procedures to be successfully completed in the ambulatory surgery center setting. Since June of 2013, approximately 2500 total hip, total knee, total shoulder and total ankle procedures have been successfully completed in the Campbell Clinic Surgery Centers.

I have 32 years of experience as a operating room nurse. The last 18 years I have worked as the O.R. coordinator and then the clinical manager for Campbell Clinic Surgery Center in Germantown, Tennessee. In this role, I helped establish a very successful outpatient total joint program in our ASC. I have worked closely with this program from the beginning and have worked closely with the individual surgeons to help develop their pre-op, intra-op, and post -op protocols.

Paul Richmond serves as senior vice president of market development at BridgeHealth, leading efforts to expand the company's national panel of Centers of Excellence. He is an expert in provider relations with more than 14 years of experience in healthcare, particularly intraoperative consultative sales, negotiating system level agreements for medical devices and capital equipment, and value-based care initiatives. Paul has served in numerous leadership roles in healthcare, most recently as an Account Executive serving Fortune 500 clients in the surgical management benefit space. His unique blend of experience, responsibilities and relationship-building skills have given him a holistic perspective on the types of mutually beneficial solutions employers and healthcare providers are looking for in value-based care programs. Paul received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Baylor University in 2006.

Sarah Smithey has served as corporate counsel at BridgeHealth since 2018. She is an expert in market access, reimbursement, price negotiations and contracting with provider facilities. Since 2013, she has developed and implemented pricing strategies in the healthcare space, including creating mutually beneficial risk-based agreements with c-suite leadership at national providers. Prior to that, Sarah served as a business attorney, partner and founder at The Potter Law Firm from 2002 until 2013, where she represented a number of surgeons and physicians in contracting and hospital access issues. Sarah received her Doctor of Juris Prudence in 2002 at the University of Colorado at Boulder and her Bachelor of Arts in History in 1999 at the University of Oregon.

Kim has more than 30 years of healthcare experience leading operations and sales management teams. She has held leadership roles on the provider side of the industry at the Iowa Health System and on the benefits side with American Republic Insurance Company and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. At BridgeHealth, Kim is responsible for all aspects of the Provider Strategy, including building the panel of providers, negotiating the bundled case rates and managing the relationships. Kim holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a MBA from Drake University.

Scott Grubman is an attorney who represents healthcare providers of all types and sizes in connection with government investigations, both criminal and civil, False Claims Act litigation, and regulatory compliance. Scott has successfully represented ASCs in connection with these matters. Prior to joining private practice, Scott worked for the United States Department of Justice, where he investigated and prosecuted healthcare fraud matters and was a member of his district's healthcare fraud task force. In addition to his law practice, Scott speaks at conferences nationwide on topics of government enforcement and healthcare compliance, and also serves as an adjunct professor of law at both Emory University Law School and Georgia State University School of Law, where he teaches courses related to healthcare fraud and abuse and white collar crime.

Jan currently serves as the Sr. Director of Regulatory for AMSURG, providing regulatory support for more than 250 ASCs. Jan has served on ambulatory advisory panels for AORN, Joint Commission and the ASC Quality Collaboration. Jan has authored a book over compliance with Joint Commission standards and has had several publications in the AORN Journal. Jan is a certified healthcare professional and has been in the Ambulatory Surgery Industry since 1985, serving as an expert speaker on numerous nationwide audio and live conferences over quality, regulatory and accreditation issues.

Nader Samii, as chief executive officer of National Medical, has guided the company into its position as the largest and most reputable revenue cycle management company in the ASC market. Nader leads the company’s strategic direction with a strong emphasis on exceptional client services, lean and efficient processes, cutting edge technologies, and insightful analytics. Prior to National Medical Billing Services, Nader was the co-founder and President of Ajuba International, a leading healthcare revenue cycle outsourcing company that was created in 2001 and grew to approximately 2,000 employees by 2009. Prior to Ajuba, Nader was an investment banker at both Merrill Lynch and Dillon Read & Co. (now UBS Securities) and also served as a corporate finance attorney at the 400-member law firm of Dykema Gossett. His business experience and understanding of the ASC market has created deep consultative ties with our clients. Nader is currently a member of the Public Affairs Committee for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, as well as an active member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Nader has a BBA/BA in finance/economics from the University of Notre Dame, where he played on the Men’s Varsity Tennis team, and he has a JD/MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Joan Dentler is president and chief executive officer of Avanza Healthcare Strategies, which provides healthcare organizations with strategic guidance, with a focus on outpatient services and community collaborations. For more than 25 years, Joan has been consulting on, developing or operating ambulatory surgery centers, hospital outpatient services and community health initiatives. She founded ASC Strategies in 2007 and Outpatient Strategies in 2011, unifying the two companies under a single brand, Avanza Healthcare Strategies, in 2013.

Joan's breadth of experience and disarming nature help her quickly build trust and establish credibility with clients and other stakeholders. She is known for her incisive business acumen and elegant solutions to complex problems. Before founding Avanza, Joan worked in healthcare administration, serving as a hospital liaison for physician-hospital joint ventures and as an administrator of community-based women's health and pediatric primary care facilities.

Carole S. Guinane, MBA, RN, CPHQ, is the executive director for ASC operations at Cedars Sinai. Guinane has extensive experience as the chief clinical officer, corporate vice president interim president and vice president levels at health care systems in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Colorado. From steering system-wide initiatives and introducing/expanding orthopedic service lines, to leading the charge on opening multi-million dollar ambulatory surgery centers, Guinane has delivered demonstrated successes. She served as vice president at one of six hospitals in the country to adopt quality improvement strategies as implemented in manufacturing and industry, and the hospital was featured in the book Striving Toward Improvement: Six Hospitals in Search of Quality published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Guinane has authored and co-authored numerous books on various health care topics, including outpatient policies, improving quality in the outpatient setting and analyzing clinical care pathways. She also has published several articles in the Journal for Healthcare Quality and the American Heart Hospital Journal, and presented at national and regional conferences for organizations such as the National Association for Healthcare Quality, Becker ASC Conference, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on topics such as health care quality, leadership, data analysis, service line strategy, and process improvement. Guinane is the National Chairperson for The Competency Commission for Healthcare Quality and serves as the 2020 president for the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

Todd Eich is the Director of Training and Implementation in supply chain for United Surgical Partners International in Addison, TX. He has over 25 years of experience in Healthcare and 20 years of experience in supply chain management. He has been a Certified Surgical Technologist for 25 years and is a Certified Materials & Resource Professional and a member of the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM). He is also a Registered Yoga and Certified Meditation Teacher. Todd earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from South Dakota State University.

Ann Geier is Chief Nursing Officer for Surgical Information Systems (SIS), a leader in perioperative information systems. In this role, she consults with clients on best practices and strategies to enhance efficiency, improve compliance and deliver high quality patient care.

Ann Geier has worked in the ASC industry for over 30 years, and is a recognized expert. She has been responsible for every aspect of ASC financial & clinical operations, and has been a surveyor for Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) since 2006.

Ann’s extensive clinical background is in the operating room, where she served in every capacity. She is an active member of AORN and ASCA, and she represented ASCA on the Board of Directors of AAAHC.

She was selected by the Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification (BASC) Nominating Committee serve on the BASC Board through 2019 and is currently the secretary/treasurer.

Ann has an MS in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis. She is CASC & CNOR certified. She regularly speaks at national meetings and contributes articles to Outpatient Surgery Magazine, ASC Focus, Becker’s ASC Review. She has written an e-book, Admin 101: What Every New ASC Administrator Needs to Know available at www.sisfirst.com.

She is a world traveler; enjoys teaching and mentoring up-and-coming ASC leaders, and public speaking.

Crissy has worked for the last 14 years in a variety of inpatient and outpatient clinical settings, including critical care, trauma and ambulatory surgery. Her clinical experience gives her an acute appreciation for the challenges involved in interpreting and applying regulations and standards in the clinical setting. Her consulting responsibilities include development of facility documentation to meet regulatory and accreditation standards, licensing/certification/accreditation compliance, infection control and quality management. Crissy is a Registered Nurse. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from California State University, Long Beach and her Master of Science in Nursing, with a Leadership concentration, from California State University, Fullerton. Her practicum hours, for her Master’s degree, were working with the Director of Evidence-Based Perioperative Practice at AORN. She is a frequent presenter on ambulatory surgery topics at national meetings.

Lisa guides hospital and health system executive leadership and planning teams in developing clinical/business models to prepare for the high-value health care era. She also leads strategic planning projects to help organizations increase market share, foster alignment with providers, improve profitability and optimize care delivery. As an enterprise strategy thought leader, Lisa directs the development of various Sg2 Intelligence offerings, including publications, educational events and analytical tools. Her areas of expertise include the hospital campus of the future, site of care shifts, payer strategy and service distribution. She is a frequent speaker at Sg2 events, client education sessions and national conferences.

Before joining Sg2, Lisa was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology at Northwestern University. She earned her PhD at Binghamton University, where she received the 2003 Distinguished Dissertation Award. She holds a BS with a double major in biology and psychology from Boston College.

Catherine works at Sg2, where she helps health system and service line leaders stay ahead of important industry and market trends as they make long-term strategic and investment decisions. She specializes in medicine and surgery service lines in addition to ASC strategy.

Prior to joining Sg2, Catherine held multiple roles at Stryker, most recently as a consultant for Stryker's orthopedic bundled payment convener practice. She also consulted with hospitals on orthopedic service line development, shifting joint replacement surgery to the outpatient setting, implementing robotics, and various performance improvement initiatives.

Catherine is completing her MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where she serves as board president of the Healthcare Club. She earned an MS in health sciences from The George Washington University, and she holds a BS in biology and a BA in history from Boston College.

Salvatore Puccio is a Partner at Garfunkel Wild, P.C., which he joined in 2008. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Arbitration Group and Employment Law Group, which advise clients on a host of litigation issues in both federal and state court, and Appellate Litigation Group, which includes federal and state appeals. Sal's practice primarily focuses on advises and counseling health care providers on their day-to-day business operations.

Sal has particular experience in counseling clients concerning the employer-employee relationship including the defense of age, race, gender, national origin, disability discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits, compliance with workplace regulations and employment statutes, and wage and hour lawsuits. Sal also focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation matters and has represented clients in breach of contract matters, managed care disputes, partnership disputes and breakups, antitrust matters, construction litigation, landlord/tenant disputes, and employment disputes.

Kara Marshall Newbury serves as director, government affairs and regulatory counsel for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), and through these roles spearheads ASCA’s federal advocacy efforts. Kara previously coordinated state legislative, regulatory and public affairs for the association. Before joining ASCA, Kara served as the assistant director, state government affairs at the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations and staff attorney and director of government relations for the Community Financial Services Association. Kara received her undergraduate and law degree from The Ohio State University.

John Goehle is the Chief Operating Officer and partner with Ambulatory Healthcare Strategies, LLC - a Rochester, New York-based ASC management and consulting services company.

Prior to forming AHS, Mr. Goehle developed and managed two Rochester New York-based ambulatory surgery centers, and provided management consulting services for a wide range of health care organizations, primarily in the Northeast.

Mr. Goehle has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh Scotland, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Ithaca College in Upstate New York. He holds the prestigious Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC) credential. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. Mr. Goehle is also an accreditation surveyor with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC).

Mr. Goehle is the host of the ASC Podcast with John Goehle available on iTunes and Google Play. He is also is frequent speaker on health care finance, technology and administration and has authored or co-authored eight books related to the ASC Industry including Ambulatory Surgery Center Governance - A Guide for Ambulatory Surgery Center Owners & Governing Body Members and The Survey Guide for ASCs – A Guide to the CMS Conditions of Coverage & Interpretive Guidelines for Ambulatory Surgery Centers. He is a former board member with the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association and one of the founders of the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

Karen Reiter is currently the CEO of DISC Surgery Center at Newport Beach, she has spent over fourteen years running multi specialty Ambulatory Surgery Centers each of which have been a driving force for cutting edge management of complex outpatient spine surgeries.

Karen has overseen the growth of her current facility from a concept to a company that now has annual revenue of over $50 million, almost exclusively in Spinal Surgery.

Karen is a member of AORN’s Ambulatory Surgery Specialty Assembly Coordinating Council.

She has authored for AORN on patient education for outpatient spinal surgery, and has written several articles for Outpatient Surgery magazine as well she has presented many times at Becker’s, AORN Congress, ASCA, CASA and OR Excellence Conferences.

Michael O'Neal has been consulting for Ambulatory Surgery Centers within the Nashville area for over 25 years. He has a vast knowledge of Medication Management and experience with surgical practice as well as regulatory affairs and provides a practical approach to this complex topic. He finds consulting to be a an important bridge between the Best Practices of Pharmacy and the the ASC space.

He enjoys life in Nashville with his wife and 4 children and an array of outdoor activities.

Susan Flynn is a Technical Service Specialist with 3M’s Medical Solutions Division in St. Paul, MN. Her role at 3M includes providing education for customers and sales personnel on improving the performance of the sterilization process and implementing best practices. Susan is a Certified Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician (CSPDT) and is a member of several AAMI Sterilization Committee working groups. Susan regularly speaks and writes self-study articles on topics related to device reprocessing.

Naya Kehayes is a Principal and Ambulatory Surgery Practice Leader at ECG Management Consultants. Prior to ECG, she was the Founder and CEO of Eveia Health Consulting. She has spent more than 25 years in the healthcare industry and 20 years in consulting. She has devoted her career to working with ASCs, surgical hospitals and surgeons, and has a proven track record as a strategic adviser to clients in ASC operations, managed care contracting, reimbursement, and financial analysis. Naya is a member of the ASCA Government Affairs Committee. She is a board member, the Payment Policy Chair and past President of the Washington Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. She has numerous publications, is a national speaker and a lecturer at Yale University School of Public Health. Naya earned a B.A. from the University of Rochester and a Masters of Public Health from Yale University.

John Goehle is the Chief Operating Officer and partner with Ambulatory Healthcare Strategies, LLC - a Rochester, New York-based ASC management and consulting services company.

Prior to forming AHS, Mr. Goehle developed and managed two Rochester New York-based ambulatory surgery centers, and provided management consulting services for a wide range of health care organizations, primarily in the Northeast.

Mr. Goehle has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh Scotland, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Ithaca College in Upstate New York. He holds the prestigious Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC) credential. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. Mr. Goehle is also an accreditation surveyor with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC).

Mr. Goehle is the host of the ASC Podcast with John Goehle available on iTunes and Google Play. He is also is frequent speaker on health care finance, technology and administration and has authored or co-authored eight books related to the ASC Industry including Ambulatory Surgery Center Governance - A Guide for Ambulatory Surgery Center Owners & Governing Body Members and The Survey Guide for ASCs – A Guide to the CMS Conditions of Coverage & Interpretive Guidelines for Ambulatory Surgery Centers. He is a former board member with the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association and one of the founders of the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

Debbie currently provides healthcare consulting services to ASC’s focusing on developing and maintaining comprehensive Infection Control and Quality programs. She assists facilities with survey readiness for CMS and accreditation agencies. Prior to consulting, she was a VP of Operations for a management company overseeing the operations and development of ASC's and surgical hospitals. She has worked in the ASC industry in California since 1993, beginning as an Administrator of a surgery center. Debbie served on the Board of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association for 15 years; including Past President. She continues to date to serve as Chair of the Education Committee, including developing the CASA Infection Control Seminar for over 11 years.

Sandra Jones is President of Ambulatory Strategies, providing management, development, regulatory compliance, accreditation preparation, ASC licensing and CMS certification compliance consulting, and risk management services to surgical centers. Sandra is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management, Certified Administrator Surgery Center, Certified in Health Care Quality Management, and Fellow of the Health Care Financial Management Association. She is a contributor on the subject of risk management, regulatory compliance and operational issues for several professional publications. Sandra is an AAAHC accreditation surveyor, serves on the Standards Development Committee for the AAAHC and is a former board member of AAAHC. For nine years, she served on the board of the ASC Association where she served on Governance, Strategic Planning, HIPAA Compliance and other committees. She recently was on the board of the Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety and serves on the Advocacy Committee.

Monica Livingston has been involved in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years. Monica has performed numerous roles ranging from new business systems development to customized on-site consulting and training. Monica co-founded Capital Returns, Inc., a pharmaceutical reverse distributor, in 1991.

Monica has applied her regulatory knowledge and pharmaceutical waste experience in the healthcare industry designing and implementing services to properly segregate and manage pharmaceutical waste generated primarily by acute care hospitals and retail pharmacies. Monica is currently responsible for managing and delivering all services provided by WMSS PharmEcology Services including on-site consulting, training and auditing for hundreds of healthcare clients. Monica works closely with WM Sustainability Services Integrated Customer Solutions to provide expertise in the area of pharmaceutical waste management. Most recently, she has been involved with the creation and implementation of PharmEcology's USP <800> Assessment of Risk and Consultation Program.

Kathy has been a perioperative nurse/manager/director for more than 30 years. The biggest change to her career was when she became a patient after an elective surgery went wrong. After 6 months of recuperation during which she experienced sepsis, a wound vac, physical therapy, home health, 4 surgeries (2 of them emergent) and 2 non-emergent surgeries, she has come out on the other side with a renewed passion for patient care and the care of their families. Come hear how her experiences have impacted patient care and how you can deliver excellent patient care through the eyes of your patients and their families.

Clinton Flume is a Managing Director at VMG Health in the Dallas office. Over his 12 year tenure, his focus has been on developing client relationships and providing valuation, transaction advisory, and operational consulting services in the healthcare services industry. He has significant experience with the ambulatory surgery centers. Having conducted over 350 ASC valuations, Mr. Flume has provided FMV opinions and ASC development consulting services to for-profit and not-for-profit health systems, ASC management companies and private equity.

Colin Park is a Director at VMG Health and is based in the Dallas office. His focus has been on developing client relationships and providing valuation, transaction advisory, and operational consulting services in the healthcare services industry. Specifically, he has significant experience with ambulatory surgery centers, acute care and specialty hospitals, oncology centers, diagnostic imaging centers, dialysis centers, physicians groups, and numerous other ancillary healthcare service business segments. In addition to the extensive valuation experience for transaction planning and financial reporting purposes, he has consulted on numerous development, feasibility, and denovo business development engagements. Clients include for-profit and not-for-profit health systems, ancillary services providers, development companies across several healthcare industry sub-specialties, and other publicly owned and privately held healthcare entities.

I have worked as a teacher, supervisor, professor, instructional designer, change leader, mentor, and facilitator. I have a bachelor's in Sociology and a Master's in Anthropology and in Information Science. For over 20 years I have helped teams develop and grow. I have certifications in DiSC, Change Style, Teamwork, and Facilitation. I have worked with non-profits, NGO's, government, higher education, and corporate groups to grow individuals, create team, and impact customer experience.

Terry is Vice President of Ambulatory Surgery Centers for Community Health Systems in Franklin, Tennessee. The CHS portfolio includes over 100 hospitals and 25 ASCs throughout the United States. Terry served as President of the national ASC Association (ASCA) from 2014 to 2016 and as President of the California Surgery Center Association (CASA) from 2012 to 2014. Terry was Vice President of Operations for two national surgery center companies and has managed surgery centers and surgical hospitals in 15 different states.

Terry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC). He holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and an undergraduate degree in Accounting. He served as faculty for the University of Florida as adjunct assistant professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program. He retired as Commander in the United States Navy Reserve after 24 years of military service.

Bill has been with Kimberly-Clark Health Care, now Halyard Health for 30 years. He has held positions in sales, sales training, sales management and key account management. Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark HC he spent 10 years with CD Medical marketing dialysis equipment and supplies. He holds a Master Degree in Public Policy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an undergraduate degree from St. Norbert College, DePere, Wi. In 2016 he had a left hip Arthroplasty followed by a life threatening MRSA infection. He has presented this program at AORN EXPO 2018, Central Ohio APIC, Dakotah Plains APIC, Northwest Ohio APIC, Nursing Grand Rounds at The Ohio State University, Ohio Statewide IAHCSMM, The Ohio State University main OR, Franciscan Health System, Indianapolis, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Toledo Hospital, Toledo, Ohio, Mid Michigan IAHCSMM, Sanford Health System, Bismarck, North Dakota and many other Hospitals.

Carrie Kotecki is a retired Director of Emergency Services at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo Michigan after 38 years. Carrie trains nationwide on the topics of workplace violence, healthcare leadership & front line staff training, as well as performs on-site mock surveys as it relates to Emergency Preparedness. In Carrie’s previous position, her responsibilities included 24- hour oversight of a Level One Trauma center with an annual census of 98,000 visits, a 20- bed admission unit, 24/7 Admission Transfer Center, and overall responsibility for the Emergency Preparedness programs for the hospital system. Further responsibilities included: development of disaster manuals, development of an incident command training program, and development of department specific emergency plans for all units within the hospital.

As a subject matter expert/contracted instructor for the Center of Domestic Preparedness for the past 14 years, Carrie enjoys teaching health care leadership disaster tactics to leaders across the United States.

Lisa Berus is Director of Integration Management for Surgical Care Affiliates. In this role, she serves as the project manager for multiple de novo surgery centers. Lisa has over 28 years of experience in the ASC industry and has been doing infection prevention for 25 years. She has developed programs to train new infection preventionists and is certified in sterile processing.

Lisa has worked in every area of the surgery center including circulating, scrubbing, safety officer, infection preventionist, business office manager, administrator and corporate clinical leader. Lisa is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She has previously worked for her County Health Department as the epidemiologist and bioterrorism nurse. Lisa has a BSN from the University of Cincinnati and a MSN and MEd from Xavier University.

Terry is Vice President of Ambulatory Surgery Centers for Community Health Systems in Franklin, Tennessee. The CHS portfolio includes over 100 hospitals and 25 ASCs throughout the United States. Terry served as President of the national ASC Association (ASCA) from 2014 to 2016 and as President of the California Surgery Center Association (CASA) from 2012 to 2014. Terry was Vice President of Operations for two national surgery center companies and has managed surgery centers and surgical hospitals in 15 different states.

Terry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC). He holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and an undergraduate degree in Accounting. He served as faculty for the University of Florida as adjunct assistant professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program. He retired as Commander in the United States Navy Reserve after 24 years of military service.

Michelle George is Senior Director of Clinical Services with Surgical Care Affiliates. Michelle has over 35 years of experience as a registered nurse. She has worked in various areas of nursing including critical care, emergency and trauma, and surgical services. Michelle has served in multiple hospital and ambulatory surgical center leadership roles, served on professional advisory boards, as affiliate faculty to a nursing program and professional speaker to professional and state healthcare organizations. She has authored various nursing journal articles and been contributing author to a healthcare textbook. Michelle completed a Master’s in Nursing Administration program at San Diego State University and holds a Certified Administrator Surgery Center certification. She serves on the ASCA Education Committee, is the immediate past-president for ASC Quality Collaboration Board of Directors and is the current President for California Ambulatory Surgery Association.

Debra Stinchcomb MBA, BSN, RN, CASC – Consultant; Progressive Surgical Solutions.

Debra Stinchcomb has 30 years of health care experience including development, clinical, administrative, operations and sales. The last 20 years have been focused exclusively in the ASC industry.

Her responsibilities have included budget development/management, revenue/expense management, contract negotiation, licensing/certification/accreditation compliance, marketing, risk management, quality improvement and benchmarking.

Debra is a Registered Nurse having received her BSN and MBA. She is the founder/past President of Arkansas Ambulatory Surgery Association and has served nationally as a past board member of FASA and the ASC Association. She is currently the President of the Arkansas Ambulatory Surgery Association.

She received her CASC credential in 2002.

Debra was an AAAHC surveyor 2001 - 2007 and is Past Chair of the Ambulatory Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committee.

Debra is Chair of the Quality Committee of ASCA.

Ann Shimek is a highly driven, successful healthcare executive with deep experience in leading clinical transformations. Ann has been in the health care industry for over 30 years primarily in and around the operating room. Ann was previously with a large ASC management company .with clinical oversight for the company leading several initiatives to improve the quality of care and enhance the patient’s experience. Currently, Ann is pursuing a career as an independent contractor to assist facilities improve quality, efficiencies in care delivery and improving the patient experience.

She graduated Sum Cum Laude from Wright State University with her BSN and received her MSN with honors from Benedictine University. Ann served as a Board Member for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association and on the Technical Committee for the ASC Quality Collaborative. Ann has recently been given the role of the Executive Director of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Collaborative.