With experience in the policy, theory and practice of health communication, Michaela Methner has performed research, monitoring, and evaluation to help teams develop materials and relationships to advance projects.

Before joining HMA, she was an intern for several organizations including the Spina Bifida Association of America, the Sparrow Hospital Foundation, and Premier HealthCare in New York. During these experiences she built relationships on behalf of the organization, planned events, coordinated and updated marketing materials and channels, and drafted policies and communication plans.

Her work has included tracking projects and monitoring schedules, budgets, and resources as well as conducting research, editing publications, and interviewing experts and presenters.

She earned a Master of Arts in health and risk communication and a Bachelor of Arts in political theory and constitutional democracy, both from Michigan State University.

A skilled policy and data analyst and communicator, Muriel Kramer is an empathic and adept healthcare professional with experience in behavioral health, substance use disorder (SUD), healthcare management and social determinants of health.

Before joining HMA, Muriel earned her Master of Social Work following time spent working with non-profit organizations, pharmacies, and in communications positions. She focused her study on mental health, criminal and social justice, and advocates for social change and improved healthcare outcomes for marginalized constituent groups.

To that goal, Muriel has served as site coordinator, triage and diversion coordinator, social worker and program director for Bay Cove Human Services where she, in these varied roles, managed day-to-day center operations, designed and promoted triage programs for those with homelessness, SUD and complex mental illness and directed an overnight, emergency shelter for adults with SUD during the winter months in Cambridge, MA.

Her dedication to helping those in need also includes serving as a social worker where she developed a program to enhance case management and better serve those homeless adults with SUD in the Bay Cove Emergency Shelter. She worked to address client needs from identifying and providing immediate supports to obtaining long-term treatment and housing for clients.

Muriel is dedicated to improving healthcare and health outcomes for those living in poverty, living with trauma history, past incarceration and other social determinants of health.

In addition to earning a Master of Social Work from Boston College School of Social Work, she has earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Syracuse University and served the United States Air Force earning the rank of Captain.

She is a proud and happy mom of six adult children, with the youngest two in college, and enjoys playing with her grandchildren, family camping, board games, reading and stitching.

With a passion for social justice and caring for vulnerable patients and more than 20 years working as a licensed clinical social worker, Shelly Virva is a thoughtful and experienced healthcare leader. Her work has focused on helping those who suffer from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders, chronic medical and early life trauma.

Before joining HMA, she served as the associate clinical director and subject matter expert for the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, an initiative of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers. As the expert on addiction and co-occurring disorders, she was part of an interprofessional group working with patients with complex health and social needs. She regularly provided coaching, training, and model co-design for vulnerable populations in health systems and Federally Qualified Health Centers around the country.

Additionally, she was part of an interprofessional team that started an ambulatory intensive care unit for high frequency emergency department users and pregnant women with substance use disorders.

Shelly’s experience also includes working for a regional payer of both commercial and government plans as well as leading clinical case management, behavioral health departments, community access programs and providing technical assistance for a variety of projects in the area of addiction, behavioral health, and strategic communication and program development. She recently co-authored a best practice toolkit for starting and expanding medications for addiction treatment in primary care settings.

She earned a Master of Social Work and a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.

Shelly lives in Grand Rapids with her spouse, three sons and two dogs. She enjoys playing soccer, walking her dogs and snowboarding. Her hobbies include puzzles, reading, and slot car racing.

Moira Muir is a health policy leader with more than 30 years of experience in public, private and non-profit behavioral healthcare organizations. Her work has included program administration, managed care, direct patient care and population health management. As a licensed mental health counselor, she brings a perspective of clinical, operational, and strategic expertise that comes from having worked in a variety of settings. She is an experienced collaborator with state agencies and stakeholders and has deep subject matter expertise in crisis intervention service delivery, best practices, program design, management and implementation.

Moira’s work at HMA includes supporting states in the design and implementation of community-based mobile crisis intervention services including the development of quality metrics to advance operational and clinical outcomes. She has supported states with 988 implementation planning and has collaborated with providers and health systems to advance behavioral health integration, redesign delivery models, and improve health outcomes including behavioral health HEDIS measures for individuals with complex health and social needs.

Before joining HMA, Moira served as the vice president of network management at Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, an organization that manages behavioral healthcare for more than 500,000 Medicaid members. She directed the development and implementation of network quality, access, rate and provider performance standards including performance-based incentives as well as policies and procedures. In that role, she directed strategic planning for the statewide crisis services and oversaw delivery to ensure high quality, culturally competent, clinically, and cost-effective, integrated community-based behavioral health crisis assessment, intervention, and stabilization services offering viable service alternatives to hospital emergency departments.

She earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Northeastern University and her bachelor’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles.

During her career, Deb Peartree has partnered with Medicaid Managed Care organizations, Independent Practice Associations, primary care practices, long-term care facilities and public health entities. Her experience and expertise include training and teaching in a variety of settings, overseeing performance and quality improvement, leading practice transformations, and establishing collaborations to better serve safety net populations.

She is an experienced provider and teacher who has developed and trained care managers and facilitated primary care practice improvement by working directly with physicians, providers, and practice staff to improve workflow, care team effectiveness and community collaboration. She also established and continues to support a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Collaborative as a shared learning environment for practices pursuing National Committee for Quality Assurance PCMH recognition and practice improvement.

Deb served as executive director of the Rochester Integrated Health Network, Inc. where she worked to pursue collaborative strategies to improve healthcare for safety net populations among hospital systems and Federally Qualified Health Centers.

As executive director of the Greater Rochester Health Home Network, LLC,  she established and led a Health Home organization which provided care management services for 25,000 of the highest risk and highest need Medicaid recipients in a 13 county service area of upstate New York. She directed clinical strategy and improvement at Monroe Plan for Medical Care where she supported clinical staff in the development and implementation of improvement strategies, care enhancement initiatives, practice and community-based organization improvement activities. She also directed clinical strategy at the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency working with community partners to establish the clinical platform for a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Challenge Award grant including the training and deployment of care managers and planning of practice support strategy.

Deb has shared her knowledge as a clinical instructor at the University of Rochester where she taught quality improvement application in practice. She also developed and taught health systems planning in the Health Systems Administration graduate program for Rochester Institute of Technology.

She was selected by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to serve as one of 72 Innovation Advisors and is also an Institute for Healthcare Improvement certified Improvement Advisor.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and nursing from State University of New York and a Master of Science Degree in health systems administration from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Deb lives in Rochester, NY with her husband, Mark. She is the proud mother of four children and has three adorable grandchildren. In her spare time, she loves to cook, garden, ski, and enjoy her family.

Dave Schneider is an experienced public administrator with more than 30 years’ experience dedicated to improving specialty healthcare. Through cross-county and cross-organizational collaborations, he helped develop innovative solutions built upon a foundation of public administration education and experience, community service and servant-leadership excellence.

Prior to joining HMA, Dave served as a behavioral health specialist for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services where he led development of metrics projects, implemented federal regulations and facilitated coordination of programs to improve health and well-being of those with co-morbid physical and behavioral health conditions.

He is a proven strategic planner and leader with a passion for behavioral and integrated healthcare. He has guided the development and operations of information systems, quality management, regulatory compliance, client access and eligibility and contract management as the lead administrator of a Prepaid Inpatient Health Plan (PIHP).

Dave previously served as chief executive officer of a start-up regional health entity serving a PIHP and clients in 21 counties. He worked with national consultants to implement a behavioral health home pilot, forging relationships with Medicaid health plans and assuming responsibility for management of public funding for substance use disorder services in the region.

A facilitator of synergistic partnerships, Dave also served as director of affiliation services and developed a statewide plan for implementing an integrated care learning community and regional information systems to meet organizational, state and federal requirements.

He earned a Master of Public Administration and bachelor’s degrees from Western Michigan University.

A dedicated community service volunteer, Dave has served as a health plan board member, a Boy Scout scoutmaster, and supporter of local sports, band and school advisory councils.