Rising stars: 60 healthcare leaders under 40 | 2017

Becker's Healthcare is pleased to honor 60 healthcare leaders under 40 years old as rising stars in the industry.

Individuals on this list have achieved executive positions at hospitals and health systems across the country, founded health IT companies and reached prominence within their organizations. Many members of this list head professional organizations and have been recognized for their innovative approach to patient care and health system improvement.

Becker's accepted nominations for this list and selected leaders through an editorial review process. The list includes Becker's Healthcare partners, but partners did not pay for inclusion on this list. If you have questions about this list, please contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

Note: Leaders are presented in alphabetical order and cannot pay for inclusion. 

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Witt/Kieffer is the nation’s preeminent executive search firm supporting organizations improving quality of life, including those in healthcare, education, academic medicine, life sciences, sports and the not-for-profit sector.  For over 45 years, we have helped hospitals, health systems, hospital associations and other health enterprises build exceptional, visionary leadership to navigate today’s challenges. Our proven solutions support organizations’ needs for recruitment, leader onboarding, succession planning, board assessment and coaching. We also serve clients through our Board Services and Leadership Solutions practices, which offer services that further strengthen client enterprises.

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Kola A. Akindele, JD. Senior Director for Community and Government Relations at University of Massachusetts Medical School (Worcester, Mass.). In his current role, Mr. Akindele is developing the strategic relationship between UMass Medical School, the government and the greater Worcester community. [CLICK HERE] 

Renaisa S. Anthony, MD. Deputy Director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha). Dr. Anthony is a practicing physician and public health practitioner in addition to her role as the deputy director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. [CLICK HERE]

Steven Arabo, MD. Regional Medical Officer of CareMore Health Plan (Cerritos, Calif.). Dr. Arabo is an internist by training and has experience advocating for the patient. [CLICK HERE] 

Michael Archuleta. Director of Information Technology Services at Mt. San Rafael Hospital (Trinidad, Colo.). During his tenure, Mr. Archuleta designed the first data center at Mt. San Rafael Hospital while adding virtualization efforts that reduced the hospital's cost by 56 percent and improved uptime from 59 percent to 99.99 percent. [CLICK HERE]

Jay Bhatt, DO. Senior Vice President and CMO of the American Hospital Association (Chicago). In addition to his roles as senior vice president and CMO of the American Hospital Association, Dr. Bhatt is the president and CEO of the Health Research and Educational Trust. [CLICK HERE]

Vik Bakhru, MD. COO of ConsejoSano (San Francisco). Dr. Bakhru is the COO of ConsejoSano, a venture-backed health technology platform for Spanish speakers. He previously served as the COO of First Opinion, a digital health start-up, and CMO for Abercrombie & Kent Global Health, focused on medical travel. [CLICK HERE]

Anu Banerjee. Chief Quality and Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President at Arnot Health System (Elmira, N.Y.).  Since Mr. Banerjee took the reins as chief quality and innovation officer nearly three years ago, the health system has reduced its fall rates by 46 percent and lowered hospital-acquired pressure injuries by 71 percent from 2015 to 2016. [CLICK HERE] 

Daniel Barr. Vice President of Operations and Service Line Administrator for Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio). Mr. Barr was director of service line development for women's and children's services at Cleveland-based University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and MacDonald Women's Hospital before joining Nationwide Children's Hospital, where he now serves as vice president and service line administrator for hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant. [CLICK HERE]

Bert Beard. CEO of Maria Parham Medical Center (Henderson, N.C.). Mr. Beard became the CEO of the 102-bed Maria Parham Medical Center in August 2016 after spending two years as COO of Wilson (N.C.) Medical Center. [CLICK HERE]

Daniel Brazell. CEO of La Peer Health System (Beverly Hills, Calif.). Beverly Hills, Calif.-based La Peer Health System named Mr. Brazell CEO in March 2017. [CLICK HERE]

Annette Buckel. Vice President of Wellness at St. Joseph Health (Irvine, Calif.). Ms. Buckel is using her position as vice president of wellness to influence how St. Joseph Health delivers care. [CLICK HERE]

Jita Buño. Director of Supply Chain Management at UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento). Ms. Buño has served as director of supply chain management for UC Davis Medical Center since 2013. [CLICK HERE]

Walt Cathey. CEO of Covenant Medical Center (Lubbock, Texas). Mr. Cathey oversees 5,200 employees as the CEO of Covenant Medical Center, a nonprofit acute care hospital. [CLICK HERE] 

Heather Cheng, MD, PhD. Director of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Prostate Center Genetics. Dr. Cheng serves as the director of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic, which she helped form. [CLICK HERE]

Eric Curry. Vice President of Strategic Planning of OSF HealthCare (Peoria, Ill.). Mr. Curry is one of the youngest vice presidents at OSF HealthCare at 31 years old. In his role, he leads the $2.4 billion health system's strategic planning. [CLICK HERE]

Jerome Dayao. Chief Nursing Officer of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (Colton, Calif.). Since joining Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in 2013, Mr. Dayao has been the driving force behind several transformational changes in the hospital's nursing department. [CLICK HERE]

Desha Dickson. Director of Community Health and Engagement at Reading Health System (West Reading, Pa.). As director of community health and engagement, Ms. Dickinson was instrumental in launching the Reading Health System's Employee Engagement Initiative in 2012. [CLICK HERE]

Snehal Doshi. Vice President of Pharmacy Services at WellStar Health System (Marietta, Ga.). During Mr. Doshi's tenure, the WellStar Health System was awarded the Georgia Hospitals Association's Quality and Patient Safety Award. [CLICK HERE].

Jonathan Douglas. Area Vice President of Supply Chain and Chief Resource Officer — Central of The Resource Group, a subsidiary of Ascension (St. Louis). In his current position, Mr. Douglas is responsible for the supply chain management for three of Ascensions' five largest markets accounting for approximately 70 hospitals and more than $1.5 billion in purchasing power. [CLICK HERE]

Colin Drylie. Director of Innovation at Humana (Louisville, Ky.). Mr. Drylie has been the director of innovation for Humana since October 2015, a position he took after spending a year as the insurer's entrepreneur in residence. [CLICK HERE]

Sasha DuBois, RN. Nurse Administrator at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). Ms. DuBois was the inaugural Mairead Hickey Leadership Fellow in the department of nursing at Brigham and Women's Hospital before becoming the nurse administrator. [CLICK HERE]

LeAnna Fries. Administrative Director of Informatics Education and Engagement at Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. During her time at Stanford, Ms. Fries has been committed to her mission of driving physician adoption, engagement, and optimization through education. [CLICK HERE]

Brian Fuller. Vice President of Value-based Care at naviHealth (Brentwood, Tenn.). Mr. Fuller has served as vice president of value-based care at naviHealth, a Cardinal Health company, since December 2015. [CLICK HERE]

Mudit Garg. Co-founder and CEO of Qventus (Los Altos, Calif.). Mr. Garg is the co-founder and CEO of Qventus, a company that offers artificial intelligence-based software that aims to simplify hospital operations. [CLICK HERE]

John A. Gennaro. Director of Erie (Pa.) VA Medical Center. Erie VA Medical Center appointed Mr. Gennaro director in 2016. [CLICK HERE]

Katelyn Gleason. Founder and CEO of Eligible (New York City). Since founding Eligible, a billing and infrastructure company, Ms. Gleason has watched her company grow to process more than 15 million transactions per month. [CLICK HERE]

Mathew S. Hanley. CFO of OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center (Alton, Ill.). Mr. Hanley became the CFO of OSF Saint Anthony's in 2016 after serving as the director of strategic affiliation for Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare where he developed a systemwide automated contractual allowance model that was used for more than 10 years. [CLICK HERE]

William Haugh. CEO of Georgetown (Ky.) Community Hospital and Market President of Bluegrass Community Hospital (Versailles, Ky.). The 75-bed Georgetown Community Hospital and Bluegrass Community Hospital aligned in 2016, with Mr. Haugh serving as market president of both hospitals. [CLICK HERE]

Dana Haynie. Vice President of Growth and Marketing for Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center (Tulsa, Okla.). As vice president of growth and marketing for Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center, Ms. Haynie oversees the medical center's growth and marketing efforts in fields including public relations, physician relations, market development, community outreach and the institution's loyalty program. [CLICK HERE]

Neerav Jadeja. CEO of Paradise Valley Hospital (National City, Calif.). Since Mr. Jadeja joined Paradise Valley Hospital in 2010, Truven Health Analysis has named the hospital twice to its Top 100 Hospitals in the Nation list. [CLICK HERE]

Sachin H. Jain, MD. President and CEO of CareMore Health Plan. Dr. Jain is responsible for CareMore Health Plan, a health plan and delivery system spanning eight states. [CLICK HERE]

Michael Jefferies. Vice President and CIO of Boulder (Colo.) Community Health. Mr. Jefferies joined Boulder Community Health in 2016 and is primarily responsible for establishing technological solutions that enhance provider capabilities and operational efficiencies. [CLICK HERE]

Dan Kistner, PharmD. Senior Vice President of Vizient Pharmacy Program (Irving, Texas). In 2016, Mr. Kistner established the GPO PGY-2 Informatics Residency, a program that provides graduated pharmacists both career and learning opportunities.[CLICK HERE]

Angela Lalas. Senior Vice President of Finance at Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health. Within the health system, Ms. Lalas is responsible for overseeing six hospitals' financial operations. [CLICK HERE]

Kent Lehr. Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at UnityPoint Health (Des Moines, Iowa).  Mr. Lehr took on his current position in January 2017. [CLICK HERE]

Bill Linder. Vice President of Operations for Surgical Care Affiliates (Deerfield, Ill.).  Mr. Linder has served as SCA's vice president of expirations since January 2014. [CLICK HERE]

Kate Liebelt. Chief of Staff to Deloitte Consulting (Chicago). Ms. Liebelt is chief of staff to Deloitte's U.S. Health Care Provider Consulting practice. [CLICK  HERE]

Jose Lozano. Chief of Staff, Vice President of Corporate Services and Governance for Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Mr. Lozano joined Hackensack University Medical Center in July 2013 after serving as the Obama Administration's deputy chief of staff for the Environmental Protection Agency. [CLICK HERE]

Brian Mathis. Chief Development Officer at Surgical Care Affiliates (Deerfield, Ill.). Mr. Mathis joined Surgical Care Affiliates in 2009 as vice president of strategy after spending time as a manager at the revenue growth strategy firm Blue Ridge Partners. [CLICK HERE]

Wendy Mitchell. Vice President of Operations for OSF HealthCare Foundation (Peoria, Ill.). OSF HealthCare Foundation named Ms. Mitchell vice president of operations in March 2015. [CLICK HERE]

Vinod Mitta, MD, MPH. Vice President of Clinical Operations at Oscar Health (New York City). Since joining Oscar Health, Dr. Mitta has been the clinical lead behind the company's concierge model. [CLICK HERE]

Santosh Mohan, MMCi, FHIMSS. Head of ‘More Disruption Please’ Labs, athenahealth (San Francisco). Mr. Mohan leads the More Disruption Please (MDP) Labs at athenahealth, fostering the next generation of healthcare innovators. [CLICK HERE]

Ameet Nanda. Vice President of Specialty Services and Site Administrator of the Pacific Campus for Sutter Health. (Sacramento, Calif.).  Mr. Nanda was appointed vice president of specialty services and site administrator in April 2017 where he oversees operations and strategy for service lines such as transplantation, cardiovascular and neurosciences services. [CLICK HERE]

Nadia Nguyen Adams. COO of the Indiana University Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science (Indianapolis). Ms. Adams aims to support high-quality, patient-centered and cost-effective care solutions as COO of the IU Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Sciences. [CLICK HERE]

Austin Ord. Director of Post-Acute Care for the Sutter Health Bay Area (San Francisco). In his position as Sutter Health Bay Area's director of post-acute care, Mr. Ord developed a skilled nursing facility preferred provider network across San Francisco. [CLICK HERE]

Fatima Paruk, MD. CMO of Allscripts Analytics (Chicago). Dr. Paruk uses analytics to increase efficiency, effectiveness and improve health outcomes for Allscripts Analytics. [CLICK HERE]

Maria Portela Martinez, MD. Chief of Medical Training and Geriatrics Branch of the Health Resources Services Administration (Rockville, Md.). A family physician by training, Dr. Portela's vision for an evolution in primary care inspired her current role as chief of medical training and geriatrics branch of the Health Resources Services Administration. [CLICK HERE]

Rushi Potdar, MD. Director of R&D Strategy and Business Operations for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices (New Brunswick, N.J.). Since joining Johnson & Johnson as a management associate in 2012, Dr. Potdar grown as a leader and was eventually promoted to director of research and development strategy and business operations for the company's medical devices business. [CLICK HERE]]

Mike Pykosz, JD. Co-Founder and CEO of Oak Street Health (Chicago). Since co-founding Oak Street Health in January 2013, Mr. Pykosz has overseen the company's growth to serve 30,000 patients, operates 20 clinics and hired more than 760 employees as of 2017. [CLICK HERE]

Shivdev Rao, MD. Executive Vice President of UPMC Enterprises (Pittsburgh). Dr. Rao combined his cardiovascular training, research and technology interests to become one of UPMC's leading digital health strategists. [CLICK HERE]

Farzana Rashid Hossain, MD. Gastroenterologist at Penn Medicine (Philadelphia). A gastroenterologist by training, Dr. Hossain is building a name for herself as a female leader in her community. [CLICK HERE]

Lindsey Ross, MD. White House Fellow to the U.S. Secretary of HHS (Washington, D.C.). Dr. Ross took leave from her senior neurological resident position at Los Angeles-based Cedars Sinai Medical Center to serve as a science and health policy counselor with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.[CLICK HERE]

Salim Saiyed, MD. Chief Medical Information Officer of CaroMont Health Plan (Gastonia, N.C.). Dr. Saiyed began his tenure as chief medical information officer of CaroMont Health Plan in 2014. [CLICK HERE]

Joseph V. Sakran, MD. Director of Emergency General Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore). When Dr. Sakran was 17 years old, he was shot in the neck and required immediate medical attention. [CLICK HERE]

Rebecca Segal. CEO of Rutherford Regional Health System (Rutherfordton, N.C.). Ms. Segal began her tenure as CEO of Rutherford Regional Health System, which includes a 143-bed hospital and around 700 clinical and support staff, in January 2017 after a 15-year career in healthcare administration. [CLICK HERE]

Abhinav Shashank. Co-Founder and CEO of InnovAccer (Palo Alto, Calif.). Since co-founding InnovAccer in October 2012, Mr. Shashank has been named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 – Asia list.[CLICK HERE]

John Stewart. Vice President of Millennium Medical (Melbourne, Fla.). Since joining Millennium Medical in 2014, Mr. Stewart has helped grow the practice from 30 employees to more than 80. [CLICK HERE]

Felicia Stokes, JD, RN. Senior Policy Advisor for the American Nurses Association. Ms. Stokes is the American Nurses Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights' senior policy advisor, a position that allows her to share expertise in public policy on ethical issues. [CLICK HERE]

Adam Thacker. COO of Good Samaritan Physician Network (Vincennes, Ind.). Mr. Thacker joined Good Samaritan in 2013 as vice president of professional services, and promoted to COO in January 2016. [CLICK HERE]

KaLeena Thomas. Vice President of Deployment for The Resource Group, a subsidiary of Ascension (St. Louis). Joining Ascension Health in May 2009, Ms. Thomas was promoted to vice president of deployment for The Resource Group, a subsidiary of Ascension, in June 2015. [CLICK HERE]

Elizabeth Wild. Senior Vice President of Global Cancer Services at UPMC (Pittsburgh). Ms. Thomas has helped lead the development of cancer care networks in more than 50 UPMC locations worldwide. [CLICK HERE]

Baligh Yehia, MD. Deputy Under Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Washington, D.C.). In addition to helping the VA transition towards more personalized care models, Dr. Yehia oversees the VA's Clinically Integrated Network, which has more than 475,000 federal, academic and private partners who provide care to more than 2 million patients annually. [CLICK HERE]

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