Speaker Category: Hospital Leadership Panel

Allen Kachalia, MD, JD, is the Senior Vice President for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.  In his operations role, he oversees patient safety, quality, patient experience outcomes across the continuum of care for the John Hopkins Medicine enterprise.  He is also the Director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, which is focused on improving healthcare for patients around the world through scientific research, innovation, policy advocacy, and education in safety and quality.  Allen is an Associate Professor of Medicine and holds the C. Michael and S. Anne Armstrong Professorship in Patient Safety and Quality at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where his own research focuses on how the law affects medical care, and in particular how liability system reform and the disclosure of medical error relate to the safety and quality of healthcare.  Allen is clinically active as a general internist, practicing as an academic hospitalist on the hospital wards with medical students and residents.

Eileen Whalen, MHA, RN, joined the University of Vermont Medical (UVM) Center as President and COO in January 2015. Ms. Whalen has over 35 years of experience in health care. She joined UVM Medical Center from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA where she served as chief executive. Harborview is the largest public hospital in the State of Washington and an academic medical center, part of the UW Medicine Network. Harborview is nationally known for trauma care and serves as the only Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma and burn center for the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Prior to taking the position at Harborview, she served as executive vice president at the University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, AZ. Ms. Whalen has also held numerous leadership positions in trauma, emergency and critical care services. She is a nationally recognized trauma systems expert and has been the President and a founding member of the Society of Trauma Nurses, a published author and a Board member of prominent health care societies and associations. Ms. Whalen is a graduate of Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY, where she received a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. She also holds a Master in Health and Hospital Administration degree from Chapman University, Sacramento, CA.

Thornton Kirby has been President and CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association since 2005. Thornton is recognized nationally as a leader in health care reform and patient safety, and under his leadership South Carolina has emerged as one of the nation’s top states in the quality of hospital care. The Hospital Association is currently working with Dr. Atul Gawande and his colleagues at Harvard University to improve surgical safety, and the Association is also working with The Joint Commission to build a culture of high reliability across South Carolina’s hospitals. Both initiatives have garnered national attention as models for improving hospital care nationwide. Thornton was recruited out of high school to attend the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholar, and after earning his undergraduate degree in American Government he returned home to study law at the University of South Carolina. Before joining the South Carolina Hospital Association, Thornton practiced law as a health care attorney, worked as a hospital administrator, and served for nearly a decade as a senior executive at Clemson University. Thornton has extensive experience with corporate governance, having served as a director on 45 different boards over the past 30 years. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and he holds adjunct faculty appointments at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina where he lectures frequently on health care issues. Because of South Carolina’s leadership in patient safety and quality, Thornton is frequently invited to speak at national and regional meetings on health care reform and quality of care.

Rodney F. Hochman, M.D., serves as president and CEO of Providence Health & Services, a not-for-profit health system serving Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington. He joined Providence as group president in February 2012 and was named president and CEO in April 2013. Prior to joining Providence, Dr. Hochman served as president and CEO of Seattle-based Swedish Health Services from 2007 to 2012. He was with Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Virginia for six years, serving as executive vice president. In addition, he held executive-level positions during five years with the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and spent nearly 10 years with Guthrie Healthcare System in Sayre, Pennsylvania. His medical background is in rheumatology and internal medicine and he has served as a clinical fellow in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and Dartmouth Medical School. He earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and his bachelor’s degree from Boston University. He has been named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare.

Kim Cripe is the President and CEO of CHOC Children’s Hospital. She has been at CHOC Children’s since 1991, previously serving as Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer. She conducted her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California and the University of South Florida, and received her MPA from Golden Gate University. In the past, Cripe worked at Humana Inc., where she held a series of progressively responsible hospital, regional, and corporate positions in areas including strategic planning, business development, physician alignment, marketing, public affairs, and hospital and health plan operations. Recently, she was elected to the board of trustees of the Children’s Hospital Association. Cripe has received numerous honors for her work, including the EY Entrepreneur of The Year 2015 Award in Community Contribution.

David Olsen is the former Sr. Vice President of Culture and Leadership Development at Starbucks Coffee. He joined Starbucks in 1987 and is now serving in an advisory capacity. During his tenure at Starbucks he traveled the world purchasing coffee, led the Research & Development department and published a framework for action that described Starbucks’ commitment to support coffee farmers and their communities.

In 1999 he took innovative steps to turn his passion for the global community into action, creating the Starbucks Corporation Social Responsibility department and establishing guidelines for the company’s global conscience.

Mr. Olsen has served on the boards of CARE USA, CARE International, Pike Place Market Foundation and Starbucks Foundation. He served as a trustee for the Board of Swedish from 2010 to January 2012. He was appointed to the PH&S Board in February 2012 and serves on the Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Committee and the Human Resources and Retirement Plans Committee.