John R. Combes, M.D., President, Center for Healthcare Governance, and Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, American Hospital Association, is responsible for staffing and administration, sponsorship development, the national symposia, regional conferences and membership development. He has more than 20 years of experience in executive health care leadership with deep expertise on issues relating to quality, patient safety and medical ethics. Dr. Combes previously served as a senior medical advisor at the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and the American Hospital Association and was a chief medical officer for two large Florida healthcare systems.
Gene J. O’Dell, Vice President, Operations, is charged with oversight of the daily operations of the Center and its strategic planning activities. In addition to his Center role, Mr. O’Dell also serves as Vice President, Strategic Planning & Performance Excellence for the American Hospital Association. He brings over 30 years of strategic planning and business planning experience in both the for-profit and not-for profit sectors.
Debra Stock, Vice President, brings substantial expertise to the Center in the development of resources, programs, tools, and services that help hospital and health system boards achieve excellence in their governance work. In addition, Ms. Stock serves as Vice President of Member Relations for the American Hospital Association, where she has oversight of the AHA’s policy and advocacy involvement initiatives for trustees and other community leaders, including management of the activities of the AHA’s Committee on Governance, its Trustee Leadership Network, and matching trustee leaders nationwide with AHA committees and task forces. Prior to joining AHA, she worked in other association management, health care consulting, and hospital administration roles.