Leadership

Steven R. Carson MHA, BSN, RN

Senior Vice President, Population Health, Temple University Health System
CEO, Temple Center for Population Health, LLC

Mr. Carson is accountable for the Center of Population Health’s operations, oversight, and development of care management and performance improvement initiatives, focused on pay for performance and insurance third party risk life clinical and financial outcomes. He has over 30 years of hospital, home health, and leadership experience. Mr. Carson is a registered nurse and has an undergraduate degree from Gwynedd Mercy University and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Saint Joseph’s University.

Nina R. O’Connor, MD, FAAHPM

Chief Medical Officer, Population Health, Temple University Health System

Dr. O’Connor’s deep experience serves her well in her role as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). As a key medical advisor for the Center, Dr. O’Connor is responsible for ensuring the delivery of value-based care. This includes directing and developing guidelines for evidence-based clinical management practices across a continuum of care; overseeing population health quality management programs; leading clinical data review to support operations and clinical management; mentoring staff to drive improvement activities and patient outcomes; advancing the practice of Palliative Care within TUH Inc.; and serving as an academic resource for population health within the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Dr. O’Connor comes to Temple from the University of Pennsylvania Health System where she most recently served as CMO of Subacute and Therapy Services, as well as CMO of Penn Medicine’s home health and hospice agencies, home infusion companies, home palliative care program, and community health worker program.

She completed a Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a Fellowship in Faculty Development at the University of Virginia, where she also completed her Residency in Family Medicine. Dr. O’Connor earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

Meaghan Kim, MHA, BSN, RN, CDCES

Assistant Vice President, Population Health, Temple University Health System

Meaghan brings extensive healthcare experience to her deep dedication to improving the lives of people living with diabetes.

In her role, she is focused on value-based care revenue operations, including care management strategies and disease-specific programming focused on diabetes prevention and education.  In fact, as Assistant Vice President of Population Health, she is responsible for growing Temple's Diabetes Prevention Program and the Diabetes Education Program.

Prior to joining Temple, Meaghan spent 13 years at AtlantiCare Health System in New Jersey where she was most recently Director of Population Health and previously the Diabetes Program Manager. A certified diabetes care and education specialist, she also serves as an Auditor on the American Diabetes Association’s Education Recognition Committee.

Meaghan is a registered nurse who earned her undergraduate nursing degree from Capella University and a master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Lakisha R. Sturgis, RN, BSN, MPH, CPHQ

Director, Community Care Management, Population Health, Temple University Health System

As Director of Community Care Management, Lakisha is responsible for promoting health equity through innovative projects related to population health, quality and pay for performance. She also helps build and foster relationships to expand Temple Population Health’s community imprint.

Lakisha has more than 20 years of experience managing programs to improve health outcomes. She joined Temple from Montgomery County Emergency Services where she was Director of Nursing and Quality Systems. She was previously Admissions Manager at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital and Manager of Health Care Management Operations for Health Partners Plan.

Lakisha is a registered nurse who earned her undergraduate nursing degree from Ohio University and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dolores Espinal, MPH

Director, Temple Care Integrated Network

As the Director of the Temple Care Integrated Network, Dolores leads a partnership between the Temple Center for Population Health (TCPH) and Health Partners Plans (HPP) to run an integrated healthcare network in North Philadelphia. This initiative empowers providers and payers with the ability to better coordinate care, reduce healthcare expenses and improve health outcomes of these patients.

Dolores has more than 13 years of public health program management experience. She joined Temple from Cooper University Health, where she was a program manager for population intelligence and oversaw pay-for-performance and quality improvement programs for Medicare and Medicaid populations. Prior to that, she was a program manager for clinical innovation at Cooper University Health where she oversaw the implementation of a metabolic control program at the Urban Health Institute for Medicare and Medicaid patients with cardiovascular disease.

Dolores earned her master’s degree in public health from Drexel University and her undergraduate degree in sociology from Temple University.

Mitali Desai, MHA

Director of Quality and Compliance, Temple Physicians Inc. and Temple Faculty Physicians

Ms. Desai has several years of experience working in Quality and Population Health at Temple University Health System. In her role, she works with the Temple community physician offices to implement innovative patient centered programs, improve patient access to preventive care, streamline EMR workflows to maximize value and improve quality performance on risk sharing agreements. She oversees implementation of patient centered models, such as Patient Centered Medical Home and advanced payment models such as Primary Care First and CMS Direct Contracting.

Mitali earned her Bachelor of Science in Economics and Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Delaware and completed her Masters of Health Administration from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.