Shaping Healthcare's Future: A Business Panel Discussion

Erik Mikaitis

Chief Executive Officer

Cook County Health

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-mikaitis-md-mba-facp-cpe-1706115b/

Dr. Erik Mikaitis provides executive leadership to advance the health system’s strategic imperatives and ensure the provision of high-quality care and services, in collaboration with CCH’s medical and business leaders. He was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in October 2024, after serving in the Interim CEO role since November 2023.

Since joining CCH as Chief Quality Officer in 2022, Dr. Mikaitis has served as a champion of quality and compliance, implementing evidence-based processes to improve the delivery of care across the system. He implemented numerous quality initiatives to improve patient outcomes across CCH, including a new multifaceted strategy deployment system that resulted in significant improvement in the system’s sepsis prevention and treatment. Dr. Mikaitis enhanced the system’s quality and safety dashboard and deployed a regulatory readiness program. In this role, he also provided guidance for utilization management, coding and documentation, and hospital throughput.

Dr. Mikaitis previously served as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Franciscan Health Crown Point, where, among other duties, he led the development of safety protocols and processes during the COVID-19 pandemic and developed a new dashboard for communicating quality improvements to the board. Prior to assuming that role, Dr. Mikaitis served as Medical Director of the Franciscan Health Accountable Care Organization in the northern Indiana and south suburban Chicago regions.

A board-certified Internal Medicine Physician, Dr. Mikaitis earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University, and a medical degree from Ross University.

Patricia O'Neil

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Rush University System for Health

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-steeves-o-neil-99a7959/

Patricia Steeves O’Neil provides strategic vision and management for the fiscal direction of Rush University Medical Center and the Rush system. This work includes responsibility for the protection of assets, treasury function, hospital revenue cycle, financial reporting, internal audit, financial planning and budgeting. She also oversees the Supply Chain functions and serves as a board member and the treasurer of Rush Health, the system’s physician-hospital organization, as well as chairman of its Finance Committee.  

O’Neil brings to these roles more than 30 years of health care financial management experience, including more than 20 years as Rush University Medical Center’s treasurer. She became chief financial officer and senior vice president in May 2021 after serving as acting CFO and senior vice president since May 2020.  

Most recently, she has navigated the unprecedented expense challenges facing the industry, with labor shortages and wage compression, combined with inflationary pressures on drugs and supplies. With the majority of health systems losing money on operations over the past several years, Rush has successfully focused on both volume growth and access with a system-wide cost optimization plan. As a result, Rush was successful in reporting operating income in fiscal year 2024, while also maintaining solid liquidity and modest leverage.  

O’Neil was instrumental in implementing a cash preservation strategy, securing liquidity from lenders, and issuing $330 million debt in turbulent markets to invest in Rush’s growth strategies and the construction of the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building, Rush's state-of-the-art ambulatory cancer and neurosciences facility. Under O’Neil’s leadership, Rush also invested in IT systems, RUSH MD Anderson Lisle Cancer Center and expansion of its ambulatory footprint in fiscal year 2024. These capital investments, with key recruitments in growth service lines, are critical for Rush’s growth strategy and ability to provide services close to the patients.  

In addition, standardization across the Rush supply chain has been a focus for several years. Rush has successfully saved $28M over the past two years on supplies. Rush’s supply chain function has ranked in the top 15 in the nation over the past several years, according to Vizient.  

During O’Neil’s tenure, Rush University System for Health has attained multiple upgrades and outlook improvements from Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor’s. With downgrades outpacing upgrades in the non-profit health industry by 4:1, Rush successfully maintained its ratings of AA- (Fitch), A+ (Standard & Poor’s) and A1 (Moody’s), placing Rush in the top 20% of rated health systems.  

As treasurer, O’Neil oversaw all aspects of the cash management operations, including utilizing best practice technology in patient collections and disbursements. For nineteen years, O’Neil oversaw all aspects of Rush’s investment programs, including endowment, master retirement trust, strategic cash, self-insurance trust, defined contribution plans and planned giving program, which combined total more than $3 billion.  

O’Neil is also an assistant professor in the Rush University College of Health Sciences, where she teaches in the nationally ranked Master’s in Health Systems Management Program. She received an Outstanding Faculty award in 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016.    

Prior to joining Rush, O’Neil was managing director of the Chicago office of Bank of America’s newly created Healthcare and Not-for-Profit Group, which she was recruited to lead. The group served clients including large multi-state hospital systems, universities, and cultural institutions. Previously, she was vice president of First National Bank of Chicago’s Healthcare, Education and Municipal Services Group, during which time she received Series 7 and Series 63 designations.  

O’Neil received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and a Master of Applied Economics from the University of Michigan. She served on the board of Sacred Heart Schools and now serves on the boards of Mount Holyoke College’s Alumnae Association and Spark Ventures Spark Ventures (a non-profit global microfinance organization). 

Mark Rosenblatt

Chief Executive Officer, University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics

G.Stephen Irwin Executive Dean, College of Medicine | Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-rosenblatt-5581aa41/

Mark I. Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA, MHA has been the Executive Dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine since 2019 and was appointed as the G. Stephen Irwin Executive Dean in 2023. He has also served as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics since 2024, and previously as Interim CEO since 2023. Dr. Rosenblatt was appointed Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2023, and previously served as the Illinois Lions/Charles I. Young Chair and Professor of Ophthalmology since 2014.

Prior to becoming Executive Dean, Dr. Rosenblatt served as Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. In addition, he served as Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Dr. Rosenblatt was a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical College from 2008 to 2014, including serving a term as Vice Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology.

Dr. Rosenblatt is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist. As Director of the Corneal Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, he leads groups of scientists investigating the mechanism of corneal peripheral nerve regeneration following injury, and the use of nanoengineered biomaterials for use in stem cell delivery to the ocular surface. His work in regenerative medicine has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, Research to Prevent Blindness, the Falk Family Foundation, and the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative. Dr. Rosenblatt has published widely, including over 150 original manuscripts, review articles, book chapters, and abstracts.

Dr. Rosenblatt is a graduate of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Honors Program in Medical Education and the Combined MD/PhD program, receiving his PhD in Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology. He also completed his MBA at New York University and his MHA at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. Dr. Rosenblatt completed his ophthalmology residency and combined clinical/research fellowship in corneal disease at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies.