Board Chairman William “Bill” War is Vice President, MSO for Nevada Behavioral Health. Mr War is a highly experienced health care executive who has helped drive the success of a diverse array of organizations, ranging from urgent care, oncology and internal medicine clinics to skilled nursing and long-term acute care, emergency transportation and orthopedic and spine facilities. Mr War, a Las Vegas resident for more than 40 years, supports his community through participation in several organizations, such as Junior Achievement and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Board Vice-Chair Lawrence (Larry) Preston is the CEO and co-founder of Silver State ACO, with more than 40 years of experience as an executive and health care consultant. Mr Preston holds an MBA from Golden Gate University and an undergraduate degree in accounting from San Jose State University. Mr. Preston has served on the Nevada boards of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has been a chief financial officer of several hospitals and has been the president and CEO of Professional Medical Consultants Inc. for the past 25 years.

Board Acting Secretary Michael Gagnon is currently the Executive Director for HealtHIE Nevada, the state-wide Health Information Exchange for Nevada. He was previously the Chief Technology Officer for Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL) which is the state designated Health Information Exchange (HIE) in Vermont. In this role he was responsible for the overall architecture and new technology and business services. Michael is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Board Treasurer Rich Bodager has been a healthcare executive for nearly 30 years. His career has focused on business development, organically expanding organizations through acquisitions or mergers, performing financial and cultural recoveries, and building strong collaborative relationships. In his career, Rich has sat on several boards of directors, including Regence Blue Cross of Oregon, PrimeCare IPA, the Cardiology Advocacy Alliance, and the Health Alliance of Southern Oregon. Most notably, he was the Board Chair for Reliance HIE (formally Jefferson Health Information Exchange) in Oregon.

Christopher R. Cochran, PhD is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, in the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Dr Cochran teaches health care policy and health care strategy courses. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles on access to care for underserved populations and safety net resources. His recent focus has been on substance abuse and mental health treatment in hospital emergency rooms with a focus on how medical data can determine the risk of hospital admissions for acute care conditions due to underlying mental health conditions.

Michael Ehlman is a seasoned IT professional with over three decades of experience in the field. Currently, he serves as the Director of Application Development and Production Services at UnitedHealthcare, a position he has held since March 2001. In this role, Michael has spent nearly 23 years overseeing various aspects of application development, demonstrating a sustained commitment to innovation and operational excellence in healthcare technology. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Ehlman honed his skills at GES Exposition Services, where he worked as a Programmer Analyst Senior for 11 years, from 1990 to 2001.

C. Shane Flaviano, MD is the Chief Medical Officer, Dignity Health Rehabilitation Hospital and Physician Informaticist, CommonSpirit Health, Nevada Market. With more than 35 years in health care, Dr Flaviano is board-certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and is a fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr Flaviano received his undergraduate degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the East. He completed his Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency, and Sports Medicine fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Angela Mares is a professional in the field of health information management, specializing in information exchange systems and informatics. With over 25 years of experience, she has been at the forefront of healthcare innovation, playing a pivotal role in the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, ensuring compliance with information blocking regulations, and facilitating onboarding with the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). Angela holds a Master of Science in Health Informatics and Information Management from Regis University. Angela is dedicated to deploying new technologies through information exchange to provide patients with affordable and accurate healthcare solutions.

Quinn Pauly, MD is the Chief Medical Officer at Switch, providing leadership and innovation for all of Switch’s healthcare endeavors. Dr Pauly’s professional goal is to advocate for the intelligent use of technology and data to make the US and Global health care systems maximally functional for all. In addition to 30+ years in the continuous clinical practice of medicine, he is a recognized thought leader in Lifestyle Medicine, Physician Wellness/Physician Burnout, and Healthcare Industry Wellness Programming including Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation.

With over thirty-seven years of experience in Information Technology for Healthcare, the last twenty-six years as a Chief Information Officer, Chuck Podesta has worked for Academic Medical Centers, Health Systems and Community Hospitals. He is currently the CIO of Renown Health in Reno, NV. Before this engagement Podesta was Interim CIO for University of Connecticut Health System. Other positions included CIO of University of California Irvine Health part of the University of California System, SVP & CIO Fletcher Allen Healthcare, SVP & CIO at Caritas Christi Health Care, CIO at Berkshire Health Systems, Director of IS and Interim CIO for Baystate Health Systems.

Maria Sexton has more than 25 years of experience in the information security, information technology and audit/compliance industries. She is currently the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC). Maria oversees the delivery of all technology services for UMC and leads the Information Security Program charged with protection of patient data and UMC systems. Maria sits on the Boards of InfraGard Nevada and the Las Vegas Chapter of Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and is a member of the UNLV Information Systems Advisory Board and Chairs the UNLV Cybersecurity Advisory Board.

Alicia Snipes-Taylor is the Health Information Applications Manager for Nevada Orthopedic and Spine Center. Born and raised in Las Vegas, she began her healthcare career while still in grade school. Over the next 25 years, she has worked in every aspect of ambulatory surgery, radiology and group practices while obtaining her degree in science. Alicia joined Nevada Orthopedic and Spine Center in 2008, where she has used her experience and education to assist with internal and external workflows, application management, compliance, staff education, and regulatory reporting. In her spare time, Alicia enjoys fitness activities, climbing, hiking, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Diego Trujillo began his career as part of a care team in hospice. He has had experience on the ground floor working directly with patients and families. While working with patients in the acute setting, he founded and is the current president of Vegas Healthcare, a grassroots healthcare non-profit comprised mainly of healthcare professionals in Southern Nevada with over 17k healthcare workers. Since stepping in as CEO of Las Vegas HEALS immediately before the lockdown, Diego has focused on healthcare advocacy, leadership at the state legislative level, healthcare technology, workforce development, and unifying Nevada’s healthcare industry.

As CEO, Mason Van Houweling brings 24 years of healthcare experience to UMC from small community hospitals to those with more than 1,000 beds. Mason has a proven track record of balancing the financial performance of a hospital while providing uncompromised patient care. Mason is responsible for the direction of all clinical and administrative services at UMC and provides policy guidance and program evaluation to management and elected officials. He encourages and facilitates consistent improvement in the provision of services to customers by staff; fosters cooperative working relationships with intergovernmental and regulatory agencies, public and private organizations and UMC staff.