We help hospitals and health systems transform their teams into the kind of leaders healthcare needs more of.
WHO WE ARE
We’re fluent in boardroom.
And just as proficient in bedside.
We speak the language of the boardroom, but we’re also just as fluent in matters of the bedside—and can seamlessly bridge the gap between the two.
Our advisors include experienced physicians, nurse leaders, and executive leaders who work hand-in-hand with clients across all levels of hospital and health system organizations—from boards and trustees, to senior leaders and staff, to frontline clinical and medical teams.
We advise boards, executive teams, and front-line leaders on improving experiences and quality outcomes across the continuum of care—helping teams go beyond improvement to activate transformational patient care and employee experiences for transformative healthcare organizations and teams.
Using our CARES™ Communication Framework, we empower care teams to advance organizational goals by helping them to shape and sustain cultures of performance that accelerate patient satisfaction and loyalty, quality of care and safety, and workforce development.
Since 2017, HXF has positively impacted over 10,000 healthcare professionals and our team has influenced over 600 hospitals and health systems nationwide.
A flexible, adaptable mindset for any situation, any team, any time.
Healthcare is evolving—and so are the expectations of patients, families, and care teams. Today’s care environments are more complex, more human, and more emotionally charged than ever before. Yet many communication approaches still rely on rigid, transactional interactions that treat communication as a checklist rather than a skill.
CARES™ was designed to change that. CARES is a next-generation communication framework grounded in the belief that every interaction is an opportunity to build trust, ensure safety, and create meaningful human connection. It equips leaders, staff, and physicians with improvisational, relationship-centered communication skills that adapt to the real-time needs of patients and teams.
At its core, CARES™ operates at the intersection of:
Safety
Experience
Reliability
It moves communication beyond scripted behaviors and toward authentic, responsive, and reliable care delivery.
Your collaborators in healthcare experience delivery.
BRENDA AYERS
Physician Coach
BRENDA AYERS, MD
Physician Coach
Dr. Brenda Ayers is a Board-certified physician in Internal Medicine who serves as Medical Director for Health Equity for Nuvance Health. For 20 years, Dr. Ayers has made her career in Hospital Medicine where she has spent the last 13 years with Nuvance Health at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. During that time, she served as the Medical Director of the Vassar Hospital Medicine Service. In addition, Dr. Ayers currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Medical Affairs for Vassar Brothers.
In April of 2022, Dr. Ayers became the Nuvance Health inaugural Medical Director of Health Equity. As part of the newly formed Office of Health Equity Diversity and Inclusion (HEDI), her role focuses on identifying equity gaps and health disparities which impact patient outcomes and finding ways to close those gaps. Since taking on the role of Medical Director for Health Equity, Dr. Ayers has spearheaded several Network initiatives aimed at closing equity gaps. These include the Eliminating Racial Algorithms in Clinical Evaluation and Decisions (ERACED) Taskforce, the Nuvance Health Food As Medicine (F.A.M.) Program, development of a HEDI curriculum for residents and faculty; and she co-leads the Clinical Polices and Pathways Committee of the Nuvance Hypertension Taskforce which serves to close equity gaps in hypertension control for vulnerable populations.
Dr. Ayers holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Swarthmore College after which she did research for several years at Rockefeller University, co-authoring multiple publications. After completing her research, she attended medical school at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. She completed residency at University of Pittsburgh and has since practiced exclusively as a Hospitalist.
BROOKE BILLINGSLEY
VP, Service Excellence
BROOKE BILLINGSLY
VP, SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Brooke has extraordinary insight into how healthcare organizations can ensure that every patient has an exceptional experience. That understanding comes from a unique combination of life experiences and professional work. Her personal medical journey battling cancer, along with decades of in-depth qualitative research with patients at the bedside, have fine-tuned Brooke’s ability to concisely and compellingly synthesize complex information, greatly benefiting our clients.
“My passion is to help others see the patient’s experience through their eyes. Combining my work in patient perception for the past 21 years, training and observing clinicians and then becoming a patient myself, I offer the unique perspective of seeing the patient experience from all angles. Taking care of patients and their families during the most difficult times of their lives is exceedingly important work, and I am grateful to the many caregivers that I’ve coached and supported, as well as to the countless ones I continue to learn from.”
Creating innovative approaches to improve the patient, employee, and physician experience has been the foundation of Brooke’s work for more than 20 years. She has coached and guided more than one hundred organizations toward better patient experience outcomes, from large academic medical centers and health systems to smaller hospitals and physician clinics.
KATHY BOSWELL
Coach
KATHY BOSWELL
COACH
Kathy is one of the most energetic people you will meet. She brings a distinct passion for life and a commitment to service to her work. Kathy is a Coach and National Speaker with the Healthcare Experience Foundation and also serves as the Vice President for Community Engagement for the World Games, Birmingham.
Her strong experience across an array of service industries gives Kathy a unique perspective on healthcare’s strengths and challenges. She combines proficiency in healthcare human resources and organi-zational development with service excellence work, resulting in a highly experiential coaching and mentoring style.
A strategic thinker, Kathy focuses on solutions, and approaching improvement with creativity, innovation and collaboration. She has held a number of positions in healthcare leadership ranging from Organizational Development to Director of Service Excellence for multi-hospital health systems.
JAMES L. LONQUIST
Physician Coach
JAMES LONQUIST, MD
PHYSICIAN COACH
James L. Lonquist, MD is a physician coach with Healthcare Experience Foundation. Dr. Lonquist is a board-certified Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Lonquist has been practicing cardiothoracic surgery for 30 years and has performed over 5,000 open heart procedures. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Texas at Houston and two fellowships including cardiac transplantation/research and cardiothoracic surgery both at the prestigious Texas Heart Institute.
Dr. Lonquist has served in numerous leadership positions including President of the Medical Staff and Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He is passionate about patient care and has been a physician champion for multiple quality and safety initiatives. Dr. Lonquist has led client initiatives for patient centered communication, multidisciplinary rounds, physician engagement rounds, and physician leadership development. He is committed to training the next generation of medical leaders and is an experienced physician coach.
KATHLEEN LYNAM
Executive Coach
KATHLEEN LYNAM
EXECUTIVE COACH & ADVISOR
Kathleen Lynam answered her calling to care and went on to become a registered nurse at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ, where she had an 18 year journey from staff nurse to Vice President of Acute and Ambulatory Services. It was here that she found her passion to coach and help healthcare teams realize the difference they make in a patient’s experience while in their care.
Today, Kathleen Lynam brings extensive clinical, operational, and executive level experience in both small and large healthcare organizations across the country to her role as Executive Coach. But Kathleen is so much more than a coach. She is a national speaker, presenter and champion for patient care. Before stepping into the world of healthcare administration and, specifically, coaching, Kathleen spent over 40 years as a front-line nurse and Chief Nursing Officer at various medical centers and hospitals systems throughout New Jersey and New York. She knows what strong teams look and act like, having served in various leadership and coaching positions for large healthcare systems like Duke University Health System in Raleigh, Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York as well as urban hospitals and community medical centers in the Bronx and Queens.
Now, with over 40 years of diverse experience in healthcare management, Kathleen is acutely aware of the power of positive patient care experiences on not just administrators seeking to improve outcomes, but also nursing teams working to make a difference in the lives of their patients.
Whether it’s working side-by-side to help front-line nurses and teams uncover different ways to wow patients and families, or working side-by-side with CEOs and CMOs of hospitals to solicit authentic feedback from members of their teams, Kathleen’s greatest delight is empowering healthcare teams with an engaging, hands-on approach that helps both organizations and individuals thrive.
Kathleen is a respected executive coach who has worked with organizations across the country to achieve results through embracing a culture of “every patient every time.” She has authored numerous articles on patient-centered communication, physician engagement and coaching, and has been a featured writer and speaker for notable organizations and publications such as PX Advisor Magazine, The Beryl Institute, Duke University, Dominical College School of Nursing, AACP, and the Society of Healthcare Pharmacists.
GEORGE MAYZELL
Physician Coach
GEORGE MAYZELL, MD, MBA
PHYSICIAN COACH
Many doctors become doctors not because they want to run or manage a practice, but because they want to help and treat people. Dr. George Mayzell is different. He has spent the majority of his professional career between two worlds: one focused on care delivery as a physician, and another focused on effective management as an administrator. Dr. Mayzell’s clinical knowledge is matched only by his business acumen.
Dr. Mayzell has a passion for helping healthcare leaders, staff and physicians restore purpose and joy to their work. At the Healthcare Experience Foundation, Dr. Mayzell is working to innovate physician leadership development, build resilient and engaged physicians and providers, strengthen relationships between administration and medical staff, and develop patient-centered competencies.
As a physician, chief medical officer, senior leader, and now coach, Dr. Mayzell draws upon his extensive experience to help organizations create meaningful improvements that matter.
Before joining the Healthcare Experience Foundation team, Dr. Mayzell served in a variety of notable capacities over the years. He is the founder and president of Empowered Healthcare, the past Chief Clinical Officer for Vizient Southeast, has served as the SVP/CMO and Chief Clinical Integration Officer for AMITA Health in Chicago, has served as CEO of Health Choice (a PHO and CIN), as well as a SVP of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis.
In addition to more than 10 years of practice experience, Dr. Mayzell has dedicated more than 10 years of his life working in senior leadership positions for the University of Florida and Shands Hospital, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. He has held positions on the c-suite, as medical director and has worked through complexities such as care management redesign, clinical variation, clinical integration and physician leadership.
Dr. Mayzell has co-authored several books including “Leveraging Lean in Healthcare” and “Physician Alignment, as well as “Population Health”.
Dr. Mayzell is a board certified internist and geriatrician, having received his medical degree from The Rutgers News Jersey Medical School, and his MBA from Jacksonville University.
While Dr. Mayzell finds his role in administration and leadership fulfilling, he believes that there’s no greater fulfillment than helping health systems and physicians achieve their full potential.
ROB MINKES
Physician Coach
ROB MINKES, MD, Ph.D., MS-LOD
PHYSICIAN COACH
Dr. Robert (Rob) Minkes brings over twenty years of healthcare leadership experience. He is passionate about helping physicians, leaders, staff, teams, and organizations align their values with the amazing work performed each day. Dr. Minkes believes in coaching partnerships to empower others to foster new and healthy perspectives. Dr. Minkes most recently served as the System Medical Director for Adult Specialty and Surgical Services at Lee Health in Fort Myers, Florida, and supported leadership development, financial recovery, and alignment to the care continuum and value transformation. Dr. Minkes was responsible for clinical and patient experience initiatives, recruiting and onboarding physician and clinical providers, performance evaluation, and peer support programs..
Dr. Minkes is a board-certified general and pediatric surgeon who previously practiced as a pediatric surgeon for over twenty years in academic and private practice settings. Dr. Minkes joined Lee Health in 2016 as Medical Director of Pediatric Surgical Services and helped open Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. Dr. Minkes previously opened Children’s Medical Center in Plano, Texas, and served as the Medical Director/Chief Clinical Officer and Chief of Pediatric Surgical Services.
Dr. Minkes grew up in Miami, Florida, and received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami. He attended Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1991 and his medical degree in 1992. He completed his general and pediatric surgical training at Washington University in St. Louis. He previously served as Chief of Pediatric Surgery for Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Dr. Minkes received his Master of Science in Leadership and Organizational Development from the University of Texas at Dallas, earned certificates in Transformational Leadership and Executive and Professional Coaching, and is an International Coaching Federation credentialed coach
MARK MORAN
Physician Coach
MARK MORAN, MD
PHYSICIAN COACH
Mark Moran, MD is a Board-Certified Interventional Cardiologist with decades of experience in clinical practice and healthcare leadership. Throughout his career, Dr. Moran has held numerous senior leadership roles, including Chair of a Hospital Quality Committee, President of the Medical Staff, Member of a Health System Governing Board, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, and Co-Chair of a healthcare system’s Cardiovascular Service Line.
Dr. Moran is deeply committed to advancing quality improvement and patient-centered care. He played a pivotal role in the development of a nationally recognized Top 50 cardiovascular program and is widely respected for his strategic leadership, clinical excellence, and dedication to mentoring physicians and healthcare professionals.
Dr. Moran earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his Doctor of Medicine from the UCLA School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in Cardiology at UCLA Medical Center.
JEFF ROBBINS
Director, HX Coaching
JEFF ROBBINS, MBA, CPXP
DIRECTOR, COACHING
Jeff Robbins, MBA, CPXP is the Director of Healthcare Experience Coaching with a proven track record in creating patient and physician/provider experience improvement in inpatient, emergency department and clinic settings. Jeff has had success in creating physician coaching and mentorship programs in a variety of non-profit, for profit and academic healthcare environments.
Jeff has served as leader of cardiovascular, internal medicine, psychiatry services and has 15 years of healthcare experience in group practice, long-term care, behavioral health, skilled nursing facilities and residential care facilities. He is a sought after speaker with particular emphasis on the Stories Behind N-size, Brain Based Coaching, Civility/Considerate Conduct and Etiquette Based Medicine. Jeff has served in numerous leadership roles in community and academic healthcare settings.
COLEEN SANTA ANA
Executive Coach
COLEEN SANTA ANA, MHA
Executive Coach
Coleen Santa Ana is a US Healthcare Executive with over 20 years in the industry. Coleen served as a Hospital President for the Sentara Healthcare system after progressively promoting through the for-profit organizations HCA and UHS starting as 15-yr old hospital volunteer to ultimately the President title by the age of 34.
She has a mix of industry experience in nonprofit and for-profit executive leadership and operations, mergers & acquisitions, integrations, and turnaround work. Some of her significant achievements include moving a Hospital from a Leapfrog D rating to an A rating as well as a financial transformation from 10 years of consecutive losses prior to her arrival to a positive margin within her first year.
She is recognized in the US healthcare industry as a Modern Healthcare Up & Comer, Inside Business – Women in Business Celebrant, an Empowerment Awardee as well as seated on multiple Boards. She also contributes nationally, she was appointed to the American Hospital Association Equity of Care Committee and served as Chair for two years. Ms. Santa Ana formerly served on the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Board of Visitors, United Way Women’s United 10 for 10 Class of 2020, Tocqueville Society Member and graduate of the CIVIC Leadership Institute, Intermountain Leadership Institute, AHA Institute for Diversity in Health Management Program and is a certified John Maxwell Team Member (leadership coach).
AMY STEINBINDER
Coach & Magnet Advisor
AMY STEINBINDER, Ph.D., RN, NE-BC, NBC-HWC
COACH & MAGNET ADVISOR
Amy has been devoted to creating safe work environments that support patient care delivery for the past 35 years. She brings to Healthcare Experience Foundation proven leadership experience in healthcare organizations with special emphasis on achieving and sustaining magnet designation, executive coaching, and service excellence. As a coach, she leads large-scale change, cycles of innovation using advanced design principles that create ownership and sustainability.
Amy coaches healthcare leaders, staff, and physicians individually and in their teams. She has worked with over 15 organizations in pursuit of Magnet designation of Nursing Excellence and in each case, Magnet designation was achieved. She has served in a number of leadership capacities including Service Excellence Administrator, Patient Safety Officer, Senior Director of Nursing Systems, Director of Professional Practice, and Organizational Development Consultant. She had responsibility for patient experience, leadership development, quality improvement, root cause analysis, instructional design, and Magnet redesignation. She has held leadership roles in Banner Health System, Language of Caring, Kindred, and Thunderbird Leadership Consulting.
She has authored dozens of articles and book chapters to advance the field of nursing and clinician leadership excellence. Most recently, she co-authored Achieving Uncommon Results through Caring Leadership for Nurse Leader.
Certifications, Education and Achievements: Certifications: National Board Certified in Health and Wellness Coaching, Integrative Health Coaching, Executive Coaching, Assessment Based Certification (Magnet); Board Certified Nursing Executive; Patient Safety Officer; DISC and Emotional Intelligence
AL STUBBLEFIELD
Executive Coach
AL STUBBLEFIELD, FACHE
EXECUTIVE COACH & SENIOR ADVISOR EMERITUS, BAPTIST HEALTH CARE, PENSACOLA FL
Al Stubblefield knows all about creating cultures that wow. During his tenure as President and CEO of Baptist Healthcare Corporation, Al led his team of administrators, physicians, nurses and staff through a cultural transformation journey. In a few short years, Al took his health system from the 17th to the 99th percentile—an achievement that earned him the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
The culture he and his entire workforce created cemented Baptist Health Care as a leader in patient and employee satisfaction, and Al as one of the most influential people in healthcare. As a result of his leadership, Baptist Healthcare has led the nation in patient satisfaction for 12 consecutive years during Al’s tenure, has earned it recognition as being the best company to work for in America by Fortune and Time, and has been named to Training Magazine’s Prestigious “Top 100 List.”
Al is nationally and internationally recognized as a founder of the patient experience movement. He is a frequent speaker and author of The Baptist Health Care Journey to Excellence: Creating a Culture that WOWs! Al also contributes to articles that help healthcare execs reduce staff turnover, increase market share and improve financial performance. Al travels the country working with our client’s senior teams, board members, and leaders to create cultures that empower and engage employees and providers to achieve organizational goals and ambitions.
TREVOR TURNER
Physician Coach
TREVOR TURNER, FMD, FAWM
PHYSICIAN COACH
Trevor Turner has extraordinary insight about partnering with his colleagues: the team in the clinic, and certainly his patients. As a physician coach, Trevor Turner, MD mentors leaders, staff, and physicians to improve teamwork, communication, and respect.
He is widely regarded for his expertise in the patient experience, emerging technology, and helping organization’s improve performance. Trevor believes that the ability to be vulnerable is crucial for anyone who wants to genuinely connect with patients and others. He is one who truly walks-the-walk, and serves as an example to those in his professional orbit. Highly regarded as a mentor and coach, Trevor sees exceptional value that different kinds of people and thus, a diversity of perspectives, bring to a situation.
“We all have things we excel in, and it takes more than one person’s strengths to develop creative solutions.”
It is that humble approach, along with his extraordinary communication abilities and compassionate, empathetic approach that make him a very effective coach for physicians and clinicians.
MATTHEW WHITAKER
Executive Coach
MATTHEW WHITAKER, Ph.D.
SENIOR JEDI COACH
We often discuss traits of passion, conviction, dedication, and Matthew Whitaker adheres to these and more as a trendsetter in justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Matthew C. Whitaker, Ph.D. is not only a faculty member of the Healthcare Experience Foundation, but he is also the Founder and CEO of Diamond Strategies, LLC., an NSDMC certified minority business enterprise (MBE).
Dr. Whitaker is an award-winning educator, author, community engagement specialist, motivational speaker, and founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, the winner of the 2014 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance (DLA) Inclusive Workplace Award, at Arizona State University, where he was a professor of history for 15 years. He earned his Ph.D. in History, with honors, at Michigan State University, and recently completed an Executive Certification Program in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Cornell University. He specializes in U.S. history, African American history and life, civil rights, race relations, social movements, diversity, equity, and inclusion. He is the author of “Race Work: The Rise of Civil Rights in the Urban West”.
Dr. Whitaker has consulted, spoken, and lectured across the globe and has been featured on CNN, NPR, PBS and WVON – The Talk of Chicago. He is also a co-founder of the Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series, winner of the National League of Cities Promoting Inclusive Award, and presented the City of Phoenix 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Living the Dream Award.
Deborah, is an Executive Coach with the Healthcare Experience Foundation and the Founder and President of Legacy Healthcare Management Consulting in North Carolina. She has accumulated extensive experience as a healthcare executive by leading organizations through strategic planning, innovative new community services, hospital, and foundation board governance, developing alliances with other healthcare systems as well as organizational mergers.
Formerly, Deborah was the president and CEO of Chilton Medical Center, in Pompton Plains, NJ and successfully led the organization and medical staff by developing and implementing prescriptive and focused strategic plans. She maintains board member and board leadership status on not for profit, for profit, academic, and professional boards at both the state and national levels. She has also authored an article about transforming board governance in healthcare.
She received her BSN from the University of Rhode Island; both Masters’ degrees from Teachers College Columbia University, and her DNP from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ. Debbie has accrued over 30 years of experience in healthcare where her professional career has emphasized a clinical and professional journey from clinical nurse to nurse executive roles, author, academic educator, and healthcare executive. Her multifaceted experience provides her the ability to authoring professional educational solutions, national presentations, healthcare consulting, organization and leadership transformational change, physician engagement, and executive, business and personal coaching.
