St. Joseph’s Health names McGraw chief compliance officer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — St. Joseph’s Health has appointed Regina McGraw as VP and chief compliance officer for the nonprofit regional health-care system.

McGraw begins her new position on Jan. 3, Jamie Arnold, marketing and communications officer at St. Joseph’s Health, said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry. 

McGraw most recently served as a senior attorney at Syracuse–based law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC.

She takes over for Margaret Hall, who has been serving as interim compliance officer at St. Joseph’s Health, according to Arnold. Hall has served in the interim role since Amy Mallery Rhone left the organization in January 2016 for a new position.

Rhone had previously served as St. Joseph’s chief integrity and compliance officer, according to her LinkedIn page.

With McGraw’s hiring, Hall returns to her previous role as the organization’s director of integrity and compliance.

As chief compliance officer, McGraw will oversee the monitoring and reporting of all regulatory compliance programs within St. Joseph’s Health, the nonprofit said in a news release.

She’ll also provide “strategic guidance” to the board of trustees and senior-leadership team. 

McGraw will serve as the subject-matter expert on all policies and procedures associated with the general operation of a formal-compliance program, St. Joseph’s Health said.

They include regulations associated with physician contracts, coding and billing, clinical-integration networks, and accountable-care organizations. 

She will also advise and consult with the St. Joseph’s Health CEO, along with senior leaders and physicians throughout the system to help St. Joseph’s and its parent company, Trinity Health, “maintain compliance across the full continuum of care,” the organization said.

“Regina is a health-care administration veteran with extensive knowledge of the industry gained from an impressive mix of clinical and legal experience which will be instrumental to the success of our hospital system,” Kathryn Ruscitto, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health, said in the release. “She will work closely with me and other members of my staff to help us maintain full compliance with our regulatory obligations and deliver on our mission to provide the best possible health-care services to our patients and advance the health of the communities we serve.”

Ruscitto plans to retire at the end of the year but will remain with St. Joseph’s Health to assist with the transition to the next president and CEO, which the organization should announced in early 2017, Arnold told BJNN.

Background
In her job at Bond, Schoeneck & King, McGraw provided general counsel for “multiple” health systems with hospitals and affiliated physician practices and “multiple” independent physician practices and facilities including ambulatory-surgery centers. 

Prior to joining Bond, Schoeneck & King, McGraw was a senior managing counsel at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, where she was an in-house, health-care attorney.

McGraw also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. Attorney’s office, eastern district of Pennsylvania, where she was responsible for providing litigation-consulting support on health-care fraud and abuse matters for the U.S. government. 

In the early part of her legal career, McGraw was a medical-malpractice litigator and a legal nurse consultant.

She is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey and a registered nurse licensed to practice in New York and Pennsylvania, according to St. Joseph’s. 

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com