Speaker Biographies
Denyse Ferguson
CEO of PatientPoint Foundation
Denyse has spent the last 30+ years catalyzing new phases of growth for established companies, start-up organizations, non-profit organizations, and other cause-related entities. She has extensive experience in multiple areas of business strategy, marketing, and development across multiple industries and around the globe. Leading the PatientPoint Foundation builds on her previous experience working to transform hospital community impact work both from within a hospital system and from the outside by introducing new models designed to achieve greater impact.
Alex Wolford
Implementation Manager of Population Health & Wellness, Kroger Health
A healthcare professional with over five years of experience in healthcare administration, Alex Wolfred currently serves as an Implementation Manager on the Population Health & Wellness team at Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co. As Implementation Manager, Alex is responsible for managing key projects, rolling out new initiatives, and onboarding new clients for programs surrounding the Primary Care and Value-Based Care strategies, as well as Kroger Health’s work in Food as Medicine research. He works closely with key subject matter experts involved in these initiatives and functions as a liaison between the different stakeholder groups. Prior to Kroger Health, Alex served as a Business Manager for Nursing Operations at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the region’s only verified Level 1 adult trauma center. In this role, he managed the day-to-day business operations, as well as financial performance and planning, for twenty nursing cost centers consisting of over $16 million in net patient revenue. Alex has also held roles at Nicklaus Children’s Health System (Miami, FL) and Bon Secours Mercy Health (Cincinnati, OH) where he led and supported multiple system-level projects. Alex received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health services administration from Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH).
Chris Lah
Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management of Ensemble Health Partners
Chris Lah is currently the Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management for Ensemble Heath Partners, a national company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has over thirty years' experience in health care operations with most of this concentrated in patient financial advocacy. Over this period time, he has been with other remarkable companies such as the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), the Mayfield Clinic, Anthem, TEDySanDiego, and TEDStGeorge. He is a managing partner in LifeLong Leaming Worldwide and in 2015, his company was asked to participate in Google's "Solve for X" initiative in China. While he has extensive experience in both clinical and health care business operations, his passion is fund raising and philanthropy for patient specific causes. Chris feels his greatest accomplishment was creating the first comprehensive charitable fund that helps families with their out-of-pocket medical expenses. Over the past ten years, Chris has helped raise over $2 million dollars to help the patients of CCHMC, Hear the Hope, and Project Search. He is also the Board Chair for Hear the Hope and Finance Board Chair for Amitola Care Farm. He currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife Jami, but they also live part time in St. George, Utah. Jami and Chris have five amazing children and one grandchild, Jack!
Sarah Giolando-Matlin
Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Sarah Giolando-Matlin is the Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for St. Elizabeth Healthcare, where she leads Strategic Planning, Government and Community Relations, Public Relations, Marketing, Communications, Volunteer Services and Auxiliary departments across the $2+ billion healthcare system. Ms. Giolando-Matlin is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and has completed Harvard Business School’s course on Disruptive Innovation. She serves as the Board Chair for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati, is a member of the Y-USA National Association Assembly Steering Committee and serves on the NKU Institute for Health Innovation (IHI) External Advisory board. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati (Class 43), was named an Outstanding Women of Northern Kentucky in 2023 and one of the 20 Professional Women to Watch by the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2012. Ms. Giolando-Matlin received a bachelor’s in business administration from James Madison University and an MBA from the Solvay Business School, University of Brussels (Université Libre de Bruxelles).
Moderator: Jill Tore
Second Year XU MHSA Student
Jill Tore is a second year Master of Health Services Administration student at Xavier University. She serves as the Health Administration Student Professional Society Co-Chair, alongside her classmate, Ethan Eltzroth. She grew up in the Cincinnati area and is very happy to be back for graduate school. Jill pursued an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Global Health with minors in Psychology and Medicine & Society at the University of Dayton. During her time at the University of Dayton, she practiced as an emergency medical technician for three years and served as the Assistant Chief of Personnel for University of Dayton Emergency Medical Services. Jill is currently working at OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine as an administrative intern on the human resources team where she is putting her education into practice and preparing for an administrative fellowship in the following year.