Executive Institute Facilitator

Tito Perez

Corporate Director Enterprise Applications
Organization:  Emanate Health, Covina, California

Tito T. Perez is a healthcare IT professional, currently serving as the Corporate Director for Enterprise Applications at Emanate Health, located in Covina, CA. Tito has over 20 years of Information Technology and Services experience with a passion for Data Integrity, Accessibility and Security. As a father to a special needs adult and caregiver to aging parents, Tito believes that acquiring and sharing accurate historical patient health records is vital and should be “part of the care” a patient receives. He enjoys listening to podcasts, watching movies and documentaries, but nothing distracts Tito more from his wife and four kids, than a Lakers Game, or his Karaoke machine.

Executive Institute Presenters

Eric Gasser, RN, CHCIO, CDH-E

Vice President/CIO of Information Systems
Organization: Wooster Community Hospital Health System, Wooster, Ohio

Eric Gasser, RN, CHCIO, CDH-E is the Vice President/CIO of Information Systems at Wooster Community Hospital Health System (WCH) in Wooster, Ohio. Eric started his career at WCH in 2006 as a clinical systems analyst and during this time led the organization in implementing Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and electronic physician documentation. Over his 17-year tenure at WCH, Eric has served as the Supervisor of Applications, Director of Information Systems and has been in his current role since 2017. WCH is currently utilizing Expanse 2.2 running the web-based version of Ambulatory, ED, Acute, PCS and Oncology

Bruce W. Arthur MD, MHA

Medical Director of Informatics
Organization: Wooster Community Hospital

Bruce W. Arthur MD, MHA is a pulmonary and critical care physician that serves as the Medical Director of Informatics, among other roles, for Wooster Community Hospital (WCH) in Wooster, Ohio. Dr. Arthur has been at WCH for almost 10 years and has worked closely with his information systems colleagues for multiple enhancements, most recently being a migration to Expanse 2.2, where he served as the director of the Physician Advisory Committee. Dr. Arthur has also worked as a liaison for MEDITECH. More recently, Dr. Arthur is taking a more active role as the medical director looking for enhancements from a clinical perspective. This role has been used for direct provider training, improved utilization of Quality Vantage, registries, and efficiency dashboards. From a clinical perspective, in the past, he led the implementation of a first of its kind ICU Liberation protocol with associated changes in documentation and clinical workflow. He also serves Wooster Community Hospital on other roles such as the chair of pharmacy and therapeutics, chair of pulmonary/critical care, and chair of order set committees.

Jackie Rice, BSN, RN

Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer 
Organization: Frederick Health

Jackie Rice, BSN, RN is the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Frederick Health. She provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment for Frederick Health. The primary responsibilities of her office encompass a wide variety of strategic technology issues.

Frederick Health is the only hospital in Frederick County, Maryland. It has 269 licensed beds, employs a staff of nearly 3,300, and offers services in 26 locations through a network of primary care and specialty providers. Jackie’s team provides support for and delivery of IT infrastructure and services, information security systems, administrative systems, and client support services.

Jackie serves on the Maryland HIMSS Chapter Board of Directors as past president. Prior to joining Frederick Health, Jackie served in multiple healthcare roles, starting with a nursing background of 20 years which led her to a career path in Information Services. She follows the mission of Frederick Health to positively impact the well-being of every individual in our community.

Brett Mello

Chief Information Officer
Organization: Kingman Regional Medical Center

Brett Mello has over 30 years of technical leadership experience across a diverse array of industries with the past 20 years in small to mid-sized healthcare organizations where he has served as either Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Information Officer (CIO) including one of the first Malcolm Baldrige award winning hospitals in the nation. Brett is an expert in technology strategy, organizational development, and process improvement. He has led IT in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 to startups and specializes in advancing new business concepts, developing business solutions, and facilitating transitioning operations through the innovative use of technology. Brett attended Davenport University as part of their Master of Business Administration program. He is also a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information Management Systems (CPHIMS) and received his certificate from Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Program.

Dr. William Gustin 

Director of Medical Informatics 
Organization: Kingman Regional Medical Center

Dr. William Gustin is an experienced physician informatics leader, with years of experience leading Health IT initiatives both for his own healthcare system as well as for a multitude of MEDITECH clients. In private practice, Dr. Gustin worked for years in Southern California as a hospitalist and served as chair of the Physician Advisory Committee. He now lives in Nevada and has worked in Northern Arizona at Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) for the past four years; recently joining as the new Director of Medical Informatics in 2023.

Dr. Gustin has been a valuable member of MEDITECH’s physician consultant team for over 10 years. His area of focus and expertise, as a CLPP faculty member, has been in the development and presentation of curriculum that focuses on workflow redesign, benefits realization, change management, clinical workflow improvements and system optimization. Dr. Gustin has also been an active advisor for MEDITECH’s product development team and the company’s population health initiatives. In his role as a MEDITECH READY physician advisor, he has successfully guided and advised numerous healthcare organizations through the implementation process. He currently providers executive, physician, and IT consultation as a member of the MEDITECH Professional Services team for clients across the United States.

Sam Fielding 

Chief Information Officer
Organization: Southlake Regional Health Centre

Sam Fielding is the Chief Information Officer at Southlake Regional Health Centre. His scope of responsibilities includes Information Technology, Patient Registration and Scheduling, Health Information Services, Telecommunications and Switchboard.

Prior to joining Southlake, Sam was the Chief Technology Officer at Horizon Health Network for over 10 years when the New Brunswick health system underwent significant transformation with the merging of health authorities and the creation of a healthcare shared services agency. Sam has held a number of other roles in both the public and private sectors including Business Transformation, Project Management and Consulting. He has his Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and has experience in both change management and process redesign.

His formal education background includes a Bachelors of Business Administration (Honours) degree from Acadia University, an Applied Information Technology diploma and his Masters of Business of Administration from the Université de Moncton. Sam is currently a Director of MUSE International organization with a mandate to support MEDITECH-orientated collaboration and education across the North American healthcare sector.