Leadership Team


Eric Borgerding
President and Chief Executive Officer

Eric BorgerdingEric Borgerding is the President and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association. He has been with WHA since 2002 and previously held positions as Vice President of Government Relations, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President. Prior to joining WHA, Borgerding served as Director of Legislative Relations for the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. He served as the Director of State Legislative Affairs for the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1994 to 1997 and as the WHA Director of Legislative Relations from 1991 to 1994. During Borgerding’s tenure, WHA has become one of the most influential and effective advocacy and lobbying organizations in Wisconsin, respected and recognized for its public policy leadership and building bipartisan consensus on a host of health care issues.  

Joanne Alig
Senior Vice President, Public Policy

Joanne AligJoanne Alig joined WHA in December 2010, and currently services as the Senior Vice President of Policy. Her primary areas of responsibility include Medicaid and commercial insurance, the health insurance exchange and enrollment, national health care reform, value initiatives, and worker’s compensation. Joanne brings a unique perspective to health care issues with her experience working for the state, payers, and providers. She has prior work experience with the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (the Medicaid Program), the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans and Deloitte Consulting.
   

Nadine Allen
Chief Quality Officer

Nadine AllenNadine Allen is the Chief Quality Officer for the Wisconsin Hospital Association. In this role, she provides executive leadership of a variety of health care quality improvement efforts, including the CMS Hospital Quality Improvement Contract (HQIC) through a partnership with Superior Health Quality Alliance, WHA’s CheckPoint public reporting of quality measures website, and represents WHA on several state and national quality improvement taskforces and advisory groups.
   

Jon Hoelter
Vice President, Federal and State Relations

Jon HoelterJon Hoelter has served as the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Director of Federal & State Relations since February of 2018. He serves as WHA’s lead on federal lobbying and also assists on a variety of state lobbying efforts. Jon began his career in the state Legislature working for State Representative Mary Williams from Medford. He managed two of her successful re-election efforts. Jon then helped Sean Duffy get elected to Congress and worked in his D.C. office as a legislative assistant with a wide issue portfolio, including health care issues. He then worked in Governor Walker’s office as a senior policy advisor in health care, insurance, and other issues. Most recently prior to joining WHA he served as the legislative advisor to Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services. Jon is a graduate of UW-Madison.
   

Kari Hofer
Vice President, External Affairs

Kari HoferKari Hofer joined the Wisconsin Hospital Association in February 2018 as the Vice President of Advocacy and currently serves as the Vice President of External Affairs. Her role integrates WHA’s government relations, communications, advocacy, and other external relations. Her primary responsibilities include leading WHA’s strategic communications operations, including the Valued Voice newsletter, WHA annual reports, and digital and social media, managing WHA’s grassroots and political advocacy, including WHA's Hospitals Education Advocacy Team (HEAT) program, the Wisconsin Hospitals Political Action Committee (PAC) & Conduit, and the Healthy Wisconsin Alliance. Kari spent the first decade of her career fundraising for various political campaigns and committees.  Immediately prior to joining WHA, Kari served as the Executive Director of WMC Foundation, a nonprofit entity of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).  She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and earned her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 2015.  

Leigh Ann S. Larson
Vice President, Education & Marketing

Leigh Ann S. LarsonLeigh Ann S. Larson is the Vice President of Education and Marketing for the Wisconsin Hospital Association. She is responsible for the overall direction and oversight of the WHA Education Department. WHA offers quality, cost‐effective educational opportunities designed to assist members in maintaining their quality patient care delivery, as well as remaining current about trends and best practices in health care. Leigh Ann served as Learning and Development Manager at Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin for seven years and also worked for Dean Health Plan for more than 10 years in the Learning and Development Manager role. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from UW‐La Crosse.
   

Laura Leitch
WHA Policy Counsel

Laura LeitchLaura Leitch, an attorney with Wisconsin Health Law & Policy, LLC, has been working with WHA since 2002. She served as general counsel until 2014 and has since continued her work with WHA and others in both Wisconsin and Minnesota in private practice. As policy counsel for WHA, Laura focuses on issues related to post-acute care, hospital licensing and certification, physician reimbursement, and Medicaid policy. In addition to working with WHA, Laura has worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C., state government in Madison, and in private practice representing hospitals, health systems, and others in the health care provider community. 
   

Jennifer Mueller, MBA, RHIA, SHIMSS, FACHE, FAHIMA
Vice President, Info. Center; Privacy Officer

Jennifer MuellerJennifer Mueller joined the Wisconsin Hospital Association Information Center (WHAIC) in March 2018 and currently services as the Vice President and Privacy Officer. Her primary responsibilities include overall direction and oversight of WHAIC, including managing and developing WHAIC's product and service portfolio, guiding staff development, maintaining customer relationships, and assisting in the growth and development of the organization. Prior to joining WHAIC, Jennifer served 19 years as Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Watertown Regional Medical Center. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management as well as a Master’s in Business Administration from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Health Information Management Association.  

Kyle O’Brien
Senior Vice President, Government Relations

Kyle O’BrienKyle O’Brien joined the Wisconsin Hospital Association in December 2012 as Vice President, Government Relations and currently serves as Senior Vice President, Government Relations. His primary responsibilities consist of day-to-day lobbying and advocacy with state policymakers on issues impacting Wisconsin hospitals and health systems. O’Brien worked as research staff for several lawmakers in the Wisconsin State Capitol, including on the state’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee. Following his time in the Legislature, O’Brien served as legislative liaison at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. O’Brien holds a bachelors degree in finance and marketing from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.  

Brian Potter
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Operating Officer

Brian PotterBrian Potter has served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Operating Officer since December 2010. He has been with the hospital association since 1995, working primarily on hospital reimbursement issues and other regulatory, compliance, and legislative matters facing hospitals and health care systems. He also oversees the Association’s internal operations and the WHA Information Center. Prior to joining WHA, Brian worked for a staff model health maintenance organization concentrating on finance and operational issues. Potter also spent three years in public accounting focusing on hospital audits and other health care consulting projects. He has a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Healthcare Fiscal Management, and he is a CPA.  

Matthew Stanford, JD, MHA
General Counsel

Matthew StanfordMatthew Stanford has served the Wisconsin Hospital Association as General Counsel since 2014.  He has been with WHA since 2003 working as an attorney in the Government Relations department.  He leads WHA’s courtroom advocacy efforts and guides legislative and administrative advocacy on legal and regulatory issues impacting hospitals and health systems.  Stanford has a juris doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law and a masters of health administration from the University of Iowa College of Public Health. 

   

Ann Zenk, RN, BSN, MHA
Senior Vice President, Workforce and Clinical Practice

Ann ZenkAnn has served the Wisconsin Hospital Association as Vice President of Workforce and Clinical Practice since June 2017. As a member of WHA’s Government Relations (GR) team, Ann acts as the lead staff person in the critical areas of workforce development and clinical practice. This position also functions within the GR advocacy team to educate and inform WHA staff and members about health care and hospital related issues. Prior to joining WHA, Ann’s greater than 30+ years’ experience in health care included patient care and leadership roles across hospitals, clinics, and long-term care--including nursing, quality improvement, risk management, and utilization review. Ann holds Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Viterbo University and a Masters in Health Administration from Ohio University.