Contributors: Bob McDonald, MD WG'92 and John Barkett, WG’09
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The 2015 WHCMAA Alumni Conference was held at Huntsman Hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus. This year the conference focused on the topic of leadership in a time of change and chaos. This year’s conference bore the title “What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk through the Fire,” which is the name of a collection of poetry by American poet Charles Bukowski. The title resonated with many alumni leaders in healthcare in the U.S. for whom an average workday may feel like walking through a bed of hot coals.
The major events during the Alumni Conference weekend included the following:
Annual Alumni Dinner. Following tradition, the annual Alumni Dinner was held on October 15 at Russet in downtown Philadelphia. Over 60 people attended. Maureen Spivack, WG’86, was awarded the WHCMAA Alumni Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to a Wharton alumnus/alumna in the field of healthcare who has demonstrated a history of active contribution to the field through both knowledge creation and work on societal/governmental health issues, while supporting WHCMAA and exhibiting potential for continued career development and success. In her role at KPMG and through her significant leadership positions at WHCMAA, Maureen has demonstrated all these attributes in abundance. An enjoyable evening was had by all, and it was a great way to kick off the weekend.
Award winner Maureen Spivack is 3rd from the left.
Alumni Conference. Approximately 150 attended the WHCMAA Alumni Conference this year. Professor Michael Useem, the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management and Director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management, started the conference, delivering the lecture “Leading in Healthcare Now and in the Future: Walking Well through the Fire.” The lecture presented a general overview of the topic of leadership and some of Professor Useem’s own research on the topic, while pointing out the unique aspects of leadership in a healthcare enterprise. Following his lecture, Professor Useem welcomed Dr. Stephen Klasko, WG’96 and Dr. Mark Lester, WG’02, to share their insights on the impact of leadership on their organizations in an informal, “fireside chat” format. Dr. Klasko is leading an organizational and structural transformation of Jefferson Medical Center as its CEO. In his role as Executive Vice President and Southeast Zone leader for Texas Health Resources, Dr. Lester provided leadership to one of the most highly scrutinized public healthcare crises in the United States of the last decade - the treatment of cases of Ebola at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Both Professor Useem’s keynote lecture and the fireside chat which followed were structured using Professor Useem’s book,The Leader’s Checklist. During the morning break Professor Useem signed copies of his book for conference attendees. This book distills the process of leadership down to sixteen actions. Though they may be easy-to-remember, putting the checklist into practice takes time and dedication.
This year’s conference break-out sessions followed two tracks. One was focused on leadership: “Applying the Leader’s Checklist in a Time of Change.” The other focused on functional areas, such as product innovation and finance. 
During the morning leadership session, Dr. Klasko reviewed how The Leader’s Checklist helped to guide him as he transformed the University of South Florida Medical School when he served as its Dean and how he continues to apply these same principles as he looks to transform Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia.
In parallel, Phil Heifetz, WG’96, served as moderator for a panel discussing the topic “Leadership in the Product Innovation Realm.” Panelists for this session included Maneesh Arora, Chief Operating Officer of Exact Sciences, Brent Ratz, WG’06, Founding CEO of CardiAQ Valve Technologies, and Kathy Crothal, former CEO of Animas Corporation. They discussed the leadership challenges they have faced in bringing breakthrough technologies to market. Thanks to Phil for bringing together such an outstanding group of life sciences entrepreneurs and facilitating an insightful dialogue!
At the conclusion of these sessions, the conference moved to the scenic eighth floor of Huntsman Hall where the now traditional standing lunch allowed attendees to nourish and network. Several dozen classmates were reunited, while new connections were established between alumni and the outstanding group of thought-provoking speakers who attended.
Following lunch, Niall Brennan, Chief Data Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), gave the second keynote lecture of the day. His topic was “Leadership Lessons Learned as a Steward of the Public’s Health Data.” Mr. Brennan reviewed several of the ground-breaking initiatives that he has led within CMS including several policies from the PPACA. He described how his team is using data to spearhead the drive for transparency and accountability within the agency.
In his afternoon leadership break-out session, Dr. Lester gave the talk “In the Spotlight – Challenges and Lessons for Leaders.” This session reviewed how The Leader’s Checklist provided foundational guidance to Dr. Lester as he led himself, his team, his organization and multiple other stakeholders through one of the most highly scrutinized public health events in the U.S. in recent years. In parallel, Maureen Spivack, WG’86, served as moderator for a panel discussing “Leadership in the Financing Realm.” Panelists for this session included Jay Mohr, WG’91, Founder and Managing Partner at Locust Walk Partners, and Leslie Henshaw, Partner at Deerfield Management. They discussed the leadership challenges they have faced while investing in healthcare companies. Thanks to Maureen for bringing together such an outstanding group of leaders in finance together and facilitating an outstanding session!
To conclude the conference, conference Co-Chair Dr. Bob McDonald interviewed Dr. Sam Nussbaum. Dr. Nussbaum has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Anthem, Inc. for the past fifteen years. This informal and far-ranging discussion touched upon historical and possible future trends in healthcare management, the leadership strengths and skills that these environmental forces will require and the unique covenant of caring and beneficence that is required when one chooses to lead in the health insurance industry.
Many thanks to the team that organized and executed this Conference, including Conference Co-Chairs Phil Heifetz, WG’86, and Dr. Bob McDonald, WG’92, Communication Committee Co-Chairs John Barkett, WG’09, Brian Corvino, WG’11 and Lauren Lisher, WG’09 and Operations Chair Peter Mueller, WG’09. Much appreciation goes to past WHCMAA President Jeff Voigt, WG’86, current WHCMAA President and Co-Chair of the 2014 Alumni Conference John Harris, WG’88 and Co-Chair of the 2014 Alumni Conference Dr. Bryan Bushick, WG’89, who served as invaluable members of the Conference team.
Special thanks go out to June Kinney for her generous input on the conference and to Cathy Molony, Director at the Wharton Executive MBA (WEMBA) Program. Approximately 40% of all WEMBA students have careers in healthcare, and Cathy has been instrumental in bringing the Wharton Healthcare Management Alumni and WEMBA communities closer together. For instance, Cathy was instrumental in bringing Drs. Klasko and Lester, both alumni of the Wharton Executive MBA program, to the attention of this year’s conference co-chairs. Additional thanks go out to Chris Aleszczyk for all her help in coordinating the WHCM alumni on an ongoing basis. Without her support our community would be much the worse. Finally, a debt of gratitude is owed to Danna Daughtry, WHCMAA Administrator, who was instrumental in marketing the event to alumni, created, and tracked attendee lists and did important work crucial to a successful conference.
Maria Whitman, WG’05 and John Barkett, WG’09, will be serving as co-chairs of the 2016 WHCMAA Alumni Conference, which will take place on October 21, 2016. All those interested in helping with next year’s conference should reach out to them.
Contact Bob and John at: