2021 ACCT FALL EDUCATIONAL MEETING PRESENTERS

P. Daniel Patterson, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. P. Daniel Patterson, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and James O. Page Professor of Emergency Healthcare Worker Safety, is a nationally registered paramedic and Fellow of the Academy of EMS (FAEMS). He studies safety in emergency care settings with special emphasis on safety culture, fatigue, shift work, sleep health, teamwork, medical errors and adverse events, and clinician injury in the prehospital EMS setting. Collaborations have led to creation of reliable and valid safety measurement tools and establishing base rate data for key indicators of EMS safety. He has led multi-disciplinary teams in evidence reviews and experimental studies testing novel interventions to improve safety. His research is informed by immersion in the EMS setting as a paramedic clinician.

Asbel Montes, Acadian Ambulance Service

Asbel Montes began his career in the ambulance industry in 1999. His EMS career included directing and leading teams that provided revenue cycle consultation to air and ground ambulance agencies, culminating into the position of Vice President of Government Relations and Revenue Cycle at Acadian Ambulance Service, and eventu­ally the Sr. Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation. Asbel has now moved into a Healthcare Policy Advisory role at Acadian on a part-time basis and provides strategic and technical support in the areas of health policy to the senior leadership team specifically, focusing on improving governance and healthcare reimbursement initiatives.

Over the past 20 years, Asbel has been a member of numerous organizations, including the Healthcare Financial Managers Association (HFMA), the American Ambulance Association (AAA), National EMS Manag­ers Association (NEMSMA) and the National Association of EMTs (NAEMT). He has also served as a board member for the AAA and Louisiana Ambulance Alliance. Asbel currently serves on numerous committees and more notably chairs the AAA Payment Reform Committee as the industry begins to navigate the current healthcare changes and the correlation to the air and ground ambulance industry.

In 2016, Asbel was appointed to the Ambulance Transport Alternatives Task Force for the State of Louisi­ana by Governor John Bel Edwards. In 2019, the Department of Transportation assigned Asbel as a mem­ber of the Air Ambulance and Patient Billing (AAPB) Advisory Committee. He is a respected thought leader on reimbursement initiatives within the industry and is a requested speaker at many conferences. He has also been asked to testify as an expert witness before federal and state health committees regarding am­bulance reimbursement and veteran health initiatives as it relates to emergency medicine. Asbel is a con­tributing author in several EMS magazines as well as co-authoring the book, Management of Ambulance Services, as published by Prentice Hall in 2014.

Kim Godden, Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service

Kim Godden is the V.P. of Legal and Government Relations for Superior Air- Ground Ambulance Service, based in Elmhurst, IL. Ms. Godden joined Superior in 2007. In addition to overseeing government relations and regulatory compliance matters for Superior, she oversees the legal department which manages litigation, contracts, real estate, and employment matters. Kim is a board member of the American Ambulance Association, the Illinois State Ambulance Association and the Indiana EMS Association.

Dr. Laura (Lau) Morrison, Psy.D.

Dr. Laura (Lau) Morrison is a licensed psychologist who currently works at the Los Angeles County, Department of Mental Health working with children and youth who are identified as high-risk due to severe psychotic symptoms, difficulty keeping themselves safe, and/or difficulty keeping themselves from hurting others. Lau also has a private practice in Woodland Hills, California where she works with youth and adults experiencing a wide variety of mental health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and personality disorders. Lau graduated from William James College (previously Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology) with a doctorate in psychology and a specialization in Latino Mental Health. Lau is passionate about working with the Latino population and being bilingual and bicultural has allowed her to help this underserved population. For her doctoral dissertation, Lau chose to investigate the relationship between stress and health among first responders. By taking a closer look at post-traumatic stress symptomatology, coping styles, and world assumptions, Lau has dedicated much of her time to help first responders receive the support they need to remain healthy and to bring awareness to this understudied and underserved population. She currently sits on the board of directors for The Code Green Campaign, an advocacy and education organization geared at helping first responders.

Lau was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Miami, Florida at a young age. She moved to Massachusetts to attend Tufts University where she earned her bachelors degree and where she met her husband, who was her partner when they both worked as emergency medical technicians. She now lives in Los Angeles, California with her family.

Honorable Robert Sumwalt, NTSB

Robert L. Sumwalt was sworn in as the 14th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on August 10, 2017, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was reappointed as chairman by President Trump in August 2019, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Sumwalt began his tenure at the NTSB in August 2006 when President George W. Bush appointed him to the Board and designated him as Vice Chairman of the Board. In November 2011, President Barack Obama reappointed Mr. Sumwalt to an additional five-year term as Board Member. Chairman Sumwalt is a fierce advocate for improving safety in all modes of transportation, including teen driver safety, impaired driving, distractions in transportation, and several aviation and rail safety initiatives.
Before joining the NTSB, Mr. Sumwalt was a pilot for 32 years, including 24 years with Piedmont Air- lines and US Airways. He accumulated over 14,000 flight hours. During his tenure at US Airways, he worked on special assignment to the flight safety department and served on the airline’s Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) monitoring team. Following his airline career, Sumwalt managed the corporate aviation department for a Fortune 500 energy company. In other notable accomplishments, he chaired the Air Line Pilots Association’s Human Factors and Training Group and co-founded the association’s critical incident response program. He also spent eight years as a consultant to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and has written extensively on aviation safety matters. He has co-authored a book on aircraft accidents and has published more than 100 articles on transportation safety and aircraft accident investigation.

Chairman Sumwalt earned an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Aeronautical Science (with Distinction) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with concentrations in aviation/aerospace safety systems and human factors aviation systems. In recognition of his accomplishments, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, and an honorary doctorate from Embry-Riddle. He is an inductee into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame.

Lisa Hawke, Partner, Holland & Knight LLP

Mrs. Hawke represents a number of health care organizations, with significant expertise in hospital and health system financing, trauma centers and systems, air medical transport, emergency medical services and the 340B Drug Discount Program. She is an experienced advocate on numerous other healthcare issues and programs, including graduate medical education, biomedical research, trans- plantation, health resources issues, as well as public records and open meetings laws. Ms. Tofil works with clients on policy development, devising legislative and regulatory strategies, and intervening as necessary to draft and secure legislative or regulatory changes that advance client interests. In previous roles, she served as in-house counsel to two large health systems, building their government relations functions and executing strategic government relations plans.