April 19, 2023 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Thank you for attending this year Conference, we look forward to seeing you at the 2024 Conference.
In the meantime please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

2023 HCRI Annual RI Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Conference

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Welcoming Remarks

Welcome Remarks

Utpala Bandy, MD, MPH, Interim Director

Utpala Bandy, MD, MPH is the Interim Director at the Rhode Island Department of Health. She manages the day-to-day responsibilities of the Director while the search for a permanent candidate is ongoing.

Dr. Bandy also currently serves as the Director of RIDOH’s Division of Preparedness, Response, Infectious Disease, and Emergency Medical Services. She has led RIDOH’s infectious disease division since 2012. In that time, she has helped steer the State’s response to the COVID-19 and H1N1 global pandemics, and she has led efforts to prevent or control outbreaks of diseases of significant concern, including tuberculosis, measles, rabies, and meningococcal disease. She has helped guide efforts to dramatically reduce rates of new HIV infections over the last 30 years in Rhode Island, and manages the federal grants received by RIDOH to do routine infectious disease surveillance and response work.

Dr. Bandy completed a pediatric residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health. She joined RIDOH in 1993 as Rhode Island’s State Epidemiologist and the Medical Director for the division that oversaw RIDOH’s infectious disease prevention and control work. She became the Director of RIDOH’s Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in 2012.

Session: Crisis Leadership

Eric J. McNulty, Co-Author
Meta-Leadership: Building Collaboration to Master Emerging Challenges.
Author of “You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most”

Eric J. McNulty is Associate Director and Program Faculty at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPL I ) at Harvard University and an Instructor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His work centers on leading in high-stakes, high-stress situations. He teaches in multiple executive education programs at Harvard and MIT, and graduate-level courses on leadership, negotiations, and conflict resolution at Harvard.

He is the co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most and Renegotiating Health Care: Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration. He has written more than 200 bylined articles in leading publications, multiple case studies of high-profile incidents, and numerous academic articles. He engages with executives around the globe on leading through turbulence and change.

Session: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Active Shooter Event

Eric D. Martin, MD, Medical Director of Emergency Management

Dr. Eric D Martin is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

After completing his fellowship in 2011 at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland, he returned to New Hampshire to begin his career.  In 2012 he was given the opportunity to become the Medical Director of Emergency Management and has been an active participant for the past ten years. In addition to this role he is currently the Trauma Medical Director at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Chair of the New Hampshire Trauma Medical Review Committee, and the Chair of the American College of Surgeons New Hampshire branch of the Committee on Trauma.

Session: Coalition in Action (Nursing Home Fire with Evacuation)

Frank Brown, Fire Chief

Frank Brown is the Fire Chief at Hopkins Hill Fire District and was a Nuclear Test Tech for General Dynamics.

Frank Brown joined the fire department in April 1976 and became the full-time Chief in February 1992. 

Chief Brown is responsible for the entire department operation, including budgeting and spending.

Adam Simoneau, NH Administrator

Adam is a Rhode Island native, URI & St. Joseph’s alumni, and dually licensed Administrator in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Having grown up in Charlestown, RI, Adam began volunteer work for Genesis HealthCare at the age of 15 as a maintenance assistant. Throughout the years, Adam has worked for Genesis in various capacities and across multiple locations throughout the states of RI and MA. Adam is deeply passionate about his profession, his residents, and his peers. On the weekends, Adam is a hobbyist beekeeper & musician!

Jill D’Abrosca, EMA Director

Jill M. D’Abrosca is currently a federal partner with the US Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response.  She works here in Region 1 (New England) as a regional emergency coordinator.  Prior to that, she was the assistant emergency manager for the Town of Coventry, when the fire at the Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center of RI occurred.  She has also held the emergency preparedness and safety position at Kent Hospital, deputy team commander for the federal RI-1 DMAT team, COVID-19 vaccine director for the RI Medical Reserve Corps, and EMS for Children training director for the RI Dept of Health.  Jill remains a nationally registered paramedic and instructor coordinator in RI. 

Session: Hurricane Ian – Florida Healthcare System Impact, Response, & Recovery 

Mary C. Mayhew, President and CEO

Mary C. Mayhew joined the Florida Hospital Association in October 2020. During her time as President, Mayhew was named to the Florida Politics 2022 Influence 150, Florida Trend’s 2022 Florida 500, and placed #3 in The Florida Health Care Power 100 and #24 in The Florida Power 100 by City & State Florida.

Prior to joining FHA, Mayhew served as Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (FHCA) in the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis. As Secretary, Mayhew played an instrumental role in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also spearheaded several initiatives to support increased accountability for improved healthcare outcomes for the more than 4 million Medicaid enrollees and to promote integrated care coordination.

Mayhew joined FHCA from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there she served as Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, overseeing the more than $375 billion Medicaid program.

Mayhew also served for more than six years as the commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. During this time, she advanced comprehensive health homes, Medicaid Accountable Community Organizations, integrated behavioral health homes, and efforts to improve access to substance use disorder treatment in primary care practice settings. Promoting high-quality behavioral health services remains a priority for Mayhew today.

Her private sector roles include 11 years with the Maine Hospital Association as vice president of government relations, there she advocated for policies that supported hospitals and the patients and communities they serve. Mayhew also was a partner in the public affairs firm of Hawkes & Mayhew, based in Augusta, Maine, and managed state government relations for the Equifax Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mayhew’s career in public service and advocacy started early. At 17, she moved to Washington, D.C. to become a Congressional page and finish high school. After college, she served as the legislative assistant in Washington, D.C. for Arkansas Representative William Alexander’s Washington, D.C. office.

Mayhew is a native of Pittsfield, Maine, and a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Session: HVA Discussion 

Philip Sheridan and Dawn Lewis, Healthcare Emergency Management Directors