Chair

President and CEO, Harris Health

Dr. Esmaeil Porsa serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Harris Health System in Houston, TX. Prior to returning to Houston in 2020, Dr. Porsa served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Parkland Health and Hospital System where he had worked since 2007 in different capacities including the Medical Director of the Dallas County Jail Health program, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Professional and Academic Affairs and Interim Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Porsa completed a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio before earning his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School in San Antonio. He completed his internship and residency training in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where he also served as the Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Porsa completed a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health as well as a fellowship program in primary care at the UTHSC-Houston medical school in 2005. Dr. Porsa obtained his MBA degree in Health Care Leadership from University of Texas in Dallas in 2017.

Dr. Porsa has a special interest in health care delivery in correctional setting and currently serves as the Vice Chair for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and a member of the Certified Correctional Health Care Professional Board of Trustees for the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).

Vice Chair

Dr. Duncan is the president and chief executive officer of JPS Health Network in Fort Worth.

Karen Duncan, MD is a board certified pediatrician with medical and executive leadership experience. Dr. Duncan has extensive experience working in large public health academic centers and has held executive leadership positions at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital and Chicago’s Cook County Health and Hospitals System.

Dr. Duncan came to JPS from Health Management Associates, a healthcare consulting firm where as a Principal, she consulted for large publicly funded hospitals systems, government entities and managed care plans.

Dr. Duncan received an MD from Emory University School of Medicine. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry at Smith College and completed the Executive MBA Program at Georgia State University.

Secretary

Russell MPresident/Chief Executive Officer,Medical Center Health Systems

Russell Tippin has been the President/CEO of Medical Center Health Systems since September 2019. He previously held several CEO positions in the great state of West Texas A Texas native, Tippin graduated in 1992 from Andrews High School and attended Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas then completed graduate school at the University of Phoenix in Tempe, Arizona with a Master’s in Business Administration/Healthcare Administration.

Tippin has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare administration. Most recently, Tippin was the Chief Executive Officer for 10 years at Permian Regional Medical Center located in Andrews, Texas.

He is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives and currently serves on the board of directors for the Texas Hospital Association. Tippin is also the Board Chair of the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange. This company provides hospitals in four states with medical liability and workman’s compensation insurance.

In April 2019, Tippin receive the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospital’s (TORCH) coveted Gordan Russell Award. This is the highest award in the State of Texas for TORCH, recognizing outstanding merit in Healthcare Administration.

Treasurer

Reed Hurley is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at University Health in San Antonio. Reed has held this position since 2014. Prior to that, he served in various hospital CFO roles with Vanguard Health Systems and Health Management Associates.

Reed Hurley is a certified public accountant who is licensed by the North Carolina State Board of CPA Examiners.

Past Chair

Jacob Cintron serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the University Medical Center of El Paso.

Mr. Cintron has more than 35 years of healthcare management experience. He began his healthcare career at the Thomason Hospital, now named University Medical Center of El Paso – which he leads today.

Mr. Cintron comes to University Medical Center of El Paso from Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, where he served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2007 to 2016, prior to his July 2016 arrival at the University Medical Center of El Paso. Other leadership positions he held at Del Sol Medical Center include Chief Operating Officer, Associate Administrator II, and Vice President of Support Services.

He also served in senior leadership positions (Chief Operating Officer) at Vanguard Healthcare in Chicago; for IASIS Healthcare at Southwest General Hospital in San Antonio; and for UHS’ Southwest Healthcare System in California before returning to El Paso at HCA’s 336 bed Del Sol Medical Center.

Mr. Cintron began his career in healthcare, still in his teen years, and progressed through myriad levels of complexity, management and leadership to his full-circle return as President & CEO to the hospital he started at more than 35 years prior.

Mr. Cintron serves on the board of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce; is the Current Chair of Emergence Health Network and Paso Del Norte Health Information Exchange; and serves on various other El Paso committees and boards. Mr. Cintron holds a Bachelor of Science – Industrial Engineering, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Accountancy, all from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Mr. Cintron oversees the extremely important affiliations and partnerships of the University Medical Center of El Paso with Texas Tech University. These affiliations ensure the campus at University Medical Center of El Paso continues to be the center of medical teaching, providing an exceptional learning environment and experience for medical students, residents, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. These affiliations with Texas Tech include the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Other affiliations include the University of Texas at El Paso Nursing Programs, El Paso Community College Nursing Programs, Socorro/Bel Air/Silva Magnet High Schools, the Dona Ana Community College, New Mexico State University, Texas Women’s University, Western New Mexico University, Western Tech, National Institute First Assist, and New Mexico State University. Together, these programs are responsible for training more than a thousand students each year at the Campus of University Medical Center of El Paso.

Member at Large

Frederick P. Cerise, MD has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkland Health & Hospital System since 2014. Dr. Cerise came to Parkland with years of experience in a variety of roles as a health care administrator, medical school faculty member and practicing physician.

From 2004-2007 he was the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Following that he served as Vice President for Health Affairs and Medical Education of the Louisiana State University System.

Dr. Cerise holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Notre Dame and earned his Medical Degree at Louisiana State University, New Orleans. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In 2001, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University School of Public Health.

He is a Commissioner on the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, and he serves on the boards of the Kaiser Family Foundation, American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, and the Nurse-Family Partnership.

Member at Large

Dr. Julie Philley is the president of the University of Texas at Tyler, where she previously served as executive vice president, health affairs.

She studied medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, completed her Internal Medicine residency in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Hospital program, and her fellowship at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She is board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine.

She is a native East Texan growing up in Overton and returned to Tyler in 2012 to continue her research efforts in nontuberculous mycobacterial disease and bronchiectasis. Her other academic pursuits include advancing educational opportunities in healthcare and epidemiology of mycobacterial disease in the state of Texas.

Member at Large

Stephen Bowerman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Midland Health. Mr. Bowerman joined Midland Health in 2009 as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Bowerman has more than 24 years of experience in healthcare and is a native West Texan, born and raised in Kermit, Texas. He attended West Texas A&M University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1999. Mr. Bowerman received his master’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University in 2012.

Mr. Bowerman and his wife of 21 years, Monica, moved to Midland in 1999, beginning his career at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. In 2006, he joined Odessa Regional Hospital and assisted in the acquisition and consolidation of Alliance Hospital to form what is now Odessa Regional Medical Center.

Member at Large

Edward “Ed” Banos is the president/chief executive officer of University Health, the public hospital district for Bexar County, Texas.

Banos joined University Health in 2015 as executive vice president/chief operating officer and has been integrally involved in the planning and implementation of the organization’s unprecedented growth plan. Capital projects currently under construction include two community hospitals, with connecting medical official buildings (expected to open in 2027) and two large multi-specialty health centers (with anticipated openings by early 2026).

He was president and CEO of Duke Lifepoint Upper Peninsula Health System and CEO of Superior Health Partners in Marquette, Michigan from 2013 -2015, and president and CEO of Good Shepherd Health System in Longview, Texas from 2008 – 2013. Banos’ additional leadership experience includes serving as chief operating officer at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and in progressive roles with Tenet Health Corporation at hospitals in Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas.

Banos received his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Records Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master’s in Health Service Administration from Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Georgia Southern) in Savannah, Georgia.

Banos is a member of the Texas Hospital Association Council on Policy Development, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and is a founding member of the South Texas Crisis Collaborative. He was recognized as a Healthcare Hero by the San Antonio Business Journal in 2019.

Member at Large

Becky Korenek, MHA, MBA, serves as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer for the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health). In this role, she directs a broad range of programs focused on institution-wide planning; increasing and facilitating access to care; increasing revenue and philanthropy to support the university’s education, research, patient care, and innovation missions; and increasing awareness of UTMB Health accomplishments and services through strategic communication to internal and external audiences.

Prior to joining UTMB in 2013, she was a principal for a Houston-based consulting firm she established to provide managed care, business development and revenue cycle consulting services to physician groups, large hospital systems, other types of health care organizations and payors. Earlier in her career, she served Houston Methodist Health Care System in a variety of leadership roles including health plan executive management and ambulatory services.

Ms. Korenek earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Texas A&M University and her Master of Healthcare Administration/Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Member at Large

Dr. Lee is the President and CEO of Central Health. He previously served as the inaugural System Chairman of Medicine for One Brooklyn Health (OBH), a safety-net health system in central Brooklyn serving over one million New York City residents, leading 11 clinical divisions with more than 500 practitioners, working at three hospitals and 27 ambulatory care sites. Dr. Lee was the key leader uniting medical staff at the three formerly independent hospitals, and recruiting additional providers in multiple specialties, into an efficient and comprehensive provider group serving a community with the highest level of health disparities in New York.

Prior to that, Dr. Lee was Chairman of Medicine at Mass General Brigham Salem Hospital north of Boston, developed the Global Primary Care Residency Program at Massachusetts General and a global health course at Harvard Medical School, both informed by his early career work with Dr. Paul Farmer in Rwanda and as Medical Director of Last Mile Health in Liberia, a nonprofit partner of the nation’s Ministry of Health.

Dr. Lee is a graduate of Princeton and the UC San Francisco School of Medicine receiving further training at Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School.

Honorary Member

John M. Zerwas, M.D., joined The University of Texas System as Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs in October 2019. He provides oversight and guidance for the six UT System health institutions, one of the largest networks of academic health institutions in the country with an aggregate annual operating budget of more than $14.7 billion.

Prior to joining U. T. System, he served the citizens of Texas House District 28 (Northwestern Fort Bend County) for seven legislative terms in the Texas House of Representatives. Zerwas served eleven years on the House Appropriations Committee, three as Chairman, and six as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. As the 2015-2016 Chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education, he advocated to increase access to higher education and grow opportunities for graduate medical education. He brought firsthand experience and knowledge of health care systems and policy to the House Committee on Public Health and also served as a member of the Legislative Budget Board. As a Representative, Zerwas earned has earned numerous accolades for his dedication to public service, including being twice named one of the “Ten Best Legislators” by Texas Monthly, a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and “BIO Legislator of the Year” by Biotechnology Industry Organization for writing critical legislation that preserves patient access to innovative and cost-effective biologic medicines in Texas. In 2019, he was awarded the National Distinguished Advocacy Award from the American Cancer Society Action Network.

A physician for more than 30 years, Zerwas is past president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Zerwas cofounded a Houston area group practice in 1996 which became part of US Anesthesia Partners in 2012. He remained active in the practice and operations of the practice until joining the UT System. From 2003 to 2008, Zerwas served Chief Medical Officer of the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, and Chief Physician Integration Officer until 2009.

Honorary Member

Maureen Milligan serves as CEO and President of Teaching Hospitals of Texas (THOT). Before joining THOT, Maureen served as the Director of the Texas Institute of Health Care Quality and Efficiency and Director of the Health Care Quality and Analytics, Research, Coordination and Support unit at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Maureen successfully led the development and CMS negotiation of the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program Waiver and has served in various roles in her 16 years with the Commission. She previously served as deputy chief of staff at HHSC, deputy director in Medicaid CHIP, and the manager of Health Plan Operations responsible for over three billion dollars in Medicaid and CHIP managed care contracts. Her work experience has focused on state and federal health care reform, state health care policy for Medicaid and indigent care, and Medicaid operational and contract management.