Great Lakes Integrated Network Appoints New Leadership Roles

Great Lakes Integrated Network (GLIN) appointed a number of critical roles within the organization to advance both clinical and operational integration with the network.

Paul Shields, DO, has been named chief medical officer (CMO) and executive director for GLIN.

Shields has been serving as the interim CMO for GLIN since June 2022. He will continue to lead the organization’s efforts to work collaboratively with physicians to understand the struggles practices face and strive to provide the resources needed to meet the growing challenges of this industry. Many of the resources and services provided by GLIN are geared toward supporting practice transformation, enhancing the patient experience, reducing administrative burdens, improving population health management, and most importantly, promoting a more clinically integrated healthcare system in Western New York.

As executive director, Shields will bring his collaborative leadership style, commitment to accountability to the community, and overall strategic responsibility to his new role and vision with the day-to-day operations.  

Dr. Shields previously served as vice president of post-acute clinical services for General Physician, PC (GPPC), medical director of the Visiting Nursing Association of Western New York, and physician advisor for post-acute care for Kaleida Health and Erie County Medical Center.

Kristin Cortese was named vice president of population health and practice transformation.

Cortese joined GLIN in March 2021 as a director of clinical quality operations. In that role, she developed and supervised clinical transformation programs that accelerated the achievement of goals related to clinical operations as well as aligned GLIN’s strategy for practice transformation.  

In her new role, Cortese will be responsible for operational leadership of all provider and patient-facing programs of the IPA, including practice transformation, quality, care management, nutrition, and pharmacy services. Cortese will also lead provider-based program design and improvement as well as efforts to improve quality and outcomes of care, and reduce avoidable costs.

With more than 17 years in health care, Cortese previously served as director of quality performance at GPPC where she helped establish successful quality incentive contracts, evaluated patient care and outcomes, and improved clinical processes for providers.

Cortese’s newly-appointed leadership team includes:

• Samantha Barrett, PharmD, BCACP, director of clinical pharmacy
• Kayla Felder, director of practice transformation and quality
• Jennifer Rhoney, director of care management
• Katie Witherell, director of post-acute care

Alexis Jordan was named vice president of finance and operations for GLIN.

In collaboration with Kaleida Health, Jordan has been supporting GLIN in special projects and ongoing performance improvement, growth, and population health initiative including payer contract advisement and partnership strategies.

Jordan joined Kaleida Health in June 2022 as a senior director in financial business consulting. In this role, she was responsible for analyzing complex financial information, forecasting business, industry, and economic conditions, and presenting implications and innovative solutions to senior management.

In her new role, Jordan’s focus is to grow, retain and engage GLIN’s high-performing network of providers. She will lead strategy and growth initiatives for the organization by enhancing the analytic support that helps drive population health insights, maximizing financial reward, collaborating with payer partners to implement a fair value-based reimbursement model, and participating in the most advanced government reimbursement programs.  

Jordan came to Kaleida Health from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York. Previous roles at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York included director of the provider network contracting, manager of network finance, and actuarial analyst.

Meri Notaro has been appointed senior director of network management and network operations.  Notaro will be responsible for developing and expanding recruitment strategies, solidifying network relationships and physician value-based contracting, and building a clinically-integrated network that aligns with GLIN’s IPA and the hospital systems.  

In addition to Notaro, Jordan’s newly-appointed leadership team consists of:

• Rachel Beaton, director of network analytics (COPE)
• David Nielsen, director of corporate services
• Andrew Smithson, interim, director of finance (COPE)

COPE Health Solutions, a solution firm with a population health management analytics subsidiary, will be represented on a Joint Operating Committee (JOC) and will serve to support the operations of GLIN by providing a team to assist with operating and providing subject matter experts.