Advisory Committee

Mark C. Adams, MD, FACS, is Vice President of Medial Affairs and Associate Chief Medical Officer at Franciscan Health System in Tacoma, Washington. He serves on the board of directors of the Regence Group and the Puget Sound Health Alliance. He was previously a member of the board of directors for the Washington State High Risk Insurance Pool, Western Conference of Prepaid Health Plan, and the Foundation for Healthcare Quality, president of the Washington State Medical Association, and founding member of Washington State Healthcare Forum, and Foundation for Healthcare Quality board of directors.

Dr. Adams received both his BA in Biology and MD from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a general surgery residency at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, followed by a vascular surgery fellowship at the same institution. He is board certified in both general surgery and vascular surgery.

Richard Afable, MD, MPH, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, a 582-bed, not-for-profit, faith-based, two-campus hospital in Newport Beach and Irvine, California.  Formerly, Dr. Afable was Executive Vice President/CMO at Catholic Health East based in Newtown Square, P.  He was also the founder and President/CEO of Preferred Physician Partners (PPP), an Ohio-based physician practice management company that supported physician groups and provider networks.  He has served as Associate Professor of Medicine at Wake Forest University and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University. 

Before his management and academic career, Dr. Afable spent 10 years in private medical practice in Chicago, specializing in internal medicine and geriatrics. Dr. Afable received his BS degree from Loyola University in Chicago and an MD from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. He obtained his MPH degree from the University of Illinois School of Public Health and a certificate in business administration from Villanova University.

Craig Becker serves as president and chief executive officer of the Tennessee Hospital Association and its subsidiaries, THA Solutions Group, Inc., and the Tennessee Hospital and Education Research Foundation. THA primarily serves as an advocate for hospitals, health systems and home health agencies and the patients they serve. Prior to joining THA, he was president of the Maine Hospital Association, serving in that position from 1989 to August 1993. Becker is a member of the American Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees.

Becker received a master's degree in administration and a bachelor's degree in journalism from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Patrick Cawley, MD, is the chief medical officer and an associate professor of medicine at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to his current position, he served as section chief of hospital medicine and Vice Chairman of Clinical Affairs in the Department of Medicine at MUSC. Dr. Cawley is a past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and a co-founder of the first hospital medicine program at Duke University.

Dr. Cawley graduated with honors from the University of Scranton. He received his doctor of medicine degree from Georgetown University, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and completed an internal medicine residency at Duke University. He is board certified in internal medicine and was named a Senior Fellow in Hospital Medicine by the Society of Hospital Medicine. He is a certified physician executive through the American College of Physician Executives and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Ronald L. Kaufman, MD, FACHE, MBA, is Chief Medical Officer for the California/Nebraska Region of Tenet Healthcare. Prior to joining Tenet in 2004, Dr. Kaufman served as Senior Associate Dean for Administration at the Keck School of Medicine and as the Associate Senior Vice President for Administration, both at the University of Southern California. He is on the board of directors of Integrated Healthcare Association, on the board of the Facey Medical Foundation, and served a term as a member of the board of trustees of the California Hospital Association.

Dr. Kaufman has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA. He received his MD at the University of California Irvine, and MBA at the University of Southern California. Dr. Kaufman completed his postgraduate medical training at LAC+USC Medical Center and is board certified in internal medicine, rheumatology, and medical management.  Dr. Kaufman is Professor Emeritus of Clinical Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, and a Master of the American College of Rheumatology and a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Physician Executives.

Stanley W. Marks, MD, FACS, is the Senior Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer for the Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida. The system consists of six major hospitals, many additional facilities and ser­vices, over 10,000+ employees and over 2,200 members on its Medical Staff. Prior to joining the Memorial Healthcare System in his administrative capacity, Dr. Marks practiced as a general and vascular surgeon for 16 years in the same community.

Dr. Marks holds a BA in biology from C.W. Post College of Long Island University and a medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. He completed his residency in general surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital-University of Miami in Miami, Florida. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Gregory F. McAuliffe, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer at San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center (SLVRMC) in Alamosa, Colorado. Dr. McAuliffe was named the first Chief Medical Officer at SLVRMC, now an integrated health system, in 2009. Prior to this, he served on the board of directors and as president of a 24-provider private multi-specialty group for 10 years. Dr. McAuliffe has been practicing Internal Medicine in Alamosa since 1988.

A Colorado native, he graduated from Colorado State University and obtained his medical degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. Dr. McAuliffe completed his Internal Medicine residency in Baltimore, Maryland. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and is a member of the American College of Physician Executives and the American College of Physicians. In addition to his CMO duties, Dr. McAuliffe continues to practice Internal Medicine on a part-time basis.

Judith A. Melin, MD, MA, is Chief Medical Services Officer and serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, a teaching hospital and 500 physician group practice. She co-chairs the Greater Boston Aligning Forces for Quality's Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions Committee, is vice-chair of the physician HIT advisory group to MA's Regional Extension Center (for CMS' Meaningful Use program), and serves on both the MA Hospital Association's Clinical Issues Advisory Council and the Eastern MA Healthcare Initiative's steering committee. She has served as Lahey's medical director, as well as on several boards and executive committees in Massachusetts.

Dr. Melin graduated from Harvard - Radcliffe College with a bachelor's degree with high honors and a concurrent master's degree in chemistry from Harvard University. She received her medical degree from Yale Medical School, and completed an internal medicine residency at University Hospital in Boston. She graduated from the Radcliffe Seminars Graduate Management Certificate Program. She is board certified in internal medicine and practices at Lahey Clinic.

Frank W. Mikell, MD, is Chief Physician Executive for Hospital Sisters Health System and Chairman of the Board for Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants. Dr. Mikell also serves as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. He previously served as chair of the Department of Cardiology at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, and as president of the Sangamon County Heart Association.

Dr. Mikell completed medical school training at Dartmouth College and Emory University. He served his internship and residency at the University of Virginia and his cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota, where he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Cardiology. Dr. Mikell is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

Kevin Most, DO, is the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois. Serving CDH since 1990, Dr. Most has held previous positions as Senior Medical Director of the CDH Convenient Care Centers and Medical Director of the Business Health Unit. He also remains a physician on-staff.

Dr. Most earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, a Doctorate of Osteopathic medicine from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He completed his residency in family practice at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. He is board certified in family medicine.

Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, FACP, FACMI, is President, Clinical and Physician Services Group and Chief Medical Officer for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), based in Nashville, Tennessee. Before joining HCA in 2006, Dr. Perlin was Under Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, as the senior-most physician in the Federal Government and Chief Executive Officer of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Dr. Perlin led the nation's largest integrated health system.

Dr. Perlin has an MS in Health Administration and received his PhD in pharmacology (molecular neurobiology) with his MD as part of the Physician Scientist Training Program at the Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Michael Rock, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer at Mayo Clinic Hospitals/Mayo Foundation. In addition, he serves as a Consultant to the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Mayo, is a Professor of Orthopedics at the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and has teaching/examining privileges in Biomedical Engineering at Mayo Graduate School. He continues an active surgical practice. Prior to joining Mayo in 1988, Dr. Rock was an Associate Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Radiation Oncology at the University of Western Ontario and a Consultant to the Ontario Cancer Foundation.

An at-large American Hospital Association (AHA) Board of Trustees member and its Executive Committee, Dr. Rock has been an active member with the AHA Section for Health Care Systems since 2003 and served as Chair in 2008. In addition, Dr. Rock served on the AHA Long-Range Policy Committee in 2008, Chair of the AHA Leadership Council in 2009, and a member of the Board of Directors of Health Research and Education Trust.

Dr. Rock received his BS from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and later went on to receive a medical degree from the same university. Dr. Rock completed his post-graduate fellowship training in orthopaedic oncology at The Rizzoli Institute in Bologna, Italy and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

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Lee B. Sacks, MD, has been Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Health Care since 1997. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Advocate Physician Partners, to which he was appointed in 1995. Dr. Sacks previously served as Medical Director, Vice President of Lutheran General Health Plan (PHO) and Vice President of Primary Care Development for Lutheran General Health System, prior to the merger that created Advocate in 1995.

Dr. Sacks received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a medical degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He completed a Family Practice residency at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, serving as Chief Resident. He served as President of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians from 1988-89 and on the Commission of Health Care Services of the American Academy of Family Physicians from 1994-2000.

Kenneth F. Sands, MD, MPH, is the Senior Vice President of Health Care Quality and Director of the Silverman Institute for Health Care Quality and Safety at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sands joined Beth Israel Hospital in 1993 and was the Hospital Epidemiologist there until 1999 when he assumed his current role.

Dr. Sands received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School and a master’s in Public Health from Harvard. He completed his internship and residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Glenn D. Steele, Jr., MD, PhD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania. Dr. Steele previously served as the dean of the Biological Sciences Division at the Pritzker School of Medicine and as vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago. He currently serves on several boards and previously served on the American Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, the AHA Systems Governing Council (Chair), and the AHA Long-Range Policy Committee.

Dr. Steele received his bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University and his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in surgery at the University of Colorado, where he was also a fellow of the American Cancer Society.  He earned his PhD in microbiology at Lund University in Sweden. 

Dan Stultz, MD, FACP, FACHE, is president and chief executive officer of the Texas Hospital Association, an Austin-based trade association representing more than 85 percent of the state’s hospitals and health care systems. From 1999-2006, Dr. Stultz served as president and CEO of Shannon Health System in San Angelo, Texas. He is a member of the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board 7 and of the State Hospital Association Executives Forum. He is a fellow for both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Dr. Stultz received his bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and his medical school at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Kentucky.

Nick Wolter, MD, is CEO of the Billings Clinic, a not-for-profit health care organization in Billings, Montana. Dr. Wolter is a former member of the board of directors of the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Group Association. He also served two terms as a Commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Dr. Wolter received his BA in English at Carleton College, his MA in American Culture at the University of Michigan, and his MD at the University of Michigan Medical Center.  He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, and returned to the University of Michigan for a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

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Gary R. Yates, MD, is Chief Medical Officer of Sentara, an eight-hospital, not-for-profit health system in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Yates is also a member of the clinical faculty at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.  Dr. Yates joined Sentara in 1996 and has been responsible for developing Sentara's clinical effectiveness and patient safety initiatives. 

A board certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Yates is the President of Healthcare Performance Improvement, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Voluntary Hospitals of America and the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians. Additionally, he serves on the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Committee. 

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John R. Combes, MD, is Senior Vice President at the American Hospital Association (AHA) where he leads the association's Physician Leadership Forum. He also serves as President of the Center for Healthcare Governance (CHG), an AHA affiliate organization. Dr. Combes serves as a Senior Fellow at the Hospital Research and Education Trust (HRET), as well as on the boards of the Hospital Sisters Health System, a 13-hospital health system in Illinois and Wisconsin, and the West Virginia Medical Institute, a multi-state Quality Improvement Organization. He is a member of the Not-for-Profit Advisory Council of the National Association of Corporate Directors. In addition, Dr. Combes is Principal Investigator for an AHRQ national initiative to reducing central line infections through the use of a comprehensive unit based patient safety approach pioneered by Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Combes received his medical degree from Cornell University in New York and completed his post-graduate training at Boston City Hospital. He is certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has Management Certification from the American College of Physician Executives.

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