Join the Voyage!

VAHHS Annual Meeting
2024: A Rural Health Care Odyssey

Thursday, September 19, 2024 to Friday, September 20, 2024

Jay Peak Resort, Jay VT

Annual Meeting Content Sessions

Keynote Address- Increasing Access to Rural Healthcare Using Technology and Opportunities in Generative AI

Dr. Kathleen Fear
Director of Data & Analytics for the UR Health Lab
University of Rochester Medical Center

Keynote Address/ACHE Session- Futurama: AI in Health Care

Dr. John Cohn
Consulting Mad Scientist
Beta Technologies

AI is already used in hospitals and health systems for everything from automating prior approvals to diagnosing diseases. How can we harness its power and integrate it within our system to improve health care for Vermonters and even provide solutions to workforce challenges like provider burnout? John Cohn, PhD—Consulting Mad Scientist at Beta Technologies, IBM Fellow in the MIT-IBM Watson AI Laboratory and member of Vermont’s Council on Artificial Intelligence—will lead a panel of four professionals in a discussion of the ways AI can impact the way we provide health care.

Panelists:

  • Josh Bongard, PhD, Professor and Graduate Student Advisor at University of Vermont

  • Rick Hildebrant, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Information Officer, Rutland Regional Medical Center

  • Kathleen McGraw, MD, FHM, CPE, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital

  • Justin Stinnett-Donnelly, MD, MS, FACP, Associate-Chief Medical Information Officer, The University of Vermont Health Network

Break-out Sessions

Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families
SAMHSA has partnered with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to bring the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families (SMVF) to states, territories, and communities across the Nation. Join us as the Vermont Team discusses their work to-date and how meeting the Governor’s Challenge helps those who have served and their families access both better mental and physical health care.

AI Governance with Keynote Speaker, Dr. Kathleen Fear
This interactive session will explore the critical importance of developing an effective AI governance structure that balances risk management with the need to stay nimble and innovative. Drawing from the University of Rochester Medical Center's approach to AI governance, we will discuss practical strategies and frameworks that ensure responsible AI deployment while fostering agility, focusing on ethical considerations, regulatory compliance, and risk management.

Trauma Informed Care in Vermont’s Emergency Departments
A trip to the emergency department can be a scary and overwhelming time for all patients, and especially for children and teens experiencing a mental health crisis. When hospitals create a trauma responsive care culture they are able to provide care that supports all patients, especially the most vulnerable. This dynamic training team will discuss the importance of providing trauma responsive care for children and adolescents in emergency departments and the role that can play in suicide prevention. This important topic will be presented from the perspective of an emergency department provider who has implemented trauma responsive care techniques in the emergency department, a peer support specialist who speaks openly about her experience as an adolescent in the emergency department, and a social worker who specializes in trauma and attachment.

Trending Topics in Board Governance with Shireen Hart
Join Shireen Hart, Managing Director at Primmer Piper Eggleston and Cramer, for a discussion on board governance. Trustees of Vermont Hospitals, as well as attendees who are trustees for other organizations are welcome to join!

Staying Power: Engagement, Retention and Essential Skill Pipelines
Over 10% of the Vermont workforce is employed in health care and labor is health care’s number one expense. Join our breakout session with health care leaders to learn how some of Vermont hospitals are finding workforce solutions that promote retention and develop targeted healthcare skills.

Communications and Public Relations
Join Dennise Casey from Casey, Inc. and Devon Green from VAHHS as they cover best practices and opportunities for engaging the public and the media on hospital issues.

Keynote Speaker Bios

  • Dr. Kathleen Fear

    Dr. Kathleen Fear

    Dr. Kathleen Fear is the Director of Data & Analytics for the UR Health Lab at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The UR Health Lab, as the health system's digital health incubator, pioneers the integration of novel tools that harness new data streams, analyze previously unseen patterns, and transform healthcare delivery. Dr. Fear leads a team of data analysts, data scientists, and clinicians to leverage big data and artificial intelligence not only to refine clinical decision-making but also to streamline administrative processes, reduce clinician burnout, and help the health system become more sustainable and efficient.

    Beyond the technical aspects of her role, Dr. Fear’s work is dedicated to understanding how to foster effective adoption and use of data, information, and technology in organizations. She has focused on developing meaningful metrics to assess clinical and operational impact, combining social science methods and theoretical frameworks with statistical and analytical approaches to shed light on how providers and practices can optimize their work.

    Dr. Fear holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in information science from the University of Michigan School of Information, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Yale University. In her free time, Dr. Fear enjoys camping, hiking, and fostering rescue dogs.

  • Dr. John Cohn

    John Cohn is a Consulting Mad scientist at Beta Technologies, an IBM Fellow in the MIT-IBM Watson AI Laboratory and a member of Vermont’s Council on Artificial Intelligence. He holds an undergraduate electrical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a doctoral degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was named a Distinguished Alumni in 2014. Cohn has authored over 40 papers, contributed to five books and has more than 120 worldwide patents.

    John is passionate about promoting STEM careers that he spent 59 days living and inventing in an abandoned steel mill as part of Discovery Channel's technical survival show, The Colony. Cohn's presentation Jolts and Volts, has been performed for more than 50,000 students worldwide, including performances at Walt Disney World, and the New York Hall of Science. In October 2013 Cohn presented "The importance of play" at a TEDx conference.

    John lives with his family in a restored 19th century schoolhouse in Jonesville, Vermont and is very eager to share his love of science and technology with anyone who will listen.

A big thank you to our 2024 Annual Meeting Sponsors!

Premier Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors