10 TO WATCH
Lymaris Albors
CEO, Acacia Network
A champion of the Latinx community and diversity, equity and inclusion, Albors leads Acacia’s delivery of health, housing, economic development and social services. She was promoted to CEO after a stint as chief operating officer, and manages an operating budget of $500 million and 100 affiliates across six states and Puerto Rico.
Nancy Batista-Rodriguez
CEO, Baptist outpatient services,
Baptist Health South Florida Batista-Rodriguez directs outpatient services that include urgent care, express care, behavioral health and executive health. In her 20 years at Baptist Health South Florida, she has managed multiple service lines, including urgent care centers and surgery.
Stacia Cohen
Executive vice president of health services, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield
An advocate for mental and behavioral health, Cohen joined CareFirst in 2018 to take the lead in provider relationships, clinical and quality programs, medical and coverage policy, and community health. After a stint in the U.S. Army, she launched her healthcare career as a nurse.
Karen Fisher
Chief public policy officer, Association of American Medical Colleges
Fisher develops AAMC policy on medical education, healthcare delivery and medical research, while pursuing regulatory and legislative initiatives that support academic medicine. A Medicare expert, Fisher was senior health counsel to the Senate Finance Committee.
Deborah Gordon
Executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief legal officer, Memorial Hermann Health System
A 25-year veteran of healthcare, Gordon oversees operations for Memorial Hermann’s 275 care sites and 19 hospitals. She also leads the Community Benefit Corp., Health Centers for Schools and Women Leaders of Memorial Hermann.
Wylecia Wiggs Harris
CEO, American Health Information Management Association
Wiggs Harris joined AHIMA after serving as CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States and its Voters Education Fund. She was also executive director of the Center for American Nurses and chief of staff and chief operating officer of the American Nurses Association.
Kelly Nierstedt
Senior vice president, Orlando Health; president, Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies Before joining Orlando Health, Nierstedt was president of OSF Healthcare Children’s Hospital of Illinois and vice president of Women’s and Children’s Services at Hackensack Meridian Health. She also held executive roles at Virtua Health, pioneering Virtua for Women.
Sylvia Young
President and CEO, HealthONE and
HCA Healthcare’s Continental Division
Young leads an HCA division with nine hospitals, a behavioral health and wellness campus, nine freestanding emergency departments and six urgent care centers. She held C-suite at HCA’s Sunrise Health System, the Medical Center of Aurora and Centennial Medical Plaza.
Dr. YiDing Yu
Executive vice president and
chief medical officer, Olive
Yu is a serial entrepreneur and innovator who raised more than $400 million in venture capital to build “humanized artificial intelligence.” As chief medical officer at Verata Health, she pioneered “frictionless prior authorization.” She also founded Twiage, a tech platform for first responders.
Caitlin Zulla
CEO, Surgical Care Affiliates
Zulla has turned Optum subsidiary Surgical Care Affiliates into a top operator of ambulatory surgery centers and a powerful partner of hospitals, health systems and physicians. She served SCA as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer after working as senior vice president of revenue cycle services at MedAssets.