Shaping the Future Healthcare Workforce: A Leadership Forum: Aug. 27

Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN, National Speaker
Before turning to healthcare as a career in 1994, Kathleen Bartholomew held positions in marketing, business, communications and teaching.  These experiences allowed her to look at the culture of healthcare from a unique perspective and speak poignantly to the issues affecting providers and the challenges facing healthcare organizations today.

Bartholomew has been a national speaker for the past 13 years. In 2010, she was nominated by Health Leaders Media as one of the top 20 people changing healthcare in America for calling attention to the impact of disruptive behavior on patient care and the need for better physician-nurse communication.

As a guest opinion writer for The Seattle Times, Bartholomew is an outspoken consumer advocate; and as a guest on NPR’s “The People’s Pharmacy” she calls for rapid improvement in hospital safety.  She co-authored Charting the Course: Launching Patient-Centric Healthcare in 2012, the sequel to Why Hospitals Should Fly in 2008. In 2006, she authored Ending Nurse to Nurse Hostility.

Lia Daniels, MPH, Senior Director of Health Policy and Finance, Illinois Health and Hospital Association 
With broad expertise in healthcare financing, operations, and policy, Daniels has served in IHAs policy division since 2014. She leads initiatives spanning behavioral health finance, service delivery, and workforce strategy, as well as patient non-discrimination, telehealth, and other emerging healthcare issues. She also provides leadership for IHA’s behavioral health executive forum and statewide behavioral health constituency section. Prior to joining IHA, Daniels held healthcare policy, research, and program management roles with the University of Michigan and Harvard University’s Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, the Medical University of South Carolina, and federal healthcare and public health programs.

Trish Fairbanks, MSN, RN, CENP, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Endeavor Health Edward Hospital
Fairbanks has been a nurse for over 40 years and Chief Nursing officer since 2012, serving in this capacity at Endeavor Health Linden Oaks Hospital, then Endeavor Health Edward Hospital since 2021. She has experience leading clinical staff in both behavioral health and general acute care settings. Fairbanks is an accomplished nurse leader with a proven track record of building a positive nursing culture and developing cohesive, high performing leadership teams. She is passionate about workplace safety, employee wellness, mentoring young leaders and succession planning.  

Scott Grandt, Director of Public Safety, Loyola Medicine
Grandt has led public safety and security in Illinois health systems for over 11 years, first at AMITA Health and now Loyola Medicine. At Loyola, he manages security programs, emergency response plans, and safety regulations for three hospitals and a broad range of outpatient locations, with a goal of protecting all employees, patients, visitors, and physical assets. At Loyola, he concentrates on the Buddy System Initiative to reduce workplace violence in emergency departments, departmental education, concentrated rounding each shift between security teams and nursing partners, and a workplace violence follow-up initiative to support victims and identify barriers for process improvement. 

Lance Kovacs, Assistant Vice President, Health Policy and Regulation, Illinois Health and Hospital Association 
As IHA’s lead on key regulatory issues impacting hospitals, Kovacs covers a wide array of policy issues including Certificate of Need, the Hospital Licensing Act, Perinatal and Maternal Levels of Care, supplier diversity, and healthcare professional licensure. He also serves as the hospital community’s lead responding to public insurance option proposals. Kovacs has been at IHA for nine years and has over 15 years of experience in regulatory and government relations roles.

Erin McKenzie,Vice President, Solution Engineering,Medical Solutions
Erin MacKenzie is Vice President of Solution Engineering at Medical Solutions, where she leads strategic workforce and technology initiatives focused on helping healthcare organizations build more adaptive, sustainable workforce models. With more than 20 years of experience across workforce solutions, staffing technology, operations, and client services, MacKenzie brings a unique blend of industry expertise and operational insight to healthcare workforce transformation efforts.

Prior to joining Medical Solutions, she held leadership roles with organizations including Bullhorn, erecruit, Newbury Partners, ADP, and Paychex, where she specialized in workforce optimization, staffing best practices, client strategy, and enterprise technology solutions. She is also the co-host of Highly Adaptive, a podcast focused on helping leaders and organizations respond to change with a more proactive and adaptive mindset. MacKenzie is recognized for her ability to connect workforce strategy, technology, and operational execution to drive meaningful business outcomes and long-term organizational resilience.

Matthew Neal, Vice President, Allied Health, Medical Solutions
Matthew Neel is Vice President of Allied Health at Medical Solutions, where he leads a team of more than 100 recruiters and operational leaders across multiple Allied Health divisions. With more than two decades of experience in healthcare workforce solutions, Neel specializes in allied workforce strategy, operational performance, recruiting optimization, and organizational scalability. He partners closely with executive leadership to align workforce strategy, operational execution, and market realities in an increasingly constrained talent environment.

Prior to his current position, Neel spent more than 17 years with Aureus Medical Group in progressive leadership roles overseeing allied sales, recruiting, and operations. Throughout his career, he has led initiatives focused on workforce specialization, placement efficiency, margin improvement, and operational consistency across allied healthcare staffing. Known for his practical operational insight and deep understanding of the allied labor market, Neel brings a strategic perspective on how healthcare organizations can better navigate workforce shortages, improve throughput, and strengthen long-term staffing stability.

Christine Quinlan, MS, RN, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital
Quinlan brings over three decades of clinical and executive experience to her strategic oversight of the hospital’s inpatient and ambulatory nursing operations. Recognized for her commitment to advancing high-quality care and strengthening nursing practice, she oversees clinical program development, workforce initiatives, and patient safety strategies. By building strong interdisciplinary partnerships and implementing evidence-based practices, Quinlan ensures her teams deliver compassionate, effective care to individuals facing complex mental health and substance use challenges. Through her collaborative leadership, she plays a vital role in expanding psychiatric access across the region, supporting new inpatient and community-based initiatives that elevate behavioral health services system-wide.