Russell P. Branzell is the CEO and president of the College of Healthcare Information Executives (CHIME) and its affiliate associations: the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS), the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Technology (AEHIT) and the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Applications (AEHIA).

Prior to joining CHIME as president and CEO in April 2013, Branzell served as CEO of the Colorado Health Medical Group.  Prior to that, he was the vice president of information services and CIO at Poudre Valley Health System and the president/CEO of Innovation Enterprises (PVHS’ for-profit information services entity). Before joining PVHS, Branzell was the regional deputy CIO and executive director of information services for Sisters of Mercy Health System in St. Louis, Mo. Branzell served on active duty in the United States Air Force and retired from the Air Force Reserves in 2008. While on active duty, he served in numerous healthcare administration positions, including CIO for the Air Mobility Command Surgeon General’s Office. In 1996, he was selected for the Air Force Medical Service Fellowship program and completed a CIO internship at the Unity Health System in St. Louis.

A native of San Antonio, Branzell earned an undergraduate degree in business administration, specializing in human resource management and labor relations, from the University of Texas. In addition, he earned a master’s degree in aerospace science from Embry-Riddle University with an emphasis in management.

Dr. Zafar Chaudry has been Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Seattle Children’s since November 06, 2017.  He was promoted to Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer in 2021. Through his role, he provides vision and leadership for the development of technology initiatives and enterprise-wide information systems and services for Seattle Children’s.  His goal is to enable clinicians with the best technology to deliver safe and excellent care to our patients.

Dr. Chaudry was recently nominated for the 2023 National CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards for Healthcare. Dr. Chaudry was recently awarded the 2022 CHIME Transformational Leader Award and the 2022 Seattle CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards for Healthcare. He was nominated for the 2021 CHIME – AHA Transformational Leadership Award.  Dr. Chaudry has also been a finalist for the Seattle CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards (2020 and 2021).  He is also a member of the global elite list Constellation’s Business Transformation 150 (BT150) 2020; that recognizes the top global executives leading business transformation efforts in their organizations. Dr. Chaudry was named to the Becker’s Hospital Review’s 102 Hospital CIOs to Know (2021), Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 Hospital CIOs to Know (2019 and 2020), CIO magazine’s list of U.K. CIO’s to follow on Twitter (2019) and Becker’s Hospital Review (USA) 105 Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know (2018). He was also named to the CIO.CO.UK’s Top 100 list of the most transformative CIOs in the U.K. (2017) and Government Computing’s top 100 influential technology leaders in the U.K. public sector (2010).

Dr. Chaudry, who began his career as a physician, has more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of information technology. His background includes work in both healthcare and corporate settings in the U.S., Australia, Western Europe, and the U.K., in enterprise infrastructure development; business intelligence; unified telecommunications; and implementation of health care information and electronic medical record systems. He previously served as Chief Information Officer at Cambridge University Hospitals in the United Kingdom. Prior to Cambridge University Hospitals, he served as Global Research Director at Gartner. He also served as Chief Information Officer at the Liverpool Women’s and Alder Hey Children’s Hospitals in the U.K.; Consulting Editor for Hospital Information Technology Europe Magazine; Information Technology Strategist for the Vision4Children Pediatric Charity in the U.K. and Teaching Faculty at the City Colleges of Chicago.

Dr. Chaudry earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Ross University. He subsequently earned his Master of Science degree in health care policy and management from the University of Birmingham. He also holds a Master of Science degree in information systems management from the University of Salford and his Master of Business Administration from Aston University, all in the U.K.

Adrienne Edens, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO is an Executive Programs Advisor and faculty member for CHIME. Her career in healthcare information systems extends over 40 years including experience in HIT consulting and 25 years as a CIO.  In her role at CHIME Adrienne puts her years of HIT executive experience into practice, designing education programs specifically for healthcare executive leaders. 

She is passionate about the importance of being a learning leader and supports CHIME’s vision to create education that contributes to our members achieving CHIME’s vision: “Exceptional Leaders Transforming Health and Care”. She has many years of experience as a speaker and trainer in numerous CHIME programs in the US and internationally. Adrienne has been serving as a faculty member for both the CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp and the CMIO Leadership Academy for more than 10 years and recently served as Program Director for the new CISO Boot Camp.  Most recently she developed an in-depth virtual course, “Strategic IT Investment”, for CHIME.

Adrienne is a member of the Leadership Council of the Carol Emmott Foundation. She participated in a project with members of the organization’s Equity Collaborative, made up of representatives from 13 large healthcare systems from the US, whose goal is to bring about fully inclusive gender equity within their institutions. The project involved crating a Resource Guide to share resources and best practices which has been made available through a variety of channels. The Resource Guide provides a single source of information for healthcare leaders as they address issues of diversity, equity and inclusiveness in their organizations.

As the Vice President and CIO for the Valley Area of Sutter Health in California Adrienne led the consolidation of the IS organizations of 2 previous regions into an integrated operational unit supporting 10 hospitals and 2000 physicians.  She developed the regional implementation plan for Sutter’s East Bay Region EHR as part of the larger Sutter Health enterprise EHR program. As the CIO for St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho, she engaged the organization in developing a physician led strategy for the electronic medical record to consolidate 14 EHRs into one. This approach provided the means to integrate a widely distributed system of hospitals, physician offices, clinics and rural critical access hospitals.  While at St. Luke’s she served as a member of the board of the state wide HIE, the Idaho Health Data Exchange. As the Information Officer for National Health Plan systems for Kaiser Permanente she led the programs to achieve compliance with Medicare Part D for the Kaiser regions nationally and to develop and implement the first deductible plan capabilities for the California regions.  As Regional CIO for the Sacramento Region and Information Officer, Northern California, for Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West now part of CommonSpirit Health), Adrienne managed the process of integrating systems for hospitals joining the region and participated in shared services programs at the system level. Throughout her career she has developed and implemented IT strategic plans, governance processes, organizational turn-arounds, process improvement projects and shared systems design and implementation for multiple Integrated delivery network regions, hospitals and physician practices.

Prior to these positions she served as Practice Director, Pacific Northwest, for First Consulting Group where she led strategic IT planning engagements, vendor selections, contract negotiations and application implementation projects for healthcare financial and clinical systems. Her background includes significant experience in clinical systems development, integration and implementation.

Adrienne holds a BA in English from the University of California at Davis and an MA in Applied Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.  She is a charter member and past Board member of CHIME and a past Board member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and HIMSS Analytics. She served as a member of the Award Selection Committee for the annual HIMSS Most Influential Women in Health IT Awards for 2 years.

Adrienne is a Rona Certified Lean Workshop Leader and was included in Becker’s 100 Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know in 2016 and Health Data Management’s Most Powerful Women in Health IT in 2016.  She serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Carol Emmott Fellowship, participating as a contributor and as a mentor to the fellows. 

Coming soon.

Theresa Meadows is an accomplished professional serving as the current CIO for Cook Children’s Health Care System, an esteemed integrated pediatric healthcare system headquartered in Fort Worth, TX. With her exemplary leadership, she oversees a dedicated team of 200 members specializing in infrastructure, applications, telecommunications, and program management. Under her guidance, the Information Services team actively supports 140 project initiatives, ranging from the implementation of cutting-edge business intelligence solutions to advanced clinical systems and enterprise resource management.

Sarah Richardson is a transformative, innovative, and results-driven healthcare and technology executive within large-scale healthcare environments. She attains aggressive goals, catalyzes change, and advances sustainability by designing and executing high performance-based strategies. Sarah cultivates top-tier talent, infuses expectations and accountabilities, instills customer-centric practices, accelerates innovation, and forges collaborative cultures. 

Through comprehensive, human-centered design, she enables digital and organizational transformation of multiple organizational domains utilizing proven methods of engagement resulting in improved experiences across the continuum. 

With a B.S. in Hospitality Administration, a Master’s in Business, and a certification in Healthcare Administration, Sarah currently serves as the SVP & CIO for Tivity Health. At Tivity Health®, we work hand-in-hand with members, clients, and healthcare partners to create everyday opportunities for long-lasting health and vitality. Our flagship brand SilverSneakers®, along with Prime® Fitness, and WholeHealth Living®, are sought after by consumers and organizations alike. Tivity Health is focused on becoming the modern destination for healthy living, with solutions that help adults live better and improve health outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. 

She has built award-winning teams and has been recognized by The Kansas City Business Journal as a ‘Woman Who Means Business’, a “Next Gen Leader’ and ‘Rising Star’ by KC Business Magazine, and an ‘Outstanding Executive’ by Advancing Women in Technology. 

Sarah is an active member of CHIME as a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO), board and faculty member, and fellow. Sarah regularly publishes industry-relevant content on her website at www.conciergeleadership.com. She is an Associate Certified Coach with the ICF and Distinguished Toastmaster, as well as Vice-Chair for the SoCal Chapter of the Society for Information Management (SCSIM). She hosted the HIMSS SoCal Podcast featuring top health information technology and leadership topics with keynote guests from 2017 to 2020. She is an avid scuba diver with a passion for conservation.