Partners

The Center of Excellence for Health Systems Improvement (COE for HSI) has convened a COE for HSI Advisory Committee and a Statewide Stakeholders Workgroup. These groups were formed to provide guidance and support to the COE for HSI and the greater Health Systems for a Tobacco-Free New York project.

Advisory Committee

The COE for HSI Advisory Committee provides strategic guidance to the CAI project team, identifying training and technical assistance needs at the regional and statewide levels and informing the design and development of training, technical assistance, and materials and resources . Additionally, the Advisory Committee supports the COE for HSI with prioritizing activities and provides expertise on the operationalization and implementation of health systems improvement work.

Advisory Committee members were chosen based on demonstrated knowledge, experience, and commitment to achieving a tobacco-free New York. Meetings occur quarterly.

Advisory Committee Members
  • Patricia Bax, Marketing Coordinator, NYS Smoker’s Quitline
  • Dorothy Farley, Vice President, Social Services, Community Healthcare Network
  • Patricia Folan, Director, Center for Tobacco Control and Health Systems Change Contractor for the Long Island Region
  • Colleen Foreman, Chief Nursing Officer, Community Health Center of Buffalo
  • Damara Gutnick, Medical Director, Montefiore Hudson Valley DSRIP
  • Catherine Guzman, Program Director, Access: Supports for Living
  • Ryan McCormack, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine Bellevue Hospital, NYU School of Medicine
  • Scott McIntosh, Director, Health Systems Change Contractor for the Finger Lakes Region
  • Sara Phelps, Community Programs Manager, Bureau of Tobacco Control, New York State Department of Health
  • Jon Rice, Program Specialist, Department of Medical Informatics, Office of Mental Health
  • Erin Sinisgalli, Director, Seton Health/St. Peter’s Health Partners and Health Systems Change Contractor for the Capital Region
  • Maxine Smalling, Acting Director, Coordinated Nursing Services, NYS Office of Mental Health
  • Julie Wright, Program Manager, Bureau of Tobacco Control, New York State Department of Health
  • Daren Wu, Chief Medical Officer, Open Door Family Medical Centers, Inc.

Statewide Stakeholders Workgroup

The Statewide Stakeholder Workgroup assists the COE for HSI with identifying, prioritizing, and promoting medical health and mental health policy changes, including both regulatory and legislative policy recommendations that will facilitate the work of the COE for HSI and the 10 Regional Contractors.

The group will also include a Mental Health Sub-Committee dedicated to exploring statewide policy and protocol changes that will promote sustainable tobacco-free norms for individuals with serious mental illnesses. Meetings of the Statewide Stakeholders Workgroup and the Mental Health Sub-Committee occur quarterly.

Statewide Stakeholders Workgroup Members

  • Haven Battles, Assistant Director, Bureau of Chronic Disease Evaluation and Research, New York State Department of Health
  • Peggy Bonneau,* Director, Health Initiatives, Office of the Medical Director, New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
  • Ian Brissette, Director,  Bureau of Chronic Disease Evaluation and Research, New York State Department of Health
  • Wendy Burch, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness New York State
  • Anthony Fiori, Managing Director, Manatt Health Solutions / Coalition of New York State Public Health Plans
  • Harlan Juster, Director, Bureau of Tobacco Control, New York State Department of Health
  • Susan Kansagra,* Assistant Vice President, Population Health, Medical, and Professional Affairs, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
  • Esther Kim, Public Health Dentist, Bureau of Dental Health, New York State Department of Health
  • Karen Kruszeski, Public Health Program Nurse, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention
  • Justin List, Director, Clinical and Scientific Affairs, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • James McPartlon, Associate Director of Policy, Medical Society of the State of New York
  • Gregory Miller,* Medical Director, Adult Services, New York State Office of Mental Health
  • Elizabeth Misa, Deputy Medicaid Director, Office of Health Insurance Programs, New York State Department of Health
  • Wade Norwood, Chief Program Officer, Finger Lakes Health System Authority
  • Sarah Perl,** Strategic Advisor, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • Jennifer Post, Project Manager, Health Systems and Public Health Integration
  • Ava Rose, Assistance Director of Clinical Quality Improvement Program, Community Health Center Association of New York State
  • Michael Seilback, Vice President, Public Policy and Communications, American Lung Association of the Northeast
  • Michael Seserman, Director, Strategic Health Alliances, American Cancer Society
  • Stephanie Sheehan, Assistant Director, Bureau of Tobacco Control, New York State Department of Health
  • Donna Shelley,* Associate Professor of Population Health, Co-Chair Section on Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Use, Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine
  • Cynthia Sutliff, Director, Policy, New York eHealth Collaborative
  • Jill Marie Williams,* Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Division of Addictions Psychiatry, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

*Denotes Mental Health Sub-Committee Membership
**Denotes Mental Health Sub-Committee Designee

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This website was developed with funding provided by the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Tobacco Control to CAI. Its contents are solely the responsibility of CAI and do not necessarily represent the official views of the New York State Department of Health.