Putting Care at the Center is the annual conference of our National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs.

It is the only dedicated venue for members of the complex care field to learn, network, and create a shared agenda for improving care for people with complex needs.

Our conference is interprofessional and cross-sector by design. Attendees work in a diverse range of sectors and institutions and include:

• healthcare and social service providers,
• policymakers,
• researchers,
• advocates,
• complex care consumers and caregivers,
• and more.

Putting Care at the Center is held in a different city each year, co-hosted with a local organization. Former conference locales and hosts include:

• 2016 – Philadelphia
• 2017 – Los Angeles, co-hosted with Kaiser Permanente
• 2018 – Chicago, co-hosted with Rush University Medical Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• 2019 – Memphis, co-hosted with Regional One Health
• 2020 & 2021 – virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• 2022 – Sacramento, co-hosted with Adventist Health
• 2023 – Boston, co-hosted with Commonwealth Care Alliance and the Center to Advance Community Partnership

About Putting Care at the Center 2024

Co-hosted by UPMC Health Plan, this year’s event will take place October 16-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown hotel.

For the latest updates on Putting Care at the Center 2024, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and sign up for our newsletter. Join the conversation by using #CenteringCare24.

This year’s conference theme

The theme of Putting Care at the Center 2024 is: From partnerships to ecosystems of care.

Improving the health and well-being of individuals with complex health and social needs requires strong complex care ecosystems, in which organizations and sectors work collectively to coordinate care. Over the course of the conference, we hope to address topics like:

• What governance and funding structures we need to build coordinated, community-wide ecosystems of care;
• How we structure and use integrated data to identify and coordinate care for people with complex health and social needs;
• How we can enable representation and meaningful participation from a diversity of sectors, organizations, community members, and people with lived experience of complex health and social needs.

Early bird registration is open now! Save $100 by registering before July 15. Discounted rates are also available for students, community health workers, navigators, consumers, nonprofit and government workers, and more. We are also offering discounts for large groups registering at the same time.

New this year! Save $50 by bundling a pre-conference training or symposium with your conference registration with our new “Full package” option.

Committee members

External Advisory Committee

• James Schuster — UPMC Health Plan (2024 Co-host)
• Alayna Tillman — Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center
• Bonnie Ewald — Center for Health and Social Care Integration, RUSH University Medical Center
• Dennis Heaphy — Disability Policy Consortium
• Jim Hickman — Hickman Strategies
• Kathy Moses — Center for Health Care Strategies
• Kathy Stillo
• Lakeesha Dumas — Multnomah County Mental Health and Addictions Services Division
• Melinda Karp — The Center to Advance Consumer Partnership
• Michelle Wong — Kaiser Permanente
• Stephen Hoy — PFCC Partners

Regional Advisory Committee

• Abugail Horn — Allegheny County
• Alex Jutca — Allegheny County
• Alicia Romano — Community Human Services
• Amy Malen — Allegheny County
• Anita Leon-Jhong — 2nd ave commons
• Ashley Humienny — Benefits Data Trust
• Beck Moore — Community Action Association of Pennsylvania
• Brendan Harris — UPMC
• Brian McShane — CSH
• Cheri Reinhart — PACHC
• Christina Farmantino — Community Human Services
• Cindy Hobbes — RCPA
• Courtney Abegunde — Steel Smiling
• Dale Adair — State DHS
• Dan Swayze — UPMC
• Dawn Seckler — CDFIs
• Debbie Mantegna — Main Line Health
• Debbie McKetta — Main Line Health
• Deborah Duch — UPMC
• Dr. Liz Cuevas — AHN
• Elaine Magill — CDFIs
• Emily L. Katz — PAMCO (PA Medicaid Managed Care Organizations)
• Fr. Paul Abernathy — Neighborhood Resilience Project
• Gloria Nelson — Hosanna House
• Heidi Porter — WVU Medicine
• Jack Rozel — Resolve
• James Schuster — UPMC
• Jane Kogan — UPMC
• Janine Jelks-Sikes — UPMC
• Joanne McFall — PAMCO (PA Medicaid Managed Care Organizations)
• Jodi Bryk — ECP
• Johanna Vidal Phelan — UPMC
• John Lovelace — UPMC
• John Lydon — 412 youth zone (auberle )
• Judith Resick — UPMC
• Ken Nash — Western
• Laurie Barnett Levine — Mental Health Association
• Maris Dauer — UPMC
• Mary Kelleher — UPMC
• Matt Madia — Neighborhood Allies
• Ray Prushnok — UPMC
• Richard Edley — RCPA
• Sharon Militello — RCPA
• Sherry Shaffer — UPMC
• Susan Cohen — Health Federation of Philadelphia
• Susie Puskar — Partner4Work
• Tami Magruder — WVU Medicine
• Yulonda Byrd — CDFIs