Health Care Risk Management Certificate Program

Cyndi is CEO of Siders HealthCare Consulting, LLC providing customized risk management and patient safety professional consultation and strategic support, coaching, mentoring and education for health care organizations and health systems, risk management companies, insurance and claims management companies and insurance agencies. Cyndi has served as vice president of consulting services for large professional liability insurance companies providing leadership for a team of consultants delivering risk management and patient safety consultative services, education, and strategic support for clients nationally. She is current president of the North Dakota Society for Healthcare Risk Management and serves as faculty for the ASHRM Health Care Risk Management Certificate Program. Cyndi is a frequent state and national speaker on a variety of risk management and patient safety topics and has authored several national publications, including chapters in ASHRM publications. Cyndi is a past recipient of the ASHRM Research Incentive Award.

Georgene is the currently the Vice President, Insurance for UHS of Delaware, Inc. In that role, she places all lines of insurance, oversees claims management, workers’ compensation, behavioral health and acute care risk management, environmental risk and emergency management functional areas. Prior to assuming this position, Georgene was the Senior Director, Corporate Risk Management, Acute Care where she was responsible for analysis and oversight of the risk management and patient safety functions for all UHS acute care facilities, including participation in facility surveys to evaluate functionality of the facility risk programs and performance of risk staff. Prior to coming to UHS in 2014, she was the Administrator Risk Management & Patient Safety for Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown PA. She is a diploma graduate of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obtained her BSN from Cedar Crest College and her MBA from DeSales University. She holds the CPHRM and FASHRM designations. She is a Past President of ASHRM and a current faculty member. She has been a speaker both nationally and regionally on risk management and patient safety topics.

Jean B. Hood, RN, MSN, CPHRM, CPPS, FASHRM, is the Corporate Executive Director of Clinical Risk Management for AdventHealth, a large not-for-profit, faith-based health care system that provides care across nine states. Jean oversees risk processes for the West Florida Division of AdventHealth. Jean is an active member the American Society for Health Care Risk Management (ASHRM). She has earned the designation of Certified Professional in Health Care Risk Management (CPHRM) and the designation as a Certified Professional of Patient Safety (CPPS). She is recognized as a Fellow of the American Society for Health Care Risk Management (FASHRM). Jean received the award of ASHRM’s Risk Management Professional of the Year in 2021. The Clinical Risk team at AdventHealth, under her leadership, received ASHRM’s Patient Safety Innovation award in 2018. Jean has volunteered her time on many ASHRM committees, and previously served as the chair of the Chapter Leader Task Force and the Nominating Committee. Jean is a faculty member for ASHRM’s Risk Management Essentials team. She was a contributing author to ASHRM’s Leadership Playbook. She is honored to begin her term as an Advisory Board member in 2024. Jean is also very active in the Florida Society for Health Care Risk Management and Patient Safety (FSHRMPS). Jean is the immediate Past-President of FSHRMPS and has held several Board and officer positions previously for the society. Jean coordinates a Florida state specific Risk Management 101 program for FSHRMPS and is a previous recipient of the society’s Professional Recognition Award in 2015.Jean is a registered nurse with past roles that include critical care, nursing management, and performance improvement before becoming a leader in health care risk management.

Myka leads the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic consultant teams for MedPro Group, bringing over 25 years of healthcare experience. Her focus over the past 15 years has been on advancing healthcare risk management and patient safety, as she served as the lead chief risk officer and patient safety executive for three large, complex healthcare systems.

Throughout her career, Myka has honed her expertise in various areas, including patient safety, clinical risk management, process improvement, enterprise risk management, claims management, healthcare leadership, regulatory compliance, accreditation readiness, quality improvement, and emergency medicine.

A registered nurse with a clinical background in emergency medicine and trauma services, Myka holds Master of Healthcare Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is a TeamSTEPPS® Master Trainer, Just Culture Certified, and has earned an IHI Masters Patient Safety Certification. Additionally, Myka is a member of the ASHRM National Teaching Faculty and serves as a Director on the Florida Society Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety (FSHRMPS) Board of Directors, actively participating in several ASHRM and FSHRMPS committees.

Christopher Allman is the Director of Compliance & Privacy for Medically Home, a national Hospital at Home Provider located in Boston, Massachusetts. During his more than twenty-six years as an attorney, Mr. Allman has focused his career on general health law, including all areas of regulatory compliance on the federal and state levels, health care risk management, and litigation. More specifically, Mr. Allman’s has provided expertise in areas of strict government regulation, such as Stark, Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act and HIPAA, as those matters become increasingly complex in today’s environment. Mr. Allman’s clients have included major regional medical centers, small community hospitals and individual physician offices. Mr. Allman is the author of “Case Law Update”, a column that appears in the quarterly ASHRM Journal. He has also published articles on a variety of health care topics, including health care risk management, HIPAA, licensing matters, risk management in long term care facilities, and was a contributor to the ASHRM Healthcare Claims and Litigation Playbook, the ASHRM Leadership Playbook and an associate editor of the ASHRM ERM Playbook. Mr. Allman is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM), a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (DFASHRM), a Past President of the Michigan Society of Healthcare Risk Management and is a former Advisory Board Member for the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) and has served as the Chair of the Advocacy Task Force from 2012-2014, on the ASHRM Finance Committee in 2018 and 2019, and the ASHRM ERM Task Force. In addition to his current activity with the ASHRM, he is also an active member of the State Bar of Michigan – Health Law Section and the American Health Law Association. Mr. Allman graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 1996 and Hope College in 1992.

Mike is an experienced health care risk manager, nurse, insurance professional, attorney and professor. He began his clinical career as a nurse in intensive care and emergency medicine. Mike started his health care risk management career with a captive insurance company in New York City, having dedicated risk and claims management consulting responsibilities to a major tertiary care medical center. He then served as a risk manager at academic medical centers in New York City. Mr. Midgley later worked in the field as a risk management consultant, underwriter, product development manager, business development manager and compliance officer with medical malpractice insurance carriers. Mike is currently the Head of Loss Control for Munich Re Specialty Insurance. Mike is on faculty at Loyola Law School where he teaches leadership and strategic planning and serves as faculty for the American Society for Health Care Risk Management (ASHRM). Mr. Midgley is a New York licensed attorney and is a member of the NY State Bar Association. Mike earned his Juris Doctor (JD) from Fordham University School of Law. He has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Rutgers University School of Nursing. He is a Distinguished Fellow of ASHRM (DFASHRM) for superior achievement and has earned Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM) designation. Mike was the 2017 President of ASHRM. He is a Past President of the Association for Healthcare Risk Management of New York (AHRMNY) where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Mike is an active member of the NY, NJ, FL and TN ASHRM Chapters. Mike has authored book chapters and articles on various risk management topics and routinely provides risk management lectures.

Lisa Ramthun joined Jefferson in 2021 as the Enterprise Vice President of Clinical Risk and Claims. Lisa oversees clinical risk management and professional liability claims programs for the multi-billion-dollar academic health system and university. Before joining Jefferson, Lisa held other executive risk management and consulting positions. Lisa has over thirty (30) years of experience in health care risk management, emergency nursing, and pre-hospital nursing and has held various leadership positions. Lisa has created strategic and innovative risk management and patient safety programs that have improved organizational performance and mitigated risk while helping organizations achieve their strategic vision. Lisa holds Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in nursing and is a certified professional in health care risk management. Lisa is recognized by the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management as a Distinguished Fellow and is a frequent speaker and contributing author on risk management topics. Lisa is a past Board member of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management and is a faculty for the ASHRM Healthcare Risk Management Certificate program. In addition, Lisa has served in a number of volunteer and elected positions, including chapter president for the Southern California Association for Healthcare Risk Management.

Julie Ann Schneider has over 25 years of Healthcare Risk Management experience and is a frequent lecturer on topics involving risk management, regulatory affairs, and leadership. Mrs. Schneider has had unique career experiences in leading risk management in all care settings (ambulatory, acute, post-acute, and psychiatric) and has served in academic, community, public, religious, and private healthcare organizations. She has overseen a captive insurance carrier program and has held leadership roles at both the healthcare facility level and the corporate system level. She has provided strategic leadership for risk management and regulatory aspects of new hospital construction, mergers, and acquisitions. In addition, she has served as adjunct faculty in the Graduate Health Services Administration program at California State University, San Bernardino and is current faculty for the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM). She holds a master’s degree in health services administration, a Health Equity and Diversity Certificate from the University of California, Irvine, is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management, an ASHRM Fellow, and she remains an active ASHRM member. Mrs. Schneider serves on the ASHRM Chapter Leadership Task Force and spent 8 years on the Southern California Association for Healthcare Risk Management (SCAHRM) Board, including as President during the 2020-2021 COVID surges. She enjoys her current role as the Director of Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs for the University of California, Irvine Health System where her passions for risk management and education are synergized.

Lolade (pronounced “Low-La-Day”) Mitchell is a Chicago native who started her career in healthcare as a night shift staff nurse on the Multi-Specialty Surgical Unit and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the then University of Chicago Medical Center. In 2010, she acquired two master’s degrees in nursing and public health from the University of Illinois Chicago and began her journey to patient safety. Lolade took on the role of Patient Safety Coordinator at the medical center, and shortly thereafter, was promoted to a Risk Manager.

In 2014, Lolade left the hospital setting to work for a malpractice insurance carrier. As a Risk Manager at OMS National Insurance Company, Lolade continued to provide patient safety and risk mitigation services to OMS and dental providers across the United States. She eventually returned to the hospital setting, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, to continue her work in Patient Safety as the Patient Safety Leader and Program Manager. In 2019, Lolade graduated with a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety from Northwestern University. That same year, Lolade transitioned from Program Manager at Northwestern to Director of Quality & Patient Safety at RML Specialty Hospital, where she oversaw the organization’s quality program, patient safety program, infection prevention program, performance improvement program, data analytics, accreditation and regulatory, and hospital policies. Lolade played a pivotal role in the LTACH’s opening of their first two COVID Care Units, during the onset of the COVID pandemic. Lolade transitioned back to UChicago Medicine, in late 2021, as the Director of Clinical Excellence at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, IL, where she continued to lead organizational efforts toward improved quality and safety for patients. She expanded her reach in Fall 2023, when she transitioned to her current role as the System Director, Risk Management & Patient Safety at Northwestern Medicine. Lolade is grateful to be planted in a position that allows her to dig deep, uproot barriers and make improvements to the quality of care by leading efforts in risk mitigation, promotion of patient safety and medication safety, journey to high reliability and "Best - in - Class" across the Chicagoland area.

Maggie Neustadt, JD CPHRM, DFASHRM is the Vice President of Risk Management for BJC Health System in Missouri. As an attorney and clinical risk manager, Maggie directs the loss prevention and patient safety activities for the $10B health system. Prior to joining Saint Luke’s Health System in 2011, Maggie was litigation Senior Counsel at Husch Blackwell specializing in defending healthcare providers involved in professional liability litigation.

Maggie is a frequent speaker on trends in medical malpractice claims avoidance, healthcare risk mitigation issues and healthcare disclosure practices. Maggie earned her certification as a Professional Healthcare Risk Manager from the American Hospital Association in 2017 and Distinguished Fellow designation in 2024. Maggie was a contributing author of the Healthcare Claims and Litigation Playbook (2108), CPHRM Exam Preparation Guide (2019) and Legal & Regulatory Playbook (2021) published by the American Society of Healthcare Risk Managers (ASHRM), and has been on the Editorial Review Board for the ASHRM Journal. Maggie is the current Chair of the ASHRM FORUM News platform. Since 2019, Maggie has been faculty at ASHRM’s Academy teaching the Applications in Risk Management module.

Maggie serves on the Board for the Center for Practical Bioethics, a nonprofit founded in 1984, nationally recognized for its work in applied bioethics for clinicians and the public.

She is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, Missouri Society of Health Care Attorneys and the Greater Kansas City Society of Hospital Attorneys.

Denise joined RCM&D in 2008 as a Risk Management Consultant within the Healthcare Division. She is a nationally recognized health care enterprise risk management professional with extensive health care experience, and more than 30 years specializing in risk management, regulatory compliance, quality improvement and patient safety. In her current role, Denise is Team Leader for the RCM&D Healthcare Risk Management Consultation Services. She provides program leadership and works directly with clients to implement risk mitigation strategies in clinical and non-clinical areas across the health care enterprise. In addition, she provides comprehensive professional support services to help clients comply with new and changing regulatory requirements, evaluate emerging exposures through onsite risk assessments, navigate claims processes and develop recommendations and solutions for today’s complex risks. In addition, Denise currently leads RCM&D’s Healthcare Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) service line. Denise is a former President of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM). She has also served on the Board for ASHRM for two terms. She is currently an active member of ASHRM affiliated chapters in several states. She is a faculty member for ASHRM’s ERM Certificate program and Healthcare Risk Management Certificate program. She is a contributing author to ASHRM’s ERM and Leadership Playbooks. Denise speaks nationally on several health care enterprise risk management topics. Before joining RCM&D, Denise began her career as a staff nurse at Geisinger Medical Center, where she spent 19 years advancing to the position of Director Risk Manager.

Elaine is currently Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for the Stanford Medicine Enterprise. In this role she is responsible for the operational and strategic functions of the enterprise risk program for Stanford Medicine’s pediatric and adult academic medical centers, a large community-based hospital center and two large affiliated physician networks. The Risk function is responsible for all aspects of risk financing, insurance purchases and management, all claims and litigation activities, risk management consultation and education, management and safety oversight of the Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP) and claims administration within the Workers’ Compensation Program. Elaine also holds executive leadership positions in and responsibility for Stanford Medicine’s two distinct captive risk financing entities.

Caroline Bell is a health care risk professional leader with experience in the oversight of risk frameworks and implementing risk mitigation strategies to optimize performance and reduce uncertainty. Caroline focuses on helping organizations achieve results through a variety of risk management approaches informed by value creation principles. Building upon her staff nurse experience and Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees, Caroline’s credentials include Certified Professional Healthcare Risk Manager (CPHRM) and Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management (DFASHRM). Caroline is active in several professional associations, including a term as the President of the Colorado Healthcare Associated Risk Managers (CHARM) and American Society for Health Care Risk Management (ASHRM) board member. She is a task force member and faculty member for the ASHRM ERM Certificate program. Caroline employs a collaborative leadership style that strengthens stakeholder engagement, encouraging others to think globally and consider the downstream implications of potential liability exposures. Caroline works with both underwriters and policyholders to mitigate potential patient care liability exposures by crafting relevant risk management education, resources and programming. Caroline is regularly published in health care risk management publications and is invited to speak at national and regional industry forums.

Janell Forget is currently the AVP of Risk Management for UMass Memorial Health and is responsible for all Risk Management activities for the UMass system which includes 4 acute care hospitals on 7 campuses, multi-specialty ambulatory clinics and a large behavioral health organization that provides both inpatient and outpatient behavioral health. Janell received her nursing diploma from Worcester City Hospital, her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her law degree from Western New England University School of Law. Janell has 30 years of pediatric critical care nursing experience and over 20 years of experience in Medical Malpractice defense as an attorney and risk manager and both acute and ambulatory Risk and Compliance Management.

In her 9 years with UMass Memorial Health, Janell has redesigned the risk management program into an enterprise program with close interaction with claims and the self-insurance program. Through her efforts and the change in process, department design and staffing models the system has moved from reactive to proactive risk management. Her approach to risk management focuses on culture, relationship development and education using data to reinforce change and process improvement.