Advocate Health Names Executive Leadership Team

Best-in-class team with diverse experience and proven track record will boldly lead organization to reimagine health and well-being

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On the heels of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health finalizing its combination last week, the organization today announced its newly appointed Executive Leadership Team. 

“This is a stellar leadership team – each with diverse experience and a proven track record to boldly lead our new organization into the future,” said Eugene A. Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health.

“Our executive leadership team will chart the course for our journey to reimagine health and well-being, advance health equity and improve the lives of individuals, communities and teammates,” said Jim Skogsbergh, who serves alongside Woods as chief executive officer until his retirement in 18 months.

Advocate Health, the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States, serves nearly 6 million patients annually across Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin. It operates more than 1,000 sites of care and 67 hospitals while employing nearly 150,000 teammates. 

The Advocate Health Executive Leadership Team is as follows: 

Bobbie Byrne, MD, MBA
EVP, Chief Information Officer

Bobbie is a physician with nearly 30 years of experience in health care and technology. Before joining Advocate Aurora Health in 2017, she served in leadership roles at Edward Elmhurst Health, most recently as Chief Medical Officer and, before that, as Chief Information Officer. A physician who is board-certified in pediatrics and clinical informatics, Bobbie began her career practicing pediatrics in both academic and community-based settings. She is active in the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as health care technology groups, and serves on the boards of Truveta, a health data platform, and Spok, a secure texting application for health care organizations.

Don Calcagno, MBA 
SVP, Chief Population Health Officer

Don has 30 years of experience across population health, managed care, operations, clinical integration, accountable care, laboratory sciences, process improvement, analytics and research. He has been with Advocate Aurora Health since starting his career at Lutheran General Hospital in 1992, with a brief stint at AT&T. He serves on the boards of the Devoted Health HMO joint venture and Medicare Shared Savings ACO. Don also leads the Leadership Institute’s Value-Based Care/Population Health forum. A former lab tech, he is a senior operating fellow of the Health Management Academy and a past fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Kinneil Coltman, DHA   
EVP, Chief Community and Social Impact Officer 

Kinneil has over 20 years of health care industry experience, leading strategies to advance health equity, DEI and the well-being of communities. After joining Atrium Health in 2016, she served as the architect of its enterprise social impact strategy. Previously, Kinneil held dual appointments as Chief Diversity Officer for Greenville Health System, now known as Prisma Health, and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. She chairs the board of directors of the Urban League of Central Carolinas and also holds board seats on Leading On Opportunity Council and One Charlotte Health Alliance. 

Anthony C. DeFurio, MBA, MHA
EVP, Chief Financial Officer

Anthony has nearly 35 years of industry experience in finance, treasury, managed health resources, information systems and partnership development for multi-facility systems and academic medical centers. An executive with Atrium Health since 2017, he has previously held senior finance roles with University of Colorado Health, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Centura Health, HCA and Cedars Medical Center. Anthony is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He has served on the boards of a variety of health care innovation, payor and provider organizations.

Brett J. Denton
EVP, Chief Legal Officer

Brett has nearly 30 years of legal experience, representing Atrium Health since 1993. A leader with the organization since 2004, Brett has served as Senior Vice President and Regional Executive, a role in which he managed Atrium Health’s regional hospitals, and as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. Prior to joining Atrium Health in 1999, he practiced law for six years with the firm Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte. He has served on the North Carolina Bar Association State Health Law council, as treasurer on the Arts and Science Council board, and chair of the Crisis Assistance Ministry board.

Jim Dunn, PhD, DHA, DAST, FACHE
EVP, Chief People and Culture Officer

Jim joined Atrium Health in 2018, bringing more than 30 years of experience related to talent and culture strategy. He began his career as a research scientist and transitioned into national and global HR leadership positions at BP Amoco, the Carter Presidential Center, Cleveland Clinic, American Cancer Society and Parkland Health. Jim is a nationally registered professional mediator, specializing in workplace conflict resolution strategies, and a fellow and faculty member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He currently serves on the U.S. Congressional Award Foundation’s National board of directors and is a regular contributing author for CNBC and Newsweek and Forbes magazines.  

Delvecchio Finley, MPP, FACHE
President, Atrium Health Navicent

With more than 20 years of health care leadership experience, Delvecchio joined Atrium Health Navicent in 2021. Previously, he served as chief executive officer of Alameda Health System as well as LA County/Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, he currently serves as chairman-elect for the organization. He is also a former board member of the American Hospital Association and the past chair of the America’s Essential Hospitals Institute. Delvecchio also serves on the boards of several statewide entities including the Georgia Hospital Association, the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Research Alliance.

Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS
EVP, Chief Academic Officer and CEO, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Julie has more than 30 years of industry experience leading patient care services, education and training. A practicing vascular surgeon, she specializes in the treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome. She served as the 2021-2022 President of the American College of Surgeons and serves on the board of directors of the Association for American Medical Colleges, the National Institute of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital board, the Aga Khan University board of trustees, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine advisory board, the University of Illinois Health advisory board and the American Hospital Association Changing Workforce task force.

Cristy Garcia-Thomas
SVP, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and President, Advocate National Center for Health Equity

Cristy brings over 25 years of experience serving as a C-suite executive in the media, nonprofit and health care industries. Her health care career started in 2005, when she joined the Aurora Health Care board of directors before joining the organization as an executive in 2011. Previously, she served as CEO of United Performing Arts Fund and publisher of the specialty media division of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She serves on the boards of Delta Dental, WEC Energy Group, Chicago United, Greater Milwaukee Committee, United Community Center, Hispanic Collaborative and United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha.    

Kelly Jo Golson, MBA 
EVP, Chief Brand, Communications and Consumer Experience Officer

Kelly Jo has nearly 30 years of industry experience spanning consumerism, brand, marketing, digital strategy, public affairs and internal communications. A leader with Advocate Aurora Health since 2007, she previously held roles with Methodist Healthcare System, St. Luke’s Episcopal Healthcare and Memorial Hermann Healthcare, all in Houston. A former reporter and entrepreneur, she is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development and the Health Management Academy’s Consumerism and Marketing Forums. She also serves on the board of Xealth, a technology platform that enables health systems to scale their digital health initiatives. 

Ken D. Haynes, MSHA, MBA, FACHE 
President, Advocate Health - Southeast Region

Ken has over 30 years of experience across the continuum of health care including integrated delivery systems, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, service line leadership and post-acute care. A leader with Atrium Health since 2017, Ken previously held executive roles with CHRISTUS Health Santa Rosa Health System, Saint Joseph Health System, St. Vincent Health System and Baptist Memorial Health Care System. Haynes currently serves as a member of the boards of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, the Carolina Center for Specialty Surgery and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Health Services Administration.

Kevin High, MD 
President, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Kevin has been with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist for nearly 30 years, including the last 7+ as President, North Central/Western Region. During his tenure, the organization’s clinical operations more than doubled before joining the Atrium Health system in 2020. He has overseen the addition of four hospitals and several large medical groups, and has made major strides integrating academic and clinical services across the Atrium Health footprint. Kevin is an infectious diseases physician and tenured professor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where he previously served as Section Chief, Infectious Diseases and Chair, Department of Internal Medicine. He is nationally known for his work fostering research and faculty development in aging and the care of older adults, and previously served on the American Board of Internal Medicine board of directors and the National Institute on Aging governing council.

Mary Beth Kingston, PhD, RN, FAAN  
EVP, Chief Nursing Officer

Mary Beth has been a leader at Advocate Aurora Health for the past 10 years. Her previous experience includes nursing and operational roles at Einstein Healthcare Network, Crozer-Keystone Health System and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, all in the Philadelphia region. Mary Beth’s regional board experience includes director and trustee roles for the Milwaukee Urban League and Mount Mary University. Nationally, she is a past president of the American Association for Nursing Leadership and is currently a trustee of the American Hospital Association, where she chairs the Hospitals Against Violence advisory group.

Richard G. (Rick) Klein
EVP, Chief of Staff 

Rick has served in a variety of leadership roles at Advocate Aurora Health in the areas of business development, strategy, payor relations and marketing. Prior to joining the organization, he was the Assistant Vice President of Marketing for the former Firstar Corp., Wisconsin’s largest bank. Rick has led numerous mergers, acquisitions and divestures for Advocate Aurora, in addition to founding AboutHealth, a six- health system company dedicated to improving patient outcomes, and starting a partnership with Anthem Wisconsin. In addition, he led the team that created Advocate Aurora’s Medicare Advantage ventures with Quartz and Devoted Health.  

Carol A. Lovin, MHSA, MN 
EVP, Chief of Staff and Chief Integration Officer 

Carol has more than 30 years of experience encompassing health care business development, M&A, integration, strategy and innovation as well as communications, marketing, public relations and community engagement. As the result of a merger with what is now Atrium Health, Carol joined the organization in 2007. She is immediate past chair of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and is vice chair of the board of MedCost, a benefits solutions company of Atrium Health. She also serves on the boards of Atrium Health Navicent, Charlotte Center City Partners and the Charlotte Sports Foundation.
 
Kristen Morris
SVP, Chief Government Affairs Officer

Kristen has more than 30 years of experience in external affairs. She joined Atrium Health after serving as Chief Government and Community Relations Officer for the Cleveland Clinic. She began her career on Capitol Hill, where she specialized in domestic policy and has managed the American Hospital Association lobbying team and the D.C. offices for two major pharmaceutical companies. Kristen currently serves on Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts board of advisors and the board of The Assistance Fund, a leading patient assistance foundation.  

Scott Powder, MBA 
President, Advocate Health Enterprises

Scott has nearly 30 years of health care industry experience spanning business development, strategy, innovation and mergers and acquisitions. He has served in multiple business development and strategy roles within Advocate Aurora Health since 1993, and previously led international sales and strategy for a medical device manufacturer. Scott serves on the boards of Senior Helpers, an in-home personal care company; MobileHelp, a provider of personal emergency response and remote patient monitoring solutions; and Foodsmart, a digital food and nutrition platform. He also serves on the campaign planning committee and President’s board for UCAN, a social services agency serving youth in metropolitan Chicago.

Scott Rissmiller, MD
EVP, Chief Physician Executive

Scott has over 25 years of experience in clinical leadership, quality and safety, virtual care and care redesign and standardization. After joining Atrium Health in 1997 for his residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, Scott served as a hospitalist, leading the creation of the Carolinas Hospitalist Group and becoming its president. He later became Atrium Health’s Deputy Chief Physician Executive. He serves on the boards of NC MedAssist, Atrium Health At Home Charlotte and Riley’s Catch, and is past vice chairman of the board of Carolinas Physician Alliance.

William P. (Bill) Santulli, FACHE
President, Advocate Health - Midwest Region

Bill has over 35 years of health care provider experience in multiple markets. Since 2003, he has served as COO of Advocate Aurora Health and a predecessor organization. Previously, he held executive roles with New England Medical Center in Boston, Iowa Health System in Des Moines, UniHealth America in Los Angeles and Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington. Bill currently serves on the boards of the American College of Healthcare Executives, where he is the 2023 chair-elect; the Illinois Hospital Association, Renovo Solutions and Moving Analytics.

Rasu B. Shrestha, MD, MBA 
EVP, Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer

Rasu has nearly 30 years of industry experience as a physician leader delivering results across strategy, innovation, health information technology, marketing, communications, strategic investments and commercialization. Before joining Atrium Health in 2019, Rasu was with UPMC, where he led the payor-provider organization’s innovation and strategy, and built the industry’s largest and most successful innovation, commercialization and venture capital engine. He serves on the boards of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, U.S. Radiology, ML Bio and AcademyHealth in Washington D.C., the leading national catalyst at the intersection of the industry’s public, private and policy spheres.

Shoeb J. Sitafalwalla, MD
EVP, Chief Strategy Officer

Shoeb has 15 years of industry experience in clinical medicine, operations, population health and health equity.  A leader with Advocate Aurora Health since 2013, he most recently served as Chief Strategy Officer and has held multiple roles including Medical Director of the South Asian Cardiovascular Center, Chief Medical Officer of Good Shepherd Hospital, and clinical lead for mHealth. An engineer and a practicing cardiologist, Shoeb has published research on health inequities and data analytics, and currently sits on the board of MobileHelp, a personal emergency response and remote patient monitoring solutions platform. He was recognized as one of the Top 100 Executives Under 50 by Diversity MBA Magazine in 2016 and was a Presidential Leadership Scholar in 2017.

Gary Stuck, DO, FAAFP
EVP, Chief Medical Officer

Gary is a board-certified family physician with over three decades of health care leadership experience in patient safety, quality, population health, insurance, risk, claims, regulatory, credentialing and clinical standardization. He has served as Advocate Aurora Health’s Chief Medical Officer, Chief Executive Officer of Advocate Physician Partners, the 4,500-physician clinically integrated network in Illinois, and co-chaired the Health Equity Council. Gary also chaired three Advocate Aurora Accountable Care Organization boards, the Enterprise Population Health Council, and the Executive Clinical Leadership Council. He previously served on the Advocate board of directors and chaired the Safety and Health Outcomes Committee.

Kurt Stuenkel, MBA, MHA, FACHE
President, Atrium Health Floyd

Kurt has over 40 years of executive experience, including serving as President and CEO of Floyd since 1996. Since joining Atrium Health in 2021, he continues to lead Atrium Health Floyd across the northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama markets. Kurt has served in numerous health care leadership roles, including chair of the Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, chair of Vizient Southeast and as a member of the American Hospital Association Regional Provider board. He has also served on the Georgia State Trauma Commission as vice chair, as well as other Georgia advisory and policy committees. He is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.  

Terry G. Williams, DrPH candidate, MBA 
SVP, Chief Population Health Officer

Terry has 30 years of industry experience partnering with over 200 health care organizations across more than 25 states. Most recently, he was EVP, Chief Population, Corporate and Government Affairs Officer at Atrium Health. Previously, he was EVP, Chief Strategy Officer at Wake Forest Baptist Health since 2014. Prior roles include Chief Strategy Officer at two health systems, Vice President at a national health IT company and partner at a national consulting firm. Terry is on the National Academy of Science Population Health Roundtable. He serves on several nonprofit and investor boards, as well as serving as a sponsor for IQ Healthtech Labs in Innovation Quarter with Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Meghan Woltman
SVP, Chief Government Affairs Officer 

Meghan has two decades of experience working to improve the nation’s health care delivery system through legislative and regulatory advocacy. A leader at Advocate Aurora Health since 2006, she previously worked as a public affairs consultant focused on state health care planning and access. Meghan is a past chair of the board of directors of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of directors of the Civic Federation of Chicago and the board of the Chicago and Cook County Flexible Housing Pool. She is a 2020 Leadership Greater Chicago fellow and a member of the Illinois Government Affairs Group. 

Media Contacts
Adam Mesirow: Advocate Aurora Health | adam.mesirow@aah.org
Chris Berger: Atrium Health | chris.berger@atriumhealth.org

About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs nearly 150,000 team members across 67 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $5 billion in annual community benefits.