The educational portion of this event has been approved for 1.5 ACHE In Person Education Credits!

Please join the ACHE of East Texas chapter for the 4th annual networking event hosted by the University of Texas at Tyler Executive MBA Healthcare Management Program. This year, once again this event includes an ACHE approved 1.5 hour in-person educational event following the complimentary networking evening. The education panel topic is “Successfully Leading Change in Healthcare Organizations.” Both events require registration. Participants are welcome to attend one or both segments of the event. Please check in at the front table to receive your name badge for the networking hour and to ensure you receive appropriate credit for your attendance during the educational panel session.

A special thanks to the University of Texas at Tyler Executive MBA Healthcare Management Program for hosting this event for us again this year!

Register Here

Speakers Bios:

Paula E. Anthony, Ph.D., FACHE, serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for UT Health East Texas responsible for all strategic planning, growth, and development initiatives for a 9-hospital, 100-clinic academic healthcare system. With University leaders, she jointly plans and develops clinical services in support of the UT Health East Texas system and UT Tyler’s new School of Medicine. Paula also serves as President and CEO of Syndeti LLC delivering business advisory services to the healthcare strategy, business development, and information technology sectors.

Previously, Paula spent 23 years as the Vice President and Chief Information Officer for ETMC Regional Healthcare System, responsible for the planning, acquisition, operation, support and security of information systems and telecommunications services for all ETMC businesses and facilities. She was also the CEO of ETMC’s for-profit enterprises with services spanning a three-state region. Prior to joining ETMC, Paula spent 10 years with Ernst & Young responsible for the firm’s Southwest Health Care Information Technology practice.

Paula has a BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, an MBA from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, and a Ph.D. in human resource development from the University of Texas at Tyler.

Paula is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. In 2017, she was appointed to the Texas Health Services Authority Board of Directors by Governor Greg Abbott. She chairs the Board of Directors for the Health Foundation of East Texas and serves on the Board of Alzheimer’s Alliance of East Texas and the Tyler Economic Development Council.

Dr. Susan M. (Sue) Cox is the newly appointed Dean of the University of Texas at Tyler’s School of Medicine. Previously, she served as the associate dean for accreditation, strategy, and quality improvement and as the planning dean. Previously, she was the Executive Vice Dean for Academics, Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Chair of Medical Education. Before becoming Executive Vice Dean, she was the Planning Dean of the Dell Medical School and helped lay the foundation for the incoming Inaugural Dean.

Dr. Cox was with UT Southwestern Medical School for 23 years where she served as the Associate Dean of Medical Education and the ACGME Designated Institutional Official. She was administratively responsible for the University’s Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Public Education programs, Course Director of UT Southwestern Academic Colleges, and oversight of the UT Southwestern/ Seton Austin Medical Education Programs. She was also the clerkship director and maternal fetal medicine fellowship director in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Cox is a nationally recognized leader in medical education and is the past chair for the USMLE Management Committee and is on the Council for the NBME. Dr. Cox was also the PI for the Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine. She is also an LCME member. Cox is known for emphasizing leadership skills, collaboration, innovation, problem-solving and cross-disciplinary teamwork with a focus on value-based healthcare.

Her expanding interest in education has led to significant scholarly activities in pursuit of excellence in education. Notably, her involvement with the Association of Professors in Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) including receiving the APGO Lifetime Achievement Award; and her participation in its Undergraduate Medical Education Committee (UMEC, 2001-2006 and 2019 – 2022). She is a past President of APGO, a past member of the Council of Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Past President of the Alliance for Clinical Educators. In 2006, she was elected to the UT System Academy of Health Science Education (also past President of the Academy). She was a founding member of the UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers as well as the Dell Medical School Academy of Distinguished Educators. She received the UT System Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and more recently the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award from the AAMC.

Kristen Harris is the Chief Executive Officer of Tyler Family Circle of Care, a comprehensive health system serving communities in Tyler, Athens, and Jacksonville, Texas. Under her leadership, the organization delivers integrated, trauma-informed, and culturally competent care across a wide range of services, including pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, family medicine, mental health, and dental care.

With over 27 years of experience as an attorney, Kristen brings a unique blend of legal, operational, quality, and compliance expertise to the healthcare sector. Her career spans executive roles in both nonprofit and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), where she has overseen clinical and non-clinical operations, regulatory readiness, and integrated care initiatives.

Before joining Tyler Family Circle of Care in 2020, Kristen served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic in Connecticut, and as Chief of Compliance and Legal Affairs at Charter Oak Health Center. She also co-founded LTC Integrity LLC, providing quality and compliance consulting to skilled nursing facilities nationwide, and was a partner at Starble & Harris LLC, representing healthcare organizations in litigation and business matters.

Kristen holds a Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School, where she received the Corpus Juris Secundum Award for Excellence in Torts, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Florida State University. Her diverse background in law, business, teaching, and advertising informs her holistic approach to healthcare leadership, with a strong focus on serving underserved families and communities.

Dawn Johnston, MBA, MSN, CFRN, LP, is the Administrative Director of Nursing and Clinical Services, CHRISTUS Flight For Life, Northeast Texas.

Dawn Johnston has been in her Director role for CHRISTUS Flight For Life since October of 2018. With helicopter outposts at Mt. Pleasant, Wills Point, Palestine and Longview, Dawn provides clinical leadership for an amazing team of nurses and paramedics that provide critical care to the most seriously ill and injured patients in Northeast Texas while rapidly transporting them to definitive care. Dawn’s focus on organizational excellence enabled the well-respected agency to attain industry accreditation for the first time in 2021. Dawn served as Education Chair for the East Texas Chapter of ACHE in 2021 and became a Board member in 2022. She received her BSN from Western Michigan University and MSN in Nursing Leadership and Administration from Capella University. She also obtained her BA in Communications/Journalism from Truman State University, and MBA from California Coast University.

Previously, Dawn was Project Coordinator for Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan managing hospital-wide nursing communications, completing Magnet projects, and contributing to a number of Quality Improvement projects on multi-disciplinary teams. As a member of the Trauma Research Committee, Dawn also contributed to the requirements for meeting the hospital’s Level I Trauma designation. Dawn has a broad inpatient critical care background and was also a full-time flight nurse for West Michigan Air Care for over a decade. During this time, Dawn also became Air Care’s Marketing Coordinator, managing most aspects of the organization’s public relations in Southwest Michigan, in addition to providing education for the flight crew. She has been teaching since she became a nurse, first American Heart Association courses and then many critical care subjects. Dawn has provided public education through the media on community health initiatives and was instrumental in garnering support for the introduction of a legislative bill to curb dangerous methamphetamine labs in Michigan.

Dawn’s background includes firefighting, National Ski Patrol and community health education as a Crisis Pregnancy Coordinator for the Salvation Army. Serving as a “Big Sister” for many years, Dawn was also honored as Mentor of the Year for Big Brothers/Big Sisters in Battle Creek, Michigan in 2008. Dawn’s hobbies include writing and she has several publishing credits, including Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America and the International Medical Corps Training Manual, a resource for war-torn areas of the world, in which she was the Associate Editor. In addition, she has written and edited the company newsletter almost everywhere she has worked.

Dawn has been married to her husband Neal for 29 years, and they have one adult son – Harrison. She and her husband are members of Marvin United Methodist Church. Dawn resides in the Tyler area and enjoys running, traveling, writing and spending time with family, friends and neighbors. She is involved in Tyler’s Sunrise Rotary Club and Women in Tyler, which hosts an annual luncheon honoring influential women from the Tyler area.