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Who’s Who in Health Care
These professionals are on the forefront of medicine and innovation.

by Julie Shannon
 
For this year’s Who’s Who in Health Care list, we thought outside the box, selecting to honor not just medical professionals, but those working behind the scenes – literally keeping the hospitals running and others who create digital strategies in the health care industry to make the patient experience more personalized.

The list of credentials and years of experience for each of our honorees is extremely impressive and they all have made quite an impact on the health care community in their own unique way. From adapting with the ever-changing technology, providing services to those less fortunate, offering the highest quality of care to dedicating hours upon hours of research to find a cure for a life-threatening disease, these individuals are passionate driven and changing the heath care landscape in South Jersey.

Kurt Kaulback, MD, FACC
Clinical Director of Cardiovascular Services, Inspira Health
In his 25 years of practice, interventional cardiologist Kaulback has advanced the practice of cardiovascular medicine in many ways. From performing life-saving emergency angioplasty to teaching young physicians, his passion for improving patient care always shines through. In 1994, he brought transesophageal echocardiography, a game-changing imaging study to Inspira Medical Center Woodbury. Fifteen years later, as the co-director of the cardiac cath lab in Woodbury, he implemented emergency PCI (angioplasty and stenting) that can stop heart attacks and save lives. In 2017, Kaulback was instrumental in the creation of Cardiac Partners at Cooper and Inspira, the region’s largest network of cardiac specialists. He has served as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Hahnemann/Drexel University College of Medicine, and as faculty for the family medicine residency and critical care fellowship at Inspira’s hospitals. From
2016 to 2018, Kaulback was president of the American Heart Association’s South/Central (NJ) board.
“Information technology and innovation have expanded exponentially over the past several years. I can access patient records securely from just about anywhere and communicate with any other physician or health care delivery system in real time. Patients can monitor heart rate, rhythm and blood glucose levels from home and relay vital information to physicians as needed. The barriers to ‘real time’ evaluation and management of patients and their medical conditions are gone. The best part is that EVERY patient benefits from it.”
 
Dr. Paola Leone
Professor of Cell Biology & Neuroscience; Director, Cell and Gene Therapy Center, Rowan University
Leone led the first clinical gene therapy application for a neurodegenerative disease and is an internationally recognized leader in the field of gene therapy. These efforts included developing preclinical and clinical applications of novel therapeutics to Canavan Disease which have changed the clinical management and outcome of newly diagnosed patients. Leone is currently pursuing novel gene therapy strategies with therapeutic potential in a wide range of model systems for neurological diseases, including Canavan Disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Brain Injury. She is a distinguished member of numerous scientific advisory boards and has been honored with several awards, including a UNESCO Award and the MD Advantage Outstanding Medical Research Scientist Award.
“This is a very exciting time for a translational scientist like myself. Technology is rapidly evolving, and gene therapy in particular is transforming the entire field in medicine. Based on recent discoveries in my field, we have the tools to be able to fast-track the development of biologics and drugs for rare and terminal brain diseases.”

Dan Fabius, DO, FACP
Vice President of Clinical Informatics, Continuum Health
As vice president of clinical informatics, Fabius supports Continuum Health’s clinical transformation efforts through data analysis and workflow improvements. He leverages data from Continuum’s physician network to develop comprehensive metrics and actionable insights that help providers improve patient care. Fabius also serves as an advisor to the care coordination team to create comprehensive care management plans for the most complex patients. In addition to his role at Continuum, Fabius is currently a practicing physician and is board-certified in internal medicine and clinical informatics. He earned his medical degree at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at Cooper University Hospital, where he remained on staff as the associate program director for Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Fabius is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Studies show that physicians spend half of their day on electronic health record (EHR) tasks, which limits the face-to-face time they would prefer to spend with patients. One of the most important roles I play is to help physicians be more proficient and efficient with the EHR and other healthcare technologies, so that they can harness the full potential of these tools and get back to spending more time with patients.”

Kulpreet Barn, MD
Medical Director, Advanced Heart Failure Program, Deborah Heart and Lung Center
As a heart failure specialist, Barn brings an extraordinary range of experience with him to Deborah, including being one of a few physicians in the region to be board-certified in Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology. Currently, Barn leads the only destination therapy left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) program in South Jersey. Prior to coming to Deborah, he led one of the largest LVAD shared care programs in the county. Barn is also one of the only physicians in South Jersey that treats pulmonary hypertension. He received his specialty training at the Baylor College of Medicine at the Texas Heart Institute, as well as Geisinger Medical Center. He is fluent in English, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu.
“One of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today is providing access to new medical breakthrough technology and expert specialists. Our profession has made tremendous strides in research and development to treat complex medical conditions, but often these new treatments are only available in large metropolitan cities, forcing patients to travel hours for care. We, as a community, have to continue to design strategies to bring this medical innovation to patients in need. This is why, at Deborah, after first partnering in a regional shared care program for heart failure patients we transitioned into our own program, bringing high tech access to sophisticated implanted ventricular assist devices close to home.”
 
Dr. Thomas A. Cavalieri, FACOI, FACP, AGSF
Dean, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM)
In addition to his role as dean at RowanSOM, Cavalieri also serves as a professor of medicine and osteopathic heritage endowed chair for primary care research. He is currently overseeing the modernization of the school’s undergraduate medical education curriculum, facilitating a class size expansion, building the school’s endowment and preparing the campus for the single accreditation of the graduate medical education programs.An advocate for older adults, Cavalieri has raised the bar on the standard of care. He was the founding director of the Center of Aging, which has grown into the Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology-New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at RowanSOM. Under his guidance, RowanSOM has been named 16 times by US News & World Report as one of America’s best medical schools for geriatric medical education.
“While new discoveries and technology have clearly advanced patient care, our recognition that care can be best delivered by a patient-centered, coordinated and team-based approach is a major accomplishment in the improvement of health care in the nation.”

Marie O’Toole
Senior Associate Dean, Rutgers School of Nursing—Camden; Professor of Nursing, Rutgers University—Camden
In 2018, O’Toole was named as a Fellow in the National League for Nursing’s Academy of Nursing Education, a top national honor for individuals who have made substantial contributions to nursing education. During 2016-17, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Specialist grant that allowed her to teach and study at Jordan University of Science and Technology. In the mid-1990s, she worked with the nonprofit organization Health Volunteers Overseas on a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop nursing education in Vietnam. In 2007, O’Toole led a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education to develop programs with Semmelweis University in Hungary and Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland. She has served as editor of Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professions—the definitive health professions dictionary—for the past 20 years.
“Facilitating appropriate access to health care is critical.  There is no doubt that America has outstanding health care providers and facilities, which is true in southern New Jersey, too.  However, ensuring that individuals, families and communities have access to the services they need, when and where they need them is a pressing problem that leads to disparities in the delivery of health care and health outcomes that are distressing.”
 
Jubril Oyeyemi , MD
Hospitalist, Virtua Memorial Hospital Mount Holly
Providing primary care to admitted patients is one of Oyeyemi’s roles, and he encountered patients who couldn’t afford to see a doctor. This led to the founding of the Cherry Hill Free Clinic (CHFC) in 2017, which provides free care to uninsured residents in South Jersey, including primary care and access to labs, radiology and specialist services. Oyeyemi and a team of 30-plus colleagues volunteer at the clinic, which is funded by local organizations including Virtua and GCLEA—a nonprofit serving the Muslim community. CHFC has served more than 700 patients to date, enabling them to live better, healthier lives. Oyeyemi has also served as lead hospitalist and associate medical director of Virtua Memorial, Voorhees and Marlton hospitals. He graduated summa cum laude from Lincoln University and received his medical degree from Penn State. Oyeyemi, who emigrated from Nigeria at age 16, is married with two children.
“The biggest challenge to health care providers today is clinician burnout, which has reached record levels. It’s almost paradoxical that there are so many advances in medicine, yet clinicians report an overall burnout rate of 67 percent. Programs like the Cherry Hill Free Clinic actually help providers avoid burnout. By volunteering in the community, we reground ourselves in why we chose medicine in the first place.”

Jaroslav Jelinek, MD, PhD
Chief Research Officer, Coriell Institute for Medical Research
As chief research officer, Jelinek oversees all research efforts and directs an epigenetic research group at the Coriell Institute. Prior to his current role, he was a research professor at Philadelphia’s Temple University and worked in Temple University’s Fels Institute for Cancer Epigenetics & Molecular Biology. Before his time at Temple, Jelinek served on the faculty of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as a visiting scientist, instructor and an assistant professor in the department of leukemia. Over the course of his career, he has published more 120 peer-reviewed articles—more than 80 in the field of epigenetics. He earned both his doctor of medicine and doctor of philosophy in physiology degrees at the Charles University School of Medicine in Prague, Czech Republic.
“Two major advancements are transforming health care are big data and artificial intelligence helping make sense of them. In the last decade, large digital data are making inroads in the diagnosis and treatment, and artificial intelligence is surpassing humans in the analysis of medical images. High throughput methods of DNA sequencing give detailed information about whole genomes of individual patients at costs affordable for personalized medicine.”

Dr. Andrea Russo
Director, Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services, Cooper University Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Russo is also the director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship program and the director of cardiovascular research at Cooper University Hospital. Russo is currently the president of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), member of the HRS executive committee and member of the HRS board of trustees. She is also a current member of the American Heart Association Atrial Fibrillation Systems of Care advisory committee and member of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee. She previously served on or chaired multiple HRS, ACC, or AHA committees, subcommittees or work groups. Dr. Russo is board certified in Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology and previously served on the ABIM Cardiovascular Test Writing Committee and the ABMS Continuing Board Certification Vision for the Future Commission.
“One of the biggest advancements in healthcare is innovation related to digital health. We are now able to monitor patients remotely, which has positive implications related to improved access to healthcare around the globe. For example, patients who report symptoms of palpitations or lightheadedness may record the electrical activity of their heart and transmit a recording of this cardiac rhythm using remote monitoring systems. In addition, consumer products are now also available that allow a recording of the heart rhythm. This technology is also available in some watches. These wearable devices can detect previously unknown rhythm abnormalities and can provide information that can be life-saving.”
 
Jay S. Giri, MD, MPH
Interventional cardiologist, Director of Peripheral Intervention, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Giri also serves as the director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia and is the associate director of the Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality & Evaluative Research Center. His clinical interests include complex coronary artery intervention, venous thromboembolism and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. He performs clinical outcomes and comparative effectiveness research related to emerging endovascular technologies and interventional pharmacotherapies, as well as health services and policy research related to cardiovascular medicine. His original research has been published in a variety of high-impact journals, including JAMA, Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
As I have become more specialized and experienced, the aspect that I now find most intriguing about clinical medicine is what many find most frustrating. Specifically, how do we provide the best care to an individual patient in an environment where there are many competing interests that threaten the decision-making relationship between a doctor and patient? Moreover, how can we continually improve health care delivery at institutions as well as develop broader policies that restore primacy to this relationship while remaining accountable to our broader responsibilities to public health?”
 
Marc Feingold, MD
Medical Director, Consensus Health
Feingold is one of the founding members of Consensus Medical Group (CMG) and serves as the group’s medical director, sharing his best practices and expertise with other providers. He understands the importance of improving quality and lowering costs for a population and has successfully shifted from fee-for-service to value-based care. “When you are accountable for the quality and cost of a population, you have to be the quarterback of your care team and serve as your patients’ health coach. You must understand all aspects of their care, coordinate the care and use data to drive clinical decisions,” Feingold explains.  He has achieved the quadruple aim of better care, better health, lower cost and improved experiences for his patients and has been recognized at both a state and national level for his accomplishments in the value-based care programs in which he participates, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s CPC+ program. 
“Today’s health care costs are unsustainable and have significantly impacted employers and patients. Our traditional payment system works well in serving people when disease is present, but it is not designed to help people prevent illness and stay healthy. Because the practice of prevention has not been typically reimbursed by our traditional payment system, healthcare providers and consumers are not accustomed to investing in prevention strategies and techniques. The move from volume to value led by CMS and commercial payers requires the practice of prevention to be at the focal point of patient care.”
 
Bruce A. Monaghan, MD, FAAOS
Hand and Microvasular Surgeon, Premier Orthopaedic Associates
Monaghan specializes in the surgical and nonsurgical treatment of disorders and injuries of the upper extremities including the arm, elbow, wrist and hand and is board-certified in orthopaedic surgery by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He trained at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and received advanced training in hand and micro-vascular surgery at the nationally renowned Indiana Hand Center. Monaghan is chief of the division of orthopaedic surgery and vice chairman of the department of Surgery at Inspira Health and also the chairman of the board of the Gloucester County Surgical Center. In addition to being an active member of the American Association of Hand Surgeons and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Monaghan is past president of the New Jersey Orthopaedic Society and continues to serve on its board.
“I believe the biggest advancement in health care is the collaboration of the physician community with health care networks delivery of comprehensive orthopaedic care to the individuals we serve. At Premier Orthopaedic Associates, integrated orthopaedic care is provided in our rural communities in which we live. The practice upholds the highest level of university care while providing the most advanced academic medical techniques.”
 
Sara Pagliaro, DO
Associate Director of Palliative Medicine, Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice
Pagliaro is a hospice and palliative care physician with more than 10 years of experience. Since 2012, she has served as a palliative medicine physician caring for Samaritan patients and their families in a hospital setting. In January 2018, she was named the associate director of palliative medicine where she oversees the care of Samaritan’s Palliative Medical Partners patients. Pagliaro is board-certified in hospice and palliative medicine. She’s a member of the American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons.
 “My experiences as a child and young adult made me very aware of the challenges illness can cause and inspired me to become a physician. I am privileged to help patients and their families find comfort, support and dignity from as early as the day of diagnosis through the end of life.”

Jeffrey Bailey
President, Applied Thermal Solutions Inc.
Bailey graduated Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and developed a passion for central utility plant design. With this, Applied Thermal Solutions partners with local tri-state consulting engineering firms in designing mechanical support system for emergency generators. The mechanical support systems keep the emergency generators online in the event of a power outage or interruption of power to a hospital. The mechanical systems also provide means for sterilization for operating room equipment. These systems are very important when patients are on life support systems, undergoing operations and produce highly efficient indoor air temperature control. Applied Thermal Solutions business model has launched a major growth in the health care industry.
“We definitely have seen an increase and significant focus on new state-of-the-art hospitals structured in the fields of research, patient care and rehabilitation. University health care institutes are merging with smaller suburban regional facilities giving those patients the best access to medical technology.”
 
Eric Welsh
Digital Innovation, Employer Brand Specialist, BAYADA Home Health Care
Welsh oversees BAYADA Home Health Care’s digital innovation and attraction strategies. After spending nearly a decade working in home health care driving multimillion dollar returns, he knows what drives conversions, impacts social media and what builds a brand—and it’s not chasing the next emerging technology. According to Welsh, it’s how well you connect with the hearts of those in need of care and personalize relentlessly to provide the best experience possible. He is frequently asked to speak throughout the country and will be a feature speaker at the Pennsylvania Marketing Summit in October with the topic focusing on reputation management and nurturing brand loyalty.
“One of the investments all companies should be thinking about is their voice- driven SEO strategy. Focusing on voice search and the type of questions your patients ask; then creating and optimizing content to be returned by your voice assistant (Alexa or Siri) accurately will be a game changer.”
 
Kelly Walenda, Esq.
Senior Vice President—Legal Services/ Chief Counsel; Enterprise Chief Privacy Officer, Jefferson Health New Jersey
After overseeing the legalities of the merger between Thomas Jefferson University and Kennedy Health, completed in 2017, Walenda’s role was expanded to oversee the entire Jefferson Enterprise Privacy Office. She says the best name for any legal department would be the “solutions department,” because she counsels people in need of guidance through the complicated health care landscape. Walenda advises on myriad issues, ranging from contracts, to identity theft, licensing, expansion of service lines and privacy. In her role as chief privacy officer, Walenda works to set the privacy strategy and navigate the complex and changing landscape of regulations impacting privacy, while advocating to ensure patients’ personal health information is kept private, safe and secure. Certified in health care privacy compliance, she has been a speaker for the past two years at the national Health Care Compliance Association Compliance Institute.
“The biggest challenge for health care providers today is keeping pace with regulatory changes and technological advances. Complying with the myriad regulations related to documentation of care and services provided, while ensuring interoperability of all of the technology, and keeping pace in the cyber security world, is an everyday challenge. The end goal is to ensure that patient information gets to the right parties to provide the best quality of care to patients in the most efficient and least costly manner, while ensuring compliance with laws, and protection of data now housed by the providers.”
 
William Kocher, MD
Pathologist, Associate Dean for Admissions, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU)
Kocher received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and completed his pathology training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. In addition to anatomic and clinical pathology, he is board-certified in hematology, which is an area of interest in practice. Over his career, he has been a practicing pathologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Cooper University Health Care. His true passion lies in medical education and he has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards. At CMSRU, he has previously served as chair of the department of biomedical sciences and as the assistant dean for Phase 1 Curriculum.
“I feel that the projected physician shortage will be a major challenge to ensuring quality health care over the next decade. At the same time, as a physician shortage looms, the costs associated with obtaining medical education continue to rise and the level of indebtedness experienced by newly-graduated physicians is significant. Although the number of graduates of US medical schools continues to increase (as new medical schools open and existing class sizes grow), the number of available residency positions has not kept pace. This has resulted in increased competition for post-graduate training and the real possibility of new physicians being unable to secure residency training upon graduation. Additionally, because of financial pressures faced by new physicians, there may be a tendency to pursue more lucrative specialties, rather than primary care disciplines, where the future needs will be the greatest. It is the convergence of these factors, which unless remedied, that will have a significant impact on the future of medicine and health care delivery.”
 
Margaret Belfield, MSN, RN
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, AtlantiCare, a member of Geisinger
Belfield has held many leadership roles since joining the healthcare system in 1999 as administrator, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Atlantic City campus. She has strategic and operational oversight of AtlantiCare’s programs and services in five counties of New Jersey.Belfield also held leadership roles at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia and critical care and nursing leadership positions at the University of California and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, both in San Diego. Belfield is a member of the New Jersey Hospital Association’s Policy Development Committee and on the Gift of Life Donor Program’s governing board.
“Communication and culture are critical to care. We must continually reinvent how we listen to and learn from our customers. Fostering a culture and work environment that contribute to the personal and professional growth, knowledge, engagement and retention of providers and staff is crucial to our being agile and innovative in delivering care. We must also be prepared for any emergency that could impact organizations’ individual or collective facilities or the healthcare system at large. Collaborating as leaders to identify and prevent or mitigate natural and person-cause events/issues that threaten the safety and security of our communities is and will remain paramount.”

To read the digital edition of South Jersey Biz, click here.

Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 9, Issue 6 (June 2019).


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