2023 HASD&IC Annual Meeting

Dimitrios Alexiou, FACHE
President and CEO
Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties
Dimitrios Alexiou, FACHE, is the President and CEO of Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties (HASD&IC), a non-profit trade association representing hospitals and health systems. Mr. Alexiou joined the Hospital Association in December 2014. As President/CEO of HASD&IC, Dimitrios provides leadership, representation, advocacy, and acts as an advisory on behalf of over 38 hospitals and health systems in the 2-county region. He also serves as a Board Advisor to the California Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

Luke Bergmann, PhD 
Director, Behavioral Health Services 
County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency 
Luke Bergmann, PhD, is the Director of Behavioral Health Services for the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency. Dr. Bergmann previously worked 9 years in New York City. He most recently served as Assistant Vice President over Behavioral Health at NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest public hospital system. He completed post-doctoral fellowships at UC San Francisco’s Institute for Health Policy and UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

Kristen Cerf
President and Chief Executive Officer
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan
Kristen Cerf is president and CEO of Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan (Blue Shield Promise), a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan serving 4.8 million members in the state’s commercial, individual, and government markets. She is responsible for ensuring access to quality care for Blue Shield Promise’s 530,000 Medi-Cal members in Los Angeles and San Diego counties and managing the company’s Medi-Cal growth strategy.

Carmela Coyle 
President & CEO 
California Hospital Association 
Carmela Coyle began her tenure as president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, the statewide leader representing the interests of more than 400 hospitals and health systems in California, in October 2017. Previously, Ms. Coyle led the Maryland Hospital Association for nine years, where she played a leading role in reframing the hospital payment system in Maryland and moving to a value-based methodology.

Adrian Granda 
Director of Government Affairs
Office of Mayor Todd Gloria 
City of San Diego  
Adrian Granda has served as Director of Government Affairs for the City of San Diego since 2020 under the leadership of Mayor Todd Gloria, advocating for the city’s strategic legislative initiatives at the federal, state, and regional levels of government. The Dept. of Government Affairs collaborates with the Office of the Mayor, City Council, and City staff to engage elected representatives, agencies, and private and non-profit partners to advance city priorities.

Larry Lewis 
Chief Executive Officer 
Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley 
Larry Lewis was the Chief Executive Officer at Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District for ten years prior to joining the Health Plan. Larry has worked in various executive management positions in health care. He started as a Commissioner for the Local Health Authority in 2014, and has been a part of the LHA ever since. He was a board member and Past-Chairman of the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Mike Phillips, Esq. (moderator)
Senior Director of Patient Advocacy and Housing Services
Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Mike Phillips is the Senior Director of Patient Advocacy and Housing Services at Jewish Family Service. In his role at JFS, he provides instruction and training for the behavioral health community, including information on due process rights for psychiatric patients throughout the County of San Diego. He is currently working at the State level on LPS Reform and provides law enforcement training on mental health issues. 

Felicia Y Sze (moderator)
Managing Partner
Athene Law, LLP
Felicia Y Sze is a recognized expert in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement matters, focusing on both the managed care and fee-for-service programs. She advises health care providers on a wide array of compliance and reimbursement matters and in disputes with managed care entities and government payors. She founded Athene Law, LLP, a minority-owned health care law firm, in 2018.

Abbie Totten
Plan President
Molina Healthcare of California
Abbie Totten is a healthcare executive with almost 20 years of experience in Medicaid and California managed care environment. Abbie has extensive experience in the Medicaid public policy and managed care operations. She is responsible for the performance of Molina Healthcare of California including leading MHC’s winning bid for the California Medi-Cal business – doubling the plan footprint for 1/1/24. Before joining Molina, Abbie was the Medical Program Officer at Health Net.

Ann Warren 
Associate Chief Executive Officer 
Community Health Group 
Ann Warren has spent the past 29 years at Community Health Group, where she currently serves as the Associate CEO. With expertise in Regulatory Affairs, Ms. Warren navigates the complex and shifting health care landscape to ensure Community Health Group’s compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. Before being promoted to Associated CEO, Ms. Warren served as Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Officer.

Stephanie Welch, MSW 
Deputy Secretary of Behavioral Health 
California Health & Human Services Agency 
Stephanie Welch is the Deputy Secretary of Behavioral Health for the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS). Stephanie has over two decades of experience in behavioral health policy, program administration, evaluation and advocacy at both the state and county level, working at organizations such as the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA) and the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies (CBHA).