Anthony A. “Tony” Armada, FACHE, is executive vice president and chief transformation officer, Generations Healthcare Network, Lincolnwood, Ill.

He also serves as Chair of the of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an international professional society of more than 48,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. With comprehensive programs in credentialing, education, career counseling, publications and research, ACHE works toward its goal of being the preeminent professional society for leaders dedicated to advancing health.

Board certified in healthcare management as an ACHE Fellow, Mr. Armada served as an ACHE Governor from 2017 to 2020, as an ACHE Regent-at-Large for District 3 in 2013, and on many ACHE committees.

Before joining Generations Healthcare Network in 2021, he worked for AHMC Health System, Alhambra, Calif., as president/CEO, Seton Medical Center, Daly City, Calif., and Seton Medical Center Coastside, Moss Beach, Calif., from 2020 to 2021; as well as system COO, Verity Health System, Los Angeles, from 2018 to 2020; and X-CO expert partner, Strategy Advantage, Los Angeles, and managing partner/CEO, AA Armada Associates, Seattle, from 2017 to 2018. Between 2013 and 2017, he held the following leadership positions with Providence Saint Joseph Health, Renton, Wash.: executive vice president/CEO, PSJH—Western Washington Market (2015 to 2017), and senior vice president/system CEO, Swedish Health Services (2013 to 2015).

Previously, he was president, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Children’s Hospital, Advocate Health Care, Park Ridge, Ill., from 2009 to 2013; president/CEO, Henry Ford Hospital and Health Network, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, from 2004 to 2009; senior vice president/area manager, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, from 2000 to 2004; and senior vice president/COO, Northridge (Calif.) Hospital Medical Centers, Catholic Healthcare West, Northridge, Calif., from 1998 to 2000.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Armada was president/CEO, Columbia Chino (Calif.) Valley Medical Center from 1995 to 1998; vice president, Torrance (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center from 1991 to 1995; COO, Coastal Communities Hospital, Republic Health Care, Santa Ana, Calif., from 1990 to 1991; assistant administrator, Charter Suburban Hospital, Paramount, Calif., and Charter Oak Hospital, West Covina, Calif., from 1988 to 1990; an administrative resident, Saint Joseph Hospital, Elgin, Ill., from 1987 to 1988; and a medical technologist, Saint Lawrence Hospital, Lansing, Mich., from 1982 to 1985.

In addition to his service to ACHE, Mr. Armada is a member of the Healthcare Executive Study Society; the Standards Council for the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education; the Beaumont Society at Michigan State University; and the Alumni Association, Xavier University.

He has received numerous awards including the Technology and Innovation Visionary Leader from Asian Weekly Pacific Northwest; the Business Leaders of Color Award from Chicago United; and the Chicago Filipino-American Hall of Fame Leadership Award from Via Timesand CPR-TV. Modern Healthcarerecognized him as one of its “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare” three times, and in 2011, he received the Dean Conley Award from ACHE for his article “Diversity in Healthcare: Time to Get REAL!” published in Frontiers of Health Services Management. Mr. Armada also received the Service Award (2008), the Distinguished Service Award (2010) and the Exemplary Service Award (2012) through ACHE’s Recognition Program.

He received dual master’s degrees in hospital and health administration and in business administration from Xavier University, Cincinnati, and a bachelor’s degree in human medicine from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Keynote Panel

Lara is the Senior Vice President and General Manager for the West Zone for Vizient.  Lara will be member-facing and holds primary accountability for total profit and loss, relationship management, and overall Vizient member satisfaction within Vizient’s West region.

Prior to joining Vizient, she spent 12 years at Stryker, most recently as the Vice President of Healthcare Systems for Stryker’s MedSurg & Neurotechnology Group, with responsibility for strategic account management within the group purchasing (GPO), health system, and Government segments, representing over $3B in sales.  With an objective to build long-term sustainable relationships, her team was focused on exploring innovative partnerships to deliver clinical, operational, and financial value to some of the largest healthcare systems in the US.

Lara’s 20+ years in healthcare include a variety of management and leadership roles at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, including as the Director of Materials Management, and as a member of the Healthcare Consulting practice at Ernst & Young, where she was part of teams focused on IDN strategy and hospital operational improvement.

With her unique perspective on both the provider and supplier, Lara has consistently worked to bring industry partners together to make healthcare better.  Some of her notable skill sets include:

Creating and nurturing connections to foster collaboration and cooperation.
Building industry relationships and market knowledge to influence broader customer and business strategies.

Providing thought leadership specific to industry trends and customer expectations.

Lara earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University and her Master of Public Health degree from George Washington University.

She has served on various Boards, including the YWCA of Kalamazoo, The Figure Skating Club of Park City, and the Strategic Marketplace Initiatives (SMI).

Outside of work, she spends most of her free time watching her kids do what they love and enjoying the great outdoors.  Lara lives in Park City, Utah with her husband Keith, son, Will (17), and daughter, Sam (14).

Supply Chain Panel

I joined the Georgia Association of Healthcare Executives in 2018, at the prompting of my mentor. I had the opportunity to join the programs committee in 2019 and served in that role until moving to Southern California in December 2019.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the educational programs and would like to contribute to the continued success by serving as chair of the programs committee of Orange County.

My background in pharmacy will allow me to provide an under-represented perspective to the chapter, and I hope to engage more pharmacy colleagues into membership in the chapter.

Burnout and staffing challenges continue to plague healthcare. Often, this leads to the necessary utilization of expensive contractors, increasing the erosion of narrow operating margins.

As an industry, we must work to combat the staffing crisis, including revisions to contractor pricing. Strategies to address burnout must also be provided and utilized to retain seasoned staff.

Supply Chain Panel

Dr. Garrett Chan is President and CEO of HealthImpact, the California-designated nursing workforce and policy center, and Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Chan’s scholarship and policy work has focused on palliative care and emergency nursing, advanced practice registered nursing scope of practice and education, and nursing workforce strategy and development.  Dr. Chan has been working with academic institutions, healthcare systems, policy organizations, and governments in Norway, Japan, and Switzerland to create the role and educational standards for advanced practice nursing in those countries.

His current scholarship focuses on bridging the academic-practice gap through innovative teaching and learning methodologies and curriculum redesign.  An additional focus is on health policy and workforce strategy as it relates to interprofessional education, workforce development and upskilling, and understanding the social determinants of health and employment of newly licensed nurses.  He teaches classes and has graduate students in Health Policy and Advanced Practice Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Chan serves on the California Board of Registered Nursing Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Advisory Committee and the Nursing Education and Workforce Advisory Committee.  He also serves on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Health Policy Advisory Committee.  He was appointed to the California Future Health Workforce Commission, Primary Care, and Population Health Subcommittee as the Nurse Practitioner representative.  He was a member and then Chair of the American Academy of Nursing Diversity & Inclusivity Committee.  Dr. Chan is a member of the National Forum of Nursing State Workforce Centers Executive Directors Council.

Dr. Chan earned his BSN from San Jose State University, his Master’s and Ph.D. at the University of California, San Francisco, did a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute, and completed the Senior Executive Program of the American College of Healthcare Executives.  He is an elected Fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nursing, Palliative Care Nursing, National Academies of Practice, Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing.

Workforce Panel

Dr. Timothy Seay-Morrison serves as the Interim Chief Administrative Officer of Ambulatory Care and Vice-President of the Service Lines. He leads the strategic, business, clinical and operational functions for the Stanford Medicine – Health Care ambulatory enterprise and is the executive leader for several service lines. As part of this portfolio, Timothy leads the patient-facing and workforce COVID response, Workforce Health & Wellness (occupational health) for the health system, and partnerships with local county public health and community agencies. Timothy previously led the Clinical Support Services and Patient Care Services teams in the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer.

Prior to joining Stanford Medicine, Timothy was the Care Coordination Manager for Surgery and Transplant at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He also held clinical instructor faculty appointments in the UCLA School of Public Affairs and the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.

Timothy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Accredited Case Manager-SW, and Board Certified Music Therapist. He has a Doctorate in Education (Organizational Change & Leadership) from the University of Southern California where his dissertation, Retention Rates & Burnout Among Medical Assistants, was awarded distinction by the Rossier School of Education.  He also has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami and a Master of Social Welfare degree from UCLA.  Timothy lives in San Francisco with his husband, Ben, and their two children, Arthur & Henry.

Workforce Panel

Dr. Christian Dameff is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, Biomedical Informatics, and Computer Science (affiliate) at the University of California San Diego. At UCSD Health he was hired as the nation’s first Medical Director of Cyber Security. Dr. Dameff is also a hacker and security researcher interested in the intersection of healthcare, patient safety, and cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity Panel

Jessica Wilkerson is a Senior Cyber Policy Advisor with the All Hazards Readiness, Response, and Cybersecurity (ARC) team in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As part of ARC, she examines issues and develops policy related to the safety and effectiveness of connected medical devices. Previously, she worked as the Cybersecurity Research Director for the Linux Foundation and spent over five years as a congressional staffer with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, covering cybersecurity issues in the telecommunications, commercial, energy, and health sectors. As part of that work, she examined issues related to coordinated vulnerability disclosure, software supply-chain transparency, legacy technology risks, and cybersecurity governance models, among others. She received a B.A. in Policy Studies and minors in Computer Science and Mathematics from Syracuse University, and a J.D. from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.

Cybersecurity Panel

Jim Thomas is an executive leader with over 25 years of experience leading teams in the delivery of valued solutions and services. There’s no greater sense of drive, accountability, and satisfaction than building high-performance teams and leading organizations to achieve their greatest potential.

Jim is leading City of Hope (COH) Enterprise Technology teams in Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) focused on digital innovation, infrastructure strategy, planning, and delivery. Prior to COH, Jim led Service Management Strategy and Operations for Kaiser Permanente and Optum Health Services/United Health Group.

Cybersecurity Panel

John Baackes is the Chief Executive Officer of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan serving almost 2.5 million members in Los Angeles County.

L.A. Care is dedicated to providing access to quality and affordable health care for Los Angeles County residents through a variety of health coverage programs, including Medicaid, L.A. Care Covered™ (California Health Benefit Exchange), L.A. Care Cal MediConnect Plan, and PASC-SEIU Homecare Workers Health Care Plan.

Mr. Baackes works collaboratively with the Board of Governors to set the organization’s strategic vision and ensure its successful implementation. He also oversees the day-to-day operations, while guiding L.A. Care through the ever-evolving health care landscape. Additionally, he is responsible for maintaining the integrity, quality, and accountability of the health services L.A. Care provides to its members.

Mr. Baackes brings more than 40 years of health care experience. Before joining L.A. Care, he served as President of Philadelphia-based AmeriHealth Caritas VIP Plans where he oversaw the Medicare Advantage business unit. Prior to that position, Mr. Baackes was CEO of Senior Whole Health in Cambridge, MA, a voluntary health care plan for more than 10,000 low-income seniors in Massachusetts and New York.

He currently serves on the boards of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), California Association of Health Plans (CAHP), Local Health Plans of California (LHPC), Project Angel Food, Urban Voices Project, and Charles Drew University.

Throughout his career, Mr. Baackes has served in a number of executive leadership roles across the health care industry, including Senior Vice President for Group Health Incorporated in Albany, NY; President of Kaiser Permanente’s Northeast Division in Latham, NY; and CEO of Community Health Plan, also in Latham.

Mr. Baackes holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and is a native of Evanston, IL.

Transformational Leadership Panel

A Lifetime Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (LFACHE), over the course of my career I have served as a hospital CEO, founder, and CEO of America’s Healthcare Leaders website (featuring exclusive interviews) and America’s Healthcare Leaders National Book Club, a senior leader and innovator of national healthcare education and networking programs, and a faculty member at four universities. I have launched several successful businesses. I am the author of two books on leadership—“Be An Inspirational Leader: Engage, Inspire, Empower” (2017), and “Presidential Leadership: Learning from United States Presidential Libraries & Museums” (2013). I offer keynotes, national learning networks, workshops, and team leadership development across America and am frequently consulted as a leadership mentor and coach.

I am passionate about helping others develop leadership excellence and achieve greater success—personally, professionally, and organizationally. My current businesses, America’s Healthcare Leaders and the Dan Nielsen Company were both created to do just that. By leveraging my unique life experiences and my gift for engaging, inspiring, and empowering people, it is my mission to provide healthcare leaders and people from all industries and walks of life the resources they need to leverage their strengths and achieve greater success.

Transformational Leadership Panel