Senior Executives

President and Chief Executive Officer

Frederick P. Cerise, MD, MPH, was named President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2014. Prior to joining Parkland, Dr. Cerise served as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans School of Medicine. From 2007 to 2012, he was Vice President for Health Affairs and Medical Education of the Louisiana State University System. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Cerise was Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. He began his career at the Earl K. Long Medical Center, Baton Rouge, La. Between 1991 and 2004, he advanced from the role of Assistant Program Director and Clinical Faculty member to Medical Director and ultimately served as Chief Executive Officer of Earl K. Long Medical Center.

Dr. Cerise holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Notre Dame and earned his Medical Degree at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In 2011, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University School of Public Health. He is a member of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, Nurse Family Partnership, and previously served on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Edmundo Castañeda, FACHE, was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2022. Prior to joining Parkland, Castañeda worked for Dignity Health, part of CommonSpirit Health, in the greater Sacramento, CA, area. There he served as President of Mercy General Hospital and Woodland Memorial Hospital. From 2015-2017, he was responsible for Mercy General Hospital and Mercy Hospital of Folsom. Before joining Dignity Health in 2012, Castañeda served as Chief Executive Officer at Tenet’s Sierra Medical Center in El Paso from 2007-2012. He has also held leadership positions at Lea Regional Medical Center in Hobbs, NM, where he served as CEO; and as COO at Mountain View Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces, NM, and administrator of HCA’s Surgical Center of El Paso & East El Paso Surgery Center, as well as other leadership positions in New Mexico.

Castañeda, who is fluent in Spanish, is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He earned his Master of Healthcare Administration from Texas State University, San Marcos, TX; and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio.

Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Keri Disney-Story was named Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in May 2026, following a long and impactful tenure of leadership at Parkland Health. Over more than 25 years with the organization, she has held several key roles, including Senior Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Clinical Finance, and Director of Government Reimbursement. With more than 30 years of experience in finance and healthcare payment policy, Keri brings both deep expertise and a strong commitment to supporting Parkland’s mission.

Prior to joining Parkland, Keri held roles across both nonprofit and for-profit healthcare organizations, including Baylor Health Care System (now part of Baylor Scott & White Health), Harris Methodist Health System (now part of Texas Health Resources), and American Healthcare Management.

Keri is widely respected for her deep understanding of complex financial and reimbursement issues, particularly those involving public programs and funding sources that impact large public hospitals. She has extensive knowledge of Texas’ hospital financing system and has contributed her expertise through service on multiple boards and workgroups. She currently serves as Chair of the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Trust Account Administration Advisory Committee and as a member of the Texas Hospital Association Policy Committee on Hospital Reimbursement.

Colleagues value Keri not only for her technical expertise, but also for her ability to connect the dots and clearly communicate complex financial and policy matters in a way that is thoughtful and easy to understand.

Keri is a Certified Professional Coder, a designation she earned in 2007. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University.

Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Joseph Chang, MD, MBA, FACOG, is the Chief Medical Officer at Parkland and a member of the Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Chang earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine including completing his OB/GYN residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital, and his Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University. He is board certified, is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is a member of The American Association of Physician Leaders.

Dr. Chang is currently the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Parkland Health and Hospital System, a large safety net health system that serves Dallas County with over 1 million outpatient encounters per year. He is responsible for the oversight of all hospital and ambulatory clinical care operations. He is also responsible for all medical staff office functions including credentialing, privileging, and peer review, and the oversight of Graduate Medical Education. Previously, Dr. Chang spent 6 years as Parkland Health and Hospital System’s Associate Chief Medical Officer for Population Health and on the Volunteer Faculty for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School Faculty for the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology. Both English and Mandarin Chinese are his native languages, and he is also fluent in Spanish. In spite of all of this, Dr. Chang cites his main work as being a husband and father, spending time with his extraordinary wife and twin daughters.

Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive

Donna Richardson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is Parkland’s Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive. Dr. Richardson is an accomplished nursing leader holding positions during her career including nurse manager, director, Associate Chief Nursing Officer & Chief Nursing Officer.

She holds a BSN from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, an MSN from the University of Texas at Tyler, and a DNP from Texas Christian University. She completed the Johnson & Johnson Wharton Fellows Program for Nurse Executives in 2011. Dr. Richardson is credentialed by the ANCC with her Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certified specialty certification.

Dr. Richardson has more than 33 years of experience in nursing as an administrator, mentor, leader, and clinician. Her clinical area of expertise was obstetrics where she began her career as a labor and delivery nurse. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Texas Organization of Nurse Executives, and the Texas Nurse’s Association. Dr. Richardson is active in nursing practice and legislative changes and served on the Texas Board of Nursing Practice Committee.

Senior Vice President and Chief Governance and Strategy Officer

Saúl Cordero, PE, MBA, FACHE, serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Governance and Strategy Officer for Parkland.

Over the past nine years, he has built and led Parkland’s governance function, supporting the Board of Managers in fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and guiding the strategic direction of the health system. With more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, Saúl partners closely with Parkland’s executive leadership to develop both long-term and annual strategic plans. Most recently, he led the development of a comprehensive Strategic Facilities Plan to assess and define Parkland’s facilities needs over the next 20 years.

His professional background includes corporate and business planning roles with Walmart and CVS Health, as well as experience advising clients through management consulting.

Saúl holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and an MBA from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Senior Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer

Jessica J. Hernandez, MHA, CCHW has three decades of leadership experience in healthcare, specifically medical practice management and comprehensive community-based care. She has been with Parkland Health since 1995 when she began as an Administrative Resident.

She currently serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Health Equity Officer at Parkland Health and is responsible for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives aimed at improving access to healthcare and advancing patient outcomes across the populations Parkland serves. In this role, she works collaboratively throughout the system and community to support effective practices and policies. Areas of focus include talent acquisition and retention, employee support and career development, patient care quality and safety, and community engagement.

Hernandez previously served as Senior Vice President of Community Integrated Health. In this role, she strengthened community-based prevention strategies that helped individuals prevent, delay, or better manage chronic conditions. Hernandez also served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Population Health & HOMES, which included Community Oriented Primary Care, Outpatient Specialty Clinics and Correctional Health. Both roles allowed her to work with several community partners including Dallas County Health and Human Services, Dallas County Jail and Juvenile Services, and the Dallas Independent School District.

She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and continues to seek knowledge to enhance her leadership skills and ability to deliver care in innovative ways. She has completed the Healthcare Academy Executive Fellowship in Washington, DC sponsored by The Advisory Board Council, National Hispanic Council Corporate Executive Development Program at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, America’s Essential Hospitals Fellows Program, and the American Hospital Association Executive Fellowship.

President and CEO of Parkland Foundation

Michael A. Horne, EdD, MPP, was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkland Health Foundation in August 2019. Parkland Health Foundation secures substantial philanthropic capital to advance Parkland Health’s strategic focus on improving Dallas County residents’ wellness.

Prior to joining Parkland, he served as Superintendent and CEO of KIPP Dallas-Fort Worth, a nationally recognized kindergarten through twelfth grade public charter school system.

Dr. Horne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College and earned a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Additionally, he earned a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a Master of Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Horne is active on several boards including: The Center for BrainHealth, The Dallas Development Fund, The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, and The Dallas Assembly.

Senior Vice President, Chief Quality and Safety Officer

Mike Lane, MD, MBA, MPHS, MSc, CPPS, FIDSA, is Senior Vice President, Chief Quality & Safety Officer and Associate Chief Medical Officer at Parkland Health. In this role, Dr. Lane leads the strategic direction and operational management of Parkland’s quality and safety programs including patient safety, clinical risk management, regulatory and accreditation, infection prevention, performance improvement, quality analytics and reporting.

Dr. Lane is a board certified infectious diseases physician. He holds faculty appointments in both the Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine Division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and in the O’Donnell School of Public Health.

Prior to joining Parkland, Dr. Lane led patient safety and quality for BJC HealthCare, a large, integrated health system based in St. Louis, MO.

Dr. Lane earned his medical degree at Drexel University College of Medicine followed by internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview. Dr. Lane completed fellowships in infectious diseases and in patient safety and quality, along with a Masters in Population Health Sciences at The Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from Olin Business School at Washington University.

Dr. Lane has served on multiple national committees for safety and quality measurement. He has been recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as a “Safety Expert to Know.”

Senior Vice President of Communications and External Affairs

Michael Malaise, DSc, has worked at Parkland Health since 2012. In this role as Senior Vice President of Communications and External Relations, he oversees Parkland’s corporate communications, community relations, government relations and marketing functions. He is also the executive sponsor of Parkland’s Health Equity Strategic Plan Initiative. Prior to working at Parkland, Mike worked for Purple Strategies, a bi-partisan public affairs firm that specializes in communications, issue advocacy and brand management from their offices in Chicago and Washington, DC. He received his doctorate in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama Birmingham and teaches Health Economics at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mike is a Dallas native who returned to his hometown in order to work for Parkland.

Executive Vice President & Chief Talent Officer

Felicia Miller, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CHHR, is the EVP & CTO at Parkland. Felicia has more than 30 years of leadership experience in healthcare HR across both non-profit and for-profit health systems, including more than 22 hospitals and approximately 18,000 employees.

Her most recent experience as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Tenet Healthcare Corporation’s Texas region saw her leading the charge for comprehensive talent management in a heavily data-driven culture while fostering cross-functional working relationships with executive counterparts across divisions.

Prior to her time at Tenet, Ms. Miller spent 19 years with Presbyterian Hospital Dallas (PHD) and Texas Health Resources. Her tenure with PHD included roles with increasing responsibility and seniority, having progressed from a career center coordinator to manager roles, senior HR generalist and director of HR.

Felicia received a Master of Business Administration from LeTourneau University. She also has dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Health Information Management and Health Professions from Texas State University. Felicia’s professional certifications include Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and Healthcare Human Resources (CHHR). She is also an active community member, involved in multiple business organizations and the recipient of numerous professional accolades.

Senior Vice President and Chief Health Officer

Brett Moran, MD, is the Chief Health Officer at Parkland Health where he leads Clinical Strategic Development, Digital Health, Research, Innovation, Clinician Well-being, and Value initiatives. His strategic vision focuses on transforming healthcare delivery through technology and process improvement, with particular emphasis on serving vulnerable populations. He previously served as SVP, Associate Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Medical Information Officer, where he established and led the Clinical Informatics department, developing groundbreaking initiatives including the Digital Health Center and Safety Net Surveillance Team.

His academic contributions span medical education and research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, including serving as course director for Clinical Decision Support in the Masters Program for Clinical Informatics and co-creating the Population Health Curriculum for medicine residents. Dr. Moran is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Informatics, with a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the Cox School of Business.

As a leader in healthcare technology and AI implementation, Dr. Moran serves in several key advisory roles, including vice-chair of the Texas eHealth Advisory Council, which provides strategic guidance to the Health and Human Services Commission. He contributes his expertise as an independent reviewer for the Duke Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) framework, actively participates in the Epic Health Policy and AI workgroup, and co-facilitates the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's AI Accelerator. His current focus includes advancing patient safety through artificial intelligence, pioneering solutions to reduce clinician burden, deepening the integration of social care within healthcare delivery systems, and developing sustainable virtual care models tailored to safety-net environments.

Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer

Brad Nitschke, JD, was named Parkland Health’s Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel in March 2026, and leads a team of attorneys and legal, risk management, and records information management professionals who support the life-giving health care Parkland provides.

Nitschke joined Parkland in August 2021 as Associate General Counsel for Operations and Regulatory matters. Prior to Parkland, Nitschke was a trial and investigations partner at a Texas-based law firm. His private legal practice focused on helping healthcare, non-profit, and other heavily-regulated clients manage risk in daily operational decision-making, navigate sensitive internal and personnel matters, and strategically engage and respond to significant threats and disputes.

Nitschke has also been an active leader in the community, including through service in leadership on the boards of the Equality Texas Foundation, Forefront Living, and the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation. He has been named a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation, and recognized by the Association of Corporate Counsel, Texas Lawbook, D CEO, and Super Lawyers.

A proud Dallas native with deep Oak Cliff roots, Nitschke earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law.

Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Ethics Officer

Melanie Benitez Roberts, CHC, CHPC, CHRC, is the Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer at Parkland Health.

Parkland has been serving the Dallas community for more than 128 years as one of the largest public hospital systems in the country. The hospital averages more than 1 million patient visits annually. Services include a Level I Trauma Center, the only verified burn center in North Texas and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The system also includes 20 community-based clinics, including primary care and women's clinics, 12 school-based clinics and numerous outreach and education programs. Parkland is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Mrs. Roberts has more than 26 years of healthcare experience in regulatory compliance, operations, and quality management. She has served in various compliance roles at Tenet Healthcare, Ochsner Health Plan, and United Healthcare. Mrs. Roberts received her Master of Social Work degree from Tulane University and Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Loyola University New Orleans. She is Certified in Healthcare Compliance, Healthcare Privacy Compliance and Healthcare Research Compliance and is a member of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE).