SCHEDULE

The 2020 Annual (virtual) Conference will feature a variety of expert speakers that will explore topical and practical subjects in plenary and educational sessions throughout the Conference. Check out the speakers and sessions we have confirmed so far as well as the schedule of events to plan your attendance at the Conference!

Schedule

Confirmed Sessions & Speakers

President, RB Health Partners, Inc.

Robin A. Bleier is a registered nurse and health care risk manager. She has over 35 years of progressive roles in health care with. Long term care (LTC) focus of 30 years starting as a CNA, LPN, RN, Regional Nurse, Corporate Risk Manager, and Chief Operations Officer for nine years.

Robin’s areas of expertise include risk, regulatory, & operations. However, she owns and operates RB Health Partners, Inc. a Tampa Bay-based interdisciplinary LTC consu

Chief Strategy Officer, SolutionHealth

Steve Norton joined SolutionHealth as the Chief Strategy Officer in 2017. Prior to that, Norton was the Senior VP of Strategic Planning and Government Relations at the Elliot Health system. Norton also served for 12 years as the executive director of the NH Center for Public Policy Studies, a non-profit and non-partisan think tank whose mission was to enhance and enrich the policy conversations on issues of critical importance to NH’s future, including hea

Director, NH Medicaid Director

Henry has served as New Hampshire’s Medicaid Director since November 2017. Under his leadership, the Medicaid program completed re-procurement of the Medicaid Care Management program; pursued development of financing for the DHHS Delivery System Reform Incentive Program (DSRIP); has supported the Department of Health and Human Service’s work with the Legislature around Medicaid expansion; worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on sev

Director, UNH Survey Center; Professor of Practice, Dept. of Political Science, University of New Hampshire

Dr. Andrew Smith is the Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. He has more than 30 years experience in academic survey research, currently as Director of the Survey Center since 1999, following positions at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Cincinnati. As Director, Dr. Smith is responsible for overall staff and financial management of the UN

Associate Legislative Director for Health, National Association of Counties

Blaire Bryant is the Associate Legislative Director for Health at the National Association of Counties. In this capacity she works with county officials across the nation to set NACo’s policies on matters related to health policy and the public health system. Blaire holds a B.A. in Biopsychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and a Master’s Degree in Community Health Education from the University

Health Program Manager, National Association of Counties

Kirsty Fontaine is a Health Program Manager at the National Association of Counties (NACo). In this role, she manages projects that provide education and technical assistance to county officials, working to promote a culture of health in counties across the country. Prior to working at NACo, Kirsty served as a Senior Program Associate at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Coordinator for Diver

Associate Legislative Director for Justice and Public Safety, National Association of Counties

Brett Mattson serves as the Associate Legislative Director for Justice and Public Safety at NACo. In this capacity, he works with county officials across the country to set NACo’s priorities and policies for all matters pertaining to county criminal justice and public safety systems.

Brett graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in May of 2018 with a B.S. in Political Science and minors in

Deputy Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Counties

Mark Ritacco joined the National Association of Counites (NACo) in March 2020 and serves as deputy director of government affairs. He directs NACo’s Government Affairs Department which includes legislative and executive branch outreach, coalition building and advocacy on behalf of the association’s legislative priorities and policy development. Before joining NACo, Mark spent over a decade working in both the U.S. House

Program Manager for Justice and Public Safety, National Association of Counties

Kerwin is a Program Manager for Justice and Public Safety at the the National Association of Counties. As a program manager, Kerwin is responsible for a variety of professional assignments aimed at informing, educating and assisting county officials across the country in their efforts to improve local justice systems.

Before joining NACo, Kerwin worked as a Senior Associate at KPMG LLP where he worked with sta

Associate Legislative Director, Agriculture and rural Affairs, National Association of Counties

Political Outreach Manager, National Association of Counties

Arthur Scott serves as Associate Legislative Director for NACo’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs portfolio, lobbying on a broad range of issues facing rural counties. Arthur also serves as Political Outreach Manager for NACo developing and leveraging strategic partnerships to help address key county priorities in Congress and the Admini

Deputy Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Economist, National Association of Counties’ County Innovations Lab

Teryn Zmuda is the Deputy Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Economist for the NACo County Innovations Lab. She leads the effort to promote NACo as a thought leader on top county issues and grounds the Lab’s policy research in high-quality data, while developing applicable research studies and reports. Teryn oversees quantitative and qualitative research at NACo, produces economic a

Medicaid: Any Question You Were Afraid to Ask

Henry D. Lipman, Medicaid Director, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Description coming soon!

Building the Foundation for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: The County Role

sponsored by our Gold Partner, Primex

Kirsty Fontaine, Health Program Manager, National Association of Counties

Blaire Bryant, Associate Legislative Director for Health, National Association of Counties

Amidst recent events highlighting racial tensions across the country and county resolutions declaring racism a public health emergency, the issue of race and its impact on the life and wellbeing of our local communities has come front and center. County leaders are aptly poised to contribute to the growing community of practice around race equity and further efforts that seek to address the current impact of racism on resident health outcomes, status and quality of life. Join us as we explore the links between racism and health and highlight federal and local jurisdictional efforts towards the elimination of health disparities.

Election 2020: Politics in Times of Uncertainty

Andrew Smith, Ph.D., Director, UNH Survey Center; Professor of Practice, Dept. of Political Science, University of New Hampshire

The COVID virus has upended the typical measures political scientists use to predict election outcomes. What are the likely results of the 2020 election in New Hampshire? And what is likely going to happen in the country as a whole?

Federal Update on COVID-19

Mark Ritacco, Deputy Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Counties

Teryn Zmuda, Deputy Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Economist, National Association of Counties’ County Innovations Lab

Since March, Congress and the President have worked together to adopt four federal aid packages in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Congress’ response has evolved in much the way was as the virus has – with the first two bills targeted at public health strategies, food assistance, and enhanced federal support for paid sick and family leave, and the third and fourth focuses largely on the economic fallout. Congress and the Administration went through a lengthy negotiation on the 5th package with many stops and starts along the way. This update will go over the latest in Congress and discuss would could come during the “lame duck” session of after the election. We will also discuss, using NACo’s research, the economic and public health impact of the pandemic.

The Role of Broadband in Addressing a Public Health Crisis

Arthur Scott, Associate Legislative Director, Agriculture and rural Affairs, & Political Outreach Manager, National Association of Counties

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical utility of broadband infrastructure. From the homework gap and workforce adaptations to critical healthcare services and e-commerce – broadband is now the keystone to our nation’s ability to successfully address this global health pandemic. Arthur Scott will join us to discuss NACo’s efforts to bolster broadband resources to help counties address the public health pandemic and looming economic crisis.

County Criminal Justice Reform During COVID-19

Kerwin Henderson, Program Manager for Justice and Public Safety, National Association of Counties

Brett Mattson, Associate Legislative Director for Justice and Public Safety, National Association of Counties

Counties are key stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including operating 91 percent of the nation’s jails and investing close to $80 billion annually on county law enforcement activities, courts and legal services, and correctional facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted the way many counties are conducting traditional criminal justice practices in an effort to reduce person-to-person contact. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities facing local justice systems as a result of the pandemic and highlight pending, federal criminal justice reform legislation that could impact counties.

COVID and Clinical Risk Next Steps, It’s Everyone’s Job!

Robin Bleier, President, RB Health Partners, Inc.

In this brief session we will cover several clinical risk areas to focus on practice enhancement. Participants will be encouraged to: Articulate three key infection prevention (IP) areas of practice learned through the COVID experience; brief on the risk management role in IP and control program advances; communicate clinical operations role and responsibility in IP success; and discuss documentation of the facility IP quality improvement program.