Leadership

From our staff to our leadership, we are proud of our tradition and our reputation at Denver Health. We have been caring for the people of Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region since we were established in 1860. Our leaders are committed to making sure our patients get the best quality care, safety and service with each visit, from our expert, caring staff. Denver Health cares for all people. We are committed to providing the best care for every person – mind, body and spirit. We welcome you to learn more about us and hope that you will select Denver Health as your partner in health management.

Donna Lynne
Chief Executive Officer

Donna Lynne, DrPH, is the chief executive officer of Denver Health, where she leads the health system’s strategic vision and mission in delivering care to nearly one-third of Denver’s population. Prior to joining Denver Health in 2022, Lynne was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. She also was CEO of ColumbiaDoctors, an 1,800-member faculty practice organization. Lynne most notably served our state as Colorado’s lieutenant governor and chief operating officer from 2016-2019. Before that, Lynne was executive vice president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and group president over the Colorado, Pacific Northwest and Hawaii regions. While with Kaiser Permanente, Lynne was on numerous boards and commissions, including for the Denver Public Schools Foundation and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Lynne’s health care and governing experience are integral in her leadership ethos at Denver Health, where she oversees the direction of the health system and its 7,800 employees.

Kris Gaw
Chief Operating Officer

As Denver Health's Chief Operating Officer, Kris Gaw oversees the comprehensive health system that provides care to more than one million patients each year. Gaw ensures Denver’s only safety net hospital delivers on its mission to provide all in our community access to quality and equitable health care. She helped guide Denver Health through the pandemic having started at Denver Health just before the first cases of COVID-19 arrived in our community. She is dedicated to improving and maintaining exceptional patient/provider experiences in cost-effective ways.

Gaw has extensive experience in safety net hospitals. She came to Denver Health with more than 35 years of experience in the health care field including 15 years as Chief Operating Officer at hospital systems such as Valleywise Health in Maricopa County, AZ. Prior to Valleywise Health, Gaw served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer – Hospital Operations for Parkland Hospital and Health System in Dallas, TX, one of the largest public health systems in the country and spent over 26 years in various executive and non-executive roles at Renown Health in the Reno-Tahoe region.

Gaw received both a Bachelor’s and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and is a certified lean professional.

She is also the proud mom of her daughter, Kassie, a Family Nurse Practitioner who graduated from CU Denver. She has two beloved dogs, Sadie and Bo.

Jacque Montgomery
Chief Communications Officer

Jacque Montgomery is Denver Health’s Chief Communications Officer. Jacque leads the health care system’s communications and marketing team in the areas of internal and external communications, marketing, brand and reputation management, media and crisis communications, and advises on outreach communication efforts to patients and the community.

Montgomery has extensive health care communications and issue management experience having worked at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, the University of Colorado Denver|Anschutz Medical Campus and as press secretary in the Office of Governor for the state of Colorado.

Lorena Zimmer
Chief Impact Officer

Lorena Zimmer comes from a consulting and government background always collaborating to make meaningful change. When her work focused on public health, she developed a locally and nationally recognized public health model to collect and disseminate data, prioritize policy and target public health programs to those communities of greatest need. She has also been involved in developing legislation and providing health data to support social policy changes.

She has also served as a lecturer at CU-Denver in Social Determinants of Health.

Zimmer holds a B.S in Biology and B.A. in Anthropology from Florida State University and a M.A. in Medical/Applied Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is fluent in Spanish and speaks some French. When not working she loves to adventure with her family.

Amy Friedman
Chief Experience Officer

Amy Friedman joined Denver Health in 2008 and was promoted to Chief Experience Officer in 2014. In her role, she supports improving the patient and family experience in the inpatient and ambulatory setting. During her time at Denver Health, Friedman has introduced a variety of customer service initiatives involving service recovery, employee recognition, and innovative patient and family services such as pet therapy, music therapy, on demand transportation services and No One Dies Alone. Friedman has extensive customer service work experience in the private and public sectors, including serving on the governor’s staff. She has an undergraduate degree from Colorado College and a master's degree from George Washington University.

April Audain, MHA, joined Denver Health as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in September 2024. She is an accomplished health care finance professional with more than 17 years of experience in three different health care organizations, including 12 years at Parkland Health, a safety net health system with $3 billion in revenue. Audain has a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

As CFO, Audain will oversee the development and administration of financial policy and financial operations in the accounting, budget, business development, supply chain/procurement, the Denver Health Medical Plan (DHMP), revenue cycle, reimbursement, master planning/real estate, and banking/treasury management, contract management, financial audits, and compliance spaces.

Amy King
Chief Human Resources Officer

Denver’s Health’s Chief Human Resources Officer Amy King has a proven record of transforming the human capital needs of an organization. She is skilled at employee engagement approaches that drive organizational improvement as well as compensation redesign for better alignment with the market.

Among her many leadership positions, King served as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for Centura Health and as the Vice Chancellor of Human Services for the University of Denver.

Greg McCarthy
Chief Executive Officer of Denver Health Medical Plan

Greg McCarthy joined Denver Health Medical Plan in 2017, bringing a broad spectrum of health plan experience. McCarthy’s career has encompassed large group plans and individual health plans as well as government products. Before joining Denver Health he spent 13 years at Martin’s Point Health Care in Portland, Maine, filling a number of high-level leadership roles, culminating with Senior VP Health Plan Operations. He also served as Vice President of Operations for Community Health Options in Lewiston, Maine.

McCarthy earned his bachelor’s degree in Public Management from the University of Maine and his master’s degree from DePaul University’s Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

Natalie Nicholson, DNP, MBA, RN 
Chief Nursing Officer

Natalie Nicholson, DNP, RN is Denver Health’s Chief Nursing Officer.  A dynamic and results-driven nurse leader, Nicholson brings a wealth of experience in nursing leadership, clinical operations, and patient-centered care.

With a distinguished career spanning executive nursing roles in acute care, women’s services, and hospital operations, Nicholson has successfully led initiatives to improve patient flow, enhance care quality, and develop nursing teams. She is deeply committed to fostering a culture of excellence, continuous learning, and innovation in nursing practice.

Nicholson’s leadership philosophy centers on putting people first—believing that when nurses and staff feel valued, supported, and included, they can provide the best care and reach their fullest potential. She is dedicated to advancing Denver Health Nursing’s mission by ensuring high-quality care for all regardless of their ability to pay, investing in the next generation of nurses, and positioning Denver Health Nursing and Respiratory Therapy as a national leader in innovation and excellence.

A recognized leader in the nursing profession, Nicholson holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and multiple nursing leadership certifications including Nurse Executive Advanced Board Certified (NEA-BC). She has been honored with the Denver Regional Luminary Award and is actively involved in professional nursing organizations, along with local boards (Colorado Organization of Nurse Leaders and Denver Regional Nurses Association) shaping the future of nursing leadership.

Rebecca Hanratty, MD
Chief Ambulatory Care Officer

Dr. Rebecca Hanratty is a trained internal medicine provider.

Hanratty spent a decade as Chair for General Internal Medicine at Denver Health.

She has been instrumental in driving results in the "Quintuple Aim," with a strong focus on enhancing patient care, advancing health equity, and fostering workplace resiliency for health care providers.

She completed medical school and her residency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. 

Read Pierce, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Read Pierce, MD, serves as Denver Health’s Chief Medical Officer and oversees the engagement and practice of our physicians and advance practice professionals, ensuring our care meets the needs of our patients while innovating to provide the very latest and best health approaches and technology.

In his prior role as Chief Quality, Safety and Transformation Officer, Dr. Pierce led our 2024-26 Strategic Plan, oversaw many quality surveys and required actions, addressed operational changes and guided efforts to raise our quality scores. In his time at Denver Health, Dr. Pierce has built strong relationships in both ambulatory and hospital operations and has advanced our clinical partnerships throughout the region, especially with the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Pierce previously worked at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin (Dell Med) and at University of Colorado (CU). At Dell Med, he served in many roles including co-chair of the Joint Practice Council for Quality, Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine, and Associate Chair of faculty development and well-being in the Department of Internal Medicine. At CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus, he spent nearly a decade leading clinical transformation efforts as Director of Quality Improvement and Clinical Innovation within the Division of Hospital Medicine as a co-founder and Associate Director of the Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency. From 2017-2020, he was part of the National Taskforce for Humanity in Medicine and helped to lead a national pilot program blending efforts to improve quality and patient experience with interventions to reduce clinician burnout.

He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and history from Southern Methodist University and attended medical school at University of California, San Francisco, where he completed an area of concentration in health systems/health leadership. He completed his internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before returning to San Francisco for his residency and chief residency in internal medicine.

His personal interests include history, spending time outdoors, and anything that allows quality time with his wife, Vanessa, and their two boys.

Abraham M. Nussbaum, MD, MTS
Chief Education Officer

Dr. Abraham M. Nussbaum provides strategic vision, daily direction and administrative oversight for Denver Health’s health professional education programs, which educate more than 2,000 learners annually. He is the Denver Health Designated Institutional Officer for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. Nussbaum previously directed Denver Health’s adult inpatient psychiatry units, which care for adults throughout Colorado experiencing mental health crises.

A Colorado native, Dr. Nussbaum studied literature and religion at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, and completed medical school and his psychiatry residency at the University of North Carolina. He has authored 26 peer-reviewed articles and six book chapters. As an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, he developed an award-winning curriculum for interviewing patients, which evolved into the best-selling Pocket Guide to the DSM-5 Diagnostic Exam, which has been translated into thirteen languages. Along with national leaders in child and geriatric psychiatry, he subsequently published textbooks for the care of children and older adults with mental illness. His most recent book is a memoir entitled The Finest Traditions of My Calling: One Physician's Search for the Renewal of Medicine, in which The New York Times wrote that no physician “in recent memory has wielded a set of intellectual and writing tools to such dazzling and instructive effect.”

Steven Federico, MD
Chief Government and Community Affairs Officer

Dr. Federico was previously the Director of General Pediatrics and School and Community Programs, and is an Associate Professor of General Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His past work at Denver Health has been as Director of Service for pediatrics in the community health centers and medical director of school-based health centers.

Dr. Federico leads government relations efforts in better establishing partnerships with and advocating to local, city, state and federal leaders and organizations on behalf of Denver Health. He maintains and develops new relationships with community and constituency partners, and continues to enhance efforts in community outreach and identify areas of growth. He is an advocate on behalf of what the community needs and expects from Denver Health.

Dr. Federico graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency and a primary care research fellowship at the University of Colorado. He then worked with the Colorado Childrens’ Campaign on Medicaid reform as a Soros Physician Advocacy Fellow. He was president of the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics from 2010-2012. He has served on several national committees on child poverty, school and immigrant health. He has been a member of both the National and Colorado Association of School-based Health Care and the National Association of Community Health Centers in focused on the areas of Legislative policy and Clinical Practice.

Richard Dart, MD
Director of Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety

Dr. Richard Dart specializes in emergency medicine and toxicology and is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and American Board of Medical Toxicology. Since 1992, Dr. Dart has served as Director of Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety. He is the Executive Director of Researched Abuse, Diversion and Addiction-Related Surveillance System.

He has published more than 250 papers and chapters, as well as served as editor for the book, The 5-Minute Toxicology Consult and the third edition of Medical Toxicology. In 2002, Dr. Dart was recognized with a special citation from the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and named the 2004 recipient of the Matthew J. Ellenhorn Award for Excellence in Medical Toxicology from the American College of Medical Toxicology. He also serves as a Deputy Editor of the medical journal, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and is the past president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers.  

Robert Belknap, MD
Executive Director, Public Health Institute at Denver Health

Dr. Bob Belknap is the Executive Director for PHIDH. He grew up in Ohio and attended medical school at Ohio State University. He moved to CO in 1998 for Internal Medicine residency followed by fellowship in Infectious Diseases. In 2005, he joined public health at Denver Health working in the tuberculosis (TB), Sexual Health, and Infectious Diseases clinics. Dr. Belknap became the director of the TB program in 2013 and has been a member of the core leadership team at PHIDH since 2016. He has been active nationally working to advance TB prevention and the care of people with TB. He served as president and a member of the executive boards for the National Society of Tuberculosis Clinicians and the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association. He is currently Chair of the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Advisory Council for the Elimination of TB.

Enid Wade, JD
General Counsel

Enid Wade joined Denver Health in 2021 from Baylor Scott & White Health in Texas, the largest not-for-profit health care system in the State, where she served as General Counsel of Health System Operations.

Ms. Wade has broad ranging experience in health care law, including oversight for corporate governance, research, immigration, human resources, real estate, government relations, risk management, contracts, graduate medical education, and matters involving all areas of employment and labor law.

Ms. Wade earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Duke University and went on to graduate with a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law. In her first job following law school, she worked as a prosecutor gaining lots of trial experience and seeking remedies for crime victims. She then went into private practice with a Texas law firm where she quickly rose to the position of Partner. She then moved in-house with a hospital system, which is the type of work she continues through today. Throughout her career, she has been actively engaged in a variety of academic, professional, and civic organizations.

Landon Palmer
Chief Compliance & Audit Officer

Landon Palmer is Denver Health's Chief Compliance & Audit Officer. He joined Denver Health in 2023 and provides compliance and privacy guidance while overseeing the internal audit function at Denver Health. Landon has lead compliance teams for hospitals, physician practices, and health plans in Colorado and the surrounding states for the last 10 years. A Denver-born Colorado native, he is passionate about serving the community and helping strengthen Denver Health's mission. Landon holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Healthcare Administration and is a member of the Healthcare Compliance Association. Landon believes strongly in leading through compassion with a people-centric and practical approach to problem solving.