2025 Conference

HCAN BOARD MEETING
CLOSED SESSION

Executive Board Room

FELDESMAN PRE-SESSION | Navigating and Operationalizing Recent Legal Developments Impacting the Health Center Program
Marcie H. Zakheim, JD
Partner, Feldesman LLP

In the current fast-moving regulatory environment, the rules, requirements and policies impacting the Health Center Program appear to change almost daily.  This “mega-session” is designed to assist health center leadership in understanding and operationalizing recent legal developments – both from within and beyond the Health Center Program – that may impact health center operations and patients.  Participants will explore “hot topics” such as the status of Health Center Program funding and new grant terms and conditions; upcoming changes to Medicaid; the impact of Executive Orders; and changes to the Personal Responsibility and Workforce Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) – and will consider mechanisms for health centers to establish applicable implementing policies, procedures and processes.  Additionally, participants will discuss the anticipated administrative changes to the Health Resources and Services Administration and how those changes may impact the program and your health center. Finally, the group will delve into the impact of these (and other) government actions on the Health Center Program landscape in general and how health centers can maintain the delicate balance among programmatic compliance, financial sustainability and mission preservation and advancement.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Understand key “hot issues” that health centers face in the current healthcare environment.
• Understand how the current changes within the healthcare environment may impact both the operations and the financial stability of health centers.
• Be able to identify specific actions that their health centers can take to ensure compliance with such rapid changes, while maintaining financial sustainability and preserving the mission

Steinhart AB Room

WELCOME RECEPTION
Thank you to CHCollective for sponsoring tonight’s Welcome Reception!

Sunset Terrace

REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING BREAKFAST
Thank you to Coleman Associates for sponsoring today’s breakfast!

Rosenow Room

WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Amy R. Behnke, JD
CEO, Health Center Association of Nebraska

Cam Kleibrink
CEO, Heartland Community Health Network

Rosenow Room

KEYNOTE | The Power of MINDset: A Leadership Framework to Level Up
April Lewis
People-First Leadership Consultant, Workplace Culture Architect, President & CEO, A. Lewis Academy, Inc.

When external pressures threaten to derail your mission, the battlefield isn’t in boardrooms or budgets; it’s in your mind and your team’s mind. In this season of constant challenges facing community health centers, breakthrough leaders aren’t just managing change, they’re rewiring their thinking to lead better. This high-energy keynote cuts through the noise to deliver the Mind Your MIND Framework, a mental leadership model that separates successful health centers from those merely surviving.

This isn’t another feel-good session about staying positive (although you WILL feel good!). This is a tactical deep dive into the psychology of exceptional leadership, delivered through four powerful components of the MINDset. You’ll discover how to shift from reactive thinking to mission-driven innovation even when resources are stretched thin and learn practical strategies to reignite team passion that spreads throughout your organization. The framework provides concrete mental tools that transform obstacles into opportunities and setbacks into comebacks. You will leave with The Mind Your MIND Framework as your new compass, equipped with tools to reignite purpose, refocus your energy, and rebuild your belief that extraordinary impact is not only possible, it’s inevitable. Because when you mind your mind, exceptional becomes expected.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Master how to rewire their mindset to transform challenges into mission accelerators.
• Develop tactical strategies to ignite and sustain team energy, creating organizational momentum.
• Build psychological resilience that turns pressure into performance advantages.

Rosenow Room

BREAK & NETWORK WITH EXHIBITORS
Thank you to Burrows Consulting LLC for sponsoring today’s coffee service!

Rosenow Room

BREAKOUT SESSION 1:

Adaptable and Strategic Workforce Planning in Times of Change
Mandi Gingras
Director of Education, 3RNet

Strategic workforce planning has become essential for delivering high-quality care while maintaining organizational sustainability but navigating during uncertain times can create more workforce challenges to overcome. This workshop will highlight strategies, resources and tools to help build a skilled workforce in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape. We will cover actionable plans to address workforce shortages and explore effective recruitment, retention, and development strategies. This interactive workshop will provide you with the tools and strategies necessary to build a workforce that not only meets the present demands but is also resilient and adaptable to future challenges.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Identify effective approaches for attracting and retaining talent in a competitive healthcare environment, while addressing unique challenges rural or underserved areas face.
• Develop an actionable workforce plan tailored to the unique needs and challenges of your FQHC.
• Communicate effectively about workforce changes and engage staff at all levels to implement strategic workforce solutions.

Steinhart AB Room

BREAKOUT SESSION 2:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Dev Updates
HCCN Leadership

Steinhart CD Room

NETWORKING LUNCH
Thank you to Forvis Mazars for sponsoring today’s luncheon!
2025 HCAN Exceptional Patient Care Awards Ceremony

Rosenow Room

BREAKOUT SESSION 1:

Peer Review: A Compliance Task or Quality Improvement Tool
Kyle Väth, BSN, MHA, RN
CEO & Co-Founder, RegLantern

Peer review in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) has historically been perceived as a regulatory obligation. However, in this presentation, we will provide guidance for how peer review can be a powerful driver of clinical excellence. This session will demystify HRSA requirements around peer review, clarifying its role as outlined in the Site Visit Protocol and Compliance Manual. Attendees will learn best practices for designing and sustaining meaningful peer review processes, including practical approaches for combining peer review with credentialing, privileging, and clinical competency verification. The presentation will highlight strategies for integrating peer review outcomes into quality improvement and risk management programs, ensuring processes are not simply “checking the box” but actively informing and elevating patient care. Practical solutions for smaller clinics or those with specialty provider shortages—such as cross-center peer review or blind review—will be discussed. The session will showcase examples of transforming peer review feedback into actionable improvement plans, staff engagement, and board-level reporting. Emphasis will be placed on operational sustainability so that FQHCs maintain compliance while achieving measurable improvements in patient safety and outcomes. By the end, participants will be able to reframe peer review as a tool for learning, accountability, and organizational growth, not just regulatory adherence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Describe HRSA’s regulatory requirements and expectations for peer review in FQHCs, distinguishing compliance elements from best practice opportunities (Remember/Understand).
• Identify at least three best practices for conducting peer reviews that ensure both sustainability and clinical relevance, including practical implementation strategies for various health center models (Apply).
• Compare methods for integrating peer review findings with credentialing, privileging, and clinical competency processes, and explain how this integration strengthens clinical workforce assurance (Analyze).
• Develop strategies for utilizing peer review results to design and implement targeted quality improvement or risk management actions, including feedback loops to providers and governance (Create).
• Assess the impact of existing peer review processes within their own organizations and propose measurable improvements to shift from a compliance mindset to a culture of continuous quality improvement (Evaluate/Create).

Steinhart AB Room

BREAKOUT SESSION 2:

From Metrics to Meaning: How to Get the Most out of Your Data
Amy Merritt Campbell, M.Ed.
CEO & Co-Founder, Elevate Consulting

In today’s information-driven world, the challenge isn’t having too little data – it’s often that we have so much, it’s hard to know what matters. How do you separate the signal from the noise? What data will actually help improve your work? And how do you tell a compelling story that resonates with donors, funders, and decision-makers?

This session will help you clarify what matters, collect the right information, and use it more effectively. We’ll explore how to build a strong learning culture that supports continuous improvement, and how to communicate data in ways that influence decisions and drive action. Through hands-on activities and peer discussion, you’ll leave with practical tools to make your data work smarter, not harder—and tell a stronger story with what you have.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Learn how to focus on the data that matters by connecting what you’re sharing to who needs it and why.
• Identify key practices for building a data-driven organizational learning culture that supports reflection, alignment, and continuous improvement.
• Apply principles of effective data storytelling to craft messages that resonate with stakeholders and drive meaningful action.

Steinhart CD Room

AFTERNOON BREAK & NETWORK WITH EXHIBITORS
Thank you to Genua Consulting LLC for sponsoring today’s afternoon break service!

BREAKOUT SESSION 1:

Maternal Health Panel | Patient Care Innovation & Program Sustainability
Tracy Irwin, MD, MPH
Medical Director of Reproductive Health, Erie Family Health Center

Robbie Harriford, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center

Lori Dumke, MSN
Chief Operating Officer, Horizon Health

Community health centers provide essential prenatal, birth, and postpartum care for our Nebraska families. Join this dynamic panel of CHC clinicians and leaders as they share insights and strategies for expanding and enhancing access to maternal health services. Each panelist will discuss their health center’s maternal health innovations, from implementing bi-lingual doulas and case managers, to pre- and post-partum care coordination, to clinical quality best practices, to program sustainability. Content from our panelists will be followed by guided roundtable discussions to engage attendees in how to best apply materials learned to their own organizations. This is a session you won’t want to miss!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Recognize prominent community needs and barriers to maternal health care
• Explore effective, efficient, community-driven strategies that better support maternal health patients and families
• Apply actionable insights to improve maternal health outcomes within a community health center setting

Steinhart AB Room

BREAKOUT SESSION 2:

Break-Even Analysis: Assessing your Health Center’s Financial Viability with a Tailored Financial Model
Amy Brisson
Chief Strategy Officer, Community Link Consulting

FQHCs are facing financial challenges and uncertainty around ongoing grant funding amidst Federal budget, changes in Medicaid, and threats to 340B. This presentation will present a break-even analysis tool tailored for FQHCs, offering participants a comprehensive understanding of its significance in financial management. Break-even analysis helps FQHCs assess financial viability by identifying the point where total revenue matches total costs, ensuring neither profit nor loss. Attendees will learn about the necessary components – fixed costs, variable costs, and revenue factors – and how to apply them to FQHCs. Practical strategies for utilizing break-even analysis to inform financial and operational decisions within FQHCs will also be explored.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Participants will learn the fundamental concepts of break-even analysis, including fixed costs, variable costs, and revenue factors, and how these components interact to determine the break-even point for FQHCs.
• Attendees will gain insight into how break-even analysis can be specifically applied to FQHCs, considering their unique revenue streams, cost structures, and regulatory environment.
• Participants will learn practical strategies for leveraging break-even analysis to make informed financial decisions within FQHCs, such as pricing services, assessing the feasibility of new programs or initiatives, and optimizing resource allocation to achieve financial sustainability.

Steinhart CD Room

CLOSING KEYNOTE | What Events in DC Mean for Nebraska Health Centers
Colleen P. Meiman
National Policy Advisor, State Associations of Community Health Centers

Marcie H. Zakheim, JD
Partner, Feldesman LLP

Speakers will review key legislative, legal, and administrative developments at the Federal level so far this year and discuss their implications for health centers and their patients. Topics may include, but are not limited to, provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill law, actions involving immigrant patients, new conditions on HRSA grants, updates in the 340B Drug Program, and the outlook for future legislation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Understand the key policies and implementation dates for Medicaid, ACA Marketplace, and related provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
• Understand the implications of new Terms and Conditions added to their BPHC Notices of Award (NOAs).
• Understand actions that they can take upon returning to their health centers to ensure compliance with Federal requirements and maximize the benefits of the Federal programs.

Rosenow Room

CLOSING REMARKS
Jenna Thomsen, MA
Director of Strategy & Development, Health Center Association of Nebraska

Rosenow Room