Julia Crist is a leader in post-acute and value-based care models for seniors. In her current role as Vice President of Home and Community Services at Allina Health in Minneapolis Minnesota, Miss Crist leads operations and strategy for several service lines, including; home health, hospice, community geriatric medicine, palliative care and durable medical equipment. She is passionate about driving change in healthcare to reduce cost, improve outcomes, and serve patients and families in accordance with their wishes. Miss Crist holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Rhonda Wiering is the Vice President of Growth and Innovation at Avera@Home, bringing over 25 years of experience in healthcare leadership and clinical operations. Miss Wiering currently serves on Rural Palliative Care Project, Stratis Health Advisory Committee and has served on numerous councils including the American Hospital Association Long Term Care and Rehab Governance Council, the Minnesota Health Care Home Quality Workgroup, and the MDH Rural Health Advisory Committee.

Miss Wiering is a registered nurse and received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing from South Dakota State University. Miss Wiering also holds a Master’s in Healthcare Administration and from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business and a Master’s in Science Nursing, Leadership and Management from Walden University.

Rachel received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire with a focus on long-term care. Miss Kuhnly desired to enable improvement across the care continuum and pursued her Master’s at the University of Minnesotaʼs MHA program. After graduation, she completed a year-long fellowship at Allina Health under Dr. Penny Wheeler. During her fellowship, the pandemic started and she quickly worked with Julia Crist (among many others!) to stand up a Hospital at Home model for Allina Health. Now, Miss Kuhnly is the Manager of Population Health Operations, where she continues to oversee the program development and operations.

Patty Upham, RN currently serves as the Vice President of Clinical Services at Health Recovery Solutions, where she helps lead clinical strategy and support clients as they launch and expand their RPM programs. Prior to joining HRS, Patty was the Director of FirstHealth Home Care for nearly 20 years. As Director, Patty managed FirstHealth Care Transitions including two Medicare Certified Home Health Agencies, a Complex Care Management Program, and the Center for Telehealth. Under her leadership, FirstHealth developed clinical pathways for chronic disease - a multidisciplinary, evidence-based, and patient-centered approach. Patty has over 30 years of Home Care experience and served a 3-year term on the American Hospital Association Advisory Board. She has been a frequent national speaker on the topics of telehealth and clinical and operational best practices.

Madison Cooley is the Strategy Manager for Novant Health’s Digital Health and Engagement team. As Strategy Manager, Mrs. Cooley led the development and implementation of Novant Health’s Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program which began enrolling patients in April of 2022. The RPM program has since expanded into multiple service lines and continues its rapid expansion.

Prior to joining the Digital Health and Engagement team, Mrs. Cooley served in various roles at Novant Health, including as a Clinical Administrator where she managed multiple ambulatory specialty clinics across the Greater Charlotte area.

Mrs. Cooley received her Bachelor’s in Health Communications and Management from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Novant Health is headquartered in Winston Salem, North Carolina with over 800 locations, including 15 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient facilities and physician clinics.

Prior to HRS, Jenna Kowalski worked for 17 years as an RN at a large health system in western New York. Jenna started her career in the acute step-down unit and the ICU, later moving to home health where she held many positions including Lead Cardiac Trainer, Clinical Educator, Manager of Clinical Operations, and most recently, the Director of Nursing. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and an MBA with an advanced certificate in healthcare management.

Kristy Garay is the Telehealth Manager for Ambulatory Services at BayCare Health Systems in Clearwater, Florida. Some of the Virtual Care programs include Remote Patient Monitoring, Hospital at Home, On-Demand Care, and BayCare’s eWound program.

Holding a degree in Economics from Florida State University with certifications in Project Manager and a Six Sigma Black belt, she has led teams and large-scale projects in a variety of industries. Prior to her role in Telehealth, she worked in BayCare’s ePMO office, managing many key strategic initiatives for the organization.

BayCare Health System is a non-profit health system headquartered in Clearwater, Florida. BayCare operates 15 hospitals in the Tampa Bay and West Central Florida region and is the largest employer in the bay area, with over 27,000 team members. BayCare’s diverse network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, BayCare Urgent Care locations, wellness centers, and one of Florida’s largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare.

Julia Murray is the Director of Virtual Care for Compassus overseeing and advancing the existing Home Health telehealth program as well as leading the implementation to expand into other service lines. The telehealth service includes both remote patient monitoring with additional nursing support through virtual visits. The program has seen exciting growth over the last few months.

Prior to her role as Director, Julia was an Area Clinical leader with Compassus, responsible for clinical operations and patient outcomes of two hospice programs serving a large population in Southwest Missouri.

Julia has been a registered nurse for 16 years and received her Master of Science in Nursing – Leadership in Healthcare Systems from Jacksonville University and is Certified in Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing. Compassus is headquartered in Brentwood, TN with 200 locations serving 30 states with multiple home-based services including home health, infusion therapy, palliative and hospice care.

Charlie Breznicky Jr. has been in the Healthcare industry since 2002; he joined SimiTree in 2015 after working for several home health agencies as a Field Nurse, Performance Improvement and Compliance Specialist, Clinical Manager and Health Information Systems Manager. He is currently a Director on the Clinical Operations team at SimiTree and has assisted agencies to develop QAPI Programs, prepare for surveys, succeed under the Review Choice Demonstration, adapt to the changes to the Home Health Conditions of Participation and the Patient Driven Groupings Model and prepare for Value Based Purchasing.