Dawn Gideon and Kevin Altomari Symposium
The Dawn Gideon Symposium and Kevin Altomari Symposium is an annual educational event funded by the Dawn Gideon Foundation, hosted by the Department of Health Policy and Management in cooperation with the HPM Alumni Association. This symposium is Grand Rounds eligible.
2026
Rural Healthcare at a Crossroads: Survival, Innovation & Equity
Date: November 16, 2026
Time: 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Location: University Club, Ballroom B (123 University Pl, Pittsburgh, PA 15213)
Moderator and Panelists
Marty Raniowski - Moderator
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Pennsylvania Medical Society
Marty Raniowski is the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the largest physician-run association primarily focused on state-level health issues impacting Pennsylvania physicians and their patients. It consists of about 17,500 physicians, physicians-in-training and medical practice administrators from across the Commonwealth. Raniowski's professional career spans two decades of experience with state government, academia, client-based research and association management. He has a distinguished career in health care policy, including a position as deputy secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). During this time, he provided leadership for staff working to implement statewide health plans. Among some public health disasters and threats that he addressed during his tenure were Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, Superstorm Sandy, and Ebola. Prior to advancing to deputy secretary, Raniowski began his career with the state as director of health planning in 2007. As an association professional, he served as senior director of public advocacy with the American Heart Association's (AHA) Pennsylvania/Delaware Affiliation, where he worked with numerous partners to promote AHA initiatives including quality improvement in primary care and hospital settings. His career in government also includes positions with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee and the Governor's Chief of Staff's Office.
Check back soon for our panelist announcements!
Past Symposia
- 2025: "Health Policy in the Age of AI: Navigating Law, Responsible Use, and Systemic Risk"
Moderator and Panelists
Marty Raniowski - Moderator
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Pennsylvania Medical SocietyRobert Bart, MD - Panelist
Chief Medical Information Officer, Hospital Services Division, UPMCJolene Calla - Panelist
Vice President, Finance and Legal Affairs, Hospital and Healthsystem Association of PATony Lukasavage - Panelist
Vice President, Engineering, Innovu, LLC.- 2024: If Not Now, When? The Challenges We Must Face Providing Mental Health Services in Today's Aging Society
Moderator
Marty Raniowski Marty Raniowski
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Pennsylvania Medical SocietyPanelists
Deborah Brodine
President, UPMC Western Psychiatric HospitalDale Adair
Chief Psychiatric Officer, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
Medical Director, Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS)Ellen Whyte
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Medical Director, Geriatric Psychiatry Ambulatory and LTC Services, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital- 2023: Rural Health at a Crossroads: Reinventing for the New Economy
For many citizens, losing the local hospital would threaten the livelihood of the town's economy and its people. Although rural health systems face what traditional hospitals experience, they have a smaller, often more vulnerable population to support operational expenses. Handling supply chain disruptions, workforce burnout, and managing financial losses while maintaining clinical quality is especially challenging as rural facilities determine how to return to pre-pandemic profitability while unit costs continue to increase. But many have discovered innovative solutions like partnering with nearby critical access facilities, operating mobile clinics and pursuing grant opportunities. Join our panel experts as they discuss the challenges to sustain these hospitals, including how they address limited funding, regulatory restrictions, problems with transportation and internet accessibility while continuing to provide quality care as a priority.
Moderator & Panelists
Moderated by Marty Raniowski
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Pennsylvania Medical SocietyPanelists
Lisa Davis
Director, Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health
Outreach Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration, Penn StateAndrew Watson
Professor of Surgery and Senior Medical Director, UPMC Health Plan
Senior Medical Advisor, UPMC EnterprisesSteve Wolfe
President and CEO
Indiana Regional Medical Center- Prior Symposia
2022: The Parallel Pandemic: Impact on the Workforce
2021: COVID-19 - Challenges Faces, Lessons Learned, Moving Forward
2020: How COVID-19 is Changing the Virtual Health Care Culture: Access, Experience and Financial Incentives
2019: Reading the Sign Posts: How Healthcare Organizations are using Social Determinants of Health to Address Health Disparities
2018: Innovation Impact: Collaboration, Consolidation, and Competition in Health Care
2017: Tackling the Social Determinants of Health: The Next Big Challenge in Health Care’s C-Suites
2016: Health Care’s Newest Code Blue: The Need for Cash Infusion and Restructuring!
Sonis Lecture
For more than 20 years, The Sonis Lecture has stood as HPM’s premier annual event focusing on health care quality and safety. It is sponsored by the family of Anne C. Sonis, the Pitt Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management, the Wolff Center at UPMC, and the UPMC Health Plan. It is also part of the Dr. Loren Roth Quality and Patient Safety Speaker Series of UPMC.
This event is Grand Rounds eligible and provides AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits for physicians and AAPA Category 1 CME credits for physician assistants.
Check back soon for information on the 2027 lecture!
Past Sonis Lectures
- 2025
Maternal Mortality in the U.S.: Myths, Legends, and Lifesaving Truths
Keynote Speaker: Aasta Mehta, MD, MPP
Director, Division of Child, Family and Maternal Services, City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health- 2024
Can Health Care Learn at Scale? From Sepsis to AI: Promise and Pitfalls
Keynote Speaker: Vincent Liu
Senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.
- 2023
The National Healthcare System Action Alliance to Advance Patient Safety: Improving Patient and Healthcare Workforce Safety
Keynote Speaker: Robert Otto Valdez, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- 2022
What Does a Learning Health System Really Mean?
Keynote Speaker: Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, FRCP
Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Care Innovation, Health Sciences
Distinguished Professor, Mitchell P. Fink Professor, and Chair of Critical Care Medicine, Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
Professor of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School of Public Health
Professor of Clinical and Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh
Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, UPMC- 2021
Successes in Telemedicine - Caring for Patients at Home Part of the Dr. Loren Roth Speaker Series of UPMC
Keynote Speaker: Joseph C. Kvedar, MD
Chair of the Board, American Telemedicine Association
Professor, Harvard Medical School
Senior Advisor, Virtual Care, Mass General Brigham
Editor, npj Digital MagazineAlso featuring:
Richard J. Wadas, MD, FACEP, FAEMS
Executive Vice Chair, Community Emergency Medicine
Senior Medical Director, Center for Community Hospital Medicine
Medical Director, Office of Referring Physician Relations/MedCall
Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of MedicineRobert Bart, MD
Chief Medical Information Officer, UPMC- 2020
Keynote Speaker: Allan Frankel, Managing Partner for Safe and Reliable Healthcare
View Webcast »- Previous Sonis Lecture Speakers and Topics
2017 - “Restoring Public Trust in Professional Self-Regulation"
Thomas H. Gallagher, professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington2015 - "Palliative Care Futurist: Matching Care to Our Patient’s Needs"
Diane E. Meier, director, Center to Advance Palliative Care; co-director, Patty and Jay Baker Palliative Care National Center; Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics; vice-chair for public policy and professor; Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; New York, N.Y.2014 - “Learning Organizations, Implementation Science and Quality Improvement: Health Services Research at the Crossroads”
Lisa V. Rubenstein, professor of medicine and public health, VA of Greater Los Angeles and UCLA; director, Center for Implementation Practice and Research Support, senior scientist, RAND, Los Angeles, California2013 - "Will Equity Be Achieved Through Health Care Reform?"
John Ayanian, collegiate professor of internal medicine, professor of health management and policy, professor of health policy; director, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University if Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan2012 - "The Affordable Care Act and the Broken U.S. Healthcare Delivery System: Strong Medicine or Placebo?"
Ashish Jha, associate professor of health policy and management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts2011 - "Comparative Effectiveness Research: The Essentials"
Harold C. Sox, professor of medicine, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire; editor emeritus, Annals of Internal Medicine2010 - "Tilting at Windmills: The Quest for Health Reform"
Elizabeth A. McGlynn, associate director, RAND Health, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California2009 - "Chaos and Organization in Healthcare"
Thomas Lee, network president, Partners HealthCare, Boston, Massachusetts2008 - "Health Care: Solutions without Borders"
Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, New York, N.Y.2007 - "Making Tomorrow's Vision Today's Reality: Improving Patient Safety through Value-Based Health Care"
Carolyn M. Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland2006 - "Safe, Effective, Efficient, and Compassionate Health Care Without the Need for an Advocate"
Jonathan B. Perlin, undersecretary for health, Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, D.C.2005 - "What It Will Really Take to Improve Our Nation's Health System"
Stephen M. Shortell, dean, School of Public Health, and Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley2003 - "The Geology of the Quality Chasm"
Edward Wagner, director of W.A. MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation; professor of public health and community medicine, University of Washington, Seattle2002 - "Money, Medicine, and the Physician-Patient Relationship"
Wendy Levinson, professor of medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada2001 - "Descent into Hell: Understanding Quality of Life in Cancer from the Researcher-Patient's Perspective"
William M. Tierney, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine; senior research scientist, Regenstrief Institute for Health Care, Indianapolis, Indiana2000 - "Drug Safety: How Big a Problem? What Can Be Done?"
David W. Bates, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; chief of the Division of General Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts1999 - "Quality of Health Care: Where Will It Be in the Next Century?"
Robert H. Brook, director, RAND Health Sciences Program, Santa Monica, California1998 - "Improving Physicians' Clinical Decisions: Art or Science?"
Stephen B. Soumerai, associate professor of ambulatory care and prevention, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts1997 - "Quality of Health Care: Where Will It Be in the Next Century?"
Robert H. Brook, director, RAND Health Sciences Program, Santa Monica, California1996 - "Medical Injury, Malpractice Litigation, and the Cost of Health Care in the United States"
Troyen E. Brennan, professor of medicine, law, and public health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts1995 - Irwing Redlener, MD
1990's Inaugural Lecture by C. Everette Koop, Surgeon General of the U.S. 1982-1989
