Armin Cline

Covidien

Armin Cline has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare product supply industry. He joined Covidien in early 2002 where he is currently President of Health Systems responsible for activity with GPOs, IDNs and distributors.

Prior to Covidien, Armin spent 18 years with American Hospital Supply and Baxter in sales, marketing and national accounts management positions. In addition, he worked with both Bergen Brunswig, where he was Executive Vice President of Corporate Sales, and with Neoforma as Vice President Supplier Relations.

Armin graduated with a Bachelors degree from Whitman College and currently lives in the Boston area where Covidien is based.

Charles Colpo

Owens & Minor

Charlie is Senior Vice President, Operations for Owens&Minor, a Fortune 500 company, the nation’s leading distributor of national name brand medical and surgical supplies, and a healthcare supply chain management company. He has been in this position since 1999, and with the company since 1981. He has oversight of company operations, supplier relations, supply chain management, product development, category management and a Six Sigma effort.

Additionally, Charlie serves his industry and community in volunteer efforts. He is a member of the board of directors of HIDA, Health Industry Distributors Association and SMI, Strategic Marketplace Initiative.

A graduate of VA Tech, Charlie is from Lynchburg, VA and currently lives in Richmond.
 

William Donato

Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems

Bill is currently the Vice President, Contracting & Compliance for Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company. In this role, he has leadership responsibility for all contracting strategies (GPO’s/IDN’s), contract administration and compliance audits for the Ethicon Business units. Bill assumed this assignment in April of 2004, and has been with the organization since 1994.

Prior to joining Ethicon, Bill held senior leadership roles with two Group Purchasing organizations, the Sun Health Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina and SSM – DHS in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Donato’s 25 years in healthcare includes positions of increasing responsibilities in Healthcare Materials Management; the most recent as the Corporate Director of Materials Management for the Alta Bates Health System in Berkeley, CA.

Bill has served on the Board of AHRMM and was President in 1994. He was honored with the Leadership award by AHRMM in 1996, recognizing distinctive leadership in Healthcare, Materials Management and in the Society.

James Francis

Mayo Clinic

As Chair of Supply Chain Management for Mayo Clinic, Jim is responsible for enterprise-wide supply chain strategy and operations. In 2007, Mayo expended more than $1.6 billion on supplies, purchased services, and capital medical equipment. Consisting of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, Mayo provides care through an integrated clinical practice, education and research model. Mayo consists of 20 acute care hospitals and more than 130 practice sites.

Prior to his current position, Jim was vice president material services at BJC Healthcare in St. Louis. In this capacity, he was responsible for the integration and management of all material service functions. While at BJC, he managed a system-wide supply expense of $340 million. Prior to this position, he was vice president of corporate services at Christian Health Services (CHS) in St. Louis. He had been within the CHS system since 1984.

Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and his Master of Science in Community Health from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He received his Master of Health Administration degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Association of Healthcare Resource Materials Management. In 1992 he was a recipient of an "Up and Comer" award from Modern Healthcare. He was also named "Material Manager of the Year" by Healthcare Purchasing News, in 1994. Jim is a member of the Board of Directors of Novation, LLC, the supply company of VHA and UHC. He participates in various other professional and community activities.
 

John Gaida (secretary)

Texas Health Resources

With over 25 years in supply chain management and healthcare support services, John brings unique leadership and industry experience to his current role as senior vice president, supply chain management at Texas Health Resources, a 13 hospital IDN in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His career includes work with nationally recognized healthcare systems, teaching institutions, all sizes of not-for-profit hospitals, a consulting firm, and the eCommerce world.

Before joining Texas Health Resources, John was vice president for supply chain services at medpool, an eCommerce company. As vice president and practice leader for BD Healthcare Consulting Services (BDHCS), a division of Becton Dickinson and Company, he was responsible for the Supply and Resource Management practice. He has also held several senior level executive positions with Partners HealthCare Systems, Inc., an integrated delivery network in Boston. These positions include senior vice president, support services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and corporate director of materials management for Partners. John has also worked in materials management for Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley, California, Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and Methodist Medical Center of Illinois.

John’s honors include lifetime fellow recognition by the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management, and the AHA Gosset Award for leadership, dedication, and contributions to the profession. He is past president of AHRMM as well as serving on the board of directors for two separate terms. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Association of Healthcare Consultants, and the National Association of Hospital Purchasing Management.

Stephen Gundersen

Becton, Dickinson & Company

Steve has been employed by Becton, Dickinson and Company for 17 years. During his tenure, he has held various positions in sales, marketing, national accounts and sales management. He has had extensive involvement in corporate strategy development in the areas of Distribution, Integrated Delivery Systems, Alternate Site and Group Purchasing.

Currently Steve is Vice President, Corporate National Accounts. His organization is accountable for negotiating and implementing agreements with GPO’s, large Reference Laboratories and the Federal Government. In addition, Gundersen is a member of the BD U.S. Leadership Team. The Team, comprised of senior business leaders, defines strategic direction, establishes policy, and manages corporate resources.

Keith Kuchta

Kimberly-Clark

Keith is General Manager of North American Medical Supplies for Kimberly-Clark Health Care. He joined the company in March 1977.

Since joining Professional Health Care as a Sales Representative in Davenport, Iowa, Kuchta has held various positions including Regional Sales Trainer, District Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Associate Marketing Director, Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing, Director of International Business Services, General Manager of the Kimberly-Clark Heath Care’s European Business, Executive Director of National Accounts and Distribution, Executive Director of Acute Care Sales, and Vice President of Norh American Sales.

Carl Manley (chair)

Sentara Healthcare

Carl is Vice President of Materials Management at Sentara Healthcare, an integrated delivery system of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and managed care insurance markets in Norfolk, Virginia. He coordinates materials management strategies and functions for the healthcare network, including consolidated service center functions, outsourcing initiatives, procedure based pricing, risk sharing strategies, and managed care capitated service relationships.

Carl has 24 years of materials, inventory, systems integration, project management and solution development experience. He frequently speaks and consults on healthcare issues throughout the United States. He has held similar positions at Memorial Mission Medical Center in Asheville, North Carolina and Muhlenberg/St. Luke’s Hospital Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Sentara, he was Regional Manager for a large for-profit hospital management company.

He is a member of the Network of Networks, a national IDN affinity group and a founding member of the Strategic Marketplace Initiative. Carl is recognized in the industry for his cutting edge concepts and vendor partnership relationships.

James Natale (treasurer)

C.R. Bard Corporate

Jim is a Senior Corporate Vice President for C. R. Bard, Inc. and President of Bard’s Corporate Healthcare Services division. He joined C. R. Bard in 1994 to create and develop Corporate Healthcare Services. In his current position as Senior Vice President, Jim has global responsibility for all Corporate sales and marketing initiatives. As President, Corporate Healthcare Services, he has responsibility for Bard’s Corporate Customer Programs, Corporate National Accounts, Corporate Marketing, Corporate Reimbursement, Communication, Supply Chain functions and E-Business.

Before moving to Bard Jim held numerous sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility during his 15 years at Johnson & Johnson. The last position he held at Johnson & Johnson was Corporate Vice President for Johnson & Johnson Hospital Services.

Jane Pleasants

Duke University Health System

Jane is the Assistant Vice President of Procurement and Supply Chain Management for Duke University and Duke University Health System. She joined Duke in March, 1999, and was charged with establishing a procurement infrastructure for the newly formed Health System which included developing a robust portfolio of contracts, implementing an enterprise-wide materials management system, providing leadership in aggressive cost reduction, and integrating procurement activities. Additionally, she now has responsibilities for end to end supply chain management which includes all materials and logistic functions in the Health System. In addition to Health System supply chain responsibilities, Jane also oversees the procurement activity for the academic and medical center campuses at Duke University.

Jane began her career in healthcare materials management in a small rural hospital in northern Georgia where she was the Director of Materials Management. Since that time, she has held positions at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Rochester and Strong Memorial Health System.

Pam Scagliarini

Yale New Haven Health

Pam is the System Director, Supply Chain Management at Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) which consists of Yale-New Haven Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, and an affiliation agreement with Westerly Hospital. Supply Chain Management at YNHHS includes the Corporate Contracting Group, Corporate Supply Chain Analytics, the System wide Value Analysis Committee Structure, and the site specific operations of Materials Management, Purchasing, Linen, Forms and Document Management.

Pam joined Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1994 and has been a part of the leadership team that formed the Corporate Supply Chain Management Department in 2000 with a focus on Total Cost Management, Clinical Quality and Customer Service. During her tenure with YNHHS, the Value Analysis Committee Structure was developed and has grown to over 12 committees strong and operating cost reduction has exceeded $36M. This work as well as specific project work under the auspice of the Corporate Supply Chain Model has won VHA Leadership Awards in 2001 and 2005.

In addition, Pam sits on the Executive Board of the Large IDN Supply Network and the Board of the Strategic Marketplace Initiative.

Prior to joining Yale New Haven Health System, Pam held positions in supply chain at both Amoco Oil Company and IBM Corporation.

Gary Wagner

The Methodist Hospital System

Gary is currently the Vice President of Supply Chain Management at The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, Texas. He has responsibility for all supply chain activities for this multi-hospital system with over $400,000 million in annual purchases. The Methodist Hospital System has over 1,330 operating beds and 10,000 employees.

Gary has over thirty-five years experience within the Health Care Supply Chain industry; holding corporate executive positions within multi-hospital systems over the last 20 years. Before joining Methodist, Gary was the Assistant Vice President, Materials Management with Inova Health System. At Inova he was directly responsible for developing and implementing an integrated Supply Chain strategy. Prior to being with Inova, he was Assistant Vice President of Materials Management with Bon Secour Health Care System. During his tenure his accomplishments included an OR consolidation and implementing a strategic supply chain management process for the Richmond Division. At Bon Secour he also had responsibility for Support Services.

Gary holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Stubenville, Ohio.