Annual Hospital Executive Forum

John Gardner, MS, FACHE, has been the CEO at Yuma District Hospital and Clinics, located in Yuma, CO since January 2007.  He has been of member of the management and executive teams of P/SL Healthcare (Denver, CO), Sentara
Health System (Norfolk, Virginia), PorterCare Adventist Health System (Denver), Centura Health System (Colorado), North Valley Hospital (Thornton, CO), and Good Samaritan Health Systems (Kearney, NE).

He has a B. A. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and
MS in Health Administration from the University of Colorado School at Denver
School of Business.

Mr. Gardner is active in a variety of community organizations, serving as on the Boards of the East Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, Centennial Mental Health Center, The High Plains Network, The Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved and the Colorado Hospital Association.

Michael Rowan MHSA, joined Catholic Health Initiatives in March, 2004, and currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  In this capacity, he provides strategic direction and management oversight for one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation.  In addition to
providing oversight of all the local based healthcare services, he oversees the corporate information technology, performance management, clinical operations and risk and insurance services. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Rowan served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of St.
John Health in Detroit, Michigan.  In previous positions, Mr. Rowan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Humility of Mary Health Partners in Youngstown, Ohio, as well as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, Sarasota, Florida.

Mr. Rowan received a Master of Health Services Administration degree from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University.

Debbie Welle-Powell MPA, is the Vice President of Payer Strategies and Legislative Affairs for Exempla Healthcare.  In her current role, she is responsible for one billion dollars in contract negotiations and public affairs for three hospitals, behavioral health center and a large multi-specialty group practice.  She works on developing strategic partnerships and relationships with state and congressional legislators, national and local leaders, policy makers, chambers and employer groups. In 2006, she led the effort that created the Colorado Hospital Report Card requiring providers to report clinical quality outcomes.

Ms. Welle-Powell has more than 18 years experience in managing physician practices, payer contract negotiations, risk contracting, managing IPA and PPO networks and working with physician to create varied network models. She teaches courses on health policy and financing at both Regis University
and Denver University.  She is often asked to speak at the national and local level on health policy, managed care and provider related topics, and has authored many articles for national journals on similar topics.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Moorhead State University and her Masters in Public Affairs from University of Colorado.

Ms. Welle-Powell is extremely active in community projects and serves on several boards, including Mile High United Way, Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation Board, the executive committee of the Metro Denver Economic Development Council and the Coalition for the Medically Uninsured.

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