2026 8th Hospital Command Center Management Summit

Sponsors & Exhibitors

Click Here for a list of Past Attendees

Days

Hours

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overview

The Hospital Command Center Management Summit brings together command center directors, transfer center leaders, patient flow leaders and operations directors who are building and optimizing real-time operations hubs. The program focuses on practical strategies for improving patient throughput, managing capacity across facilities and leveraging technology to coordinate complex patient movements.

Hear from health systems that have successfully implemented command centers, transfer operations and AI-powered solutions to reduce bottlenecks and improve flow. The agenda addresses critical challenges including cross-facility coordination, emergency department boarding, discharge optimization, medical transportation and building sustainable staffing models for 24/7 operations. Sessions feature leaders from major health systems sharing what actually worked, what failed and the lessons learned along the way including proven ROI results.

Join us to connect with peers managing similar operations, discover technologies that are delivering real results and develop strategies to strengthen your command center effectiveness.

Agenda

Day One – Monday, October 26, 2026

7:15am – 8:00am
Conference Registration & Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:10am
Chairperson's Opening Remarks

8:10am – 8:50am
Beyond the Dashboard: Using Real-Time Data to Drive Command Center Decision-Making
Command center leaders collect vast amounts of data — bed occupancy, transfer times, procedure wait times, staffing ratios — but translating that data into real-time operational decisions is where most organizations struggle. This session moves beyond static dashboards and monthly reports to explore how leading health systems use predictive analytics, real-time alerts and data visualization to make better decisions in the moment. Topics include identifying which metrics actually predict capacity problems before they happen, designing dashboards that clinical leaders actually use rather than ignore, automating alerts that catch problems early, using data to coordinate across departments and systems, and building a culture where data drives action rather than just compliance reporting. Attendees will learn how to move from measuring performance to using performance data as an operational tool.

April M. Taylor
Chief Operating Officer
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

8:50am – 9:30am
The Missing Link: Integrating Ambulance Operations Into Hospital Command Centers to impact Patient Flow
Ambulance operations are in many systems a blind spot in hospital command center operations. Patients are accepted, beds are assigned, and receiving teams are notified, yet the actual movement of that patient often happens outside the command center's visibility until wheels hit the ambulance bay. This session examines what health systems are gaining when they close that gap. You'll learn why command centers are integrating ambulance operations into real-time capacity workflows, reducing the time between acceptance and bed placement, and using transport status data to coordinate arrivals and prevent bottlenecks before they develop. The discussion explores the broader case for integration, why connecting ambulance operations to command center workflows creates visibility that reduces delays, improves bed management, and supports more proactive capacity management across the system

James R. Newman, MS, MBA.
Vice President, Patient Logistics
Virtua Health

9:30am – 10:00am
Networking & Refreshments Break

10:00am – 10:40am
Sustaining Your Command Center Workforce: Retention, Development and Preventing Burnout
Command centers operate 24/7 with high-stakes decision-making, constant interruptions and relentless operational pressure. Staffing models get the right people in the door, but retention and sustainable performance is where most organizations struggle. This session examines what actually keeps experienced command center coordinators and supervisors engaged long-term, addressing burnout specific to command center work, creating career pathways so people don't leave for better opportunities, managing the emotional weight of making tough capacity decisions, providing meaningful professional development, and building cultures where staff feel valued rather than just essential. You'll learn retention strategies that work in resource-constrained environments, how to recognize early signs of burnout before you lose experienced staff, and what prevents command center positions from becoming revolving doors. Both nursing leadership and transfer center operational perspectives will be represented.

Stacey Powell, MSN, RN-BC
Administrative Director Nursing Clinical Operations
University Medical Center of El Paso

Delilah Espinoza, BSN
Director Transfer Center
University Medical Center of El Paso

10:40am – 11:20am
TBA

Movi Health

11:20am – 12:00pm
Reducing ED Wait Times: Command Center Strategies That Work
This session examines the specific interventions that drive meaningful reductions in boarding times. You'll explore real-time bed visibility tools, discharge acceleration protocols, transfer coordination and surge response frameworks. The discussion covers how to measure ED boarding accurately, identify root causes of delays and implement solutions that create sustainable improvements rather than temporary fixes.

Sarah Nienhaus
Emergency Department Expeditor
Children's Mercy Kansas City

12:00pm – 12:40pm
Utilizing Round Trips to Improve Hospital Capacity Barriers in an Integrated Healthcare System
In an integrated healthcare system, efficient utilization of inpatient beds is critical. Higher-acuity beds should not be occupied by lower-acuity patients who can be appropriately managed in a community hospital setting, except when access to specialized diagnostic testing or procedural capabilities is required. The use of round trips, or leaves of absence, enables healthcare systems to maintain these patients in lower-acuity community settings while temporarily accessing higher-level services as needed. This approach preserves high-complexity beds for patients with greater clinical needs and aligns patient care with the most appropriate and cost-effective setting.

Ethan R. Parten, DHS, MBA
Vice President, Procedural Services
Mass General Brigham Academic Medical Centers
Massachusetts General Hospital
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Brigham & Women's Faulkner Hospital

12:40pm – 1:40pm
Luncheon

1:40pm – 2:40pm
Panel: Leading Through Crisis: Decision-Making, Communication and Accountability in the Command Center
Command centers make high-stakes decisions daily, who gets the last ICU bed, whether to divert ambulances, when to activate surge protocol, but the real test comes during crises when pressure peaks, conflicts emerge and the margin for error disappears. This panel brings together operations leaders, clinical directors and nursing leadership to discuss what actually happens when command centers face their hardest moments. Panelists will explore how command centers prioritize competing interests when resources are genuinely scarce, managing conflict between departments fighting for beds or OR time, communicating difficult capacity decisions to angry physicians and frustrated families, maintaining team morale and psychological safety when making potentially life-affecting calls, and learning from near-misses or adverse events without creating blame cultures that silence reporting. The discussion will address the human dimensions of command center leadership that operational metrics don't capture—managing moral distress, supporting staff making impossible choices and building resilience in teams operating under relentless pressure. Attendees will gain insight into what distinguishes command centers that navigate crisis well from those that fracture under stress.

Panelists:
James R. Newman, MS, MBA.
Vice President, Patient Logistics
Virtua Health

Stacey Powell, MSN, RN-BC
Administrative Director Nursing Clinical Operations
University Medical Center of El Paso

April M. Taylor
Chief Operating Officer
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

2:40pm – 3:30pm
TBA

GE Healthcare

3:30pm – 4:00pm
Networking & Refreshments Break

4:00pm – 4:40pm
Command Center Essentials: What Separates High Performers from the Rest
Not all command centers create value. This session breaks down what separates high-performing models from the rest—highlighting essential capabilities, team structure, and the metrics that reflect real operational impact, not just optics.

Brandi Laurint
Practice Administrator
Mayo Clinic

Lindsey Lehman, MPH, MHA, FACHE
Associate Administrator, Hospital Operations
Mayo Clinic

4:40pm – 5:20pm
Staffing Your Command Center: Getting the Right Mix
Command centers need staff who can coordinate complex operations, communicate effectively under pressure and make quick decisions with incomplete information. This session explores staffing models that work including the balance between clinical and non-clinical roles, competencies that matter most and training approaches. The discussion includes compensation considerations, career path development and strategies for retaining experienced staff.

Schemell Weech, MPH, BSN, RN
Assistant Chief Nursing Officer
Norton Sound Health Corporation

5:20pm
End of Day One

Day Two – Tuesday, October 27, 2026

7:15am – 8:00am
Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am
Chairperson's Remarks

8:15am – 9:00am
Eliminating Avoidable Delays: Systematic Approaches to Length of Stay Reduction
This session explores systematic approaches to identifying and eliminating avoidable delays throughout the hospital stay. You'll learn about evidence-based care milestones, clinical pathway optimization, barrier removal processes and how command centers coordinate interventions. The speaker shares which length of stay initiatives delivered quick wins versus which required sustained effort and culture change.

Clinical milestone tracking that drives appropriate progression
Barrier identification and rapid response processes
Physician engagement strategies for length of stay awareness
Measurement frameworks that adjust for patient complexity

Calaiselvy "Calai" Elumalai, RN, MSN, MHA, DNP
VP Chief Nursing Officer, Siena Campus
CommonSpirit Health®
St. Rose Dominican Hospitals - Siena

9:00am – 9:45am
Building Transfer Center Operations That Actually Move Patients
Transfer centers can either enable seamless patient movement or become bottlenecks that delay care and frustrate referring providers. This session explores how effective transfer operations work across health systems managing complex patient flows. You'll learn about staffing approaches that balance clinical knowledge with coordination skills, communication protocols that reduce delays and technology platforms that improve visibility.

Jessica Crum, DNP, MBA, BSN, RN
Executive Director, EPIC Applications and Transfer Operations
Forrest Health

9:45am – 10:15am
Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am
Cross-Facility Coordination When You Operate Multiple Hospitals
Health systems with multiple facilities face complex coordination challenges that single-hospital command centers don’t encounter. This session examines how systems are managing patient distribution, resource sharing and consistent processes across facilities. You’ll learn about governance structures that enable effective multi-site coordination, technology platforms that provide system-wide visibility and protocols for transferring patients between facilities. The discussion includes managing competing facility priorities, building trust across sites and measuring system-level performance. The speaker will also address coordination challenges, where mission requirements and regulatory frameworks create distinct operational considerations.

Lorelei Stellwag, DNP, RN, NE-BC
Vice President
MedStar Capacity and Transfer Center
MedStar Health

Diana Pancu, MD
Chief MedStar Triage Officer and Physician Director, MedStar Capacity and Transfer Center
Director of Quality Assurance and Education, Emergency Medicine, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
MedStar Health

Gregory Marchand, MD
Physician Director
MedStar Transfer & Capacity Center
MedStar Health

11:00am – 11:45am
AI Implementation That Actually Works: Real Results vs. Vendor Promises
Artificial intelligence is increasingly promoted as a solution to healthcare capacity challenges, patient flow bottlenecks, and operational inefficiencies, yet healthcare organizations often struggle to distinguish between technologies that deliver measurable outcomes and those that simply enhance reporting without improving decision-making. This session provides a practical, evidence-based examination of AI applications that have demonstrated real value in healthcare command center operations, focusing on use cases such as census forecasting, staffing optimization, and discharge prediction. Drawing from actual implementations, attendees will learn what levels of predictive accuracy can realistically be expected, which factors most influence model performance, and how successful organizations have incorporated AI-generated insights into daily operational workflows. The session will also explore the technical and operational requirements for implementation, including data quality considerations and integration with electronic health records (EHRs), bed management platforms, and command center technologies. In addition, participants will gain a framework for evaluating AI vendors and solutions, with guidance on assessing predictive capabilities, scalability, workflow integration, and long-term sustainability. Finally, the presentation will review realistic return-on-investment timelines and performance improvements observed in practice, including impacts on patient throughput, capacity utilization, staffing efficiency, and operational decision-making. By separating proven results from vendor promises, this session will equip healthcare leaders with the knowledge needed to make informed AI investment decisions and implement solutions that support measurable improvements in command center performance.

Anu Banerjee
Director, Quality Management and Performance Improvement
UHS, Southwest Healthcare System

11:45am – 12:30pm
Performance Metrics: Measuring What Actually Matters
This session helps you determine which measures reveal true performance versus which consume reporting time without insight. You'll explore leading indicators that predict problems before they escalate, throughput metrics that reveal actual bottlenecks and balanced scorecards that capture multiple dimensions of system effectiveness. The discussion includes dashboard design, benchmarking approaches and executive communication. We will review core throughput, financial, and quality and safety metrics, along with highlighting benchmarking data.

Keith Grams, MD, FACEP
System Chair, Emergency Medicine
Rochester Regional Health

12:30pm
Conference Concludes

Workshop - Tuesday, October 27, 2026

12:45pm - 2:45pm
Optimizing Patient Flow Through Intelligent Care Operations Hubs
Join us for a dynamic workshop focused on transforming patient flow across healthcare systems using Intelligent Care Operations Hubs. This session will explore how real-time data, predictive analytics, and AI-driven technologies can streamline patient movement, reduce bottlenecks, and enhance care coordination. Learn how these hubs support improved throughput, minimize delays, and enable proactive decision-making to better manage capacity and demand. We’ll guide you through assessing your organization’s current patient flow capabilities and identifying practical steps to advance along the maturity continuum. The workshop covers essential technologies, implementation strategies, and best practices—from initial planning to integration and workforce enablement—to help you build a resilient and scalable patient flow program. This session will also highlight how these hubs foster cross-functional collaboration, empower frontline teams, and create a culture of operational excellence that scales across departments and facilities.

Learning Objectives

Understand the Role of Intelligent Care Operations Hubs in Patient Flow Optimization
Gain a comprehensive understanding of how real-time data, predictive analytics, and AI technologies can be leveraged to improve patient throughput, reduce delays, and enhance care coordination across healthcare settings.
Assess Organizational Readiness and Identify Improvement Opportunities
Learn to evaluate your organization’s current position on the patient flow maturity continuum and pinpoint actionable strategies to advance operational efficiency and responsiveness.
Apply Best Practices for Implementation and Sustainability
Explore key implementation strategies—including planning, technology integration, and workforce enablement—to build a scalable and resilient patient flow program that delivers measurable outcomes.
Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration and Operational Excellence

Understand how Intelligent Care Operations Hubs can break down silos, empower frontline teams, and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement that scales across departments and facilities.

Angie Esbenshade, RN, MSN, MBA, NEA/BC
Principal
Huron Consulting Group

Weston Jordan
Director
Huron Consulting Group

Who Should Attend

From Hospitals/Health Systems/Health Plans

Case Management
Discharge Planning
Patient Flow
Admissions
Nursing
Operations
CEO
CFO
Patient Care
Compliance
Clinical Care
Medical Directors
Quality
Patient Financial Services
Care Management
Emergency Medicine
Social Worker
Utilization Management
Hospitalist
Chief of Staff
Capacity Management
Transportation Manager
Logistics Director
Critical Care/Trauma
Patient Throughput
Bed Management
Patient Logistics
Patient Transport
Clinical Operations
Innovation Officer
Performance Improvement
Telehealth
IT Management
Health Information Management

Also of Interest to:

Vendors
Solution Providers
Consultants

Sponsors & Exhibitors

Lead Sponsor

Executive Sponsor

LeanTaaS transforms health system, hospital, clinic, and infusion center operations through software and services that combine lean principles, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and machine learning. The company’s software and services are being used by nearly 200 health systems in 1,200+ hospitals, centers, and clinics across the nation, which rely on the iQueue cloud-based solutions to increase patient access, decrease wait times, reduce healthcare delivery costs, and improve revenue. For more information about LeanTaaS, please visit https://leantaas.com/ and connect on LinkedIn.

Associate Sponsor

Exhibitor

Molecular Lab Partners has optimized a turnkey process to bring High Complexity PCR testing to physician practices with relative ease. The MLP team guides you through the implementation process from start to finish, utilizing ready-to-run, custom-plated assays in convenient breakaway plates. This eliminates the time-consuming and costly point-of-care plating process, ensuring molecular testing is fast, easy, and optimized for your daily operations.

Cantata Health Solutions partners with behavioral health organizations nationwide to deliver flexible, modern EHR technology designed to adapt to change—not limit it. Cantata’s Arize EHR is designed to help providers break free from the frustrations of their outdated systems so they can focus on spending time with the individuals they serve.

For more information, visit cantatahealth.com.

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