Speakers - 2012 THA Annual Conference and Expo

Prior to joining THA, Banda managed health policy for Speaker of the House James E. “Pete” Laney. She also served as legislative director for the previous chair of the House Committee on Public Health and as general counsel for a state senator. Her other governmental experience includes stints at several state agencies, on Capitol Hill and in the White House. Banda graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s in the plan II honors program. In addition, she holds a law degree from The University of Texas School of Law and is licensed to practice in the state of Texas.

Bell currently writes a labor relations newsletter, "One-On-One with Oliver Bell" and blog, and regularly speaks on labor and employment, entrepreneurship, leadership and diversity issues for clients and professional conferences

Blakeslee’s reporting on Tulia eventually resulted in a major reorganization of the state’s drug enforcement bureaucracy and the exoneration of some three-dozen wrongfully convicted individuals. The book was named a Notable Book of 2005 by the New York Times. In 2007, while Blakeslee was a contributing writer for The Texas Observer, he broke the story of sexual misconduct at a Texas Youth Commission prison for juveniles in the west Texas town of Pyote. Blakeslee was recognized by the Texas Legislature for his award-wininng reporting on the story. He has a master’s degree in American studies from The University of Texas at Austin, where his field of study was the civil rights movement.

Cantu began her career with Procter and Gamble in Detroit and has more than 17 years’ executive experience managing nonprofit organizations and small business ventures. She served as the executive director of the Angelina Beautiful/Clean affiliate for four years, and, after leaving Angelina Beautiful/Clean, purchased Kwik Kopy Printing where she received the National Sales Awards for increased sales. Additionally, she worked for Tyler Bank and Trust as the advertising firector.

Prior to working with Methodist, he served for six years as the chief medical officer at North Mississippi Health Services, a six-hospital health system in Northeast Mississippi. The flagship hospital, North Mississippi Medical Center, is a 750-bed tertiary referral center, the largest rural hospital in the country and the winner of the American Hospital Association Quest for Quality Award in 2005 and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2006.

Davis' professional experience includes clinical experience in critical care and operating room nursing. Her managerial and administrative experience includes positions as chief nursing officer and senior vice president of clinical services. She has served in faculty positions for graduate programs in nursing and health care administration. Prior to returning to her current position with Methodist Health System, she was a senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP.

Griffin received a bachelor of science in nursing from West Texas A&M University and master's degree in nursing from Bellarmine University. She is on the board of the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives and worked in collaboration with the Texas Nurses Association board on drafting language for S.B. 476. She also testified on behalf of this bill during the most recent legislative session.

Previously, she was regional attorney for Region 16 for 17 years. In that position, she was chief legal counsel for the region and was responsible for all legal matters within the state. She began her NLRB career as a field attorney and later supervisory field attorney. Before joining the NLRB, she worked for Electronic Data Systems. Martha received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Texas and her law degree from The University of Texas Law School. She is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute located in Charlottesville, Va.

Lancaster was CEO of Brownwood Regional Medical Center for five years prior to returning to Hendrick. Prior to moving to Brownwood, he was senior vice president at Hendrick. He currently is leading the health system, which includes a 500-bed medical center and employs approximately 2,800, through an $85 million expansion and replacement project.

In addition to serving on the THA board, Lancaster chairs the Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals, and is on the executive committee of the Healthcare Coalition of Texas. Active in the local community, he is past chair of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the board of the Abilene Industrial Foundation and First Financial Bank of Abilene.

Previously, she led the process management and improvement efforts at Premier Inc. where she initiated Lean Six Sigma to supplement existing process management and improvement training for employees. Premier received the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

In 1993, Leavitt was elected governor of Utah. He served three terms (1993-2003). In 2003, he joined the Cabinet of President George W. Bush, serving in two positions: first as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (2003-2005) and then as secretary of Health and Human Services (2005-2009). At HHS, Leavitt administered a $750 billion budget — nearly 25 percent of the entire federal budget — and 67,000 employees.

He led the implementation of the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program. The task required the design, systematization and implementation of a plan to provide 43 million seniors with a new prescription drug benefit. By the end of the first year, enrollments exceeded projections, prices were lower than projected and seniors expressed high levels of satisfaction.

He earned a bachelor’s cum laude in psychology from Texas Christian University and a J.D. with honors from The University of Texas School of Law. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute.

Montgomery leads the Baldrige management criteria implementation effort at St. Joseph Health System. In 2007, St Joseph became the third health care organization to be awarded the Texas Award for Performance Excellence by the Quality Texas Foundation. He served on the Quality Texas board of examiners in 2005-2007, the Quality Texas panel of judges 2008-present, and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award board of examiners in 2008 and 2009.

Jim Nelson is a managing principal with Sullivan, Cotter and Associates. He has been consulting to health care organizations on compensation matters for more than 25 years. His clients encompass the entire spectrum of health care organizations. His experience includes governance consulting, compensation, benefit and employment contract analysis and design. He has extensive experience in working with organizations in the midst of mergers and organizational change.

Larry D. Nelson, RPh, is a 1975 graduate of the University of Houston, College of Pharmacy, and certified in Immunizations and anticoagulation management. He has been director of pharmacy positions at numerous small to mid-size hospitals throughout Texas, as well as rural health clinics and has worked as a pharmacy clinical marketing specialist for a hospital information system. Nelson currently is pharmacy clinical and information technology coordinator for Peterson Regional Medical System in Kerrville.

Robins became chief medical officer in 2011, bringing to his new role more than 15 years of administrative experience in private practice, hospital, medical group practice and hospital system settings.

As chief medical officer, he provides senior clinical direction, oversees monitoring and leads the continuous effort to improve the quality of patient care within the HCA North Texas network. He collaborates with physicians, clinicians, employees and leadership to ensure the successful implementation of HCA's multi-faceted patient and employee safety initiatives.

Secretary Sebelius served as governor of Kansas from 2003 until her Cabinet appointment in 2009, and was named one of America’s Top Five Governors by Time magazine.

Prior to health care, Smith worked in both telecommunications and professional sports. He serves on the advisory board for both the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, and the SXSW® Interactive festival.

A graduate of the Cornell University Medical College, Sorenson is a board-certified urologic surgeon. He began his practice at LDS Hospital in 1982. He is an adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Utah, and served as educational director of the LDS Hospital’s Urologic Residency.

Sorenson has had a long-standing interest in clinical process improvement. He helped create the Intermountain Medical Group, an integrated practice of approximately 850 physicians employed by Intermountain. He served as the founding chair of the Medical Group Board from 1994 to 1998, when he assumed his full time administrative duties with Intermountain. Under his leadership, Intermountain Healthcare has implemented a disciplined and systemwide focus on implementation of best clinical practices aimed at producing measurably better outcomes for patients. Similar efforts are being applied to operational best practices, aimed at increasing efficiency and holding down healthcare costs.

He has served as chair of the board of directors of VHA Mountain States, a member of the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees committee on governance, the Colorado delegate for the AHA Regional Policy Board, and a member of the Colorado Hospital Association’s board of directors. He earned his doctoral degree in health policy from the University of Colorado at Denver and his master’s degree in health administration and bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University.

Through her 20 years of organizational effectiveness experience, St. John served as manager of performance improvement at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and has consulted for a variety of Fortune 500 companies across diverse industries. Her focus is on guiding and supporting organizations that desire to improve and accelerate their performance in the key areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement and analysis, workforce focus, operations focus, and related results. For the past eight years, she has volunteered with Quality Texas (a state-level Baldrige program), serving on the board of examiners and board of overseers. She also is on the board of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Thomas Suehs was appointed Texas Health and Human Services executive commissioner in 2009, by Gov. Rick Perry. As such, he provides leadership and strategic direction to the health and human services system in Texas. He oversees the operations of the five health and human services agencies, including more than 57,000 employees and combined annual budgets of $30 billion, serving more than 3.5 million Texans.

Suehs served as deputy executive commissioner for financial services at HHSC from 2003 until his appointment as executive commissioner. His responsibilities included providing administrative leadership, oversight and direction for the financial management of the state’s five health and human services agencies. He also served as the deputy commissioner of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and associate commissioner of the Texas Department of Human Services. He is a former executive director of the Texas Health Care Association and past president of the American Society of State Health Care Executives.

He has served on the THA board of trustees, is chairman-elect for HOSPAC and is a state delegate of the Regional Policy Board for the American Hospital Association.

Arlene Wohlgemuth is executive director and director of the Center for Health Care Policy in Austin. She served 10 years as a state representative for district 58.