Spotlight Series: Healthcare in NWA

In-Person Event | $35 Registration Fee

About the Event: This is the second 2023 program in the quarterly Spotlight Series designed to bring the right people together at the right time to spark innovation, inspire ideas and align our community around common goals. As our region continues to grow, access to quality and affordable healthcare is crucial to keeping us successful.  Attendees will hear from healthcare leaders including representatives from Mercy, Northwest Health, and The Alice Walton Whole Health Institute. Each quarter features a different theme to spotlight progress and illuminate issues that are opportunities for growing business, activating high-impact leaders and building a strong and diverse place to visit, live, invest, work and play. 

Moderated by Ryan Cork with the NWA Council, this panel discussion will focus on recent advances in our healthcare systems and plans for our growing region. Topics will include more specialties, alternative options, and increased hospital capacity to help reduce the need for medical travel and provide more services for our population.

Ryan Cork (moderator):  Ryan Cork serves as the Executive Director of the Northwest Arkansas Council’s Health Care Transformation Division.

Ryan began his career as a Senior Medical Corpsman for the United States Navy before taking on the role of Administrator at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital.  Prior to joining the Northwest Arkansas Council in January of 2021, Ryan held several leadership positions with the Cleveland Clinic, including key roles with Cleveland Clinic’s locations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Since 1994, Ryan has also served in the United States Navy and United States Navy Reserves.

Ryan’s responsibilities over the course of his career have involved strategic and financial planning for growth, clinical care, and health care operations.  His life experiences in the military and living abroad have exposed him to a wide variety of cultures and lifestyles, enabling him to respond appropriately to people whose views are very different from his own. He leads with a data-centric business foundation and a commitment to continuous improvement in large scale health care operations. His expertise is leading institutions through growth and change while serving as a reliable and trusted partner for large-scale operations through effective communication with a diverse constituency.

Eric Pianalto:  Eric Pianalto, a Northwest Arkansas native hailing from Tontitown, has served as chief strategic growth officer for Mercy Arkansas since June 2022. Prior to his current role, Pianalto served as president of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas. He joined Mercy in 1994 and has served in a variety of roles across Mercy’s footprint, including chief operating officer for regional operations for Mercy Clinic in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Under Pianalto’s leadership, the Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas was named to the Fortune/IBM Watson Health Top 100 Hospitals list, earned consecutive A Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades for achievement in protecting patients and achieved a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 5-star rating. He also oversaw a $277 million expansion of Mercy in Northwest Arkansas that added a seven-story patient tower and seven new clinics.

Pianalto has an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas and a master’s in business administration from Webster University. Pianalto is a member of multiple boards and chairs the Northwest Arkansas Council Health Transformation Committee.

Walter Harris: Walter Harris oversees health care initiatives for nonprofits founded by Alice Walton, including Alice L. Walton School of Medicine and Whole Health Institute. 

A mission-focused leader with an extensive history of  leadership roles at nonprofit institutions, Harris most recently served as Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, California. Prior to that role, he served as Vice President and COO at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Global COO for the Food and Drug Administration, Chief Management Official for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Chief Information Officer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also held positions within the Veterans Health Administration.

Harris earned a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Communications from Concordia University and a Master of Business Administration from Regis University. He proudly served in the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 1991 and as a liaison to the Office of the Secretary of Defense under the Honorable Casper Weinberger. Harris has received several honors, including the Exemplary Service Award, Secretary’s Commendation Award, Blacks in Healthcare Award, Leadership in Government Award, and Distinguished Service Award. He is a certified executive coach, project management professional, and a member of the International Coaching Federation. He is a member of the board of directors for the Mercy Health System, where he serves as Chair of the Co-workers Committee and as a member of the Stewardship Committee.

Bruce Shepard: Bruce Shepard serves as Northwest Health’s Executive Director of the Community Quality Alliance (CQA) and Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

Northwest Health founded the CQA, one of the state’s first clinically integrated networks (CIN), in 2016. In 2018, the organization launched an ACO called Community Health Alliance of the Ozarks.

Since 2016, Bruce has led efforts to develop its value-based payment and population health efforts in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma markets. Under his leadership, the two value-based organizations have saved health insurers in our community more than $50 million in healthcare costs through collaboration with Northwest Health and physician partners, and engagement with key patients.

Prior to joining Northwest Health, Bruce served as a Medical Services Corps Officer in the U.S. Army during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and as Company Commander of a 500-bed Army Field Hospital. Following completion of his graduate studies, Bruce spent the next 13 years as a hospital operations executive with three rural healthcare systems. During 10 of those years, he served as Chief Executive Officer at two of the systems. In an effort to have a broader impact in the healthcare market, Bruce joined Walmart’s healthcare innovations team where he led an effort to grow Walmart’s in-store health services business. Bruce then joined SavvySherpa where he led efforts to incubate new businesses based on research and data analysis focused on reducing health care costs for large health plans and employers.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia Southern University and a master’s in business administration from Georgia College & State University.

Marcy Doderer, FACHE: Marcy Doderer is president and chief executive officer at Arkansas Children’s where she leads the state’s only pediatric health system serving the children in Arkansas and beyond.

A dynamic leader, Marcy is focused on improving child health by advancing patient care, building community and championing excellence through digital transformation, engaged and efficient partnerships and bold child advocacy.

Marcy has stated, “Arkansas Children’s will not stop our pursuit of improving child health until Arkansas is the safest, healthiest place to be a child.”  

Marcy transformed Arkansas Children’s from one hospital in the center of the state, into a health system, with two hospitals, a research institute, a philanthropic foundation, regional clinics and alliances, telemedicine and statewide outreach programs to serve children in all 75 counties. 

In roughly a decade at Arkansas Children’s, Marcy has significantly extended the health system’s reach through an expanded physical footprint to better serve the children and families of Arkansas. Most notably through the building of Arkansas Children’s Northwest, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Southwest Little Rock Clinic and Arkansas Children’s Hospital Pine Bluff Clinic. In addition, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Jonesboro Clinic was renovated to better serve the community needs.

A true champion for children, Marcy led the creation of a state-wide pediatric centric Clinically Integrated Network – Arkansas Children’s Care Network (ACCN), to advance quality initiatives for children across the state of Arkansas. Her efforts to cultivate networks and build partnerships locally, regionally and nationally have resulted in reaching more children where they live, learn and play. She does this all while leading the Arkansas Children’s team with an unwavering focus on the core values of safety, teamwork, compassion and excellence.  

She has always had a passion for healthcare administration and is a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE). Prior to Arkansas Children's, Marcy served as a member of senior leadership for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System in various capacities since 2002. She became CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital administrator in 2008 and led the effort to transform the facility into the free-standing Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. Her previous leadership experience includes positions at CHRISTUS St. Joseph’s Health System and McCuistion Regional Medical Center, both in Paris, Texas, and Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Dallas, Texas.

Marcy is active in many professional organizations and currently serves as the Chair of the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety Board of Directors. She is a member of the Audit and Compliance Committee and the Public Policy Committee for the Children’s Hospital Association Board of Directors. She is also a delegate to the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board 7.  Within Arkansas, Marcy is a member of Fifty for the Future and the Little Rock Regional Chamber Board of Directors.

Recognized for her leadership both at the local and national level, Marcy has been named one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 25 Women Leaders” in 2021 and Becker’s Healthcare “26 Women CEOs of Hospitals and Health Systems to Know” in 2022. In Arkansas, she was named “Woman of the Year” in 

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