Patrick Wardell
Chief Executive Officer

Patrick Wardell assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Health Alliance in March 2012.  Prior to joining CHA, Mr. Wardell spent six years as the President and CEO at Hurley Medical Center, a $360 million, 463-bed teaching hospital that provides residency programs in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and radiology. In this role, Mr. Wardell reversed a seven-year cumulative loss of $34 million to a $7 million surplus in two years. He also established the Hurley Children's Hospital, constructed a $30 million state-of-the-art emergency trauma center caring for 90,000 patients annually, and introduced patient family-centered care and Six Sigma principles to Hurley Medical Center.

Mr. Wardell’s previous leadership roles include Regional Senior Vice President and Executive Director for St. Mary's Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in New York, NY, President and CEO of the St. Joseph's Healthcare System in Paterson, New Jersey, and Group Vice President, Ambulatory and Network Management Group for the Montefiore Medical Center/The University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York.

Mr. Wardell received his Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Union College in New York and his Masters in Business Administration from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. He has served on various boards including National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH), Michigan Hospital Association, and Whaley Children's Center.

Allison Bayer
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

With nearly 30 years of experience in healthcare operations and management, Allison Bayer plays a critical role in the leadership of Cambridge Health Alliance in its delivery of high-quality, culturally competent care to its diverse patient population. As CHA's Chief Operating Officer, she helps oversee an innovative health system that is working to become a high value Accountable Care Organization using a Patient Centered Medical Home model of care and that uses a state-of-the-art eletronic medical record across its hospital and ambulatory network.

Ms. Bayer served as CHA's lead in negotiations with various agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that resulted in a major clinical service reconfiguration at CHA, in exchange for restoration of governmental funds and commitment to ongoing funding in FY2010 and FY2011. She successfully led and oversaw the implementation of CHA's Reconfiguration Plan, which involved the move and consolidation of inpatient units from the Somerville Hospital campus to the Cambridge and Whidden campuses, along with the relocation of several ambulatory care practices within the targeted six-month timeline.

As part of the plan to maintain CHA's commitment to community-based care, Ms. Bayer has overseen the redeployment of CHA's portfolio of facilities, converting former inpatient space to more efficient and cost-effective use for ambulatory service and administrative programs. Additionally, Ms. Bayer has significantly strengthened and expanded CHA's clinical services, including key initiatives such as development of the CHA Malden Family Medicine Center and its residency program as well as the Somerville GI Center.

Ms. Bayer has operational experience in the development and deployment of information technology in support of clinical practice. She was responsible for the conversion of CHA's Radiology Department to an all digital environment; prior to joining CHA in 2002, she served as Director of Health Information Technology for John Snow, Inc., a public health consulting organization. Ms. Bayer also held the position of Vice President of Clinical Operations at Boston Medical Center where she was a leader in the service integration for the University Hospital and Boston City Hospital merger. Her previous experience includes Director of Clinical Operations at University Hospital, Director of Ambulatory Operations at Lahey Clinic Medical Center, and Administrative Manager for the Department of Medicine at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

Ms. Bayer received both her Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in health care management and her Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Boston University. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

Paul W. Allison
Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Paul Allison is a seasoned corporate lawyer and healthcare executive with broad experience in government regulation, public finance, capital and debt structure, labor and employment law, and mergers and acquisitions. Since 2002, he has been Senior Legal Consultant and now Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Cambridge Health Alliance. In this capacity, he oversees all internal legal functions and manages the Alliance's outside legal representation. His responsibilities include litigation, contracting, licensing, leasing, financing, corporate matters, government regulation, and employment law.

Mr. Allison's past experiences include serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Olympus Healthcare Group, an investor-owned company that operated long term and chronic healthcare facilities in southern New England, and serving as a Partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart, one of New England's most respected general practice law firms. Both positions provided extensive experience in healthcare business and legal matters.

He is a graduate of both Williams College and the University of Michigan School of Law.

David Bor, MD
Chief of Medicine
Charles S. Davidson Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. David Bor is Chief of Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) and the Charles S. Davidson Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Since joining CHA in 1981, he has made major contributions to CHA as a clinician, teacher, and administrative leader. This has included advancing patient care by spearheading new programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and community-based primary care. As Chief of Medicine he has recruited outstanding primary care and specialty teams. He also co-founded both the Cambridge "Health of the City" program and the Institute for Community Health, which have focused on issues like childhood obesity, men's health, and substance abuse.

In the academic arena, Dr. Bor has worked with hundreds of young physicians, fostering an environment of learning, sharing, and innovation. These efforts have earned him the HMS Dean's Award for Community Service, the A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring, and membership in the HMS Academy, whose focus is excellence and innovation in medical education.

Dr. Bor's current work includes helping create a new clinical practice model for CHA, the Patient-Centered Medical Home, which will improve both patient care and reduce medical costs. This effort, key to our transformation to an Accountable Care Organization, furthers his vision that patient-centered, coordinated, high value care is not only possible, but sustainable for CHA and our communities.

Gordon H. Boudrow Jr.
Senior Vice President of Finance
Chief Financial Officer

Gordon H. Boudrow, Jr., is a seasoned professional with more than three decades of progressive healthcare financial management experience. As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Boudrow oversees the fiscal operations of CHA's regional health network including its annual operation and capital budgets, finance, billing, accounting, cash flow, receivables, and managed care contracting functions.

Over his lengthy career, Mr. Boudrow has gained solid experience managing acquisitions and mergers, developing sound fiscal policies, and installing modern fiscal systems for the hospital industry. This broad range of responsibilities allows him to interact freely with other health care organizations, independent physician groups, HMOs, and insurance companies. Today, with his guidance, CHA is better able to control expenses, capture revenues, and achieve business goals.

Prior to joining CHA in 2003, Mr. Boudrow was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the North Shore Medical Center, part of the Partners HealthCare system. As a member of the Center's senior leadership team, he helped guide its growth and expansion, overseeing several hospital and facility acquisitions and mergers along with the development of a multi-specialty medical group practice of over 100 physicians.

He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Bentley College. He is a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association Committee on Finance and was the recipient of the 2001 Fulmer Bronze Merit Award from the Healthcare Financial Management Association, MA Chapter.

Jay Burke, MD, MPH
Chairman and Chief of Psychiatry
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Since 2001, Dr. Jay Burke has been Chairman and Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Burke received his Bachelor's Degree magna cum laude from Harvard College, where he was a Harvard National Scholar and National Merit Scholar; his MD from Harvard Medical School; and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. He trained as a resident in Psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and as a Fellow in Social and Community Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Burke has held multiple academic and research positions during his career. From 1979 to 1991, he was a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where he was a principal collaborator on the Epidemiologic Catchment Area program, and became Director of the Division of Applied and Services Research. From 1991 to 2001, he served as the Department Head for Texas A&M University System's College of Medicine and as Chairman and Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Scott and White Clinic and Hospital.

Dr. Burke is a member of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Association for Academic Psychiatry, and American College of Psychiatrists. He currently serves on the APA's Task Force for DSM-5, the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This manual is considered the leading resource for psychiatric diagnoses in the US and internationally.

He is also a member and former chair of the executive committee for the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has received numerous awards from the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), American Public Health Association (APHA), and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). In 2005 he was designated an ISI Highly Cited researcher in Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

Elizabeth Cadigan, RN, MSN
Senior Vice President, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer

Elizabeth Cadigan is a seasoned nursing leader with over 20 years of experience. Prior to joining CHA in May 2010, Ms. Cadigan served for nine years at Quincy Medical Center as the Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. She led and achieved the first national accreditation of the hospital's Cancer Care program, and designed and implemented a palliative care program that won the 2009 Excellence in End-of-Life Care Award presented by Beacon Hospice. Prior to her tenure at Quincy Medical Center, she was Director of Nursing Operations at Boston Medical Center for eight years.

Highly respected statewide for leadership and patient advocacy, Ms. Cadigan currently serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives (of which she is also a past president) and Boston Healing Hands, Inc. She has previously served on the boards of many other agencies and organizations, including the Massachusetts Hospital Association and South Shore Elder Services. Additionally, she holds a longstanding commitment to the elderly and supports programs that help families manage illness and address end-of-life decision-making.

She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Salve Regina University and her master of science degree in adult/gerontological nursing from Boston University.

Visit the CHA Department of Nursing.

Joy Curtis
Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Joy Curtis is a trusted advisor, coach, problem solver, and experienced human resources executive. She is the President and Founding Principal of the Human Resources consulting firm, Innovative Solutions HR, LLC. where she has worked extensively with clients in healthcare, higher education and professional services firms. Joy founded Innovative Solutions HR, LLC in 1994.

From 2005 until 2009, Joy served as the Chief People Office (CPO) at the international law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP where she founded “the People Organization”. She was responsible for firm-wide Professional Development, Legal Recruiting, Human Resources Operations, Secretarial Services, Travel, Event Planning and support for the firm's Pro Bono activities. In 2009, the firm was voted the best firm to work by associates across the United States in the Vault Survey.

Prior to founding Innovative Solutions, Ms. Curtis was Vice President, Human Resources at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut and at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts. She was a member of the Senior Management Teams and responsible for managing human capital. Ms Curtis has over 25 years of in-depth experience in all aspects of human resources management.

Ms. Curtis earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Yale University and her MBA, with high honors, from Boston University. She is a certified coach through Martha Beck, Inc. and is a certified Career Invention coach. She has earned the designation of Senior Professional, HR, (SPHR) from The Society of Human Resource Management.

In her spare time, she follows her passion for animals by working with animal rescue groups and is a founder and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Union for Siberian Huskies, Inc. (MUSH).

Samuel H. Doppelt, MD
Chief of Orthopaedics

Dr. Sam Doppelt is a board certified Orthopaedic Surgeon and Chief of the Department of Orthopaedics at Cambridge Health Alliance, a position he has held since 1989.

After graduating from Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Dr. Doppelt completed his Orthopaedic residency at Wake County Hospital and North Carolina Memorial Hospital, where he served as chief resident. This was followed by a clinical and research fellowship in Metabolic Bone Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital.

At Cambridge Health Alliance, Dr. Doppelt has built a solid Orthopaedic service and has served on many major committees. This includes the Operative Services Management Committee, Medical Executive Committee, Credentials Committee and the Patient Care Improvement Committee. He also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Elder Services Plan and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

On the national level, Dr. Doppelt has helped advance the field of tissue banking, having served on the Board of Directors of the American Tissue Services Foundation and as President of the American Association of Tissue Banks, which honored him with its 1997 Distinguished Service Award. He has also worked with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), serving on its Advisory Committees for Blood Products and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy.

In addition this his clinical and administrative work in the US, Dr. Doppelt has worked internationally as a volunteer Orthopaedic Surgeon and instructor in Peru and still serves on the International Advisory Board for the Korean Association of Tissue Banks.

Karen Hacker, MD, MPH
Senior Medical Director, Public & Community Health
Executive Director, Institute for Community Health

Dr. Karen Hacker is the Senior Medical Director of Public and Community Health at Cambridge Health Alliance, overseeing the intersection between clinical and public health for the communities served by CHA. Most recently, she worked closely with community partners throughout CHA's reconfiguration in 2009 to ensure timely response to community concerns. Dr. Hacker helps identify key indicators for health improvement and implement health programs that address issues such as obesity, substance abuse, and childhood asthma. These efforts are significantly connected to CHA's transformation into an accountable care organization, linking the broader community health mission to that of CHA to support healthier individuals living in healthier communities.

Dr. Hacker also serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Community Health, a collaboration of three Harvard teaching hospitals, situated at Cambridge Health Alliance and dedicated to building sustainable community health through community based participatory research (CBPR), education, and program development. Her own research focuses on primary care, adolescent health, integrated mental health and physical health programs, suicide prevention, and immigrant health. She has written and spoken extensively on these subjects and has contributed to numerous national and state policy discussions. She is currently the Director of the CBPR Initiative for Harvard Catalyst, where she works to improve academic and community partnerships and develop infrastructure for primary care research at CHA. Additionally, Dr. Hacker is a board certified Internist and Adolescent Medicine specialist who sees patients at CHA Somerville Pediatrics.

Throughout her career Dr. Hacker has been a strong voice in public health. She came to CHA in 2002 after spending over 15 years working in the public sector. She started one of the first school-based health centers in Los Angeles and subsequently served as the Division Director for Child and Adolescent Health at the Boston Public Health Commission. She was also the interim Chief Public Health Officer for the City of Cambridge prior to taking on her current role.

Dr. Hacker received a bachelor's degree in anthropology at Yale University and earned her medical degree at Northwestern University. She completed her residency in primary care internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and went on to complete her fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Dr. Hacker received a master's in public health from Boston University. She serves as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Kathleen Harney, MD
Chief, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Women's Health

Dr. Kathleen Harney is the chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Cambridge Health Alliance, a position she has held since 2003. In this capacity Dr. Harney provides physician leadership for the Cambridge and Somerville Women's Health Centers, ob/gyn practices at the East Cambridge Health Center and Revere Family Health Center, as well as the Labor and Delivery Suite and Birth Center at the Cambridge campus. Dr. Harney sees patients at the Cambridge Women's Health Center.

Dr. Harney joined CHA in 1999, initially as the director of pediatric and adolescent gynecology. Prior to that she was an attending physician in the Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology at Tufts Medical Center. Prior to this subspecialty work, she was in private practice at Dedham Medical Associates.

Dr. Harney is a graduate of the Tufts University School of Medicine, and received her Bachelor's Degree, Cum Laude from Harvard University. She received her ob/gyn training at the Tufts-New England Medical Center combined program in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Carol Hulka, MD
Chief of Radiology

Since 2001, Dr. Carol Hulka has been Chief of the Department of Radiology at Cambridge Health Alliance, and Associate Clinical Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Hulka received her Bachelor's Degree from Brown University and her Medical Degree from Duke University. She completed her medical internship at Beth Israel Hospital and trained as a resident in Radiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Hulka was an Imaging Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. She remained on staff at Massachusetts General Hospital for several years where she published in the field of women's imaging. She initiated and developed the Breast MRI program at MGH for which she was awarded state and federal grant funding.

During her staff appointment at BIDMC, she completed her MBA at the BU Executive MBA program, where she was selected for membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma Society for academic achievement. Dr. Hulka had the opportunity to use this education when offered the position of Chief of Radiology at Cambridge Health Alliance. Since that time, she has expanded the professional practice from the Cambridge Hospital site to include Somerville and Whidden campuses. Dr. Hulka has overseen transformation of the department to a state-of-the-art facility that is 100% digital (PACS) and paperless, using voice recognition for instant report turnaround. Under her supervision, the department now has state of the art equipment. It was one of the first facilities in the area to have digital mammography at all sites and in 2009 was named a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.

Dr. Hulka remains active in many Radiologic Societies with roles as Past President of several imaging societies and as a reviewer of scientific presentations and journals. She continues to support radiology education programs with the Harvard Medical students and rotating residents with shared leadership from the highly skilled team of radiologists.

Judith Klickstein
Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Planning
Chief Information and Strategy Officer

Judy Klickstein is the Senior Vice President of Information Technology & Strategic Planning at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). She is responsible for the development, implementation, and management of CHA's technology strategy and portfolio, information management and resources, and the organization's strategic planning function. This novel role has driven the emergence of information technology as a strategic asset of CHA and supported the development of a data-rich environment for planning purposes.

Ms. Klickstein led a highly successful strategic planning effort and coordinated the first phase of CHA's transformation to a high-performing Accountable Care Organization. This work included the planning for the patient-centered medical home effort and supporting the redesign of the physician leadership structure.

She transformed the Information Technology Department into a cutting edge, high performing service organization. Additionally, she architected CHA's HITECH Act/meaningful use strategy with the goal of being eligible for incentive payments in 2011 and has managed the implementation of the EpicSystems EMR to all primary care (internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine), psychiatry, medical specialties, surgical specialties, and OB/GYN practices. Other areas under Ms. Klickstein's purview include Health Information Management, Planning, Marketing, Medical Library, and Academics.

Prior to coming to CHA in 2002, Ms. Klickstein served as Vice President Information Systems/CIO at Boston Medical Center, Deputy CIO at Partners Health Care Inc., and Vice President/CIO for the Internet Group (a subsidiary of CMP Media Inc.). She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's in information systems from Boston University.

David A. Link, MD
Chief of Pediatrics
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Dr. David Link is Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at Cambridge Health Alliance and Mount Auburn Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Over a four decade career, Dr. Link has been a leading clinician, educator, and advocate who has made significant contributions to the field of Pediatrics with a particular focus on improving children's health at the population level. This work has transcended the traditional medical realm to engage public health in local communities.

Dr. Link did his undergraduate work at Harvard College, graduating Magna cum laude. He then attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and returned to Boston for his pediatrics residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident. He also completed a fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at Children's Hospital, Boston. He continues to be board certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Nephrology.

Today, Dr. Link is a national leader in the fields of pediatrics, pediatric education, and pediatric public health. He has been named as one of the Best Doctors in America each year since 2003, and one of Boston's Top Doctors. He has earned a Harvard Dean's Community Service Award and numerous community awards. He also serves as a Fellow in the prestigious Academy at Harvard Medical School.

Ron Minter, MD
Chief of Anesthesia
Medical Director, Perioperative Services

Dr. Ron Minter is a trained Pediatric Anesthesiologist and former Director of Pediatric Anesthesia at Mass Eye & Ear Infirmary. In February 2010 he assumed the role of Chief of Anesthesia and Medical Director of Perioperative Services for Cambridge Health Alliance.

Dr. Minter is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Medical School who completed his Anesthesiology residency at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine. He has interests in medical crisis simulation and has instructed at the Boston Center for Medical Simulation, as well as given several lectures in this capacity.

Rebecca Osgood, MD
Chief of Pathology

Dr. Rebecca Osgood is Chief of Pathology at Cambridge Health Alliance. She has been part of CHA for 27 years and has contributed greatly to the Department's work including initiating the project of electronic reporting of reportable infectious diseases to the MADPH from Microbiology Laboratory and bringing molecular infectious disease testing to CHA providers. Dr. Osgood has provided outstanding oversight of the Somerville Hospital laboratory services, the Microbiology section of CHA laboratories, and has served as Medical Director of the Spaulding Hospital Cambridge Clinical Laboratories. She is also currently the Medical Director of MIT Health Services Clinical Laboratory. Dr. Osgood is an Instructor in Pathology at Harvard Medical School. She is a Clinical Associate in Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to Cambridge Health Alliance, Dr. Osgood was the Medical Director of Microbiology at the Beth Israel Hospital.

Dr. Osgood serves on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Society of Pathologists and is a representative of the House of Delegates for the College of American Pathologists.  Dr. Osgood is part of the Global Pathology group at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a member of the College of American Pathologists, Massachusetts Society of Pathologists, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and the American Society of Cytology. Dr. Osgood interests are infectious disease pathology and cytopathology. Dr. Osgood is dedicated to providing excellent pathology and laboratory services to providers and the patients of the Cambridge Health Alliance community.

Outside CHA, Dr. Osgood is the mother of 4 children and married to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Thomas Hoerner. She has participated in many community projects. She has volunteered her services as a pathologist along with her husband with Health Volunteers Overseas, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to improving the availability and quality of health care through training and education. With this organization, she has worked in Cambodia, Tanzania, and Costa Rica.

Dr. Osgood is a graduate of the Weil Cornell Medical College and completed her pathology residency training at MGH. She received her B.A. from Smith College and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

David Porell
Chief Administrative Officer, CHA Physician Organization

For more than 20 years, David J. Porell has held senior management roles in both academic and community hospital settings. He currently serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Cambridge Health Alliance Physician Organization (CHAPO). He has administrative responsibility for all functions of CHAPO including contracting, billing and coding, accounting and finance, physician recruitment, human resources, and provider enrollment. Mr. Porell has overseen significant improvements in revenue cycle measures for charge capture, reduced charge lag, and collection rates. Under his leadership, CHAPO's financial performance improved by nearly 20 percent in FY10.

Prior to assuming his current position in 2006, Mr. Porell was CHA's Vice President of Clinical Services, successfully managing several key clinical programs including the launch of a new Sports Medicine program, enhancement of the existing Occupational Health program, and management of the $20 million radiology equipment upgrade plan.

Mr. Porell previously held roles as Vice President for Support Services and Associate Vice President for Rehabilitation Services at Morton Hospital and Medical Center, and he served as Supervisor of Outpatient Services for Physical Therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire, a master's in physical therapy from the University of Southern California, and a master's in business administration with concentrations in health care management and finance from Boston University.

Assaad Sayah, MD
CHA Medical Staff President
Senior Vice President of Primary Care & Emergency Care

Dr. Assaad Sayah is Senior Vice President of Primary Care and Emergency Care at Cambridge Health Alliance. Since joining CHA in 2006, he has led tremendous advancements in the emergency departments at all three of CHA's hospital campuses (Cambridge, Somerville, and Whidden), resulting in enhanced efficiency, quality, volume, and patient satisfaction. The implementation of Rapid Assessment, an electronic patient tracking system, and the addition of patient partners are among the many new initiatives that have contributed to improved patient flow.

The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) recently publicized successful ED throughput strategies from top performing safety net hospitals throughout the country and honored CHA as a "high performer" candidate. After data was collected from two dozen member hospitals across the country, CHA was identified as having promising practices to share with the rest of the NAPH member hospitals and the greater hospital community. Since then, Dr. Sayah has been invited to share these strategies and accomplishments at national NAPH/UHC venues in Chicago, Denver, and San Diego.

Dr. Sayah serves as Chairman of CHA's Chiefs Council, CHA's Medical Staff President, and is on the faculty at both Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. His research and publications focus on Emergency Department Operation, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) including on design of the EMS system, continuous quality improvement, advanced directives, violence and weapons, disaster planning, and pre-hospital thrombolytics.

He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Presidents Award and Vanguard Award from the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians, the America's Top Physicians distinction in 2007 and 2008 from the Consumers Research Council of America, and the EMS Physician of the Year Award from the Metropolitan Boston EMS Council.

Prior to coming to Cambridge Health Alliance, Dr. Sayah served in many leadership roles in area hospitals, including as Director of EMS for Brigham and Women's Hospital, Associate Chief for the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, and Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center. He received his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and completed his residency in emergency medicine at William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan.

Steven Schwaitzberg, MD
Chief of Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, FACS, is the Chief of Surgery at Cambridge Heath Alliance and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. His interests are gastrointestinal, endocrine, and Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) with a particular focus on the introduction and value proposition of technology.

A national leader in general surgery, Dr. Schwaitzberg is the immediate past president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), the largest general surgery specialty society in the US, and he serves on the editorial boards of several surgical journals. In 2010, he was also named a Health Policy Scholar in General Surgery by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

Over the course of his career, Dr. Schwaitzberg has received several awards for patient care and a Computerworld laureate award for introducing surgical video editing into post graduate education. He developed and introduced the concept of peer reviewed video manuscripts into surgical journals. He has written more than 100 articles, 10 books chapters and is currently editing 2 books.

Gerald Steinberg, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Gerald Steinberg is Chief Medical Officer for Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). In this capacity, he provides physician leadership and oversees medical quality across the healthcare system. This includes overseeing improvements to clinical processes and systems to maintain high quality care for patients, physicians, affiliates, and payers.

Dr. Steinberg joined CHA in 2005 as Chief Medical Quality Officer and Senior Medical Director. Since that time, he has worked tirelessly to enhance the "quality profile" of CHA and to promote the necessary accountability to ensure continuous improvement. He is proud to have led performance improvement initiatives that have resulted in better care for patients with high risk, high volume illness such as pneumonia, heart failure, and myocardial infarction. As a result, CHA's aggregate quality measures have risen dramatically, placing the system at or near the top quartile for safety net hospitals across the country.

Before joining CHA, Dr. Steinberg was Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer of UMass Memorial Health Care. He also served as interim Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and was the Feigenbaum Distinguished Professor of Quality. He also served as Chief Medical Officer of UMass Memorial Health Care, administering medical oversight for the development and operation of the health care system.

Dr. Steinberg is an AOA graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and received his Bachelor's Degree, Cum Laude, from Rutgers University where he was a Henry Rutgers Scholar. He received his orthopedic training in the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Program after completing a Research Fellowship at Harvard.

Somava Stout, MD
Vice President, Patient-Centered Medical Home Development

Somava Stout, MD, is Vice President of Patient-Centered Medical Home Development at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). In this capacity, Dr. Stout ensures the development and deployment of the patient-centered medical home model of care across the CHA delivery system.

In order to achieve this transformation, Dr. Stout provides oversight and medical leadership for implementing the practices and processes that will support coordinated, integrated, patient and family-centered care along with the staff training and team development needed to effectively deliver care in this new model.

Prior to this role, Dr. Stout was Medical Director at CHA's Revere Family Health Center, where she was instrumental in creating a community health center that strives to provide a patient-centered medical home to a deeply underserved community. She helped improve access to high-quality primary and specialty care and led a team-based approach to improved health outcomes in this population. Dr. Stout also serves as the President of the Medical Staff at CHA.

Dr. Stout has been invited to share her experience of developing the patient-centered medical home neighborhood model of care throughout the country, including in Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pittsburgh. In addition, she has consulted with programs as diverse as the Arizona Telemedicine Program, the Guyana Youth Can Move the World program, and India's School of Tropical Medicine to develop strategies to empower communities in need.

Dr. Stout earned her medical degree at the University of California, in Berkeley and San Francisco. During this time, she also completed a Master's from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, which centered on sustainable development of community health programs in underserved areas. She then came to Harvard Medical School to complete her dual residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Children's Hospital. She is board certified in both specialties. She is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In her free time, Dr. Stout volunteers as both the Founder and Director of the Raising Peacemakers program and the Director of the Children's Theatre Company in Boston, both of which help to empower children to make a difference in the world.

Brian Swann, DDS, MPH
Chief of Dental Medicine

Brian Swann, DDS, MPH, Chief of Dental Medicine, is a renowned clinician who oversees all aspects of CHA's dental services - patient care, clinical quality, and the Harvard-affiliated General Practice Dental Residency.

Dr. Swann earned his dental degree at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry and over the course of his lengthy career has held clinical and management positions in both private practice and the public sector. The latter includes serving as Dental Examiner for the State of California and as Dental Director of both the Sierra-Nevada and San Jose Job Corps. He was also a co-founder of the Greater Bay Area Dental Society, based in San Francisco and received the UCSF highest alumni recognition, the Medal of Honor.

After moving to the Boston region, Dr. Swann earned a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he received the Albert Schweitzer Award for Humanitarianism. He later completed Harvard fellowships in Oral Epidemiology and Minority Health Policy. He currently holds the position of Clinical Instructor at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

Since joining CHA in 2008, Dr. Swann has continued his passion for dental care and community health improvement, particularly for multicultural populations. His other activities in this area include serving as a Clinician at the Mattapan Community Health Clinic, as Chair of the National and International Relations Committee of the National Dental Association and organizing the first joint African Tour between the American Dental Association and the National Dental Association in Kenya, Zanzibar, and Ethiopia.

Douglas Thompson
Chief Administrative Officer for Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Development

Douglas Thompson is Chief Administrative Officer of Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Development at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). He serves as the ACO initiative director for developing and implementing a strategic business plan for CHA's transformation into an ACO.

Mr. Thompson provides coordination, oversight, and leadership of the implementation of the global payment model between Network Health and the CHA delivery system. He is also responsible for working with other CHA leaders to launch global payment arrangements with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and others.

Previously, Mr. Thompson was vice president of finance at Network Health, CHA's not-for profit Massachusetts health plan serving more than 170,000 members with low and moderate incomes. He oversaw Network Health's financial and accounting administration, including premium rate setting, recoveries and expenses, and payment protocol; led its budget development and oversight; enhanced purchasing strategies and expense management; and ensured compliance with state and federal regulatory agencies' financial requirements. During his tenure, the health plan went from a projected $20M loss to a $20M gain in FY10.

Prior to Network Health, Mr. Thompson served as chief financial officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Office of Medicaid, where he managed the state's MassHealth (Medicaid) finance function. In this capacity, he developed and oversaw a $9 billion budget in accordance with the state's strategic objectives, drove cost control to a historically low 0% increase without reducing eligibility or services, and successfully negotiated Managed Care Organization (MCO) contracts. Mr. Thompson also developed a MassHealth Purchasing Strategy Unit that provided cost-control and quality-improvement direction to the Medicaid Director and Secretary of Health and Human Services; championed an effort to develop medical homes across Massachusetts' Primary Care Clinician (PCC) Plan and multiple payers; and built an expansive pay-for-performance program into hospital, provider, nursing home, and MCO budgets.

Additionally, Mr. Thompson played a critical role in negotiating an extension to the MassHealth Health Care Reform Waiver and in developing a new Federal Finance Unit, which led financial components of the Health Care Reform Waiver renewal.

He also founded and was managing director of Public and Private Solutions Group, LLC, where he consulted to nonprofit and government agencies to help them achieve their objectives through strategic and financial services.

Mr. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophical and Sociological Thought in Medicine from Boston University and a Master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Randy Wertheimer, MD
Chief of Family Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance
Jaharis Chair of Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine

Dr. Wertheimer previously had a long career at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass-Memorial Health system where she was Vice Chair of Family Medicine and Community Health.

Dr. Wertheimer is a graduate of Boston University School of Medicine. She is board certified in Family Medicine and is a practicing Family Physician, in special interest in women's health and the underserved.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Wertheimer has built a solid reputation as a physician, researcher, and educator. She is past President of the MA Academy of Family Physicians and served on the MA Board of Registration of Medicine from 2000-2009. She is a Board Member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, an organization devoted to expanding access to care for the underserved and uninsured families of Massachusetts. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Board has helped health care reform in Massachusetts - expanding coverage to all. She is an accomplished author, and has contributed chapters in several Family Medicine textbooks including discussions of Pregnancy and Prenatal care for Family Physicians. She has also helped influence policy statewide and currently serves on the MA-Department of Public Health Task Force on Maternal Morbidity and Mortality.

Dr. Wertheimer sees patients at the Malden Family Medicine Center.