Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, President and Chief Executive
Officer
Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, joined the
Massachusetts Hospital Association as President and CEO in August 2007
bringing more than 30 years of hospital and association
experience.
Before her appointment to MHA, Lynn led the American
Diabetes Association and prior to that, she served as President and CEO
of the Louisiana Hospital Association, following her tenure as EVP/COO
of the New Jersey Hospital Association. This built on her 20 years
working in a New Jersey hospital where she progressed from a Medical
Technologist to a Senior Vice President.
Named by the Boston
Women's Business as one of the "Five Women to Watch" in 2008, she has
since been inducted into the Massachusetts Women's Forum. Lynn has
served on the Massachusetts Attorney General's Task Force on Community
Benefits, the Special Commission on the Healthcare Payment System, the
Special Commission on Provider Price Reform, plus numerous other boards,
advisory councils and philanthropic leadership committees. She is
a sought after speaker on matters of health policy and recently received
the New England Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society
2010 Presenter of the Year Award. In 2011, Lynn was awarded the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Make Smoking
History Award for her efforts to launch a statewide voluntary public
health initiative to ban all tobacco products from hospital
campuses.
Lynn earned her B.S. in medical technology from
Tennessee Wesleyan College and in 2005 received the J. Neal Ensminger
Distinguished Alumnus Award from her alma mater. She earned an
M.A. in health management from Central Michigan University in
1983. A board-certified Fellow in the American College of
Healthcare Executives, she served on their national Board from 2003 to
2006 and has received several ACHE recognitions. She was awarded a
Doctor of Humane Letters in Health Services from Salem State
University.
Lynn resides in Boston with her husband
"Nick."
Timothy F. Gens, Executive Vice
President and General Counsel

Tim Gens is Executive Vice President
and the General Counsel at the Massachusetts Hospital Association. The
point person on a number of the association's most important and
sweeping activities — from creation of the patient safety and
quality care initiative that has become PatientCareLink to positioning
the hospital community at the center of the state's historic
healthcare reform effort — he leads a team of committed
advocates, policy analysts, and lobbyists. Now in his 17th year at
MHA, he has served in several leadership positions involving public
policy and reform of the healthcare system, private and public
regulation of hospitals, and initiatives to promote improvement in
patient safety and quality care. Tim also oversees legal affairs for the
association.
Prior to joining MHA, Tim served in the public sector
at the federal, state, and municipal levels where he held
senior positions responsible for policy, planning,
development, marketing, and legal counsel services. Early in his
career he served as a management and marketing strategist for a national
consulting firm and eventually formed a company which provided similar
services to public, private, and non-profit sector clients across the
country.
Tim holds a BA from Boston College and a JD
from Boston College Law School.
James T.
Kirkpatrick, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Finance and Managed
Care

For 25 years, Joe Kirkpatrick has been employed by the Massachusetts
Hospital Association. He is currently Senior Vice President, Health
Care Finance and Managed Care Advocacy. He served as Contract Officer
for the Association on the Medicare Massachusetts “All
Payor” Research and Demonstration Waiver from 1982 through 1985.
Joe's work at the association has included: staffing negotiations of
statewide Blue Cross/Hospital Master Contracts in 1985 and 1988; work on
state hospital financing legislation (including both regulation and
deregulation, uncompensated care pool reform, and Massachusetts' recent
Health Care Reform Law); advocating for member hospitals with federal
and state agencies and private sector payers on such matters as
coverage, payment, claims processing, and utilization management; and
analysis and explanation of Medicare, Medicaid, and private sector
policy changes. He is also responsible for MHA's work to help improve
Medicare reimbursement for Massachusetts hospitals especially in regard
to the area wage
index.
Christine A. Baratta,
Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Christine Baratta serves as the Vice President of Marketing and
Communications for the association and oversees all communications and
marketing efforts related to strategic and policy positions taken by the
association. Prior to her arrival at MHA, Christine served as Senior
Vice President of Communications and Marketing at Caritas Christi Health
Care (CCHC), now Steward Health Care, the state’s second-largest
healthcare system. Christine also worked as Director and Interim Vice
President of Public Affairs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH),
one of the nation’s top hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical
School and a member of Partners HealthCare. In addition, she has held
positions in both media relations and marketing at National Grid,
formerly New England Electric System, and worked as a publications
specialist for the Central Artery / Tunnel Project.
During her
career, Christine has been honored with numerous professional awards of
excellence. She is a graduate of Boston University where she earned a
B.S. in Journalism. She is also a 2010 Fellow of The Mass. Healthcare
Leadership College.
Anuj K. Goel, Vice President,
Legal and Regulatory Affairs
Anuj Goel, JD, MPH, is the vice president of legal and regulatory
affairs for the Massachusetts Hospital Association. In this role, he is
responsible for providing legal research on relevant federal, state and
local laws and regulations pertaining to the hospital industry;
including issues relating to HIPAA, Medicare, MassHealth, case
management, clinical policies, and processing of medical claims.
He also develops MHA member communications to educate hospitals on the
requirements needed to comply with regulatory and legal
issues. Anuj works closely with the MHA Government Advocacy Team to
coordinate and write legislation required by the association, as well as
presenting testimony on legislation and regulations. Additionally,
he manages health access, community benefits, and community initiative
issues impacting the hospital community.
Anuj’s extensive
health care background includes prior positions as a surgical assistant,
a physician’s assistant, and in medical billing and coding.
Anuj received his bachelor’s degree from the Miami University of
Ohio; his master’s degree in public health from Boston University;
and his juris doctorate from the Suffolk University School of
Law.
Patricia M.
Noga, PhD, RN, MBA, NEA-BC, Vice President, Clinical Affairs
Pat Noga
is Vice President of Clinical Affairs for the Massachusetts Hospital
Association. She leads a variety of clinical and health system-related
programs that assist Massachusetts hospitals to continually improve
patient safety and quality of care, while keeping the patient and family
at the center of the healthcare delivery system.
Pat served since
2007 as MHA’s Senior Director of Clinical Affairs. Prior to
joining the MHA staff, she was Chief Retention Officer at Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center from 2004 to 2007, and Clinical Director of
Inpatient Services & Nursing at Tufts Medical Center from 1994-2004,
and Nurse Manager at Tufts MC from 1984 to 1994. In all of these
positions, Pat provided nursing and advisory leadership to the
hospital’s executive leaders and clinical
staff.
Pat received her Associate in Liberal Arts degree from
Elmira College and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from
Skidmore College. She received her MBA from Suffolk University and
her doctoral degree in health policy from the University of
Massachusetts. She is board certified in nursing administration,
advanced, through the American Nurses Credentialing
Center.
Michael E. Sroczynski, Esq., Vice President,
Government Advocacy

Michael Srocyznski, Esq, has been part of
MHA’s government advocacy team for 10 years, starting initially as
manager of state government advocacy. Prior to joining MHA, he served as
legislative counsel in the Massachusetts State Senate.
He is a graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law and the
Whitman School of Business at Syracuse University. He has been a member
of the Massachusetts bar since 1996. Michael is an active
member of both the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar
Association. He is a member of the MBA's Healthcare Section and the
BBA’s Healthcare and Labor Sections. He co-chairs the BBA's
Healthcare Legislation sub-committee and sits on the Healthcare Section
steering committee.
He is a member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Health
Council, a former board member of the Massachusetts Center for
Nursing, and also serves on the board of directors of the Vision
Coalition Massachusetts. In early 2009, Governor Deval Patrick appointed
Michael to the state's Healthcare Workforce Advisory Council.
In his role at MHA, Michael is the leader of state and federal
government advocacy efforts and is an active participant in numerous
business, workforce and healthcare coalitions and
partnerships.
Walter J. Ramos, Esq., Vice President,
Operations
As Vice President of Operations,
Walter Ramos, Esq. is responsible for MHA's education,
finance, human resources, information technology, building and office
services, as well as all programs that generate revenue for the
association outside of its dues structure.
He most recently worked as Chief Administrator, Boston Medical Center
HealthNet Plan, a $1 billion Medicaid Managed Care Organization. Before
that he was Director of Administration, Boston Public Health Commission
(1998 – 2007), where he oversaw a number of functions for the
1,200-employee Commission with a $138 million budget.
Walter holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, and received his
B.A. from Roger Williams University. Walter began his career while
in college, working as Special Assistant to the late United States
Senator Edward Kennedy, from
1980-1983.
Patricia Crowley, Vice President,
Governance and Member Relations
Patty Crowley, Vice President, Governance and
Member Relations, oversees the integration and leadership of multiple
functions including Governance, Member Relations, and Strategic
Planning, in support of advancing MHA's mission, goals and
objectives.
Patty's prior service to MHA includes roles as Chief
of Staff and member of MHA's senior management team, where she primarily
was responsible for aligning strategic processes with tactical planning
to advance MHA's mission as well as directing MHA's Governance function.
In her 20 plus years at MHA, Patty also has held numerous posts within
the Member Services and Executive Office as well as with the Conference
of Boston Teaching Hospitals. Prior to joining MHA, Patty was
employed by BayBank Harvard Trust as a key member of their Operations
Team.
Her interests include governance, strategic planning,
mediation and coaching. Patty can be reached at pcrowley@mhalink.org.
Normand E. Deschene, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Lowell General

Norm Deschene serves as president and chief executive officer
of Lowell General Hospital. Mr. Deschene is responsible for the overall
vision and leadership of the hospital's management including strategic
planning, community relations, and physician relations.
Under his
leadership, the hospital has garnered numerous quality, satisfaction,
and financial benchmark recognitions including the 2006 Thomson Top 100
Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leader Award; the Volunteer Hospital
Association's 2007 Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence; 2008
Cleverley + Associates Top 100 Community Value Provider award; the
American Heart Association's 2008 "Get with the Guidelines" Gold award
honoring performance achievement for cardiac care; and a Moody's
A-Rating.
Mr. Deschene holds a master’s degree in Hospital
Administration from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor's degree
from Providence College. A fellow of the American College of Healthcare
Executives, Mr. Deschene served as a past regent for the College for the
state of Massachusetts and was named the "Healthcare Executive of the
Year" in 2006.
Mr. Deschene is an active member of the American
Hospital Association, Hospital Financial Management Association,
Healthcare Management Association of Massachusetts, and the
Massachusetts Hospital Association. He serves as secretary and a board
member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association and is the past
chairman of the MHA Standing Committee on Finance. He also serves as a
member of the Executive Committee of Voluntary Hospitals of America
Northeast. Mr. Deschene was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts
to the Goddard Council, advising upon the development of Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum for the Commonwealth, and is
a member of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety Expert Panel in
Obstetrics.
Locally, he serves as the chairman of the Boys and
Girls Clubs of Greater Lowell and is a board member of the American
Textile Museum, Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, and The
Lowell Plan. He is also a past chairman of the Greater Lowell Chamber of
Commerce.
Peter L. Slavin, Chair-elect, President,
Massachusetts General Hospital

Peter Slavin, MD became the President of
Massachusetts General Hospital on January 1, 2003. From 1999-2002, he
served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts
General Physicians Organization, which includes over 1,700 physicians
and employs nearly 1,000 of them.
From 1997 to 1999, Dr. Slavin
served as President of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
Before that, he did his training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts
General Hospital from 1984 to 1987 and was Senior Vice President and
Chief Medical Officer from 1994 to 1997.
Dr. Slavin graduated from
Harvard College in 1979, Harvard Medical School in 1984, and Harvard
Business School in 1990.
Dr. Slavin teaches internal medicine and
health care management at Harvard Medical School where he is a Professor
of Health Care Policy. He has also spoken widely on such topics as
quality and utilization management, the economics of teaching hospitals,
and the state of physician practices.
Joseph J.
Mullany, Treasurer, President & Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard
Health Systems New England Market
Joe
Mullany is President of the New England and Chicago Markets of Vanguard
Health Systems, with operational responsibility for five hospitals with
net revenues of approximately $1 billion dollars, since 2005.
Mr.
Mullany has worked in a variety of healthcare settings and has focused
on the investor-owned segment for nearly two decades. Before
Vanguard, he was a Vice President at Essent Healthcare in Nashville, TN,
where he had operational responsibility for the company’s New
England hospitals from 2002 to
2005.
Mr.
Mullany also served as Corporate Vice President and President of the
Mississippi division of Health Management Associates (HMA), responsible
for nine hospitals with more than $1 billion in net revenues from 1999
to 2002. While with HMA, then Mississippi Governor David Ronnie
Musgrove appointed him to serve on the Mississippi State Board of
Health.
Prior to managing at the system level, Mr. Mullany spent time as the CEO
of several organizations, CEO of Central Mississippi Medical Center,
1998 to 1999, CEO of Biloxi Regional Medical Center from 1996 to 1998,
and CEO Southbay Hospital in Tampa, Florida, 1994 to 1996.
Mr.
Mullany serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Hospital Association
and the Federation of American Hospitals. He is a former board member of
the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives.
He is a graduate of Wake
Forest University and has a Master of Business Administration and Master
of Health Science degree from the University of Florida.
Mr.
Mullany and his wife Cori live in Wellesley with their three
daughters.
Walter H. Ettinger, Secretary,
President, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical
Center
Walt Ettinger, MD is the President of the
University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, a 781-bed teaching
hospital that is the clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts
Medical School. Dr. Ettinger is also Professor of Medicine in the
Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Medical School.
His previous
professional positions include Vice President of Medical Affairs
and Education at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, Executive Vice
President of Virtua Health in Marlton New Jersey and Director of the J.
Paul Sticht Center on Aging at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Dr. Ettinger received his medical
degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and did his
residency training at Yale New Haven Hospital in Internal Medicine. He
completed a fellowship in Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins and a fellowship
in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins and the National
Institutes of Aging. He is board certified in Internal Medicine,
Rheumatology and Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Ettinger also holds an MBA from
the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest
University.
He is board certified in internal medicine,
rheumatology and geriatric medicine. He remains active as a clinician,
teacher and scholar. His areas of expertise are prevention of physical
disability in old age, clinical quality and patient safety, and health
care management.
Ellen M. Zane, Immediate Past Chair, Former
President & Chief Executive Officer, Tufts Medical Center and
Floating Hospital for Children

Ellen Zane is a nationally renowned health care
leader who recently retired as President & Chief Executive Officer
of Tufts Medical Center and the Floating Hospital for Children. She was
the first woman to run the hospital in its 215-year history. The
hospital employs more 5,000 doctors, nurses, researchers, and other
healthcare workers, includes Floating Hospital for Children, and has 450
beds. Ellen remains highly involved at Tufts Medical Center as a vice
chair of the Board of Trustees, strategic advisor and fund-raising
advocate. Ellen is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Medicine, Division of Clinical Care Research at Tufts University School
of Medicine. For the period of 2011 to 2013, Ellen is a
Distinguished Guest Lecturer in Healthcare Administration at the Sawyer
Business School at Suffolk University.
From 1994 to 2004, Ellen
held the position of Network President for Partners HealthCare System,
Inc. In this capacity, she was responsible for the development of
a provider network featuring the Massachusetts General Hospital and
Brigham & Women's Hospital. The network encompassed 5600
physicians and represented $800+ million of managed care revenue. Today,
this entity represents one of the largest physician networks in
America.
Prior to that, Ellen was the Chief Executive Officer at
Quincy Hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts. Ellen was an employee of
HCA and then Quorum Health Resources in this capacity.
Ellen
received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and her Master of Arts degree in
1975 from the Catholic University of America in Washington. She
holds the following honorary degrees: Doctorate of Commercial
Science from Bentley University, Doctorate of Business Administration
from Stonehill College, and Doctorate of Humane Letters from Curry
College.
Ellen is currently a Director of Parexel International
(NASDAQ-PRXL), a Director of Lincare Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ-LNCR), a
Director of Century Capital Management, a Director of Fiduciary Trust
Company, an Advisory Board Member of Vetera Healthcare Partners, LLC and
a Healthcare Advisory Board Member of Pinstripe, Inc. She is a
Trustee of George Washington University, is a member of the Health
Policy and Management Executive Council at the Harvard School of
Public
Dale M. Lodge, Immediate Past Chairman Most
Recently Retired, President and Chief Executive Officer, Winchester
Healthcare Management, Inc.
Dale
Lodge has been President and CEO of Winchester Healthcare Management,
Inc. (parent company of Winchester Hospital) since 1998. Prior to
joining Winchester Hospital, he was Senior Vice President of Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and was responsible for managing all
hospital and physician relations throughout the state. Mr. Lodge served
as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Leonard Morse
Hospital and was Chief Executive Officer of its physician organization.
Mr. Lodge also held administrative positions at the Brigham and
Women’s and Beth Israel hospitals.
Mr. Lodge is a
Past-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Hospital
Association (MHA) and a member of the MHA Executive Committee,
past-President of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals,
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Yankee Alliance, and a member of the
Massachusetts Business Roundtable’s Committee on Healthcare.
He was also named Massachusetts Grassroots Champion in 2007 by the
American Hospital Association for advocacy on behalf of Massachusetts
patients, hospitals and health systems to elected officials.