2019 Speaking Faculty

Dr. Bansal did his Internal Medicine residency at Good Samaritan Hospital (Johns Hopkins University), Baltimore and started his career as hospitalist in 2012. He continues to practice as hospitalist and also serves as Director of Quality for Rochester General Hospitalist Group, Rochester, NY. He has championed several quality improvement initiatives at Rochester General Hospital over the past few years and has received acknowledgment from the Society of Hospital Medicine as a Fellow in Hospital Medicine. Also he is a fellow of American College of Physicians & American College of Chest Physicians. He has been working as Physician Advisor at Rochester Regional Health for last 3 years and is handling level of care determination, clinical documentation improvement and denial management.

Family Nurse Practitioner, graduated with Master of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Currently working as the Lead NP in the observation unit at Holy Cross Hospital for the last two years and prior to that worked at Washington Adventist Hospital.

Dr. Joseph Borawski is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. His current administrative responsibilities include Medical Director of the ED-based Observation Unit as well as Assistant Director of the Division’s Acute Care Research Team. He has several research projects ongoing, including site Principle Investigator (PI) for a large, multicenter heart failure randomized clinical trial as well as site PI for the National Emergency Airway Registry (NEAR). Dr. Borawski completed his medical training at Albany Medical College, NY with subsequent post-graduate training at Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA. Upon completion, he served four year as a General Medical Officer in the United States Navy, first as Battalion Surgeon for 3d Battalion, 2d Marines and then later as Regimental Surgeon for 10th Marine Regiment. After resigning his active duty commission in 2009, Dr. Borawski completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, joining the faculty group in 2012.

Jose M. Carralero, MSN, RN, CMSRN is an Advanced Patient Outcomes Facilitator for the observation units at Baptist Hospital of Miami in South Florida. Jose has 12 years of nursing experience and 6 years in a leadership role. In addition, Jose is presently on the faculty at West Coast University in Doral, Fl.

Dr. Christopher Caspers is a board-certified emergency physician with the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Caspers serves as the chief of observation medicine for the NYU Langone Health system where he oversees a combined 50-bed observation medicine program across multiple hospital sites and is a leading national expert in observation medicine. He is an invited national speaker and his work in observation medicine has been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the National Patient Safety Foundation, the British Medical Journal, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Vizient Patient Safety Organization (formerly UHC) as well as being described in multiple publications.

Dr. Caspers is also the associate chief of emergency medicine at NYU Langone Tisch Hospital in Manhattan, serves as the secretary for the national ACEP observation medicine section and is an expert advisor to the Vizient Patient Safety Organization. He completed his residency training at the NYU/Bellevue Emergency Medicine Residency in New York City where he was a chief resident and currently enjoys teaching future emergency physicians as a core faculty member. Dr. Caspers’ interests involve clinical operations, innovation, quality improvement and leadership in healthcare.

Dr. Garcia holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed internal medicine residency training at Boston University Medical Center and received a master’s degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine , Associate Program Director of Internal Medicine Residency and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity. Dr. Garcia has clinical experience in Primary Care and Hospital Medicine and for more than a decade has worked as a Physician Advisor for Utilization and Care Coordination for UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Dr. David B. Goldner is the Medical Director of Utilization Management and Appeals at the Lehigh Valley Health Network since 2016. He began as a Physician Advisor in 2012. He attended medical school at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed a fellowship at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Goldner is Board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.

Dr. Greiner graduated from Ross University School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He spent one year as an assistant professor and academic hospitalist at the University Hospital and then moved to his current employer, North Memorial Health, where he is medical director in observation services, hospital medicine, and utilization management. Dr. Greiner is also the president of the Twin Cities Medical Society, a component medical society of the Minnesota Medical Association that serves nearly 5,000 members. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine. His interests include physician wellness, the intersection between customer service and healthcare, improving informed consent, and end of life conversations.

Dr. Guarracino is Chair of Emergency Medicine at UPMC Pinnacle. Prior to working at UPMC Pinnacle, he served as Chair of Emergency Medicine and President of the Medical Staff at Carlisle Regional Medical Center. He completed his residency training at Grandview Hospital and Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio where he was a Chief Resident and completed medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Guarracino is Board Certified in Emergency Medicine and earned his Masters of Science in Healthcare Administration from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Guarracino’s areas of interest are evidence-based medicine, ED operations and observation medicine. He has lectured nationally on such topics as ED Throughput and the development of ED Observation Units.

Dean Harrison is presently on the Faculty at the Duke University Medical School. In addition to being the Director of the Clinical Observation Unit he serves as the Director of Advance Practice Providers and the Director of the Emergency Medicine APP Residency Program. He previously has held academic appointments at George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University. He has held multiple senior leadership positions both on a State and National Level. In addition to his interest in Observation medicine he is a National and International speaker regarding multiple health care topics. He has been involved with the development and management of Observation Units for the past 16 years

Deeraj is the Medical Director of Physician Advisor program at Unity Hospital/Rochester Regional Health in Rochester, New York. He is an Academic Hospitalist and also serves as the Chair for Utilization Management Committee. Deeraj completed his Internal Medicine residency at Rochester Regional Health. Deeraj graduated with a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester, New York.

Dr. Chris McStay attended the Weill Cornell Medical College and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at NYU/Bellevue in New York City. In New York he completed a fellowship in Patient Safety and Quality through the Greater New York Hospital Association and United Hospital Fund. He served as the Chief of Service for the Bellevue Hospital Emergency Department and co-chaired the Health and Hospitals Corporation Emergency Department Directors Council, a system responsible for over 1 million annual ED visits.

In 2014 Dr. McStay joined the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado as an Associate Professor. He has the pleasure of serving as the Chief of Clinical Operations for the Emergency Department at the University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. McStay's academic interests include disaster management and preparedness, wilderness and environmental medicine and patient safety and quality.

Professor of Medicine Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University Director, Observation Unit Director, Pediatric Education and Quality Improvement Director, Research Rapid Response Team Faculty, MetroHealth Medical Center/Cleveland Clinic Emergency Medicine Residency Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio Author of medical textbook Author of over 150 articles in the medical literature Former Chair, American College of Emergency Physicians Section of Observation Medicine

Stefanie B. Porges MD is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She completed an Internal Medicine residency at Hahnemann Hospital. She completed an Emergency Medicine fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and has practiced Emergency Medicine at Penn for over 25 years. Additionally, for over 20 years, she has been one of 4 medical command physicians for the PennStar Flight program.

For the last 5 years, Dr. Porges has served as Medical Director of the Emergency Department Observation Unit and overseen Penn’s Advanced Practice Provider program. Under her direction, Penn’s EDOU has grown to a 27-bed unit. Dr. Porges has developed partnerships with many hospital service lines, including the transplant, hepatology and oncology divisions, to improve quality and prevent readmissions.

She sits on many hospital committees including quality and is the physician lead for Unit Based Clinical Leadership. Dr Porges is the lay member appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for the Attorney State Disciplinary Board as well as appointed by the Pennsylvania governor to the state Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Melanie joined the faculty of the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine in 2016 as an attending in Observation Medicine. She has led numerous multidisciplinary quality and safety improvement initiatives which resulted in several presentations at national and international conferences. Additionally, Melanie serves as the NYU faculty advisor for the NYC Free Clinic, a clinic run by NYU medical students, and mentors them in their research endeavors.

She received her medical degree from Wright State University with a global health track, and completed her residency at Good Samaritan Community Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where she served as Chief Resident. After residency, Melanie was one of two selected for the Robert L. Philips Health Policy Fellowship, co-sponsored by the School of Medicine at Georgetown and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies. While serving as an attending in the Department of Family Medicine, she completed several publications on various health policy issues and received a certification in Health Policy from the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.

David M. Schneider, BSN, RN, CMSRN graduated with his Bachelor’s in Science of Nursing from the University of Central Florida in 2014. His career with Baptist Hospital of Miami began in July of 2017. He currently works as a Patient Outcomes Facilitator in the Observation Units.

Dr. Mohammad Shaheed is currently Medical Director, Physician Advisor for Rochester General and Eastern Region hospitals at Rochester Regional Health System, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester, UM Committee member, and senior Hospitalist Attending at the Rochester General Hospital all in Rochester, NY.

Dr. Shaheed earned his medical degree at Kabul Medical University and continued his training and chief Residency at Lincoln Medical Center, Weil Medical College at Cornell University. His professional interests include utilization management, efficiency of care, provider communication and education, process improvement for TIA/Stroke patients, leading implementation of EDRS at RGH, and training new Physician Advisors. His professional memberships include Diplomat of ABQUARP, Senior Fellow of Hospital Medicine, and ACP Physician Advisor.

Blaine Stringer, MSN, RN, CEN, NE-BC, began his nursing career in 1995 after graduating with his BSN from Wright State University in Dayton, OH. He worked as clinical nurse in critical care from 1995-1998. In 1998, Blaine began working in the Emergency Department (ED) at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI where he was introduced to nursing leadership and shared governance. Blaine advanced his leadership career path in 2003 by becoming an assistant nurse manager in the ED. In the years to follow, he has held roles of nurse manager of the ED, and trauma coordinator for two major trauma centers in the city of Chicago. In 2009, Blaine joined the Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) team as the assistant unit director (AUD) of emergency services. While in the AUD position at RUMC, he was able to complete his MSN in 2016 at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL. In 2017, Blaine became the UD, unit director, the Adult Observation unit at Rush University Medical Center. In this role, Blaine was instrumental in the opening of the 23 bed Adult Observation Unit. Through his leadership he has provided oversight of staff development, proactively impacted the organization’s length of stay, began protocol creation, and overall process improvement of the Adult Observation Unit. Some accomplishments to highlight include leading the medicine/oncology/cardiology department with the highest unit engagement scores and being selected for the American Organization of Nurse Executive’s Fellowship with his project to implement a nurse driven protocol for evaluating the need for physical and occupational therapies in the observation patient population.

Professor of Emergency Medicine at UAB in Birmingham, Alabama. Associate CMO, Director of Emergency Services and Director of Observation Medicine for the UAB Health System. Established the first dedicated unit for Observation Medicine at UAB in 2015, which is currently undergoing expansion to 35-40 beds, plus and admissions holding / treatment space. Medical Education at the University of South Alabama, Residency in Emergency Medicine at UAB. Fellowship in Cardiovascular Emergencies at the University of Virginia. Starting my 12th year on Faculty at UAB in the department of Emergency Medicine with focus on clinical operations, quality improvement, observation medicine, and cardiovascular emergencies.

Dr. Turner is a hospitalist with Maury Regional Medical Group and is the current medical director of the clinical decision unit for Maury Regional Health, a 360 bed health system ranked number 1 in the state of Tennessee for overall hospital care in medical excellence and patient safety by CareChex.com. After completing residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, he joined Maury Regional Health as a hospitalist in 2009. Dr. Turner completed a Masters of Management in Healthcare from Owen Graduate School of Business at Vanderbilt University in 2016. He became faculty at Vanderbilt University in 2017 and was medical director for a program focused on patients with high healthcare utilization until returning to Maury Regional Medical Group in September of 2018 to become medical director of the clinical decision unit where he has led the transition of unit from direction under the emergency department to hospital medicine.

Dr. Tyo is an Assistant Professor of both Internal and Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences Systems. On staff for over a decade, she has been the Residency Program Director for the combined IM/EM training program for the last 8 years facilitating the education of resident physicians throughout the institution through work in the Emergency Department and Inpatient hospital wards. More recently, she has become the physician champion and medical director for the observation services platform for UI Health. Having initiated the observation unit pilot in the spring of 2014, she has successfully demonstrated the merit of a targeted observation unit culminating in the opening of a new Clinical Decision Unit in February 2016. Her success in that work has earned her a place as a physician advisor for the hospital leveraging her understanding of whole hospital patient flow dynamics from the unique perspective of a dual-boarded physician.

Amit Wadhwa is a board certified Emergency Physician who currently serves as the Medical Director for Utilization at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring Maryland. Prior to serving as Holy Cross Hospital's Medical director for Utilization he served as the assistant medical director of a 50,000 visit ED just outside of Washington D.C where he also served as the medical director for the Clinical decision Unit. He has served as a consultant to numerous hospitals to help optimize observation unit performance and has also lectured at the national level regarding Observation Medicine best practices. In addition to his experience in clinical operations, he has also served as a Consultant for the Delmarva foundation (Maryland's QIO) and has been a Physician accreditor for the Maryland institute of Emergency Medical Services Primary Stroke certification program. He has previously served as the medical director for the Washington D.C's Department of Fire and Emergency Medical services and has held faculty appointments in Emergency Medicine at both the George Washington and Howard University schools of Medicine. He currently practices Emergency Medicine at Fort Belvoir Hospital in Virginia and sits on the Medical Board for Oak view rehabilitation in Maryland.