Leadership

Matthew Van Pelt joined for St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates in February 2017. The organization is a multispecialty physician group comprised of more than 85 practices. St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates is a division of St. Peter’s Health Partners. In his role, Van Pelt is responsible for planning, developing, implementing and evaluating new clinical outreach opportunities at the health system in collaboration with key service line and departmental leaders. He provides support to leadership in strategic planning, project facilitation, productivity and operations improvement, strategic analysis, space planning and other strategic activities.

Prior to joining St. Peter’s, Van Pelt was the Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Ellis Medicine, Schenectady NY. In this role, Van Pelt was responsible for support the health system leaders and Board of Trustees in its annual planning activities and oversaw the Marketing & Communications Department.

Van Pelt earned his Masters of Business Administration from Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY; his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY and a certificate in Executive Leadership for Healthcare Professionals from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Dawn Davison is the Director of Operations at Rochester Regional Health, an integrated health services organization across Western New York, the Finger Lake, St. Lawrence, and beyond.

In her role, Dawn oversees the Critical Care, Pulmonary, Sleep, and Infectious Disease service lines for the organization. Prior to joining Rochester Regional Health, Dawn began her healthcare career in Beijing, China, working for a private international hospital. She earned her Master of Public Health from New York Medical College and Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Journalism from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.

Mini Malhotra MBA, MHA has 24 years of extensive healthcare leadership experience in hospital, post-acute care and integrated healthcare system leadership as well as academics, research and private sector business development.

Ms. Malhotra is currently administrator, Upstate Neurological Institute, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Transplant Administrator at Upstate Medical University/ Upstate University Hospital. Prior to joining Upstate, she worked in senior leadership, administration positions at Arnot Health Inc., NY- Partnership for Neuroscience with University of Rochester Medical Center ( URMC); Faxton St-Luke’s Healthcare System, Utica, NY; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA; and Humana Hospital Sunrise, Las Vegas, NV. She played a key role in managing successful execution of competitive multi-million State/Federal grant for implementation of Integrated Healthcare Delivery System and Community Based Healthcare.

She is an elected Board member for the Health Care Management Association of CNY, the local chapter of ACHE and was a recipient of 2016 ACHE Regent’s and 40 under 40 Mohawk Valley leadership awards. Her prior roles included, an adjunct faculty at University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Allied Sciences in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been invited speaker for numerous conferences, spokesperson for media interviews & coverage on CNY TV stations and is a certified Development Dimensions International, Inc. facilitator/trainer for executive leadership education.

Ms. Malhotra holds Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business, Master of Health Administration (MHA) from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Health Administration and holds special advanced certification from the Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management’s Academy for Healthcare Leadership.

As a healthcare executive and operations leader with over a decade of substantial depth and breadth of expertise in care delivery, financial management, and hospital-wide services leadership, Robert is recognized for his ability to deliver on growth initiatives. He sets healthcare delivery strategic direction for a large healthcare facility by leveraging his knowledge of clinical and ancillary direction with a creative drive to succeed.

Robert is a change management visionary known for actively listening to partners and teams while maintaining accountability and breaking down complex operational problems to improve service delivery and patient satisfaction. He specializes in performance improvement, employee engagement, patient experience, and financial management.

In his current role as Director of Ambulatory Care Operations, Robert has delivered multimillion-dollar savings and revenue growth, increased patient satisfaction scores, and decreased new patient wait times. He creates operational strategy based on quality, patient care, and efficiency metrics.

Committed to remaining at the forefront of the healthcare delivery industry, he is also an active member of both the Medical Group Management Association and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Robert and his wife have been married for 8 years and have welcomed a new daughter to the family. In his free time, Robert is a high school and college baseball umpire and enjoys a great game of golf, hockey, and baseball.

Diane Bradley is an Independent Consultant who has a diverse background in health care spanning over 35 years as a Registered Professional Nurse. Her career began in the Emergency Department at Strong Memorial Hospital, while most recently she served as the Interim CEO of Upson Regional Medical Center in Georgia. Her career in health care encompasses experience in large medical centers, community hospitals and smaller facilities, both in the military and in the private sector, with senior leadership positions in education, behavioral health, acute care, international consulting, and long term care. As an Army Nurse Corps officer, she advanced to Chief Nurse of a 400-bed field hospital.

Diane focuses on all aspects of operations with special expertise in leadership development, quality and patient safety, the patient experience, population health, relationship-building, and innovation in health care. Her greatest satisfaction comes from sharing her experience and knowledge with others, mentoring those who aspire to be leaders and those already in leadership roles, and providing new strategies that support continual improvement through accountability.

She is a life-long learner as evidenced by her receiving a PhD in health care administration along with other relevant degrees. She is an ACHE Fellow as well as a Fellow with the American College of Health Care Administrators for long term care. Diane resides in Webster, New York with her husband Gary and two

Karen Korotzer has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of The Arc, Oneida-Lewis, a non-profit organization that provides support to 1,400 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families since January 2011. Prior to this, she worked as a licensed clinical social worker and held senior management positions in various healthcare settings, including hospitals and state government positions.

Karen’s educational journey began at Mohawk Valley Community College, where she obtained her Associates degree in psychology/human services in 1989. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Social Work, and Master of Business Administration from the University of Albany. Throughout her 30-year career, Karen has been a passionate advocate for the rights of others and works tirelessly to ensure that people with disabilities have access to a broad range of quality healthcare supports and services.

Karen graduated from Leadership Mohawk Valley in 2019 and received the Mohawk Valley Community College’s Alumni of Merit award in 2020. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for Empowered Pathways, The Arc New York Executive Directors Association, The American College of Healthcare Executives of Upstate New York Chapter, and the Alumni Association Board for Mohawk Valley Community College. In March 2023, Karen became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Patrick Calli is the Vice President of Long Term Care at Samaritan Health System in Watertown, NY and is responsible for oversight of Samaritan’s post-acute care sites. Patrick is also responsible for the executive management team at each organization as well as the strategic direction, clinical and financial performance and organizational development. Prior to joining Samaritan, Patrick spent nearly a decade in nursing home administration with Upstate Services Group.

Patrick is a New York State Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and is currently pursuing a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) credential. He is a recent alumnus of the Jefferson Leadership Institute (JLI) class of 2023, member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), American Health Care Association (AHCA), New York State Health Facilities Association (NYSHFA), LeadingAge New York, Long-Term Care Executive Council (LTCEC) of Central New York and New York Association of Long-Term Care Administrators (NYALTCA).

Patrick is an alumnus of Union College in Schenectady, NY with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. He earned a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration from Regis College in Weston, MA. Patrick is originally from New Hartford, NY located just outside the Utica, NY area and currently resides in East Syracuse, NY with his wife and daughter. He is an avid Boston sports fan and a golf enthusiast.

Retired Board Certified executive leader in healthcare organizations including hospitals, long term care facilities and ambulatory care centers. Extensive experience in setting strategic direction, improving overall operations, inspiring others to achieve results and interacting with governance boards. Exceptional record of managing quality enhancement and innovation of health care services, championing and implementing population health initiatives and community coalitions focused on social-economic drivers of health, and achieving alignment with physician and community interests.

Mr. Piazza served as a Quality/Performance Improvement Manager at multiple organizations earlier in his career. He has served as a VHA Baldrige consultant for quality and organizational system improvement and has been a national quality award examiner. He was a Systems Redesign program leader at the network and medical center levels and taught process improvement tools to hundreds of employees across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Mr. Piazza has strategic planning experience at the national, network, and medical center levels. He also has extensive experience in implementing customer service initiatives and was a principal member of a national customer service program design and implementation team for the VA, co-leading this national program’s on-going operation for two following years.

Mr. Piazza graduated from George Washington University with a master’s degree in Health Services Administration and minor in Long Term Care Management. He is a graduate of the Veterans Health Administration Clinical Leadership Institute, Interagency Institute for Federal Health Care Executives, and Leadership VA. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for ACHE of Upstate New York.

Mr. Piazza is an avid gardener and a nationally certified flower judge, having judged for the New York State Fair and several county fairs. He enjoys creating music, joining alongside his wife in a handbell choir and is the percussionist for his church choir, a community theatrical group and occasionally for community charity fundraisers.

Meghan “Meg” Finneran was elected to serve as the American College of Healthcare Executives Regent of New York State- Western for the 2023-2026 term. In this role, Meg works to elevate her passion of lifelong learning to all chapter members.

Meg holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University at Albany. After earning her Masters in Healthcare Administration from Sage Graduate School (Albany, NY), Meg went on hold progressively responsible roles in healthcare operations. Since 2018, Meg has held the position of Practice Administrator, Women’s Health at Rochester Regional (Rochester, NY) where she has expanded the digital footprint of telehealth offerings and focused on efforts that improve overall population health.

Meg earned her Fellow certification in 2018. She served as ACHE local program council chair from 2019-2023. She holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt in Healthcare and a Certificate of Business Culture from the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. Meg has held board positions with the American Cancer Society, Association of Junior League International, Community Health Centers and Toast Masters International. When not working, Meg enjoys spending time with her daughter and traveling.

Sarah (Paparella) Everett received her License in Nursing Home Administration in 2015 and has been working within long term care in NYS for many years. Her current position as Regional Administrator oversees all activities of multiple skilled nursing facilities within the Capital District of NY that offers both short- and long-term care services. Sarah is responsible for strategic planning, operations, and profitability and is accountable to ensure the highest level of quality care and services is provided. Sarah is a member and serves on multiple health-related boards additionally to her role as Marketing Chair of ACHE of Upstate NY; she is also the Capital District President of NYSHFA and the Vice President of the Slocum Dickson Foundation in New Hartford, NY. Sarah was recognized and was the only individual in NYS to be awarded as a Future Leader through AHCA for the 2022-2023 year.

Sarah earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) from Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, NY, her undergraduate degree (BS) from SUNY Potsdam in Potsdam, NY and a certificate in Nursing Home Administration from NYU in New York, NY.

Deanna joined Bassett in 2018 as a director and was quickly promoted to senior director of the Primary Care Service line and co-lead for the Center for Innovative Care. Prior to joining Bassett, Deanna held several leadership roles in health care and non-profit administration around the region, including director of social and behavioral health services for the Regional Primary Care Network, executive director of Catholic Charities for Herkimer County, and executive director for Brookdale Senior Living.

Kurt Calman is the Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer for Rochester Regional Health overseeing Medicine service lines across the health system, specifically responsible for financial management, growth, recruitment and operational efficiency across these departments. In addition to operations, he has experience in Health IT where his career originally began. He came to United Memorial Medical Center in 2010 as Chief Information Officer prior to the creation of the 8 hospital health system, where United Memorial became a part of Rochester Regional Health system in 2015.

Kurt received his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Masters in Business Administration from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester. He has been a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2016. Between 2020-2023, Kurt was ACHE Regent for the Northern and Western NY regions and is excited to continue working with a diverse group of healthcare leaders in this area.

Nicole, Assistant Vice President, Specialty Care Services is responsible for the strategy and day-to-day operations of the MVHS Medical group specialty care services. In her role, she creates strategies that ensure the delivery of high quality, safe patient care, cost-effective operations, and optimal performance outcomes. She has led expansion projects, acquisitions, and construction of new locations to support the implementation of new service line initiatives.

She has been an employee of MVHS since 2008.  Before her current role, she was Director of Operations Specialty Care and has previously held roles of progressive leadership in the medical group. She began her career at MVHS as a Clinical Information Specialist in the IT department. Before joining MVHS, she was employed at Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan, a Medicaid-managed care organization in Boston, Massachusetts, working as a Contract Specialist, in the network management department.

She is currently enrolled in a Doctorate of Healthcare Administration program through Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).  She earned her Masters of Health Care Administration, from Suffolk University, Sawyer School of Management in Boston, and her Bachelors of Science degree in business administration with concentrations in finance and human resources from the University at Buffalo.

Nicole is a certified ISO 9001:2015 internal auditor and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending it outdoors with her four children, husband, and two St. Bernard dogs.

Amy DeAngelo CTRS, MHA has over 14 years of experience working in healthcare with varying leadership roles.  In her pervious role as the Associate Vice President of Quality and Operations, she provided support for Care Management, Mental Health Services, Residential Services, and Supported Housing. Amy worked closely with the Office of Mental Health to ensure that all programs were in compliance and were providing the best quality of care to the individuals that were served.

Amy DeAngelo holds a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Utica University. She is currently certified as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. She Currently holds a certification as a Healthcare Project Manager through Six Sigma Global Institute.

Amy is a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, where she volunteers her time to educate others on the history of our country.

John Milligan is an accomplished healthcare executive with a distinguished career marked by transformative leadership and innovative solutions. With an extensive background in financial management, strategic planning, and operational optimization, John brings a wealth of expertise to the healthcare industry. Throughout his tenure, he has consistently demonstrated a keen ability to diagnose complex challenges and implement impactful solutions. John’s visionary approach encompasses a deep understanding of healthcare operations, enabling him to guide organizations in navigating intricate landscapes while maintaining a strong focus on patient-centered care. His collaborative leadership style, combined with a track record of driving financial excellence and fostering partnerships, makes John Milligan a trusted advocate for healthcare transformation.

Driven by a commitment to elevating healthcare standards, John’s contributions span diverse facets of the industry. From orchestrating strategic financial plans and evaluating IT systems for future-readiness to pioneering clinical integration initiatives and navigating public health emergencies, John’s multifaceted expertise has consistently led to tangible improvements. His ability to balance financial prudence with patient well-being, coupled with a dedication to fostering change and innovation, cements John Milligan’s reputation as a transformative force within the healthcare landscape.

Mr. DelDuca earned Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from SUNY Geneseo and a Masters of Business Administration, Healthcare Management, from Clarkson University Capital Region Campus. He then completed an Administrative Fellowship with the VA Capitol Health Care Network, completed the FEMA Healthcare Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents and is a graduate of the VHA Health Care Leadership Development Program (HCLDP). He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Family Health Centers of Baltimore, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center.

Daniel Volshteyn is a Class of 2024 Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) candidate at the Cornell University Sloan Program. Daniel also completed his Bachelor’s at Cornell University where he studied Human Biology, Health, and Society and graduated Summa Cum Laude.

He has had a range of healthcare management experiences including serving as an administrative intern at Massachusetts General Hospital, a BioEntrepreneurship fellow at Cornell, an associate in a clinical accelerator, a president for a volunteer-based healthcare non-profit, and a consultant for a non-profit organizing health clinics in Uganda.

Clinically, Daniel has been a medical assistant in multiple hospitals in Ukraine and has worked as a surgical intern at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Daniel hopes to incorporate technology to enhance patient health and drive operational/quality improvements in clinical settings.

Daniel is currently the sole owner and operator of Vol Enterprises Inc., an e-commerce company with over $1 million in sales. In his free time, Daniel enjoys staying active hiking, skiing, or working out. His favorite way to relax is connecting with friends over a nice meal.

Ms. Clement-Buffoline has more than two decades of administrative experience in positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently, she was executive director of Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, overseeing all operational elements of the multispecialty practice, including increasing physician engagement, patient outcomes and financial stewardship. Additionally, she has partnered with team members in the Albany Med Health System to plan for the system-wide electronic medical record conversion to EPIC.

Prior to joining Saratoga, Ms. Clement-Buffoline served as the Chief Operating Officer for St. Peters, St Mary’s, Samaritan and Albany Memorial Hospitals in New York. She has also served as an operational Vice-president and Behavioral health service line leader. 

Ms. Clement-Buffoline holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and health from the State University of New York at Potsdam and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University at Albany. A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Ms. Clement-Buffoline is board certified in healthcare management. She is a member of the National Council for Community and Behavioral Healthcare and the Healthcare Association of New York State Behavioral Taske Force. In addition, she has served on the boards of the Troy Redevelopment Foundation, Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce, and Rensselaer County Community Services.