Speakers

Laura Forese, M.D., M.P.H., is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operation Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare systems. The only hospital in the country affiliated with two top-ranked medical schools, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is recognized as the #5 hospital in the nation and the #1 hospital in New York by U.S. News and World Report, as well as a best place to work by Forbes, Fortune, and Glassdoor.

Dr. Forese has ultimate operational responsibility for the NewYork-Presbyterian enterprise, including 10 hospital campuses, 200 primary and specialty care clinics and medical groups, more than 47,000 employees and affiliated physicians, and more than $8 billion in revenue.

Under her leadership, NewYork-Presbyterian launched an innovative suite of digital health services called NYP OnDemand, implemented groundbreaking employee programs for paid parental leave and respite care, and achieved significant gains in patient satisfaction scores as well as employee engagement and front-line empowerment by focusing on building a culture of respect. As President of the NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network, Dr. Forese expanded the organization’s presence in Westchester County, Queens and Brooklyn, bringing high-quality community hospitals into the network, and she established the NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Groups to expand NewYork-Presbyterian’s primary and specialty care throughout the region. Among Dr. Forese’s top priorities and accomplishments is the regionalization and standardization of financial, operational, and clinical practices across the enterprise so that every patient receives the same exceptional standard of care no matter where they go in the NewYork-Presbyterian system.

Active in multiple healthcare and civic organizations, Dr. Forese chairs the hospital board of the NIH Clinical Center; she is also a Trustee of Princeton University, a board member of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and LiveOnNY, and serves as a director of Cantel Medical.  She has been named among the 50 most powerful women in New York by Crain’s Business, the top 25 COOs in Healthcare and 50 most influential clinical executives by Modern Healthcare magazine and has been honored as Mother of the Year by the American Cancer Society.  

An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Forese graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University and Alpha Omega Alpha from Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, and she holds a management degree from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Andrew Colbert joined Ziegler in 2006 as a founding member of Ziegler’s Corporate Finance Healthcare practice. He specializes in advising healthcare services and healthcare information technology companies on a spectrum of strategic and financing alternatives including mergers and acquisitions, capital raising transactions and partnership development. Andrew is also involved in Ziegler’s principal investing efforts and serves on the Strategic Leadership Committee at Ziegler.

Andrew takes pride in developing long-term relationships with his clients and brings creative structuring insights and deep domain expertise to achieve premium outcomes. He has been engaged in over 50 transactions totaling over $3 billion in value; including sell-side and buy-side representation, strategic partnerships, public equity financings, private placements, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts and fairness opinions.  

Andrew has completed numerous M&A and capital raising transactions for healthcare companies across a wide spectrum of healthcare subsectors including healthcare information technology, physician groups/MSOs (radiology, emergency medicine, anesthesia, hospitalist, etc.), telemedicine, wellness, managed care, provider and payor outsourcing, and revenue cycle management.  Prior to joining Ziegler, Andrew was an investment banker in the healthcare group at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.

He is the author of 14 publications in the following press and media outlets: AuntMinnie.com, Axis Imaging News, Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, Healthcare Business News, Imaging Technology News, Radiology Today Magazine, Advance Healthcare Network. Andrew is the recipient of the Emerging Leaders Award by the M&A Advisor. He is a frequent speaker at many conferences and industry events, including ACG, HIMSS, HFMA ANI, Health2.0 and RBMA, among others. He graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University with a B.A. in international relations and a minor in economics. He holds Series 7 and 63 securities licenses. Andrew also serves as a mentor to the Blueprint Health startup accelerator in New York City.

Ryan brings to Norwest Venture Partners more than twenty-five years of healthcare experience and fifteen years as a growth equity and buyout investor. Combining deep medical knowledge and extensive strategic business experience, Ryan focuses on growth equity investments in the healthcare sector in Norwest’s Palo Alto office. Areas in which he invests include healthcare services, pharma services, healthcare IT, medical devices. Ryan’s current investments include American Endovascular, Blue Cloud, Gateway Learning Group, Onsite Dental, Rivermend Health, and TARGET PharmaSolutions. His previous investments include Capsugel (acquired by Lonza), Crossover Health (acquired by Gurnet Point Capital), and iCardiac (acquired by ERT).

Prior to joining Norwest, Ryan was a Principal with The Carlyle Group and a Venture Partner with Industry Ventures, where he focused exclusively on healthcare services, pharmaceutical, and medical device investments from large cap buyouts to growth equity and venture.

At Carlyle, Ryan’s deals led to realized profitable exits of more than $2.2 billion equity value. He served as a member or observer on the Board of Directors of Align Technologies (Nasdaq: ALGN), AqueSys, Colin Medical, ConnectiCare, MedPointe Pharmaceuticals, Multiplan, NeoVista, Proteus Biomedical and Qualicaps.

At Industry Ventures, Ryan executed transactions involving Access Closure, Cardiofocus, Ingenuity, and Intarcia. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2002, Ryan was a consultant in the West Coast Healthcare Practice of McKinsey & Company, where he worked with a variety of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies on corporate, R&D and marketing strategies.

Ryan has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed comparative effectiveness articles in publications such as JAMA, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Health Economics.

Ryan holds an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. In addition, he earned an M.S. in health research and policy, and a B.A. in psychology from Stanford University. Ryan also attended Oxford University’s Magdalen College.

Alex Zapesochny is currently CEO and co-founder of Clerio Vision, which is commercializing femtosecond laser technology for uses in non-invasive refractive surgery and advanced contact lens applications.  An experienced technology executive and attorney, Alex was previously the co-founder of iCardiac Technologies, where he served as CEO through its acquisition in 2017.  iCardiac was a leading technology developer and ran complex clinical trials for numerous pharma and biotech companies, especially focusing on assessing cardiac safety, respiratory and patient reported outcome data.

Prior to iCardiac, Alex was part of the executive management team at Lenel Systems, during which the company was among the fastest-growing private companies in the United States and was sold to United Technologies Corporation.  Alex's other roles have included being Executive Vice President of Cardiac Safety at ERT and a senior legal counsel at United Technologies.  He currently serves on the boards of multiple life sciences and nonprofit organizations. 

Alex received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University, his law degree from American University, and Master's degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

Don Ritucci is the Managing Director, Healthcare M&A at Jefferies. He has pervious worked at Imperial Capital LLC and lead up of their financial sponsors as well as their healthcare coverage effort.He started with Imperial in 2011, and prior to that he was at UBS Securities for 13 years, spending most of his time in healthcare M&A. He have been a member of ACG New York since 2012, and has been on the Board since September 2016.

Rick Zall is chair of Proskauer's Health Care Group. Rick advises health care companies, investors and lenders in their most challenging transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings and complex commercial agreements.

With a deep understanding of the health care industry, Rick is known for providing practical, creative solutions in order to successfully close deals for his clients.

Rick advises clients on state and federal health care regulatory compliance matters, including the corporate practice of medicine, digital health, telemedicine, HIPAA, fraud and abuse, Medicare and Medicaid payment reimbursement, MACRA, and value based payment.

Rick is a respected thought leader in the health care industry and frequently presents at key industry events. He has served in government, is a co-founder of the New York Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), and earlier in his career was CEO of a private equity-backed medical management company. Rick has also directed two industry studies for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and serves as principal outside counsel and board secretary to the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).

Robert Fraiman, Jr. has been President of Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, since 2010. As an investment banker with over 33 years’ experience, he has advised clients in mergers & acquisitions, debt and equity capital raising, and strategic growth initiatives. Mr. Fraiman has worked with clients in the healthcare industry on hundreds of successful transactions, including the recapitalizations of Steward Health System with Medical Properties Trust and of DuPage Medical Group with Summit Partners, and the conversion from not-for-profit to for-profit of Caritas Christi Health Care (Steward) with Cerberus Capital Management. He is a regular speaker on healthcare industry panels sponsored by ACG, The Deal, Nashville Health Care Council, and Health Evolution Summit, among others.

Prior to joining Cain Brothers in 2004, Mr. Fraiman was head of healthcare investment banking at BMO Capital Markets. Mr. Fraiman began his investment banking career at Bear Stearns in 1985 and helped build that firm’s healthcare investment banking practice. From 1994 until his departure in 2001, as a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns, Mr. Fraiman worked with clients in the healthcare services and medical technology industries.

Mr. Fraiman earned a BA in History from Colgate University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is a General Partner of the CB Executive Co-Investment private equity fund. He serves on the boards of Grand Street Settlement, a New York City community social services organization, and Campus Bound Scholars, a college mentoring program supporting students who are first in their family to attend college. He is also on the board of KAABOO, LLC. He is a former member of the Board of the Nashville Health Care Council.

Mr. Hepper is a managing director in the Healthcare & Life Sciences Group at Harris Williams.  During his career, Mr. Hepper has worked on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising transactions across a variety of healthcare segments, including pharmaceutical services, post-acute and alternate site care, ancillary services and outsourcing, and medical and life science devices and products.

Prior to joining Harris Williams, Mr. Hepper worked as an Investment Banking associate at Croft & Bender, LLC, and as an Investment Banking analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase and Wachovia Securities.  Previous experience also includes work as a summer associate at Barclays Capital.  Mr. Hepper earned an M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, where he received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence, and a B.A., cum laude, in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Vanderbilt University.  Mr. Hepper lives in Richmond with his wife and three children.

I have been an investment banker for my entire professional career. I started my career covering the industrial and automotive sectors at SalomonSmithBarney (later Citigroup’s Global Investment Bank) which was exceptional training. In 2003 I began focusing exclusively on the healthcare sector and have done that ever since, because I enjoy the people and the businesses. I graduated from the University of Virginia and hold series 7, 24 and 79 securities licenses.

While at Salomon I was on the team that completed the largest leveraged buyout since the RJR Nabisco deal (The Blackstone Group’s $4.7 billion acquisition of TRW Automotive in February 2003). Working on large, high profile transactions is always thrilling: you are working with exceptionally sophisticated clients and complex deal structures. However, those transactions don’t have much of the “human element”, and the investment banker’s role is more mechanical than strategic. My most rewarding professional experiences have come from working with the owners of small and medium-size businesses, helping them to achieve their strategic, financial, or personal goals, and helping them to find the partner that is the best fit for their vision and legacy. I enjoy the sectors Edgemont specializes in, and take pride knowing that we serve as a trusted partner to our clients, and that they value our guidance.

Rain or shine, I love to be outdoors, which is easier in New York City than most people assume. I am a passionate fly fisherman and outdoorsman, and I have a son and golden retriever who keep me active (and wake me up too early). When the New York City lifestyle doesn’t allow these pastimes, my wife and I enjoy reading (Steinbeck is a favorite, as well as anything about the Civil War), dining out, and going to movies. I have also always gotten a thrill out of traveling, especially long road trips.

Arun Prasad is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, where he specializes in advising clients across the healthcare services industry. Mr. Prasad has over 16 years of investment banking experience and has executed numerous corporate finance transactions including M&A, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and other equity and debt transactions. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, was an investment banker at both Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank in their respective healthcare investment banking groups. Mr. Prasad holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics from Boston College, where he was a member of the Honors Programs in both the Carroll School of Management and College of Arts and Sciences.

Aaron Cohen, co-leader of Citrin Cooperman’s Health Care Practice, provides advisory services to health care organizations throughout the continuum of care. Aaron works with health care organizations considering and involved in fundamental operational and financial transformations resulting from changes in regulations, financing, or strategic opportunities. He has worked extensively with hospitals and health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, physician practices, hospices, post-acute care providers, and investor and management groups working with health care providers.

Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, Aaron served as a principal in the health care consulting practice of a Top 20 public accounting firm. He began his career as a senior vice president of advisory services at a boutique health care firm and as an associate in the corporate legal department of an international law firm.

Aaron’s wide breadth of experience includes providing a diverse array of services related to health care transactions, strategic partnerships, and affiliations, such as undertaking due diligence, structuring and negotiating the business terms of the transaction, providing valuation consulting services, and leading post-transaction integration. As part of his structuring services, Aaron regularly leads health care organizations in developing the financial sharing mechanism underpinning gain sharing arrangements, such as with respect to accountable care organizations, clinically integrated networks, hospital/physician alignment, hospital/post-acute care strategic partnerships, and service line revenue mergers between hospitals. Additionally, Aaron assists hedge funds and private equity funds to evaluate and undertake strategic healthcare investments. With his ability to take complicated situations and create actionable plans, Aaron has advised more than fifty health care transactions within the past seven years alone. 

In addition, Aaron has extensive strategic planning experience and works with health care providers to determine whether, and how, to align with other organizations or to continue to successfully operate as an independent entity. In particular, Aaron focuses in the areas of physician/hospital alignment, syndication of ambulatory businesses, and planning and execution related to private equity investor transactions. As part of his strategic consulting practice, Aaron has helped develop and operationalize new business ventures, formulate strategic business plans, and undertake gap analyses on health care providers. 

Christopher McFadden joined the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) as a Managing Director in 2018. Tasked with building the firm’s healthcare private credit practice, he has applied his industry expertise to invest over $1.5B in the healthcare sector to date. Mr. McFadden’s previous career includes senior roles at Athyrium Capital Management and Health Evolution Partners, as well as serving as the General Partner of Canyon Healthcare Partners, a healthcare-focused private equity firm he founded in 2014.

His interest in healthcare investing began with a recognition of the power of economics, financial markets and public policy to shape the $3 trillion U.S. healthcare economy. Examining the interplay of these three elements propelled his early career, leading him to serve as a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs, where he became an award-wining equity research analyst.

Mr. McFadden has held a number of governance roles, including Trustee for Montefiore Medical Center and serving on the Board of Directors at Mauna Kea Technologies, InnovaTel Telepsychiatry, Healthcare Staffing Services/Fastaff, Athenahealth, and Reliant Rehabilitation.
Mr. McFadden holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He lives in Northern California with his wife and three children. 

Scott Plumridge is a Managing Partner and member of both the Management and Investment Committees of The Halifax Group. Scott joined Halifax in 2005 and provides leadership in the sourcing, evaluation, execution and development of investments.

Before joining Halifax, Scott founded an education publishing business. Prior to that, Scott worked for Chartwell Investments where he identified, evaluated and managed leveraged buyout and growth equity investments in a variety of industry sectors. Scott started his career at J.P. Morgan & Co.’s mergers and acquisitions department where his duties included both buy-side and sell-side advisory work, as well as equity and debt underwriting assignments. Scott attended Wake Forest University where he earned a B.S. in Business, magna cum laude. He also earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Scott is a past board member of several healthcare companies, including Aptiv Solutions, Caring Brands International, Envision Pharma Group, and Maverick Healthcare.  He currently sits on the boards of ChanceLight, a leading provider of behavioral health, therapy, and education solutions for children and young adults, and PromptCare, a leading regional provider of specialty respiratory and infusion-therapy services.  In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees of The Washington National Opera and as a member of the vestry at his church. Scott previously co-founded a non-profit organization formed to provide personal finance instruction to high school students, and served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Education. He and his wife have three daughters and reside in Washington, DC.

Megan M. Preiner is a Managing Director at Thomas H. Lee Partners.  Prior to joining THL, Ms. Preiner worked in the Media & Telecommunications Group at Credit Suisse in New York.

Ms. Preiner is currently a director of Agiliti Health, Inc., Centria Healthcare, CSafe Global, Healthcare Staffing Services, and Phillips Pet Food & Supplies. Her prior directorships include Intermedix Corporation and prior investment experience at Thomas H. Lee Partners also includes Cumulus Media Partners. 

Ms. Preiner holds a B.A. in Political Economy, cum laude, from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Ms. Preiner serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of Friends of Excel Academy, a network of charter schools serving the greater Boston area.

Delphine O’Rourke advises a wide variety of companies, investors, and vendors on the operational, regulatory and enforcement issues related to health care delivery, investment and innovation. Delphine joined Duane Morris in 2018 after serving as Associate General Counsel of Ascension, the then largest non-profit health system in the United States and the largest Catholic health system in the world. In this role, she was responsible for providing legal counsel to the organizations, boards of directors and executive management teams within Ascension’s northeast market. Drawing on her experience as in-house counsel and health care executive, Delphine brings a pragmatic perspective and first-hand knowledge of healthcare operations to complex and mission-critical matters that challenge healthcare entities.

Her health practice focuses on:

• Strategic affiliations involving for-profit and non-profit health entities, supply chain relationships, and other formations and realignments of partnerships. She is a skilled negotiator with a proven ability to understand business strategies, assess enterprise risks and align negotiations and resulting agreements with her clients' short-term and long-term goals.
• Complex provider transactions in connection with network strategies, integrated delivery systems, value-based and risk-based contracting models, clinically integrated networks and patient-centric models of care.
• Comprehensive health care regulatory advice on federal and state regulatory issues uniquely applicable to health care entities including FDA regulations, fraud and abuse, licensure, accreditation, evolving requirements related to opioid prescribing and dispensing, and emergency preparedness.
• System, hospital and healthcare association counsel on a wide variety of legal matters specific to healthcare providers, including internal investigations, corporate governance, physician leadership and medical staff matters, public health, fraud and abuse, and patient care and quality as well as Catholic healthcare. Clients call on Delphine to supplement in-house legal teams or to serve as lead outside legal counsel.

Delphine speaks and writes frequently on healthcare and women’s leadership topics that are of interest to her clients and to the industry. She is committed to the advancement of women and inclusionary leadership. Throughout her career, she has advocated for gender parity, and currently serves on the Steering Committee of Duane Morris' Women's Impact Network for Success, the Women's Leadership Council of the American Health Lawyers Association and on the Board of Directors of The Forum of Executive Women.