Healthcare Workforce Leadership Symposium

Dr. Rob Bogosian works at the intersection of leadership development and healthcare, where the stakes of leadership are measured in clinical outcomes, workforce retention, and patient trust. As program faculty and designer for the Mass General Brigham Physician Leadership Development Program, he helps physician leaders across the MGB enterprise build the skills and competencies their clinical training never covered: giving and receiving feedback, navigating adaptive challenges, and leading through disruption. His work with MGB includes co-authoring "Transforming Medical Leadership," a peer-reviewed 11-competency physician leadership model for next-generation healthcare leaders, published in the Physician Leadership Journal (Spring 2026).

Rob is the author of The Seven Myths of Leadership in Business, co-author of Breaking Corporate Silence, and author of the forthcoming Disruption-Ready Leadership (November 2026). His research on organizational silence — why employees willfully withhold important work-related information, and what it costs — anchors his work on emotional safety and cultures of voice. He holds a doctorate from George Washington University and teaches in the MBA programs at Babson College and GWU. His clients include Microsoft, Prudential Insurance, Toyota US, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Dr. Paul DeChant is a thought leader on leading organizational transformation and creating healthy workplaces. Paul advises C-level healthcare executives on managing critical problems such as financial and staffing challenges by transforming management systems and cultures to reduce the root causes of clinician burnout, improve KPI performance, and reduce burnout. He supports the AMA’s Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainment team and teaches at the University of Colorado – Denver’s Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Michael Diller is a Licensed Psychologist and has more than 30 years of clinical experience. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Loyola College in Maryland, and a Doctor of Psychology Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Hartford. He spent 19 years in clinical practice, 15 of those years at WellSpan Behavioral Health (WBH), now known as WellSpan Philhaven. He was the Director of WellSpan EAP from 2016 to 2024 and is now the Well-being Program Administrator, part of a dyad leadership team, responsible for the system-wide Well-being strategy. He remains passionate about finding better ways to support fellow coworkers, raising awareness of mental health issues in the workplace, and offering ways to provide a culture of care to support overall well-being. Dr. Diller has presented on these topics at the local, state, and national levels, and has been a two-time recipient of Central Penn Business Journal’s Health Care Heroes award in the Mental Health Caregiver and Workplace Well-being categories.

Sadie Elisseou, MD, is a physician at Mass General Brigham, faculty at Harvard Medical School, and leading subject matter expert in trauma-informed care. Her curriculum on trauma-informed physical examination is now taught at medical schools across the U.S. Dr. Elisseou teaches clinical healthcare professionals how to provide top-quality care to patients who have lived through trauma, while also caring for themselves. She also consults for healthcare systems that wish to reduce burnout, develop human-centered leaders, and build resilient organizations.

Steven Forti was a consultant for Johnson & Johnson’s Orthopedic Trauma Division, where he utilized eight years of Critical Care and Trauma Nursing experience. In the military, he earned the rank of Master Sergeant after serving 23+ years in Army Special Forces, where his specialties included Special Forces Weapons Sergeant and Special Forces Intel Sergeant. He is a Level 1 Sniper, and attended Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab at DIA as well as the Special Operations Planners Course in Norfolk, VA. Steve earned a BS in Nursing from Quinnipiac University, completed a Critical Care Residency at Yale New Haven Hospital Systems, and holds a BS from Southern Connecticut State University.

In March of 2020, he was asked to join Hospital for Special Surgery as the Chief of Staff for crisis management, as they transformed the entire hospital into a Covid treatment center to do their part in the fight to save lives during the height of the Covid crisis. As the crisis ebbed, he was asked to join the leadership team as the Chief Wellness and Resiliency Officer with a focus on overall wellbeing, burnout, and suicide awareness and prevention. His approach is scienced based on allostatic load management and autonomic downregulation and is a nationally sought after speaker for wellbeing and resilience.

When not at HSS, Steven spends his time enjoying every moment of his family, and also dedicates time to the Children of Fallen Patriots and is board president of a drug and alcohol rehab in Bridgeport, CT.

Scott Gauvin has spent more than 30 years helping organizations build workplaces that are both human-centered and high-performing. As CEO of Macresco and co-founder of the Respect for People Roadmap, he has worked across industries and geographies to redesign the operational systems, leadership mindsets, and management practices that drive meaningful, measurable change. A contributing author to Leading With Compassion: Cultivating Connection from the Inside Out, Gauvin believes lasting transformation is possible when organizations create the cultural conditions and strengthen the behaviors fundamental to continuous improvement, execution, and engagement at scale.

Carol Gomes is a member of the senior executive team, serving as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Stony Brook University Hospital. Formerly, she was the Chief Quality Officer with administrative oversight for the departments of Continuous Quality Improvement, Decision Support Services, Clinical Pathways and Management Engineering. She was also the Associate Director for Quality Management and Associate Director for Neurosciences.

Gomes earned two master's degrees from Stony Brook University: Management and Policy from the Harriman School of Management and Policy and Healthcare Management and Administration from the School of Allied Health Professions. She has served on the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Program’s Board of Examiners since 1999, most recently as Senior Examiner and Alumni Examiner. She teaches for the School of Health Professions. She holds certifications as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Certified Practitioner of Healthcare from the National Association for Healthcare Quality and numerous certifications in laboratory sciences and management from the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

Working in the healthcare field for over 30 years, Gomes is the recipient of numerous leadership awards including the HLNY Healthcare Executive of the year “Award of Distinction,” Long Island Business News Healthcare Heroes Award in Achievements in Healthcare, the Master Award and the Excellence in Management Award from the American Society of Clinical Pathology, and The Distinguished Alumna Award from Stony Brook University. She has served on the Stony Brook University Alumni Association Board, holding all of the executive-level positions, including President. Gomes currently serves as Vice Chair of the Vizient Senior Operations Officer Network Steering Committee and serves as a board member on numerous boards associated with healthcare activities.

She actively volunteers to serve as a mentor for students pursuing healthcare administration and participates regularly as a panelist for the Future Healthcare Leaders “See You at the 'C' Suite” seminars. Gomes regularly participates at Alumni and Student Career Networking events to assist young careerists with job opportunities and career guidance.

Carmen Renee Green leads the CUNY School of Medicine, a public institution focused on addressing the social determinants of health by training future doctors and physician assistants who often come from and return to serve historically underserved communities. An award-winning professor, anesthesiologist, and pain medicine specialist, Dr. Green is nationally recognized for groundbreaking research exposing inequities in pain treatment affecting women, minorities, older adults, and low-income populations. She also authored foundational research on racial disparities in hospital security calls.

Ama Mathewos is a Certified Coach and Board Certified Advanced Nurse Executive with 20 years of industry experience. One of her proudest moments was leading a team, post-merger, with many opportunities for improvement into a cohesive team that demonstrated clinical excellence and ultimately became Magnet designated. Mathewos was able to accomplish Magnet designation and many other accolades by being an emotionally intelligent leader. She champions the belief that the answers reside within, awaiting discovery through introspection and action. Guiding leaders with warmth and accountability, she fosters an environment where leadership strengths are nurtured. Through strategic relationship-building and tailored action plans, Mathewos empowers leaders and their teams for success.

Sheldon P. McLeod is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County. He was appointed CEO in January 2018, having previously served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Kings County Hospital since October 2014. As CEO, McLeod’s responsibilities include setting the strategic direction for the hospital, and providing executive oversight for the clinical, operational and financial management for the institution.
Prior to joining Kings County Hospital, Mr. McLeod served in progressively responsible leadership roles for over sixteen years at NYC Health + Hospitals, and other health organizations across the City, including COO at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, Chief Transformation Officer at New York City Health + Hospitals/Jacobi. He has held positions at Montefiore Medical Center; the NYC Department of Health; St. Luke’s–Roosevelt; and the Primary Care Development Corporation.

Under Mr. McLeod’s leadership, Kings County continues to excel in the Brooklyn healthcare landscape having developed innovative, cost-effective solutions for enhancing quality, competitiveness and revenue by implementing new business strategies at the hospital. Mr. McLeod also works collaboratively with community-based organizations to address the social determinants of health, and health equity in the communities served by Kings County Hospital.
Mr. McLeod is a Fellow of the American Essential Hospitals, and serves on its Board of Directors as well as the Bushwick Starr board of directors. Among his core beliefs are that communication, transparency and accountability are keys to driving change within an organization, and that creating a nurturing environment for employees to learn, grow and adjust to organizational change will ultimately create better staff and patient experience, and a healthy and successful organization.

Dr. Priya E. Mammen’s career is marked by leveraging her expertise as an emergency physician and public health leader for actionable insights to drive strategic and sustainable change and improved outcomes, driving both ROI and AOI, and aligned with organizational missions and goals. Her career began working with John Snow, Inc and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr. Mammen served as the US enterprise senior clinician, thought leader and subject matter expert overseeing clinical program development, healthcare services implementation, and patient and team member safety across nearly 9,000 national pharmacies serving 10 million people daily.

Dr. Ridgley Salter is a physician leader and a family physician who has been practicing inpatient and outpatient medicine at WellSpan Family Medicine – Hayshire of WellSpan Health (WSH) since 1999, and still cares for patients there and at WellSpan York Hospital with the Family Medicine residents as part of his half-time clinical role. He earned his Medical Degree at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, followed by his Family Medicine Residency at WellSpan York Hospital. From 2015-2023, he served as Medical Director within the WellSpan Medical Group (WMG), and since 2022, has served as the Medical Director for Wellbeing, co-leading the WSH system-wide wellbeing strategy with his colleague, Dr. Michael Diller. Since 2018, he has chaired the WMG Physician and APP Wellbeing Council, where he spearheaded efforts that earned many national recognitions, including the AMA Joy in Medicine Gold Level Recognition in 2025, one of just 21 Health Systems in the country to earn this highest level of recognition.
It is in this wellbeing work that Dr. Salter has found his passion, working on an array of system-wide strategies for Leaders, Nurses, Physicians and APPs, and all Team Members at WSH, so that his colleagues don’t have to experience the burnout he experienced in the early 2010s. His focus is that all team members at WSH achieve professional fulfillment in serving their patients, communities, and each other. He resides in York with his wife, Karen, and they are the proud parents of 3 incredible adult children (and one amazing infant granddaughter).

Karilyn Van Oosten is a mission‐driven executive, strategic growth consultant, and higher‐education leader specializing in healthcare workforce development and education‐industry partnerships. She is the Owner of KVO Strategic Growth, where she advises colleges, associations, and healthcare organizations on building scalable, market‐aligned workforce solutions through high‐impact partnerships and strategic growth initiatives.

She also serves as Senior National Partnership Manager, Healthcare at American College of Education (ACE). In this role, she leads national healthcare and association partnerships designed to expand access to affordable, flexible nursing and healthcare degree pathways. Her work supports workforce upskilling, leadership development, and equity by aligning educational programs with the evolving needs of healthcare employers and professional associations.

With more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in higher education, Van Oosten has held executive roles at Unitek Learning, Herzing University, Chamberlain University, and Grand Canyon University. Across these organizations, she built and scaled national partnership portfolios, negotiated long‐term enterprise and association agreements, and drove multimillion‐dollar revenue growth through cross‐sector collaboration between education, healthcare systems, labor organizations, and nonprofits.

A committed advocate for women’s leadership and civic engagement, she is a former President of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) Arizona and currently serves as Vice President of IWF Northern California, where she co‐chairs member engagement initiatives. She also is a Board Member of the Carmel International Film Festival, Leading for change, supporting regional economic development at the intersection of business and culture.

Van Oosten previously served as an adjunct faculty member at Glendale Community College and has dedicated more than a decade of service to organizations such as Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus‐Pine Council, mentoring and developing future leaders.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and a Master of Arts in Language and Culture from Arizona State University, with additional doctoral‐level studies completed in Buenos Aires, Argentina.