Tony Banda is a seasoned senior financial executive with extensive healthcare experience and a proven record of accomplishments in financial management and healthcare operations.  

Prior to joining HMA, Tony served as vice president of finance and supply chain at JPS Health Network. He was responsible for the effective operations of accounting, financial planning and reporting, and reimbursement and supply chain functions for a $1.5 billion public hospital. He developed improved models for accounts receivable valuation and net revenue recognition and led successful operating budgets that met targets under incredibly challenging conditions. 

In his previous roles, Tony served as senior director of finance at Cook County Health and worked as the chief financial officer at Franciscan Health, where he provided effective leadership and financial and operational guidance. He led several million-dollar initiatives to enhance revenue and reduce costs, resulting in a $30 million turnaround and return to profitability. 

Tony’s areas of expertise include healthcare finance and financial planning, financial turnaround, reimbursement and regulatory compliance, physician relations, managed care models and process improvement. He is a creative problem-solver and strategic thinker focused on long-term organizational success. 

Tony earned a Master of Health Administration from University of Saint Francis, a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University, and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Illinois State University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.  

An experienced healthcare executive, Robert Ross is dedicated to developing solutions to provide quality, accessible, cost-effective care while ensuring the sustainability of safety-net providers to meet the needs of their communities. Rob’s expertise includes strategic planning, system integration, financial turnaround, continuum of care strategies, provider alignment, and service line and leadership development.

During his long tenure with St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, New York where he served in leadership positions including vice president and president and chief executive officer. While there, Rob led the financially distressed organization through a financial turnaround resulting in a more than 40% bottom-line improvement in one year.  He guided the board and community through the development and implementation of a strategic plan focused on long-term stability of the hospital. This process included the evaluation of partnerships culminating in the merger with an academic medical center. Also, while at St. Luke’s, he planned and executed a $150 million master facility plan, integrated two hospitals, developed three clinical institutes, achieved Healthgrades Patient Safety award for five consecutive years and launched 10 new service lines.

As chief operating officer of the 912-bed Medstar Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, Rob led efforts resulting in improved operational performance reducing emergency department wait time, inpatient length of stay, and patient time to admission. He created the Office of Patient Experience resulting in improved CMS star ratings. In addition, he collaborated on an assessment of behavioral health services and led resulting improvement efforts.

As regional executive vice-president with Westchester Medical Center he oversaw the execution of a financial stabilization plan, integrated four community hospitals and developed a regional primary care practice.

Rob earned a Master of Health Services Administration from George Washington University, and a bachelor’s degree in computer and information sciences from Brooklyn College. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has served on community non-profit boards. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of management and healthcare policy and serves as a local Red Cross Disaster Response leader.

 

Melinda Estep has been advising providers and healthcare leaders nationwide for more than 25 years, offering keen industry insights in the areas of strategic financial planning, mergers and acquisitions, and financial advisory services.

Melinda works closely with a variety of healthcare organizations to help them maximize resources, access needed capital, and develop solid financial strategies for navigating healthcare’s uncertain future.

Prior to joining HMA, she served as a hospital CFO and chief of business development providing strategic direction for optimal market and competitive positioning for several departments. She also led a five-year capital planning effort, ensured compliance and contracting validity, and led the revenue cycle team to improve the patient experience and increase revenue.

In addition, Melinda has provided short-term and long-term forecasting and scenario modeling for various project teams. She specializes in developing business cases with key stakeholders and identifying barriers and mitigations of risk.

Previously she served more than 10 years with Denver Health and Hospital in various executive positions including chief of business development, associate chief of operations for service lines, and associate CFO of financial and strategic planning.

Melinda earned a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in healthcare administration and a Bachelor of Science in finance, both from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She earned a Lean Management Systems Black Belt and was a fellow with America’s Essential Hospitals (NAPH) and the Healthcare Finance Management Association.

Roxane Townsend is a physician executive specializing in the integration of complex clinical enterprises, transformation of academic health systems, and making public and private health systems more profitable. She consults with HMA clients nationwide and supports strategic planning and incubator projects for the Healthcare Transformation Institute. Her combination of clinical and operational expertise inspires trust and confidence. She is known for her ability to convene, engage and build consensus among diverse stakeholders, spot inefficiencies, overcome barriers and maximize revenue while maintaining focus on the quality of patient care.

Prior to joining HMA, Roxane was CEO of the University of Arkansas Medical Center and vice chancellor for clinical programs. Backed by a high performing team, she guided the enterprise from a budget deficit to a $30 million surplus in just three years. She led integration of core clinical services and 15 specialty service lines including behavioral health, cancer and neurosciences. Ambulatory throughput increased 18 percent and length of stay for trauma patients dropped 25 percent. She also championed a shift in operating room scheduling control to anesthesiology, resulting in a double digit increase in surgical volume without the addition of any new operating rooms.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Roxane served as medical director for the Louisiana Medicaid program and eventually took the helm as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. She participated in the redesign of the devastated healthcare system in New Orleans and served on the executive steering committee for the planning and design of the new University Medical Center to replace Charity Hospital that was destroyed by the storm. Her own experience, as a doctor treating Katrina evacuees in the Superdome, motivates her continued advocacy of health information technology adoption, integration and interoperability.

As assistant vice president for health systems at Louisiana State University, Roxane led the team who successfully planned a system-wide implementation of an interoperable electronic medical record in the LSU Health System. She also achieved a $40 million reduction in expenses at the interim LSU public hospital while maintaining services to the most vulnerable patients in New Orleans.

Roxane was pivotal in forming the Partnership for Healthy Arkansas (PHA), a shared services organization comprised of four previous market competitors. The Partnership collaborates to eliminate duplicative services and increase access through population health and care management initiatives including a new provider-led managed care behavioral health model. Outside of the PHA, she led efforts that resulted in joint services such as vascular surgery with another major health system in Little Rock. This saved the expense of recruiting another surgeon and provides high quality care utilizing the same experts at two medical centers.

Roxane earned her M.D. and completed her residency in internal medicine at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Duquesne University.

When not immersed in a thrilling murder mystery novel, Roxane enjoys running half-marathons.