2023 Utah Health Center Boards of Directors Retreat

Opening Keynote Session - Eric Meade

Eric Meade is a futurist and organizational strategist at the Whole Mind Strategy Group and an adjunct instructor at the University of Denver’s Health Care Leadership Program.

Closing Keynote Session - Jody Urquhart

Watch Jody Speak

A highly sought-after funny motivational speaker, Jody Urquhart is the author of All Work & No Say, a bestselling book that shattered assumptions that work can’t be rewarding and fun.

Every motivational talk features, Savvy, Uplifting and Hysterical advice to help your audience develop a buoyant, positive and meaningful perspective in the midst of stress and change.

Jody is passionate about spreading the message of the importance of fun and meaningful work. A motivational speaker for over 22 years, Jody speaks at over 80 organizations and associations every year and is a top keynote speaker.

Break-out Session - Colleen Meiman

Colleen Meiman is the National Policy Advisor for state and regional associations of Community Health Centers (CHCs), often called Primary Care Associations (PCAs). Previously, she spent six years with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) as the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Senior Policy Advisor. She also spent more than two decades in the Federal government, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary’s Office, the US Senate, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and numerous positions within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  Colleen’s expertise is in federal programs such as 340B, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the Community Health Center Program. 

Break-out Session - Curt Degenfelder

CDCI is based in Los Angeles and headed by Curt Degenfelder, a national health care business consultant with 34 years of health care experience; 27 years focused on developing financial, operational, and strategic solutions for health centers. An industry thought leader, Curt has helped hundreds of health centers across the country address critical organizational issues and improve their boom lines, by creating effective approaches that consider both the internal and external operating environment. Curt’s expertise touches all facets of a health center, via his comprehensive analysis that runs from the front office to the management and board. Mr. Degenfelder has worked on Alternative Payment Methodologies (APMs) in Oregon, Washington, California, Iowa, and Louisiana. Curt performs strategic planning, and financial and operational training for health centers, PCAs, NACHC, as well as boards and foundations.

Break-out Session - Melissa Stratman

Melissa is the owner and CEO of Coleman Associates. Melissa started with Coleman when she was a pre-Med student and the team leader of her CHC’s process redesign team in 1999. In the 2000s mentored by Roger Coleman, Melissa managed the majority of the Coleman Associates social services work (food stamps, Medicaid, Immigration), as well as Patient Visit Redesign and Access Improvement collaboratives. Under Melissa’s leadership, PVR™ and Access Improvement were blended for a powerful and time-saving approach to improvement:  DPI™ (Dramatic Performance Improvement) Collaboratives and Rapid DPI™ program. 

As CEO, Melissa has shepherded Coleman’s growth and developed many firsts: performance Dashboards program for clients, a tailored model for private practices, a tailored specialty care access program, a concretized Tactical Nurse™ training program, the Indispensible MA program, and architectural partnerships. Melissa is both a process redesigner and a digital process designer. Melissa founded the nationally utilized online training program (www.Vroom.Training) and began the development of Coleman’s video training tools. Besides her clinical skills and experience in the public health setting, Melissa has also worked for an insurer, a health care marketing firm and in the hospital setting where she developed a Cultural Diversity and Interpretive Services Department. When in Boulder, Melissa loves to tap into her farm family upbringing by gardening and cooking with her family. Melissa speaks Spanish fluently.

Break-out Session - Edmund Ura

Edmund Ura is a founder and President of Merces Consulting Group, Inc. Ed works with human resources, general management, directors, and board committees to assist in developing effective organizational designs and compensation strategies to meet strategic and operational needs. He has overall management responsibility for the firm and is the leader of the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and Professional and Trade Association Practices.

Break-out Session - Jenifer Lloyd

Jenifer has worked for the Association for Utah Community Health (AUCH) since August 2010. Her primary role at AUCH is assisting Utah’s health centers with best practices in regulatory and compliance issues and board development. She came to AUCH with a background in law and public health. Jenifer earned her J.D. from the University of Utah; her areas of interest are health law and disability law. Prior to law school, Jenifer worked for the Utah Department of Health and served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Jenifer earned her D.V.M. from Colorado State University and her M.S.P.H. from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.