Allison Hamblin, MSPH, is president and CEO at the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), a nationally recognized nonprofit policy resource center devoted to improving outcomes for people enrolled in Medicaid. In this role, she is responsible for the overall strategy and management of the organization, which is supported by the nation’s leading health care philanthropies, corporate community benefit programs, states, and the federal government. She oversees CHCS’ national portfolio, including Medicaid leadership and capacity building activities; delivery system and payment reform efforts to promote accountable care and improve population health; and projects focused on advancing effective care models for people with complex medical, behavioral health, and social needs.

Prior to her appointment as CEO in 2019, Allison served as senior vice president responsible for program development and organizational oversight at CHCS. Over 18 years at CHCS, Allison has worked directly with state Medicaid, federal, health plan, and provider stakeholders across the nation with a focus on enhancing care delivery for populations with complex health and social needs. She has substantial expertise in the areas of physical and behavioral health integration; alternative payment and delivery models for people with complex needs; innovative financing strategies to support social service investments; and return on investment.

Before joining CHCS in 2006, Allison worked at Apax Partners, Inc. and Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she provided venture capital and investment banking services to companies in the health care and technology industries. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University.

Dawn Wiest directs research and evaluation activities at the Camden Coalition. She works alongside community, clinical, and academic partners to design and execute knowledge-generating projects to improve services for individuals living with complex health and social needs. Her work integrates both qualitative and quantitative methods and data, including cross-sector data to expand understanding of how organizations can work together to strengthen communities.

Dawn has a Ph.D. from Stony Brook University and a B.A. in Sociology from Temple University. Prior to joining the Camden Coalition, she was a Senior Research Analyst at the American College of Physicians and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Memphis where her research focused on globalization and social movements.

James Schuster, MD, MBA is the Chief Medical Officer for the UPMC Insurance Services Division where he has served in leadership roles for nearly 2 decades. In addition, Dr. Schuster oversees the UPMC Center for High Value Healthcare which has a decade long record of multiple research awards and publications and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Dr. Schuster received a BA with a major in history at Washington University in St. Louis, completed his medical education at the University of Louisville, his residency in psychiatry and MBA at the University of Pittsburgh and is a Clinical Professor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry. He also has board certification in general and addictions psychiatry.

Karla Silverman, MS, RN, CNM, is the associate director of complex care delivery at the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) with more than 20 years of experience in the health care field. In her role at CHCS, Karla leads initiatives that help organizations develop and provide person-centered, integrated care for people with complex health and social needs.

Before joining CHCS, Karla was a program director at Primary Care Development Corporation, where she led a team that created a nationally respected training and technical assistance program in care coordination and care management. Karla began her career as a certified nurse-midwife — providing primary, reproductive, and prenatal care at Community Healthcare Network, a federally qualified health center in New York City. Later, she served as clinical director at Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic where she oversaw clinical operations and training for 12 health centers.

Karla holds a master of science in midwifery and a bachelor’s of science of nursing, both from Columbia University. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and history from Brown University. Currently, she is also an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Global Public Health where she teaches a graduate course on value-based care.

Kathleen Noonan is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, a coalition of health and social services providers, community partners, advocates and residents committed to elevating the health of patients facing the most complex medical and social challenges. Throughout her career, Kathleen has worked extensively at the intersection of health and social welfare issues. Prior to joining the Coalition, Kathleen was founding co-director of PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a research center aimed at ensuring that clinical research informed real-world health care and public health policy priorities and solutions for vulnerable children, their caregivers and families. She has served as faculty in the University of Pennsylvania Masters of Public Health Program, and as adjunct faculty in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Division of Pediatrics. She received her BA from Barnard College, and her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.

Matthew Hurford, MD is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, Pennsylvania’s largest not-for-profit behavioral health managed care organization and the Vice President of Behavioral Health at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Insurance Services Division. Community Care provides behavioral health coverage for over one million Medicaid beneficiaries in 43 Pennsylvania counties. UPMC Insurance Services offers a full range of group health insurance, Medicare, Special Needs, CHIP, Medical Assistance, long-term services and supports, behavioral health, employee assistance, and workers’ compensation products and services to more than 3.9 million members. Dr. Hurford has worked in public-sector psychiatry for over 20 years holding various leadership positions in academic, government and managed care systems.

Prior to joining Community Care, Dr. Hurford served as the Chief Medical Officer of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) and Community Behavioral Health (CBH), a not-for-profit behavioral health managed care organization that managed approximately $850 million in Medicaid funding. He served as an Assistant Professor and is now a Clinical Associate faculty member at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research. Dr. Hurford also holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pittsburgh as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. He is a board-certified psychiatrist who has provided care to people with serious mental illness and substance-use disorders in diverse settings including the Indian Health Service on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona and community mental health centers in Philadelphia.