Healthcare Leadership & Executive Conference
October 29th, 2026
Hyatt Regency
Huntington Beach Resort and Spa
Program Sessions: 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Networking reception to follow.
Agenda to follow.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Key Topics Include:
- Hospital CEO Roundtable: Prioritizing Today’s Toughest Challenges
- Opportunities to Reimagine Healthcare Facility Models
- Emerging Payer – Provider Partnerships
- Healthcare Legal Landscape: Today’s Realities & Tomorrow’s Outlook
- The Future Is Here: AI-Driven Solutions and Innovations
- Hospital Margin Improvement: Out-Of-The-Box Solutions
- Latest Trends and Case Studies for Hospitals
Speakers
Martha Abundis
VP, Legal Services
Community Health System – Fresno
Vasiliki Anest, PhD
Chief Innovation Officer
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Jeremy Avila
Counsel
Nixon Peabody
Carlos Bohorquez
CFO
UC San Diego Health
Alexandra Busto
Partner
Nixon Peabody
Patrick Callaghan
Counsel
Nixon Peabody
Ezra Cohen, MD
CMO, Oncology
Tempus AI
Shawn Forrester
Payer Strategy Executive
Adventist Health
Gayathri Jith
Healthcare Executive
Strategy, Operations & Physician Enterprise
Kelly Linden
President and CEO
Casa Colina Hospital &
Centers for Healthcares
Michael Lutkus
Senior Principal, Spend Management Sales
Vizient
Harsh Parikh
Partner
Nixon Peabody
Lex Reddy
Principal
Resolved LLC
Ernie Schwefler
Chief Contracting & Managed Care Officer
Keck Medicine of USC
Laurie Sicaeros
President
City of Hope Arizona
Khawar Siddique, MD, MBA
CEO
DOCS Health
DOCS Surgical Hospital
Gregory Siebert
SVP Provider Partnerships
Blue Shield of California
Mike Strilesky
SVP Health System Partnership & Growth
Sound Physicians
Raj Takhar, MHA, MPH
SVP, Chief Strategy & Provider Integration
Huntington Health, a Cedars-Sinai Affiliate
Eric Themm
CEO
Zephyr Healthcare Advisors
Adam Thunell
President & CEO
Redlands Community Hospital
Damir Vukovljak AIA, CCM
Vice President
Jensen Partners
Jim West
President & CEO
PIH Health
Eric Themm
CEO
Zephyr Healthcare Advisors
AGENDA
Agenda is subject to change. Check back for updates.
October 29th, 2026 (Fountain Room)
Registration & Networking Breakfast (Continental)
Welcome & Introductions
Senior Leadership Panel: Shaping the Future of Hospitals – Opportunities and Challenges
Hospitals face unprecedented challenges, with roughly half of the country’s facilities losing money and an increase in bankruptcies and closures. This executive panel will discuss current challenges, key priorities going forward, and insights on the imperative of optimizing the healthcare delivery model for the future.
Panel
Kelly Linden
President & CEO
Casa Colina Hospital &
Centers for Healthcare
Laurie Sicaeros
President
City of Hope Arizona
Adam Thunell
President & CEO
Redlands
Community Hospital
Jim West
President & CEO
PIH Health
Payer/Provider Partnerships
Historically, hospitals and health plans have tended to have an adversarial relationship. Given industry challenges related to access, effective population health management, workforce shortages, and margins, it is more imperative than ever that payers and providers figure out how to find “win-win” solutions.
Panel
Shawn Forrester
Payer Strategy Executive
Adventist Health
Ernie Schwefler
Chief Contracting & Managed Care Officer
Keck Medicine of USC
Gregory Siebert
SVP Provider Partnerships
Blue Shield of California
Raj Takhar, MHA, MPH
SVP, Chief Strategy and Provider Integration
Huntington Health, a Cedars-Sinai Affiliate
Break
Legal Trends Reshaping Healthcare: Disruption, Regulation, and Strategies
This session unpacks the legal trends that are defining the current healthcare market, including: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and reimbursement consequences, Medicaid eligibility updates, expansion of state review of healthcare transactions, and False Claims Act enforcement. Hear what each of these means in practical terms for M&A strategy and provider alignment.
Panel
Martha Abundis
VP, Legal Services
Community Health System - Fresno
Jeremy Avila
Counsel
Nixon Peabody
Patrick Callaghan
Counsel
Nixon Peabody
Harsh Parikh
Partner
Nixon Peabody
Networking Lunch (Fountain Courtyard)
Hospital/Physician Alignment Models & Partnerships
This panel will discuss key trends and impacts, including workforce shortages, access barriers, operational and financial challenges, and the pros and cons of various physician/hospital alignment models other than employment.
Panel
Alexandra Busto
Partner
Nixon Peabody
Gayathri Jith
Healthcare Executive
Strategy, Operations & Physician Enterprise
Mike Strilesky
SVP Health System Partnership & Growth
Sound Physicians
Hospital Margin/Performance Improvement
Facing shrinking margins and increasing costs, hospital executives are challenged to reimagine performance improvement beyond traditional cost-cutting. In this session, the panelists will discuss emerging solutions, including new technologies and innovations (AI platforms).
Panel
Carlos A. Bohorquez
CFO
UC San Diego Health
Michael Lutkus
Senior Principal, Spend Management Sales
Vizient
Lex Reddy
Principal
Resolved LLC
Eric Themm
CEO
Zephyr Healthcare Advisors
Facility Models of the Future
As organizations grapple with aging facilities, escalating costs (including seismic retrofit or replacement), declining reimbursement, shifting care models, new technologies and capabilities, and limited capital availability, the “hospital of the future” will need to be different than today. This session will shed light on key drivers of change, facility considerations for the future, and examples of new facility models, including a soon-to-be-opened orthopedic specialty hospital in Los Angeles.
Panel
Khawar Siddique, MD, MBA
CEO
DOCS Health
DOCS Surgical Hospital
Damir Vukovljak AIA, CCM
Vice President
Jensen Partners
Advancing Precision Medicine through AI
The collaboration between the Keck School of Medicine and Tempus, a leader in applying AI to advance precision medicine, aims to transform patient care and accelerate medical research through the power of data and artificial intelligence. Together, these organizations seek to enhance care delivery across 1.5 million patient visits by connecting research with clinical practice, driving measurable clinical impact, and fostering long-term innovation. At the heart of the partnership is a shared commitment to putting patients first and harnessing data and AI to improve outcomes and shape the future of medicine.
Panel
Vasiliki Anest, PhD
Chief Innovation Officer
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Ezra Cohen, MD
CMO Oncology
Tempus AI
Hosted Reception (Fountain Courtyard)
Contact Chris Ortale for more details.