Moderators:
Natasha Woolery, PT, MBA, MRMC, Director of Business Development, Post Acute Services, HCA Healthcare
Natasha Woolery was born and raised in Dallas, TX. After graduating from Texas A&M University, she further pursued her education, and completed the UT Southwestern Medical School physical therapy program in 1998. She quickly afterwards started her career at Parkland Hospital as a physical therapist. While working at Parkland, she enjoyed working in all areas of the hospital, but especially the burn unit and wound care center. After Parkland, she transitioned to People First Rehab (a division of Kindred) to pursue advancing her career into management. She was the Director of Rehab at Kindred White Rock, and then relocated to Kindred Southwest in Fort Worth holding the same role. After several years at Kindred, she then took the Director of Therapy Operations role at HealthSouth Fort Worth. After working there for several years, she joined HCA. She currently serves a Business Development Director on the corporate Post Acute Services team traveling the country training staff. Natasha decided to pursue further education while at HCA and obtained her MBA as well as MRMC with AMRPA.
Christopher Thorson, PT, MRMC, CCCE, Rehabilitation Manager, Essentia Health Miller-Dwan Rehabilitation Services
Christopher Thorson graduated with a Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy from University of North Dakota in 1998. He was the Primary PT on SCI team at IRF within Essentia Health from 2000-2016 before becoming the Therapy Manager for IRF within Essentia Health 2016-present.
In addition, he is the Center Coordinator of Clinical Education (CCCE) for therapy students at Essentia Health, co-chair of Essentia Health Falls committee, safe patient handling trainer for Essentia Health nurse orientation, Essentia Health trainer for new therapist orientation. Christopher is also a Minnesota APTA payment committee member and a valued member of the AMRPA Certification Committee.
In his spare time he enjoys travel, indoor rock climbing, golf, Nordic skiing, trail running, mountain biking and hiking.
Presenters:
Amanda Stumbo, BSN RN, CCM, MRMC
Senior Director of Case Management, Select Medical Corp.
Amanda Stumbo started as an LPN on an inpatient rehab unit in 2007 just outside of New Orleans, LA. She loved what rehab stood for and decided to get her RN BSN years later. Amanda transitioned into case management in 2016 along with gaining her certification in case management. She now works for Select Medical as a Senior Director of Case Management. Amanda is married, has 3 dogs and loves the New Orleans Saints.
Deborah J. Kucera, PT, MSPT, MRMC
Director of Rehab Services, Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Hospital - Center City
Deb Kucera serves as Director of Rehabilitation Services at Jefferson Moss Magee Rehabilitation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has enjoyed over 25 years in both leadership and direct patient care roles in the field of medical rehabilitation. In her current role, she oversees a number of interdisciplinary teams and has the opportunity to meet and interview dozens of candidates of a variety of backgrounds every year. Outside of Jefferson, Deb has worked closely in the past with the APTA Academy of Leadership and Innovation; acting on committees for the LAMP Institute for Leadership and serving as faculty for the Institute’s Leadership Development program. She has been an invited speaker at numerous regional and national conferences speaking on topics related to healthcare leadership, communication, social media in healthcare, health literacy and patient satisfaction. She shares equal enthusiasm for creating exceptional patient experiences and an engaged positive work environment.
Shannon Tucker, SLP
AVP Service Line, HCA
Shannon Tucker is the Assistant Vice President of Operations for HCA’s Post Acute Services division, based in Nashville, Tennessee. HCA is the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services and has 80 inpatient post acute facilities and one skilled nursing unit.
A 22-year veteran of HCA, Tucker joined the company as a Speech Therapist in 2001. Her tenure has included a variety of roles including Therapy Manager, Rehab Director and Administrative Program Director for acute inpatient, outpatient and cardiac rehab and she assumed the position of Assistant Vice President of Clinical Operations for post-acute in 2014. In her current role with HCA as Assistant Vice President of Operations, she holds a board membership for the American Medical Rehab Provider Association RCD Data and Quality committees.
Tucker earned her bachelor’s degree at Trevecca University, master’s degree in communication disorders at Tennessee State University and master’s degree in business administration at Western Governors University.
Thaao de Ornelas, Assistant Chief – PM&R
VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, Department of Veterans Affairs
Dr. de Ornelas is the Assistant Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, with oversight of 125+ clinicians and administrators from Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Recreational Therapy, and Physician staff at a Level 1a complex Veterans Healthcare System spanning seven outpatient clinics, two skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient hospital system consisting of diverse programs such as the Polytrauma System of Care, Spinal Cord Injury, Geropysch, Assistive Technology, Headache Center of Excellence, National Dry Needling Training and Research Center, Clinical Resource Hub (Telerehab), and the Regional Amputee Center. He earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of the Pacific in 2010, and his clinical expertise resides in Brain Injury/Polytrauma. Current passion projects in healthcare consist of the integration of Physical Therapists within primary care systems and the emergency department, as well as, the utilization of lean management to drive optimal healthcare systems.
Pawan P. Galhotra, Program Director, Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC), Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center (CRC), Stroke Specialty Program (SSP)
VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, Department of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Pawan Galhotra has greater than 21 years of experience in health care operations, quality management, workforce development, budget administration, market and business development, and effective resource utilization in a variety of acute, post-acute, long-term care, and outpatient rehabilitation settings within the private and public sectors. In his previous role as the Program Director for a large for-profit health care organization, he was responsible for daily operations, business development, strategic planning, clinical and fiscal management of multiple facilities. He has also served as a CARF (Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) surveyor since 2003, having the opportunity to survey leading health care organizations. Mr. Galhotra has focused his career on combining his passion for improving quality in healthcare (Certified Six Sigma Black Belt) with his clinical expertise in traumatic brain injury to positively impact the lives of service members and their families.
Neil Fedders OTL, MS ELOC
CEO, Ochsner Rehab Hospital
A Health Care executive with over 15 years of operational leadership experience, Obtained bachelor's degree in Occupational therapy, obtained a master's degree in Executive leadership and organizational change. Led several aspects of post-acute care including LTAC and rehab; experienced operational leader in acute care setting. Currently a CEO of at Select Medical for Tri Health rehab hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Has been through numerous joint commission, state and CARF surveys. Most recent CARF survey in July of 2023.
Belinda Lemcool, MSN, RN, CRRN, MRMC
PPS Coordinator, Mary Free Bed at Munson Medical Center
Belinda is a master’s prepared Registered Nurse with a nursing executive focus. She holds certifications as a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse and Medical Rehabilitation Manger Certification. She has worked in post-acute care for her entire career starting as a certified nursing assistant and advancing to practicing as a registered nurse. She has worked in the Skilled Nursing Facility and Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation settings. The focus of Belinda’s career has been regulation, compliance, and education to clinical staff including providers. She spoke at the AMRPA 2022 Conference on the Prospective System Coordinator role and how to maximize this role for the facility.
Jane Snecinski, MBA, FACHE, MRMC
President and Principal Consultant, Post Acute Advisors
Ms. Snecinski has a Bachelor and Masters of Music and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL with a wealth of hands on hospital administration and management experience in all of the post acute levels of care. She is the President and Principal Consultant of Post Acute Advisors, a niche consulting firm located in Atlanta, Georgia with a nation-wide practice that specializes in the needs of post acute providers. Focuses include the areas of compliance, medical necessity and regulatory medical record review, appeal assistance, operational assessment, and accreditation assistance.
Ms. Snecinski is a frequent presenter for national conferences and webinars and local meetings of post acute providers and authored multiple articles for professional journals and newsletters. She also has participated in the development of the certification process for rehabilitation managers/administration for AMRPA.