Hospital Incident Command Centers:
Communication Tools and Strategies That Help Physician Executives Lead Through the Pandemic

A roundtable discussion sharing lessons learned from the past year that you can apply at your hospital or health system

Presented on March 17, 2021

Your Presenters:

  • Dr. Steven X. Cabrales, Chief Medical Officer of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
  • Dr. Kevin L. Lewis, President and CEO at SSM Health Medical Group
  • Dr. Ron Nutting, Chief Medical Officer Reading Hospital | Tower Health, and Vice President, Medical Staff Services, Tower Health
  • Dr. John F. Rodis, Founder and President of Arista Health, LLC, and former President of Saint Francis Hospital

Moderated by:

  • Emilie Ansel, Chief Executive Officer at Private Health News

Sponsored by
PHN – Private Health News

 PHN - Private Health News

The world changed in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic put massive pressure on health care organizations to care for patients, keep employees informed, and reassure communities. Physician executives have had to become extremely agile as they steer through uncharted waters, not only as leaders of their organizations, but as care providers themselves.


Right from the beginning, hospital incident command centers became the temporary headquarters for crisis management, adapting flexibly to keep organizations and all stakeholders aligned. The pandemic is far from over and the need for timely and accurate guidance is critical. Effective communications and the tools to disseminate information have never been more essential.


In this session you’ll hear from C-suite physicians as they share their journeys through the pandemic, working through command centers to coordinate all aspects of patient care, communication, and now vaccine distribution.


Please join us to learn how you can put into practice valuable lessons from these leaders and help your organizations navigate.


You’ll learn:

  • How incident command centers help organizations steer through uncertainty
  • How communications departments took center stage to lead crisis response
  • How physician leaders keep clinicians abreast of new developments and best practices
  • The communication strategies physician leaders are using to manage vaccine distribution and logistics
  • How to cultivate communication tools that physicians value and why this has been key to the pandemic response



About Your Presenters:

Dr. Steven X. Cabrales

Chief Medical Officer
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula


Dr. Steven X. Cabrales currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He is responsible for clinical service line oversight of physicians and leads a lean team for cultural transformation, care improvement, and innovation for the hospital. Since joining Community Hospital, Dr. Cabrales implemented an interdepartmental daily safety huddle and oversaw the successful implementation of the Epic health record system. He continues to assist groups to improve their standard work procedures and never misses an opportunity to serve as surgical assist in the main operating room.


Dr. Cabrales received his Bachelor of Sciences degree from Stanford University, his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, completing his residency at the University of Washington. He is a Board Certified General Surgeon, Board Certified Physician Executive, (CPE) and has completed advanced training in Quality and Safety with Intermountain Healthcare in their nationally recognized program.


Dr. Kevin L. Lewis

President & CEO

SSM Health Medical Group


Dr. Kevin L. Lewis is President & CEO at SSM Health Medical Group in Oklahoma. Previously he held the position of Chief Medical Officer at Parkridge Health System in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is Board Certified in Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Sleep Medicine. Dr. Lewis received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Long School of Medicine. He serves on National Physician Advisory Council for MedNews Plus™.


Dr. Ron Nutting
Chief Medical Officer Reading Hospital
Tower Health


Dr. Ron Nutting practiced Cardiothoracic Surgery for many years in Reading Pennsylvania. He is currently the Chief Medical Officer Reading Hospital | Tower Health, and the Vice President, Medical Staff services Tower Health. In addition to responsibility for clinical activity at the Reading Hospital, Dr. Nutting has system level accountability for medical staff services activities in support of 3,000 physicians and allied health professionals including their credentialing, peer review, ongoing professional practice evaluation, and physician leadership development.


He is a past President of the Eastern Cardiothoracic Surgical Society (formerly the Pennsylvania Association for Thoracic Surgery). He was a longtime Board member and Officer of the Delaware Valley Association for Thoracic Surgery Quality Improvement Initiative, a 33 Hospital Consortium Sharing risk Stratified Data with the intent of improving outcomes for cardiac surgery in the region.


Dr. John F. Rodis

Founder & President

Arista Health, LLC


Dr. John F. Rodis is the founder and president of Arista Health, LLC, a health care consulting company whose mission is to drive quality, safety, and patient experience and reduce risk in hospitals and health systems. He served as president of Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut from 2015-2020. Dr. Rodis previously served as Saint Francis’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Chief Physician Executive. Prior to his executive leadership roles, Dr. Rodis served as Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Physician Leader of the Women and Infants Service Line.


Before joining Saint Francis, Dr. Rodis served as Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Stamford Hospital, where he also previously held the position of Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Prior to that, he was at the University of Connecticut Health Center, where he was the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program Director.


Emilie Ansel
Chief Executive Officer

Private Health News (PHN)


Emilie Ansel currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Private Health News (PHN), an award-winning e-communication and content marketing company. Prior to stepping into the CEO role, she served as Area Vice President of Business Development at PHN for nearly 10 years, where she oversaw new client development and relationships, collaborated on marketing strategic initiatives, and worked closely with the C-suite team on vision and product development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Carl H. Linder College of Business.


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