Dr. Margaret Kirkegaard has extensive front line experience and an impressive breadth of knowledge about health care and its delivery.

A clinician and an educator, Dr. Kirkegaard is uniquely positioned to advise clients on physician engagement in health care reform, medical education, population-based health care delivery and underserved and vulnerable populations. When it comes to medical care integration and the development and transformation of primary care – especially implementation of the patient-centered medical home model – her guidance is rooted in her own real-world experience.

For more than six years, Dr. Kirkegaard served as medical director of a state-wide, start-up primary care case management program for 1.8 million Medicaid clients. She was responsible for network development, physician recruitment and practice transformation to the medical home model for 5,700 primary care providers and 2,300 specialist providers. During her tenure, the program developed multiple clinical quality management tools, a pay-for-performance program, and earned broad provider recognition as a beneficial model while client satisfaction ratings reached over 90 percent.

Prior to her work in Medicaid, Dr. Kirkegaard held several academic positions teaching in both graduate and undergraduate medical education institutions. In 2005, she was selected among nominees from all American medical schools for the National Golden Apple Teaching Award sponsored by the American Medical Student Association.

Dr. Kirkegaard is a board certified family physician. She received her M.D. from the University of Minnesota and completed her family medicine residency at Hinsdale Family Practice Residency. She has a Master of Public Health with a concentration in health policy and focus on quality improvement.

A third-generation family physician with over 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Kirkegaard continues to teach medical students and residents and provide clinical care to patients at the Hinsdale Family Medicine Residency. As an advocate for underserved and vulnerable patients, she also has volunteered at a local free clinic serving uninsured patients since 1999.

On the weekends, Margaret likes to get an early start to her days and go bird watching.

Karen Hill is a doctoral-prepared, board-certified advance practice registered nurse with a specialty in environmental and occupational health and clinical training in adult, adolescent and young adult health. An expert in workplace health and safety, Karen is exceptionally skilled in workforce assessment, engagement and development. Her clinical capabilities span primary care, acute care, outpatient care, home health care transitions, and trauma-informed systems of care. She is experienced in the social determinates of health and health disparities and community engagement of underserved populations.

Karen has consulted with non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and community-based organizations. She is an analytical and growth-minded professional with expertise in cultivating culturally sensitive collaborations. She has a proven track record of leading workplace transformation by enhancing operations and building dynamic, patient-centered, outcome-driven teams. She guides her clients in fully engaging patients and staff, improving patient outcomes, and reducing costs.

Current HMA projects include a three-year continuous quality improvement (CQI) training program for one of California’s largest health systems and the care management redesign of a 5,000-member physician independent practice association. Supporting the move towards national clinical recognition standards, Karen provides ongoing patient-centered medical home technical assistance to 11 rural and frontier clinics in Idaho. In the second largest health system in the country, Karen developed and administered an evidenced-based preceptor training course, resulting in the first cohort of nurse preceptors receiving evidence-based training. She has also developed new relationships with academic institutions for clinical rotations, vibrant volunteer networks, comprehensive service learning programs, and a career ladder for support staff.

Prior to HMA, Karen was vice president of programs for the Center for Youth Wellness, a research center for children and families exposed to adverse childhood experiences. As a member of the senior management team, Karen directed strategic planning, operations and compliance. She also facilitated four major strategic partnerships, generating an additional $4.5 million in annual funding.

Karen brings both clinical and administrative perspective to client projects. She was clinic manager for Glide Health Services, a nurse-led clinic serving a largely homeless, racially diverse population, in San Francisco. Using data and leveraging partnerships, Karen expanded community access to primary health services. She launched a new Wellness Center, which included alternative medicine, and instituted a breast health program with California Pacific Medical Center, which provided screening and treatment for 400 women annually. Karen also introduced a new social case management program and onsite adult dental health program.

She built academic partnerships with Yale University, Cal State East Bay, and University of San Francisco; and piloted the first RN Transitions Residency Program with University of San Francisco. Karen’s participation in grant writing generated $12 million in federal, state and foundation funding. Her leadership also directly resulted in better health outcomes among low-wage clinic workers, reduced employee attrition, and increased staff morale and performance.

A BlueShield Clinic Leadership Graduate and TeamStepps Master Trainer, Karen is a nursing adjunct faculty member at University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) and Yale School of Nursing.

Karen earned her doctorate of nursing and master’s degree in nursing from UCSF and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of San Francisco.

Karen is married, has a beautiful family, and enjoys travel, movies, art, music and dancing.

Dr. Helen DuPlessis is an accomplished physician executive who brings extensive leadership experience and a wealth of in-depth knowledge about public sector health programs to HMA.

She has a rich history of involvement in healthcare administration for a variety of organizations, expertise in program and policy development, practice transformation, public health, maternal, and child health policy, community systems development, performance improvement, and managed care.

Prior to joining HMA, Dr. DuPlessis served as the chief medical officer with St. John’s Well Child and Family Center where she provided executive management for integrated medical, behavioral, dental and pharmacy services in a large network of Federally Qualified Health Centers. She was responsible for building and upgrading key elements of the organizational infrastructure and clinical services, strategic business expansion, Patient Centered Medical Home certification, electronic health records implementation, clinical work force recruitment, training and development, and performance improvement.

Other notable professional experiences include her work as senior advisor to the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities where she provided leadership, research, program development support, counsel and representation to local, state and national efforts, and community level systems transformation. She also trained and mentored students in various disciplines and educational levels.

Dr. DuPlessis was the chief medical officer at LA Care during the initial rollout of Medi-Cal managed care in California and served as director of Student Medical Services for the LA Unified School District.

With a proven track record in understanding and implementing innovative and effective health programs and performance improvement activities, she has served as an advocate of community capacity-building, staff and professional development.

Dr. DuPlessis earned her Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She also has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.