Health Care Summit Participant Biographies

Javier Diaz
Vice President, Cancer and Blood Disorders, Nemours Children’s Health
Javier Diaz is the Vice President for the newly opened Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Nemours Children’s Hospital – Delaware. Mr. Diaz is a nationally recognized cancer and blood disorders operations expert, administrator, and a published author. Prior to joining Nemours, he was the Vice President of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute, the perennial #1 ranked program in the world where he helped to open a $650 million critical care tower with a dedicated complex cancer center. Mr. Diaz is an attorney by trade, graduating from Seton Hall Law School after a military career in the United States Marine Corps where he was a decorated infantry officer. Mr. Diaz currently lives in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania with his wife and young daughter.

Dr. Nancy Fan
OB/GYN, St. Francis Women’s Center
Dr. Nancy Fan has been in practice, as a generalist Ob/Gyn in Wilmington Delaware for over 28 years.  A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she majored in History of Medicine, and then attended Temple University School of Medicine. After graduating from medical school, she completed her residency in Ob/Gyn at Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, TX, where she was one of four chief residents in her last year. Acting as an administrative chief resident for 48 residents was the beginning of a journey towards thoughtful, effective leadership.  While maintaining a full time practice at Saint Francis Hospital, she has served in numerous leadership roles in health care systems, physician organizations and for the State of Delaware, including as a past president of the Medical Society of Delaware;  immediate past chair of the Delaware Health Care commission; current delegate for the Organized Medical Staff Section to the AMA; and Treasurer for District 3 of the American College of Obstetricians/Gynecologists.  She has strived to serve her profession and patients in both her practice and in her work with physician organizations, with the goal of improving and expanding access to quality care, especially in women’s health, and promoting solutions for practice sustainability and the delivery of safe and affordable health care for all patients.

Dr. Ali Sheharyar
Neurologist, Bayhealth
Dr. Sheharyar is a vascular neurologist currently serving as the medical director for department of Neurology at Bayhealth Medical Centers. He is double board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and in Adult Neurology and in Vascular Neurology. He completed his residency training at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia and fellowship training at the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics. He joined Bayhealth in 2018 and has been serving as the medical director for the department since 2022.

Dr. Fabricio Alarcon
Chief Medical Officer, La Red Health Center
Founder/Owner, Atlantic Family Physicians
Dr. Alarcon completed his medical school at Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class. He moved to the United States in 1994. He completed his Internal Medicine/Primary Care Residency training at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio in 1998. He received the award of “Best Senior Resident of the Year” in 1997. He was subsequently elected Chief Medical Resident and served as such from 1998 to 1999.

Dr. Alarcon became a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1998, and recertified in 2008 and 2018. He was subsequently honored as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Alarcon moved to Delaware in 1999, where he started his primary care practice. He is the founder and owner of Atlantic Family Physicians, a primary care practice.

In 2012 Dr. Alarcon became board certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He is the founder and owner of Healthy Outcomes Medical Weight Loss Center that provides a comprehensive approach to our obesity crisis, healthy lifestyle modifications, and overall improvement in heath via proper nutrition.

He is the Medical Director of La Red Health Center (a Federally Qualified Health Center awarded as level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home) that provides access to a full range of primary care, behavioral health, prenatal, and dental services to uninsured and under-insured patients.

Dr. Alarcon is very passionate about helping our community members overcome the current addiction crisis. He has been providing treatment for addiction at Atlantic Family Physicians since 2015. He became board certified in Addiction Medicine by The American Board of Preventive Medicine in 2019. He is also the Medical Director of 2 local Outpatient Treatment Programs.

Besides his passion for his work, Dr Alarcon enjoys spending quality time with his family and enjoys traveling. He loves playing tennis and horseback riding.

Peggy Geisler
Executive Director, Sussex County Health Coalition
Peggy is the Executive Director of the Sussex County Health Coalition, which she helped start and develop into its own not-for-profit. She is also the Owner and Senior Consultant of PMG Consulting LLC, who works with not-for-profits and businesses on infrastructure, strategic planning and collective impact as well as conducts community-based planning in both Maryland and Delaware. She is a licensed Consultant for the Standards for Excellence Institute for Maryland Association of Nonprofits and Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA). She has 25 years of experience in the not-for-profit field and has received numerous awards for her community-based work.

Peggy holds a BA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland and her MA in Clinical Psychology from Salisbury University.

Steve Leonard
President/CEO, TidalHealth
Dr. Leonard has been with TidalHealth Peninsula Regional since 2003. 

He is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in management and finance and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Salisbury University. Dr. Leonard also holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a research focus on Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness. 

Dr. Leonard is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, has served as an Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for three years, and is a past Certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality. In 2017, he was appointed to the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) Council on Financial Policy. In 2021, he was appointed to the MHA Board of Trustees.

Bradley Owens
Executive Director, , Delaware Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission (POSDC)

As executive director of the POSDC, Owens manages the process through which the commission provides funding recommendations to remediate and abate Delaware’s opioid crisis, offers grant awards for evidence-based efforts that treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids, and supports efforts that implement effective treatment interventions, recovery support, and prevention services.

Owens’ 15-year career spans diverse settings, including prisons, reentry programs, community-based nonprofits, and social impact consulting firms. He brings extensive experience as a case manager, a successful track record in grant writing, and a reputation as a respected advocate. He has implemented staff development and program quality improvement within the Delaware prison system. As a consultant, he also provides grant monitoring, criminal defense mitigation, and nonprofit development services.  In addition to his professional work, Owens is deeply committed to civic engagement and serves as the President of the Bayard Square Neighborhood Association.

Dr. William Chasanov
Senior Vice President and Chief Health Systems Design Officer, Beebe Healthcare
Chasanov is board certified in internal medicine and infectious disease. He sees patients in-hospital at the Margaret H. Rollins Lewes Campus and at Beebe Infectious Disease and Travel Medicine. He received his medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2007, and completed his internal medicine residency at Christiana Care Health System in 2010. He received his MBA from University of Delaware in 2011. Dr. Chasanov completed an infectious disease fellowship at Cooper University Hospital, in Camden, New Jersey, in 2015. He is the COVID-19 Medical Response Director. He is employed by Beebe Medical Group and is a member of Beebe Healthcare’s Medical Staff.

Dr. Emmanuel Mensah
Chief Medical Officer, Medical Group, ChristianaCare
In this role, Mensah serves as the senior physician leader of the employed Medical Group providers. He is responsible for clinical excellence, strong engagement with physicians and advanced practice clinicians, and aligning operations across both outpatient and hospital settings. 

Mensah most recently served as chief medical officer for ChristianaCare’s Wilmington Campus, a key role responsible for liaising between the medical staff, operational leadership and the community. He was also responsible for quality, safety, care standardization, clinical outcomes and patient experience across the continuum of care.

Throughout his career, Mensah has held an interest and expertise in health equity and disparities, quality improvement and health system design, with a focus on global health and developing countries. He supports the development of health care systems that improve outcomes for communities facing high disease burdens, both at home and abroad. He is a member of the Africa CDC/African Union High-Level Advisory Committee on Noncommunicable Diseases, Injuries and Mental Health.

Prior to joining ChristianaCare, Mensah served as managing director of the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity, a World Health Organization Collaborating Center; at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; and as firm chief in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

He also previously worked with various health systems globally as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Mensah earned his medical degree and MBA from Harvard University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. He studied mathematics and biology at Dartmouth College.

Dr. Gary Siegelman
Designated Institutional Official for GME, Bayhealth
Dr. Siegelman served for 18 years as Chief Medical Officer at Bayhealth. His work at Bayhealth has been focused over several years on building improved clinical services and physician resources to serve the community as well as adding the first medical resident training programs in Bayhealth’s history. A practicing internist near Chicago for the first decade of his career, Dr. Siegelman came to Bayhealth as its Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer in 2007.

As Designated Institutional Official for GME, Dr. Siegelman helped spearhead the start of the Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education (GME) programs at Bayhealth in 2018. Bayhealth now has four residencies and two fellowship programs with roughly 100 total trainees. Dr. Siegelman has also guided partnerships with Drexel Medical School and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine to serve as a core clinical campus for their medical students. 

Dr. Siegelman has led or supported a number of other important Bayhealth efforts, including the start of Bayhealth’s Population Health program in 2012, Bayhealth’s entry into a statewide Accountable Care Organization, and the addition of talented population health staff to help reduce the impact of chronic illness on thousands of our patients. He has served also on multiple statewide Boards, including the Highmark Medicare Advantage Governance Board, the boards of the Delaware Center for Health Innovation, the Delaware Health Information Network, the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Sub-Committee and others. 

A certified physician executive, Dr. Siegelman earned his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Harvard University, his MSc at the University of Wisconsin, and his MD from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where he was a James Scholar, engaging in research in both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In addition, he completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Dr. Barbara L. Bass
Dean (Ret.), George Washington University of School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Barbara L. Bass, MD, RESD ’86, recently retired as dean of the George Washington (GW) University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she also served as vice president for health affairs (VPHA) and chief executive officer of The GW Medical Faculty Associates (GW MFA). Bass is a widely respected leader in academic medicine, a surgeon, and a published author known for her pioneering innovation in academic surgery.

At GW, Dr. Bass led the academic, clinical, and research missions and provided strategic direction on all aspects of GW’s medical enterprise, including the university’s relationships with the GW MFA and the GW Hospital. 

Dr. Bass is a GW residency alumna, completing her residency in general surgery at GW in 1986. She completed a research fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research while serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. After graduating, she began her career on the GW faculty as a general surgeon and surgeon-scientist at the Washington DC VA Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Bass served as chair of the Department of Surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital and built the department from the ground up. She recruited internationally acclaimed faculty; established high-quality clinical, residency and fellowship programs; and created robust interdisciplinary research teams in the basic sciences, translational, and clinical research domains. She also developed a highly rated clinical rotation for medical students and led the creation of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited training programs in general surgery and numerous other surgical fellowship programs.

Dr. Neil Hockstein
Chair, Delaware Health Care Commission
Neil Hockstein, M.D. is an otolaryngologist specializing in head and neck surgery and currently serves as Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission and Special Advisor to the Governor of Delaware. He holds faculty appointments and leadership positions at ChristianaCare, Thomas Jefferson University, and The Wistar Institute. 

An active head and neck surgeon, Hockstein founded and expanded a multi-state ENT practice, growing it into one of the nation’s largest independent otolaryngology groups. He played a pioneering role in the development of transoral robotic surgery and has published and presented widely on surgical innovation and cancer treatment. His clinical and research interests include minimally invasive surgery for head and neck cancer, improving care delivery through independent practice models, and advancing physician workforce policy. 

Hockstein is a nationally recognized leader in otolaryngology, frequently presenting at national conferences on practice management, physician workforce, and health policy. He has also served as a mentor to medical students, residents, and fellows, many of whom have gone on to leadership positions in academic medicine and private practice. 

In addition to his clinical and academic contributions, Hockstein has been deeply engaged in public service and policy development in Delaware. As Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission and leader of the Delaware Primary Care Reform Collaborative, he has worked to advance access to care, reduce costs, improve quality, and strengthen the health care workforce. 

He serves on multiple state-level task forces focused on transparency, cost reduction, and medical education, including the effort to establish a Delaware medical school.

Kathleen (Kathy) S. Matt, PhD
Board Member, Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research
Matt is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Delaware.  She currently serves on the board of the Delaware Institute for Medical Education and Research.  She also co-chairs the Health Workforce Subcommittee of the Delaware Health Care Commission and serves on various non-profit health boards throughout the state. In her 14 years (2009 – 2022) as Dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Delaware, she led the major expansion of health sciences education, research and clinical programs and the led the development of Health Sciences as the foundational program at the STAR campus of the University of Delaware.  She is a Delaware native and earned her BA and MS degrees in Biology from the University of Delaware and her PhD in Endocrine Physiology from the University of Washington, Seattle.  Prior to coming back to Delaware, Dr. Matt served as the Associate Vice President for Clinical Partnerships and Research Infrastructure at Arizona State University where she co-led the partnership between the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State and was instrumental in developing the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.   She also served as a Congressional Fellow in the United States Senate and worked with the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Patient’s Bill of Rights and Home Health legislation.