Board of Directors
Fay Donohue
Chairman of the Board
President and CEO of Dental Service of Massachusetts
Ms. Donohue is the President & CEO of Dental Service of Massachusetts (DSM). Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, DSM is the fourth largest dental benefits company in the country. Prior to serving as President and CEO, Ms. Donohue held positions as President, COO and EVP of DSM. Before joining DSM, she served as Vice President of Chartwell Therapies and Vice President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Ms. Donohue serves on the board and executive committee of Operation Able, the board and executive committee of the Massachusetts Taxpayers foundation, the board of the Delta Dental Plan Association, and the Board of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Her prior board service includes the National Association of Dental Plans, Camp Fire Boys and Girls where she served as President of the Board. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Ms. Donohue also holds a masters degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Masters in Business Administration from Boston College.
William G. Adams, MD
Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine
Dr. William Adams is an epidemiologist, medical informatician, and practicing pediatrician at Boston Medical Center (BMC). He is Director of BU-CTSI Clinical Research Informatics, Director of Child Health Informatics, and Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. His research focuses on developing and evaluating information technology (IT)-based solutions for improving the quality of health and healthcare for children. His focuses include the child health EHR, patient-centered IT and clinical data warehousing for quality improvement. He is a founding member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Partnership for Policy Implementation (PPI), a group of child health informaticians committed to improving AAP guideline quality including computability. He also serves as advisor to the AAP Center for Child Health Informatics and is a member of the AAP Steering Committee for the Quality Innovation Network.
David A. Bergman, MD
Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine
Dr. Bergman is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is actively involved in the re-design of clinical systems to improve access and patient-care and communication. Dr. Bergman attended Yale University and University of Illinois School of Medicine. He completed his residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Program at Stanford. He has been involved in quality improvement and practical redesign for the past fifteen years and has chaired the AAP committee on quality improvement. Dr. Bergman was involved in the development of practice guidelines and is currently researching the use of telemedicine and web based tools for children with special healthcare needs. Dr. Bergman serves on NICHQ’s Board of Directors and is the past chair.
Molly P. Cole
Vice Chair
Associate Director, University of Connecticut Center on Disabilities;
National Field Coordinator, Family Voices
Molly Cole is Associate Director for the Center on Disabilities at the University of Connecticut. She has more than thirty years of experience in the field of disabilities. Mrs. Cole is a founding member of Family Voices and has been the state coordinator for that organization since 1992. She has directed numerous family support initiatives including the Family Center at CCMC and FAVOR, Inc, a statewide organization for children’s behavioral health, the Family Support Council and several medical home initiatives. She has collaborated with many organizations in the development of programs and policies affecting children with special health care needs and currently co-chairs the Medical Home Advisory Council for the Department of Public Health. She is the parent of a child with complex medical needs and disabilities.
Karen Cox RN, PhD, FAAN
Executive Vice President, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics
Dr. Cox serves as Executive Vice President and Co-COO for Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, a 314 bed academic pediatric medical center in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Cox led the organization to receive MagnetTM designation, becoming the first in Kansas and Missouri, and the third children’s hospital nation-wide. She serves as Assistant Dean for Clinical Partnerships at the University of MO – Kansas City. Cox is the first nurse to chair the National Initiative of Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ). As a widely published journal and book chapter author in nursing workforce issues, she continues the work she began as a RWJ Executive Nurse Fellow in 1999 that led to the creation of a staff nurse work environment instrument, the Individual Workload Perception Scale-Revised (IWPS-R) now used throughout the US. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing where she serves as the Co-Chair of the Pediatric Expert Panel. In addition she serves on the National Advisory Panel for Nursing Education and Practice (NACNEP), a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) subcommittee.
Stephen Dance
Board Treasurer
Former Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer, ViaCell, Inc.
Mr. Dance joined ViaCell as Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer in January 2004. Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President, Finance at SangStat Medical Corporation, a biotechnology company, from April 1999 until December 2003, adding the additional title of Chief Financial Officer in December 2002. Previously, Mr. Dance spent one year with Plantronics, Inc., a telecommunications company, where he was responsible for worldwide financial accounting, reporting and planning activities. He spent 15 years with Syntex Corporation, a pharmaceuticals company (later part of the Roche group), in a variety of increasingly responsible finance positions including controller of US sales, marketing and manufacturing operations. Mr. Dance holds a CPA (California) and FCA (United Kingdom) qualification in accounting and spent seven years with Deloitte & Touche in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He received his B.A. degree in French at the University of Leeds in England.
Steven Kairys, MD, MPH
Chairman of Pediatrics, Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Dr. Kairys has more than thirty years of experience in academics and healthcare administration. Since 2002, he has served as Chairman of Pediatrics at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center and as Director of the New Jersey Pediatric Council on Research and Education, the quality improvement arm of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Prior to his role at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Dr. Kairys held positions as Vice-Chairman of Pediatrics at Dartmouth University and Senior Dean for Clinical Affairs at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and was a professor of pediatrics at both institutions. He has also held positions as President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the AAP and as Chairperson of the AAPs National Committee on Abuse and Neglect. Dr. Kairys received his bachelor of arts and medical degrees from Temple University, his master of public health degree in epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health and completed his pediatric residency at Dartmouth Medical School. He was awarded WHO Fellowships in 1982 and 1989; the Best Teacher Award from Dartmouth in 1982 and 1989; and the Governor’s Award for Service to Children in New Hampshire in 1998.
Kavita Patel, MD, MSHS
Director of the Health Policy Program, New America Foundation
Dr. Patel is a board-certified physician dedicated to bringing stories from the clinical world to the heart of policymaking. Her expertise spans delivery system reform, access, coverage and quality. Dr. Patel was previously Director of Policy for the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and the Deputy Staff Director for the Senate HELP Committee, under the leadership of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. Prior to working in Washington, Dr. Patel was a clinical instructor at UCLA and an Associate Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Patel completed a fellowship in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at UCLA and received her medical training at the University of Texas Health Science Center and Oregon Health and Sciences University where she served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine.
Gina Pola-Money
Director of Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center
Gina Pola-Money is the proud mom of five wonderful children two of which have passed away from a rare degenerative disorder. Gina is the Director of Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center in partnership with the Utah Parent Center. She also works with the Utah Bureau of Children with Special Health Care Needs and the Utah Leadership Education in Neuro-developmental Disabilities as a family leadership director and is charged with incorporating family involvement at all levels of health and related systems, providing parent input to state and national level policies and programs, advocating for Utah’s children with special health care needs and in helping families build the necessary skills to effectively navigate the complex system of care.
Michal Regunberg
Vice President, Solomon McCown & Company
Michal is a senior strategic communications executive with experience in health care, government, politics, academia and the media, and a successful track record in public relations, issues management and government and community relations. She heads up the SM& health care and mission focused practice and is also a key member of the issues management team. Prior to joining Solomon McCown & Company, Michal was the Senior Vice President for communications for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, where she designed a major statewide campaign to inform the public about the state’s health reform law and oversaw the successful rollout of a major quality and safety initiative by all the hospitals in the Commonwealth. Michal previously served as the vice president for public affairs at Brandeis University for almost 10 years. She revitalized the communications office at Brandeis and built it into a dynamic public affairs operation by attracting new talent and refocusing staff efforts to better position the institution.
Wendy Warring, JD
Senior Vice President of Network Development and Strategic Partnerships, Children’s Hospital Boston
Wendy E. Warring, JD, is Senior Vice President of Network Development and Strategic Partnerships at Children’s Hospital Boston where she is dedicated to increasing access for children and families to Children’s Hospital Boston’s world class clinical care and research through the development of partnerships with primary care physicians, community hospitals, and academic and integrated health care delivery systems. She is also working, in negotiations with payors, to improve the alignment between payment methodologies and Children’s commitment to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of pediatric care. Prior to joining Children’s, Ms. Warring held positions as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Executive Vice President at UMass Memorial Health Care Inc., and as Massachusetts' Commissioner of the Division of Medical Assistance where she directed the state's Medicaid program. She currently serves on the board of Community Catalyst, a national advocacy organization that provides consumers a voice in health care reform. Most recently, she chaired the Metro Hartford Alliance Health Care Task Force, was a member of the Boards of the Children’s Fund and Child Health and Development Institute, the Aurora Women’s and Girl’s Foundation and Leadership Greater Hartford, and was a trustee for the McLean Foundation. Ms. Warring earned her law degree at the Yale University Law School and received her bachelor's degree from Brown University.
Joan Wood
Board Clerk
Senior Vice President, Leadership and Organization Development, Genzyme Corporation
Ms. Wood is responsible for the overall development of Genzyme Corporation’s global biotechnology workforce. Her focus is in the areas of management and leadership development, and organizational development, diversity and college relations. Programs under her direction include Genzyme’s Mobilizing Talent initiative, and Genzyme’s MBA Management Development and Summer Internship Programs. Previously, Wood was Senior Vice President at Scudder Investments, where she led the Learning and Development function for Scudder’s U.S. Mutual Fund Group and oversaw customer education for the AARP family of funds. Ms. Wood also previously was Director of Curriculum Development for Service Delivery University at Fidelity Investments. Ms. Wood’s current special interest is in executive coaching, particularly in the areas of visionary and metaphoric thinking and conflict resolution.
