Presbyterian Health Plan Board of Directors

Dr. Rishi Sikka serves as chief executive officer (CEO) for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, a private, not-for-profit integrated health care system in New Mexico and the state’s largest provider of health care.

Rishi is a compassionate, innovative physician executive with deep knowledge of complex systems and more than 20 years of leadership experience across the healthcare industry—from medical group and delivery systems to health plan operations.

In his most recent role as president of Village Medical, a leading provider of coordinated primary care services, he had executive and clinical oversight of more than 100 clinics in six states. Before that, he served as president of system enterprises for Sutter Health, an integrated healthcare system, where he managed ambulatory, population health, non-clinical and health plan business.

Rishi earned his medical degree from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and a bachelor’s degree in economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

After earning his medical degree, Rishi practiced as an emergency medicine physician and held clinical and executive leadership positions at Advocate Health Care in Illinois. He has also held faculty positions at Brown University, the University of Illinois and Boston University.

John Bell recently served as the Vice President of Enterprise Digital Marketing for Travelers American Insurance Company in Hartford, CT. Travelers Insurance Company is a top property casualty insurer in the industry with more than 160 years in the business.

Mr. Bell joined Travelers in 2013 and has built the digital marketing and experience discipline at Travelers, a publicly traded company with annual revenue of $27b and operations in five global markets. He established the central digital marketing team and has designed programs to drive demand in commercial insurance and personal insurance and deployed social selling programs to enable the insurance sales channel to engage the connected customer.

Prior to joining Travelers, Mr. Bell held the Global Managing Director position for Ogilvy where he led the innovative, global, marketing practice Social@Ogilvy with over 550 team members in over 35 countries.

Mr. Bell serves on the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Board and has taught graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in Digital Marketing and Communications.

Mr. Bell earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in European History and has completed course study at Annenberg School of Communications from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Dennis Bolin is the Chief Experience Officer/Member Engagement for Health Plan Alliance, where he has served since 2005. He has more than 25 years of experience working with health care delivery systems, health plans and physicians. His skills are in the areas of marketing, customer service, strategic planning and product management.

Mr. Bolin has worked with large regional integrated networks that include health plans, nationwide diversified health care providers, a big-five consulting firm, and large multi-location, multi-specialty physician groups. He has an MBA in marketing from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Arts degree in Dispute Resolution from Southern Methodist University.

Mr. Bolin’s current responsibilities with the Health Plan Alliance include membership relationships and engagement, understanding members’ strategic priorities, identifying trends to include in Alliance programing, new member recruitment, and support of key peer groups. He is the project lead for the Alliance’s programs on ICD-10, exchanges and other health care reform topics.

Denise Gonzales, MD, is the Medical Director, Adult Medical Specialties and Neuroscience, as well as a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician, for Presbyterian Medical Group. Dr. Gonzales joined Presbyterian Healthcare Services in 2007 and was the founding Medical Director of Presbyterian’s first 21st century hospital, Presbyterian Rust Medical Center.

Dr. Gonzales is Vice Chair of the Board of The ASK Academy, a science, technology, engineering and math innovation school in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. She is also a Board member of the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has been inducted as a Fellow in the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Gonzales served as a Public Health Emergency Disaster Response leader with Presbyterian Medical Group, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, the State of New Mexico Central Command Center, and the Medical Advisory Team to the Governor of New Mexico.

Dr. Gonzales was born and raised along the U.S.-Mexico border in rural southern New Mexico. Her childhood experiences engendered a passion for improving the lives of others, particularly the disadvantaged. Her mission to improve the health of all New Mexicans includes changing the way care is delivered by using telemedicine to access rural communities and focusing on population health.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering, she earned her Medical Degree from the University of New Mexico and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. She then completed the joint National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship program.

Tony Hernandez is an experienced healthcare executive serving as the interim President of Presbyterian Health Plan. He previously served as Vice President, Medicare Advantage Transformation.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Hernandez was an owner and operator of a successful provider start-up organization serving as the founding Chief Executive Officer of the first post-acute hospital in Las Cruces, New Mexico and part of a leadership team that built the healthcare enterprise to 25 hospitals in 11 states. Learning from that experience, he then became the founding health plan Chief Executive Officer and President for a Centene Corporation subsidiary in New Mexico. He has served on several community boards and in advisory capacities for private equity and start-up organizations.

Mr. Hernandez earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Newman University and his Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Southern California.

Lauren Madigan serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, a private, not-for-profit integrated health care system in New Mexico and the state’s largest provider of health care.

Ms. Madigan has held several leadership positions since joining the organization in 1999, including Senior Vice President, Market Development and Operational Planning, Chief Operating Officer in Central New Mexico, and, most recently, Vice President, Ventures where she led the development of ambulatory surgery centers and PRESNow locations.

She previously served as Senior Vice President, Market Development and Operational Planning and led efforts to open the first Presbyterian Medical Group clinic in Santa Fe, and as Chief Operating Officer in Central New Mexico, when she led the opening of Presbyterian Rust Medical Center. Over the past two decades, Ms. Madigan’s deep understanding of the community and market coupled with her visionary and collaborative leadership have helped Presbyterian deliver on our purpose.

In addition, Ms. Madigan is a member of the New Mexico Chapter of the International Women’s Forum and serves on the TriCore Reference Laboratories Board of Directors and Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She previously served on the Albuquerque Ambulance Service Board of Directors, as well as on the management committee of the Albuquerque Ambulatory Eye Surgery Center.

Ms. Madigan earned Master of Business Administration and Master of Health Administration and Policy degrees from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Administration degree from Centenary College of Louisiana.

Doug Smith has served as Executive Vice President for Presbyterian Medical Services in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2000; he first joined the organization in 1995. In his current role, Mr. Smith provides operational oversight of the organization’s more than 100 programs statewide, including approximately 50 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) Community Health Centers which provide medical, dental and behavioral health services, as well as homecare and hospice programs, Head Start/Early Head Start, residential treatment programs and other community-based collaborative projects.

Mr. Smith has been involved with many community and professional organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership New Mexico. He is a member of the Southwest Primary Care Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, American College Healthcare Executives, and the New Mexico Primary Care Association, Legislative Committee.

Mr. Smith received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Finance from New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the 2004 Leadership New Mexico Core Program.

Krisztina Udvardi has more than 15 years of experience in non-profit management and is the Chief Executive Officer of All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center, a dynamic behavioral health agency specializing in advocating for children and families affected by trauma. The Children’s Advocacy Center is a child-friendly facility in which law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical and victim advocacy professionals work together to investigate abuse and help children heal from trauma through therapy, case management and wraparound services.

Ms. Udvardi is the immediate past President of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Providers’ Association and serves as the Treasurer of the National Board of Directors for the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, D.C. She has been recognized with Business Weekly’s Top CEO Award and the Women of Influence Award and has served on the City of Albuquerque’s Mayor’s Task Force on Child Abuse.

Ms. Udvardi became a member of the greater Albuquerque community after relocating from Budapest, Hungary in 2000. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Mexico as well as a Master in Political Science degree and a Bachelor in German Linguistics and Literature degree from a public university in Budapest, Hungary.

Helen Wertheim served as President and CEO of Charter Insurance Services, selling the business in 2009. Since then, Helen has focused on philanthropy driven by her desire to promote change that will positively impact the lives of others and the community. She currently serves on the Bio5 Business Advisory Board - a biomedical research division of the University of Arizona, Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance Forward Fund Board, the National Dance Institute New Mexico Strategic Planning Committee, and a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Helen’s previous community service and recognitions include the United Way of Central New Mexico Board, Co-creator and co-chair of Mission Families, Campaign Chair, Women In Philanthropy Council Chair, and created its Women’s Self Sufficiency Endowment. United Way awarded Helen the Art Spiegel Lifetime Achievement Award. The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Board, where she received the Chairman’s Award for Excellence and the Leadership Albuquerque Alumni Association Leadership Award. The YWCA Board President and was awarded the Women on The Move Leadership award and a Governor’s appointee to the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women. Ms. Wertheim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Sciences from the University of Arizona.