Conference Speakers

James J. Mongan, M.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of Partners HealthCare in Boston, an integrated health system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also professor of healthcare policy and professor of social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Prior to being appointed president and CEO of Partners in 2003, Dr. Mongan was president of Massachusetts General Hospital for seven years. He also served for 15 years as executive director of the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City and dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. He spent 11 years in Washington, where he served as staff to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee working on Medicare and Medicaid legislation, and later in the Carter Administration as deputy assistant secretary for health and associate director of the domestic policy staff in the Carter White House.

Mary Reich Cooper, M.D., J.D. has been the Chief Quality Officer and Vice President of Lifespan Corporation in Providence, RI since 2007. Prior to that Dr. Cooper was the Chief Quality Officer and Vice President at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She received her undergraduate education at Duke University, her medical school degree from Temple University School of Medicine and her law degree from Pace University School of Law.
 
Lynn Nicholas, FACHE is the new President and CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, as of August 2007. After a nationwide search, the Board of Trustees chose Lynn, who brings with her more than 30 years of hospital and association experience, from New Jersey to Louisiana to Washington, D.C.

Before her appointment to MHA, Lynn led the American Diabetes Association where she oversaw all functions of an organization with more than $200 million in annual revenues and 900 paid staff throughout the U.S. Previously, she served as president and CEO of the 150-plus member Louisiana Hospital Association, and before that she was Executive Vice President and COO of the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Board certified in healthcare management, Lynn is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and served on ACHE's Board of Governors from 2003 to 2006.

Conference Panelists

Jeanette G. Clough presently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a regional teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School serving the metropolitan Boston/Cambridge area. She has extensive experience in various clinical and administrative roles, including having served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Deaconess Waltham Hospital, Chief Operating Officer of WalWest Health Systems, Inc. and Vice President for Patient Care at WalthamWeston Hospital & Medical Center. Ms. Clough began her career as a staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned her undergraduate degree in nursing from Boston University. She also holds a Masters’ Degree in Science from Boston College where she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the National Honor Society of Nursing. She also received a Masters’ Degree in Health Administration from Suffolk University earning a Dean’s Award for Highest Academic Distinction. 

Ms. Clough currently serves on the Regional Policy Board of the American Hospital Association and was Chairperson of the Massachusetts Hospital Association from 2004-2005. She is a member of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, a broad-based alliance of healthcare providers, payers and agencies aimed at reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. She also serves as a member of the Operations Committee at CRICO, the Harvard Risk Management Foundation. Ms. Clough has been recognized for her professional work by receiving the 1998 Leadership Award from the Waltham West Suburban Chamber of Commerce, the 1999 Outstanding Alumni Award from Suffolk University and the YWCA of Cambridge Tribute to Outstanding Women Award for 1999.  The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce recognized her as Business Person of the Year in April 2002 and Boston Magazine’s May 2003 issue listed her as one of the 100 most influential women in Boston.

Michael V. Sack is President and CEO of Hallmark Health, a multi-hospital regional healthcare system north of Boston. Mr. Sack has 30 years experience as a healthcare administrator and has gained expertise in generating physician collaboration, identifying operational needs, and advancing grass root connections with the community. Mr. Sack has also overseen four bond upgrades based upon approved financial performance. He has been instrumental in improving relationships between the Board of Trustees and Medical Staff, in achieving a positive operating margin, increasing market share, and renewing a sense of direction for the organization.

Mr. Sack served previously as President and Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Health Alliance and Union Hospital in northern Maryland, and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of St. Francis Care in Connecticut. A current Board Member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the Voluntary Hospitals of America – Northeast, and the Massachusetts Coalition of Community Hospitals, Mr. Sack holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine and School of Business, and a Bachelors of Arts from St. Louis University.

Alan J. Goldberg is a Partner and President of Applied Management Systems, Inc., Burlington, MA, a leading provider of operational management consulting, health information management and receivables management support to the health care industry. Mr. Goldberg has been a Board member and President of the company since 1985 and a Partner since 1997. He started with AMS in 1976 when it was a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. He was previously Assistant Director of HARICOMP (Vector Health Systems) in Providence, RI, an affiliate of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. He concentrates his activity on the corporate responsibilities of business development, administration, and financial management. He is the editor of the AMS Biweekly Report. In keeping with the corporate philosophy, he also performs client work. His specialty areas include mergers and consolidations, corporate restructuring, organizational change, productivity, physicians’ issues, and strategic planning.

Mr. Goldberg received a Bachelor's of Science in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, where he was elected to Who’s Who Among Students and Universities. He was also winner of the Armstrong Company national award for excellence in industrial engineering. He earned a Master of Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. There he was elected to Epsilon Delta Sigma, the national management engineering honor fraternity. Mr. Goldberg is a former adjunct professor at Providence College in Providence, RI, and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Graduate School of Management in Troy, NY. In 1998, he was appointed to the Northeastern University Health Management Advisory Board, Boston, MA.