President

Chad Collins, MHA, FACHE, CHFP, is a healthcare executive with over 10 years of healthcare experience. He serves as Administrative Director of Operations at the University of South Alabama Health where he oversees the hospital operations for gastroenterology, neurology, emergency medicine, as well as inpatient physical therapy, and laboratory operations. Additionally, he has held leadership roles in for-profit and not-for-profit sectors of healthcare, having stopped at Tenet Health, United Surgical Partners International, and Texas Health Resources along the way. Chad received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Faulkner University and his MHA from LSU Shreveport. Recently Mr. Collins was featured in the 2022 Becker’s Hospital Review’s 75 Black Healthcare Leaders to Know and 2022 Mobile Bay Magazine 40 Under 40. He was also the 2021 recipient of the ACHE of Alabama State Regent Early Careerist Award.

Mr. Collin’s community activities include NAHSE Birmingham Regional Chapter, ACHE of Alabama, Leadership Mobile, Mobile Chamber of Commerce, VP of the DREAM Foundation, VP of the board Child Day Care Association, Treasurer for Salty Kidz, Treasurer for Whale of Hope, Inc, and Fairhope Youth Sports Programs.

Vice President/President-Elect

Mike Bartell received his undergraduate degree in Health Science at Fresno Pacific before serving four years in the USCG. He attended Loma Linda University for his MPH in Health Administration. His health administration career began in medical practice administration, which opened a door to the acute care setting. He started in the acute care setting as Director of Quality, which evolved into 7 years in business development and service line administration. Mike joined Encompass Health in 2014, which led to CEO positions in freestanding acute inpatient settings in Phoenix City and Birmingham. He currently serves as the CEO of Encompass Health Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Birmingham.

Treasurer

Secretary

Caitlyn serves as a Performance Improvement Analyst within the Office of Patient Safety at East Alabama Health (EAH) in Opelika, AL. Most of her day-to-day work includes project management and working with other departments of the hospital to improve processes, outcomes and strategic goals within the organization. Caitlyn is an alum of Auburn University and is currently working on her Master of Health Administration (MHA) at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). Caitlyn also currently serves on the Communications and Education & Programs Committee within ACHE of Alabama.

Caitlyn lives with her husband Cody in Opelika, AL and enjoys working on home improvement projects, traveling to other cities and countries and watching a good movie!

Chapter Committee Chair

Chapter Committee Chair

Chad Collins, MHA, FACHE, CHFP, is a healthcare executive with over 10 years of healthcare experience. He serves as Administrative Director of Operations at the University of South Alabama Health where he oversees the hospital operations for gastroenterology, neurology, emergency medicine, as well as inpatient physical therapy, and laboratory operations. Additionally, he has held leadership roles in for-profit and not-for-profit sectors of healthcare, having stopped at Tenet Health, United Surgical Partners International, and Texas Health Resources along the way. Chad received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Faulkner University and his MHA from LSU Shreveport. Recently Mr. Collins was featured in the 2022 Becker’s Hospital Review’s 75 Black Healthcare Leaders to Know and 2022 Mobile Bay Magazine 40 Under 40. He was also the 2021 recipient of the ACHE of Alabama State Regent Early Careerist Award.

Mr. Collin’s community activities include NAHSE Birmingham Regional Chapter, ACHE of Alabama, Leadership Mobile, Mobile Chamber of Commerce, VP of the DREAM Foundation, VP of the board Child Day Care Association, Treasurer for Salty Kidz, Treasurer for Whale of Hope, Inc, and Fairhope Youth Sports Programs.

Chapter Board Member – Chair

Lavon Beard has over 16 years of healthcare experience. He is a licensed Physical Therapist who has practiced in several settings throughout his career. He earned a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of South Alabama. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Jackson State University. Throughout his career as a Physical Therapist, he has held several leadership roles. Those roles included Lead Physical Therapist and Manager of Physical Therapy at UAB, an 1,100 bed hospital.

To further his leadership skills, Mr. Beard earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently the Director of Patient Experience at Princeton Baptist Medical Center where he is focused on improving Customer Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Mr. Beard is very excited about serving with ACHE and looking forward to an amazing year.

He and his wife, Latoya, have a son, Loren, and a daughter, Lexie.

Chapter Board Member – Director, Sponsorship

Mike Bartell received his undergraduate degree in Health Science at Fresno Pacific before serving four years in the USCG. He attended Loma Linda University for his MPH in Health Administration. His health administration career began in medical practice administration, which opened a door to the acute care setting. He started in the acute care setting as Director of Quality, which evolved into 7 years in business development and service line administration. Mike joined Encompass Health in 2014, which led to CEO positions in freestanding acute inpatient settings in Phoenix City and Birmingham. He currently serves as the CEO of Encompass Health Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Birmingham.

Chapter Board Member – Director, Region 1

Chandra Bondugula, MD, is a healthcare executive with more than 23 years of combined experience in patient care, hospital operations, graduate medication, informatics and healthcare innovation. As a founding Designated Institutional Official (DIO), he is instrumental in developing Graduate Medical Education Program at North Alabama Medical Center, Florence, AL. He served as the director of healthcare operations and managed multiple co-management value-based programs and engaged many physicians and healthcare leaders in improving the outcomes.

He is active in healthcare IT and advanced technologies like analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.  He has been a strong advocate of price transparency in healthcare. He focuses on value-based healthcare and workforce development in under resourced and rural healthcare communities.

Apart from medical education, he did Master of Health Informatics with healthcare administration focus from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is on the board of Shoals Community Clinic (SCC), a non profit clinic that provides medical and dental to people without health benefits in Shoals Community.

Chapter Board Member – Co-Director, Region 1

Robert is a University of Kentucky Alum holding a master’s degree in healthcare administration and a bachelor’s in business administration. With more than a decade of experience in healthcare, Robert currently serves as the Executive Director of Network Strategy at Viva Health with responsibility for alternative payment arrangements, strategy and health policy. His passion in healthcare is focused in the areas of Population Health, Value-Based Care and Healthcare transformation. He has spent his entire career in this space providing leadership to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Clinically Integrated Networks (CINs) and Independent Physician Associations (IPAs).

Chapter Board Member – Director, Region 2

Lavon Beard has over 16 years of healthcare experience. He is a licensed Physical Therapist who has practiced in several settings throughout his career. He earned a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of South Alabama. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Jackson State University. Throughout his career as a Physical Therapist, he has held several leadership roles. Those roles included Lead Physical Therapist and Manager of Physical Therapy at UAB, an 1,100 bed hospital.

To further his leadership skills, Mr. Beard earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently the Director of Patient Experience at Princeton Baptist Medical Center where he is focused on improving Customer Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Mr. Beard is very excited about serving with ACHE and looking forward to an amazing year.

He and his wife, Latoya, have a son, Loren, and a daughter, Lexie.

Chapter Board Member – Director, Region 3

Chapter Board Member – Co-Director, Region 3

Chapter Board Member – Director, Region 4

Donna is a Senior Managing Consultant in BRG’s Healthcare Performance Improvement Portfolio Optimization Practice. Donna has more than 20 years in the hospital and physician clinic setting. Donna’s skill set in the acute & non-acute clinical settings have focused on operations, supply chain management, implementation, strategic planning, new program start-ups, quality, performance improvement, and physician-hospital collaboration/integration.

Donna received her Bachelor of Science (Nursing) from the University of South Alabama.  She is currently completing her Doctorate of Healthcare Administration and projected to be finished December 2020.

Chapter Board Member – At-Large

Nancy Borkowski, DBA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA is a professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the UAB Site Co–Director, NSF I/UCRC Center for Health Organization Transformation.

Chapter Board Member – At-Large

Chapter Committee Chair

Ruben is a Healthcare IT executive with 17 years of experience working in various IT operations, management and leadership roles with Alabama startups companies such as Emageon and Awarix as well as global companies like McKesson, Change Healthcare and Becton & Dickinson. In this current role with Syntelli Solutions as a Healthcare Enterprise Account Executive he engages with Healthcare Executives to identify, evaluate and develop business intelligence, clinical decision support and data analytics solutions that will bring the most value out of their data to match their business strategies and drive optimal outcomes. Prior to his current role, he developed data and analytical platforms and products as a Program Manager for global medical device company Becton & Dickinson and as Senior Product Manager for McKesson and Change Healthcare. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Management Information Systems, completed his Master of Engineering in Information Sciences in 2012 and received his Masters of Science degree in Healthcare administration in 2015 all from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is an active member of HIMSS and ACHE of Alabama.

Regent

Robert Leech holds the position of Chief Compliance Officer for Enhabit Home Health & Hospice, formerly Encompass Health Home Health and Hospice. He holds an MPA degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Memphis, is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is certified by the Health Care Compliance Association in both healthcare compliance and healthcare privacy. He currently serves as Treasurer of ACHE of Alabama, is a past president of the Tennessee Association for Home Care and a past board member of the National Association for Home Care, representing eight (8) states in the Southeastern US. Prior to joining Encompass Health (HealthSouth) in 2006, he was Chief Operating Officer of Unity Hospice Care, LLC and is the former Director of Home Health for Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, based in Memphis, TN. He began his career with Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare.