Population Health Events

2025 Creighton-CHI Health Access in Rural Surgery Symposium

Friday, May 30, 2025

Creighton University Mike & Josie Harper Center Rooms 2057/2058
602 N 20th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68178

Building a Sustainable Future for Rural Surgery

Featuring Keynote Speaker Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS 
President of the American College of Surgeons

Registration is free. Symposium topics include:

  • Advancing Rural Surgery: Education, Sustainability, and Innovation
  • The Role of Policy and Advocacy in Addressing Workforce Shortages

 Program Co-directors

Waddah B. Al-Refaie, MD, FACS
Dr. & Mrs. Arnold W. Lempka Endowed Chair and Professor in Surgery
Chair of the Department of Surgery
Creighton University School of Medicine
Chair of the Department of Surgery for CHI Health Clinic

Scott Shipman, MD, MPH
CyncHealth/ Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative Endowed Professor of Population Health
Executive Director, Institute for Population Health
Creighton University

 

Program Committee

Emily Brown, MD
Kyle E. Cassling, MD, MEd
Kathleen Guinn
Scott Reetz, MD, MPH
Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH
Dillon Wade, MD
 

This conference is designed for surgeons, nurses, residents, policymakers, and faculty, students, and staff interested in rural health and rural health policy.

 

OPENING

Noon
Registration, Lunch, and Networking

12:30 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Bo Dunlay, MD
Dean, School of Medicine
Creighton University

Waddah B. Al-Refaie, MD, FACS
Chair of Surgery, School of Medicine
Creighton University & CHI Health

Scott Shipman, MD, MPH
CyncHealth Professor of Population Health
Executive Director, Institute for Population Health
Creighton University
 

Jointly Provided By

  • Creighton University School of Medicine
  • Creighton University Institute for Population Health
  • CHI Health
  • Creighton University Office of Continuing Education

 

SESSION 1: KEYNOTE

12:45 p.m.

The Role of the American College of Surgeons in Supporting Rural Surgery

Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS President, American College of Surgeons

Introduction: Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH

 

SESSION 2

1:30 p.m.

The Role of Policy and Advocacy in Addressing Workforce Shortages

Fireside Chat with Representative Don Bacon: Rural Healthcare, Policy and Advocacy in Nebraska Moderators

Scott Reetz, MD, MPH
Bonnie Simpson Mason, MD, FAAOS

 

2 p.m.

Panel: Federal vs. Local Advocacy

Moderators

Emily Brown, MD
Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH

Panelists

Christian Shalgian, Senior Vice President, Division of Advocacy Health Policy, American College of Surgeons 
Jed Hansen, PhD, APRN, FNP-C, Executive Director, Nebraska Rural Health Association

 

2:55 p.m.

Framework Presentation

Jillian Timperley

 

SESSION 3

3:15 p.m.

Advancing Rural Surgery Panel: Education, Sustainability, and Innovation

Moderators

Dillon Wade, MD
Neil Patel, MD

Panelists

Tyler G. Hughes, MD, FACS, Clinical Professor of Surgery Dean, University of Kansas School of Medicine Salina 1st VP Elect, American College of Surgeons
Benjamin Jarman, MD, Vice President of Medical Education Designated Institutional Official Gundersen Health System
Kyle E. Cassling, MD, MEd Assistant Professor, General Surgery Creighton University & CHI Health

 

CLOSING

4:30 p.m. 

Closing Remarks and Adjournment 

 

 

PAST EVENTS

University Symposium on Population Health - Beyond Barriers: Advancing Population Health in Arizona

Doris S. Norton Ballroom, Creighton Health Sciences Campus-Phoenix

See the full schedule and speakers listed below.


Thursday, October 10 

National Panel: Innovations in Care Delivery and Training to Advance Health Equity

Interested in learning about innovations that hold promise to improve care and advance healthcare equity? How can we be confident that innovations in health care won’t lead to new disparities in access, quality, or outcomes of care? How are learners best introduced to the clinician’s role in eliminating health disparities, inside and outside the health care system? In this session, we will discuss innovations in medical training and health care delivery that promote health equity and prepare the next generation to leverage innovation to improve access and care for all.

National speakers:

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    Nana Coleman

    Nana Coleman, MD, EdM
    System Senior Vice President of Academic and Faculty Affairs, Physician Enterprise, and Chief Academic Officer at CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems; Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine; Pediatric Intensivist at Texas Children’s Hospital.

    Dr. Coleman is a seasoned physician executive and national leader across all domains of health systems science. Throughout her career she has served as a bridging leader between health systems, academic institutions, clinicians, educators and learners and has applied this expertise to lead transformation and achieve excellence across complex learning health systems. In her current position, Dr. Coleman is the accountable leader at CommonSpirit for the health system’s relationships with its national academic partners and has operationalized a national vision and strategy for academics. She oversees system initiatives across the realm of both academic affairs and faculty affairs, including the implementation of the data-driven systems and processes necessary to elevate academic research, clinical training and healthcare delivery across the enterprise..
     

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    Helen Hughes

    Helen Hughes, MD, MPH
    Medical Director, Office of Telemedicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Medical Director, Pediatric Telemedicine, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

    Hughes is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and practices general pediatrics in East Baltimore. After earning an undergraduate degree at Haverford College, Hughes attended medical school at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and received a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

    She completed a residency in pediatrics and served as chief resident at Johns Hopkins, where she stayed on to complete a health equity research fellowship in general academic pediatrics. In addition to her work in telemedicine, she is an Epic Physician Builder and co-chairs the Johns Hopkins Patient Family Centered Design (MyChart) committee.


Investing in the Health of Our Communities

In today's complex healthcare landscape, barriers to quality care abound for all—from privately insured patients to uninsured patients. This session will explore innovative strategies undertaken by AZ Blue and St. Vincent de Paul to address barriers to care, improve patient outcomes, and promote a more equitable healthcare system. 

Speakers 

  • John Anwar, MD, Chief Medical Officer, St. Vincent de Paul / Virginia G. Piper Medical Clinic 
  • Carla Berg, MHS, Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona 
  • Shannon Clancy, Chief Executive Officer, St. Vincent de Paul

The Health System's Role in Reimagining Care to Improve Access & Health Equity

Health systems play a pivotal role in our communities. Through clinical redesign, training future providers, policy work, and community engagement, health systems have a mission to improve health equity. This session will delve into specific strategies underway in Arizona to reimagine care delivery to address disparities, improve outcomes, and ultimately advance population health.

Speakers

  • Viren Bavishi, DO, President, Dignity Health Medical Group
  • Kamal Sumar, MD, MBA, CPE, VP Population Health Arizona | Nevada, Dignity Health
  • Michael White, MD, MBA, Chief Clinical Officer, ValleyWise Health

Fireside Chat: Creighton’s Commitment to Advancing Population Health 

Creighton exemplifies many aspects of population health needed to move beyond barriers and improve the health of our communities in Phoenix. This session will highlight the ways that Creighton is advancing population health work in Phoenix to reduce health disparities and ultimately improve health equity.

Speakers

  • Emily Babcock, DHSc, PA-C, Program Director, PA Program, Associate Professor
  • Jason Beste, MD, MPH, Executive Director, Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program, Associate Professor 
  • Claudia Chambers, MD, MBA, FACOG, Associate Dean of Medical Education
  • Helen Hurst, DNP, RNC-OB, APRN-CNM, Associate Dean of Nursing-Phoenix, Professor
  • Jennifer Jessen, EdD, RN, CNOR, Executive Director, CIPER, Assistant Professor
  • Danielle Okezie, MEd, Program Manager, LEAD Scholar Program 

 

University Symposium on Population Health - Surgical Equity: A Call to Action


Immediately following the symposium, the IPH hosted an evening of dialogue with national and local surgical leaders who are transforming surgical care to reduce disparities and enhance access to high-quality surgical care for all. If surgeons are to be leaders in advancing health equity, they must take a multifaceted approach to improving surgical outcomes—one that focuses on improving access, addressing implicit bias and racism, and training the next generation to understand the impact of social determinants of health on outcomes.

National Speakers:

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    Jennifer Tseng

    Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH, is a surgical oncologist specializing in upper GI surgery. She is professor of surgery emerita and Immediate Past Utley Professor and chair of surgery at Boston University. She will deliver a keynote titled "Surgery is vital to building health equity everywhere (it’s not urban versus rural)." She founded the Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research (SOAR) initiative in 2007 at UMass Chan Medical School, subsequently moving it to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and to Boston University/Boston Medical Center, and remains principal of SOAR Enterprices LLC. Tseng is immediate past chair of the board and past president of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) and is a founder and past president of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS). She is a Director of the Complex General Surgical Oncology Board and serves as a deputy editor for JAMA Surgery. Tseng has been focused on longitudinal work in health equity and advocacy, service to medical and philanthropic organizations, and several writing projects.

     

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    Jorge Irving

    Irving Jorge, MD, MBA, FACS, is the chair of acute care surgery at Mayo Clinic Arizona. His research focuses on systemic policies that widens the disparity gap within our healthcare system and all aspects of emergency general surgery. Using his knowledge and experience, Jorge works to identify and put in place strategies that make access to quality care better for those who are underserved.

     

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    Tess Montminy

    Tess Montminy, MD, is a general surgery resident at Creighton University School of Medicine in Phoenix, where she is leading the program's first free surgical clinic to improve surgery access for uninsured and underinsured patients. The program runs in association with the Dignity Health Hernia Institute and St. Vincent De Paul Phoenix. Montminy originally hails from outside of Toronto, Canada, and studied medicine at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
     

  • Daniela Cocco, MD, FACS, chief of breast surgery at Valleywise Health Medical Center and assistant professor at Creighton University School of Medicine.

     

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    Priya Rajdev

    Priya Rajdev, MD, is a general/minimally Invasive surgeon specializing in benign foregut disease and abdominal wall reconstruction. Rajdev serves as the surgery clerkship director for the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix as well as the inclusive excellence champion for the Department of Surgery. In her role she has created a cultural humility curriculum for students, implemented ongoing faculty development around diversity, inclusion, equity, microaggressions, and unconscious bias, introduced social determinants of health into weekly M+M, and partnered with the Department of Family Medicine to address the impact of food deserts in our patient population.