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Health Care Leaders

Craig Ward, MHA, MLS (ASCP)

Co-CEO | Integrity Health Network

Influence: The biggest influence on my career was Lisbeth Stein. She had a remarkable ability to strategically guide my leadership development, pushing me at just the right pace into areas where I doubted my skills. Her approach not only built my confidence but also honed my leadership abilities, making a profound impact on my professional growth.

Leadership: The most important elements of leadership are active listening, empathy, and fostering a collaborative environment. A great leader values their team’s contributions, listens to ideas and acknowledges hard work. Promoting continuous learning and skill development empowers employees and strengthens the team.

Jonathan Watson, M.P.I.A.

CEO | Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers 

Influence: Dr. Amos Deinard taught me the value of questioning the status quo in health care, providing solutions and tirelessly advocating for policy change. Dr. Deinard was CEO at the Community-University Health Care Center where he established the first medical-legal partnership in the U.S. and prioritized children’s oral health. He taught me to be a persistent advocate for underserved populations and continues to inspire my work at MNACHC.

Leadership: I’ve found decisiveness, vision and integrity to be critical elements for leading an organization. I’ve also learned that listening more, speaking less, humility and empowering staff to succeed are key elements for fostering a healthy organization.

Tim Weir, FACHE

CEO | Olmsted Medical Center

Influence: In high school I worked as an orderly in the emergency department. There wasn’t a single person that had a direct influence on my career, but rather the entire caregiving team that dealt with often tragic circumstances on a daily basis. The respect, teamwork and compassion they had not only for the patients, but for each other, was impressionable and memorable to me.

Leadership: Key elements are trust, integrity, accountability and honesty. Effective communication is the bedrock of leadership though without the other elements it will never occur. Health care is ever-increasingly complex and the stress on our staff increases every year. Leaders must adapt, communicate required operational changes and, most important, support their team and organization.

Chris Wenner, MD

President  | Integrity Health Network

Influence: My parents. My mother was a pediatric nurse practitioner and instilled in me the importance of preventive medicine. My father was a pediatric dentist and highlighted the benefits of being in independent practice.

Leadership: The most important element is being a capable listener.

Connie White Delanney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI

Dean | University of Minnesota School of Nursing 

Influence: JMy parents. Growing up on a farm, I knew teamwork from the time I could walk with a connectedness to nature and knowing that we mattered. Also my college math professor. He listened to me — a woman, a nurse, when math and nursing were like oil and water. He led to my becoming a math major, which was the seed for a career in nursing informatics.

Leadership: It involves love and embracing the head-heart connection. It is anchored in consciousness and intentionality, strength of compassion, respect, truth and transparency. Leaders must recognize an individual’s unique contributions while understanding the power of collaboration. It is based on the concept of oneness, an “I AM, WE ARE” approach fostering a sense of belonging and mutual respect.

Mark Wilbur, MD

CMO| Olmsted Medical Center

Influence: Many people have had profound impacts at different points in my career. Starting to think about medicine, a couple of family members in health care gave me a clear view. In residency Louis Kuritzky, MD, and David Feller, MD, were role models.  Most recently, Randy Hemann, MD, helped guide me toward achieving the skills necessary to be CMO.

Leadership: Often viewed as unidirectional, it is essential to realize that leadership is a two-way street. One must strategize, have a clear vision and be able to effectively communicate it. One must listen, demonstrate being worthy of trust and be open to and encourage other’s ideas.  A fully functioning team is able to do so much more than an individual and a leader must facilitate optimizing that team.

Darin Willardsen, MD, MBA, SFHM

Vice President of Physician Relations and Strategic Partnerships| Avel eCare

Influence: The person who has had the biggest influence on my life and career would have to be my wonderful wife, Katy. After that, it would likely be the outstanding group of physician colleagues that I work with on a day-to-day basis. Outside of my immediate family, these are the people that I interact with the most and who influence me daily. I am truly thankful and blessed to have these outstanding individuals.

Leadership: In order to have long-term success, a leader must have vision, transparency and integrity. They must also possess the ability to effectively communicate a plan. Once these attributes have all been enacted, a great leader exhibits the ability to elevate each member of the team to perform to their best ability.

Kimber Wraalstad, FACHE

CEO and Administrator | North Shore Health

Influence: I listened to Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers), who during his acceptance speech at the Emmys for Lifetime Achievement encouraged everyone to think about those who have cared about us and wanted what was best for us. He noted that how pleased they must be to know the difference they made in our lives. 

Leadership: It is a continuing journey, just when you think all is going well, you recognize a problem and opportunity to improve and change. Resilience allows you to bounce back from challenges and allows you to make changes, both internally and externally. Collaboration is an absolute requirement. No individual or organization can advance without the involvement of others. Without gratitude for those around us, we are neither leaders nor members of a team.

Lindy Yokanovich, JD

Executive Director | Cancer Legal Care

Influence: Jack McGlynn, my mentor and boss, who in my early years as an attorney set an example of professionalism and heart to which I aspire every day. Of course, there were people of action and kindness too numerous to count.

Leadership: Vision and purpose with a clear roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic. The most meaningful thing anyone has ever said to me about my leadership style is when someone I admire very much said they would stand in line to dig ditches with me. Showing up fully human with passion for the work one is doing is the best way I know to authentically engage with the wide range of people who are needed to make an enterprise, project or initiative successful. Snacks help too.

Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH

CEO| University of Minnesota Physicians

Influence: I’ve been fortunate to work with many talented people and I cannot identify only one person on the clinical and administrative side to thank. But I think often about my early research mentor, Alvan Feinstein, MD, who changed the way I think about tackling problems. He impressed upon me – and a generation of Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars – the importance of challenging conventional wisdom, asking the right questions and then working with scientific rigor to find answers. 

Leadership: I work with others in the same way that I care for my patients. It is imperative to listen authentically, consider all the possibilities, and then make timely decisions based on an artful balance of data and intuition, with integrity and kindness every step of the way.