Hospital Executives

Lee Ann Liska, FACHE
Senior Vice President and Executive Director
University Hospital
Mrs. Liska became senior vice president and executive director of University Hospital in April 2008. Previously Mrs. Liska had served as vice president and executive operations director since June 2004. She was the COO of The Cleveland Clinic Florida Hospitals and Clinics in Weston and Naples, Florida before joining the Health Alliance. Mrs. Liska served as vice president of operations for The Metrohealth System from 1998-2002 and as an Administrator for various clinical departments at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio 10 years previously. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications and an executive master’s degree in business administration from Cleveland State University.  Mrs. Liska is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), a member in the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and served as an officer in the Primary Care Assembly of the MGMA. She is involved in community and civic activities, is married to Joe Ed, has one daughter, and lives in Anderson, Ohio.

Aurora Lambert 
Senior Vice President, The Jewish Hospital
Ms. Lambert has served as senior vice president for Jewish Hospital since 1998.  She came to Jewish Hospital after 10 years at St. Francis/St. George Hospital (now Mercy Franciscan Western Hills). As vice president of operations, she was responsible for merging St. Francis and St. George and for planning the care model and move to the current facility from both former hospitals. In 1983, Ms. Lambert became vice president of operations for Jewish Hospital. Between 1992 and 1997, Ms. Lambert oversaw the expansion and renovation of the Kenwood location. 

Ms. Lambert, who is a registered nurse, received a master’s degree in business administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati. She is a diplomate of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a board member of the Cincinnati Health Collaborative. Ms. Lambert serves on the Board of Trustees of the YWCA and was a recipient of the 1999 YWCA Career Women of Achievement award. She also serves on the Public Relations and Medical Quality Committees of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council. She is a member of the board of the Greater Cincinnati Health Improvement Collaborative. Her other community involvement includes United Way Tocqueville member and Women's Leadership Initiative.

Lynn M. Oswald, FACHE
Senior Vice President, Fort Hamilton Hospital
Lynn M. Oswald became senior vice president of Fort Hamilton Hospital in June 2004. Ms. Oswald previously was vice president and chief nursing officer at Fort Hamilton. She has worked at Fort Hamilton Hospital since 1980 when she began as a relief charge nurse in the nursery. Ms. Oswald has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility throughout the years, including administrative resident, director of management development and assistant vice president.

Ms. Oswald has a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; a master's degree in hospital and health administration from Xavier University; and a master's degree in business administration from Miami University.

Ms. Oswald is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is also a member of the boards of the Community Blood Center in Dayton, Ohio, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Butler County Community Health Consortium (the local community health clinic). She also serves as a member of the Rotary Club of Hamilton.

Karen Bankston, Ph.D. FACHE,
Senior Vice President, Drake Center, Inc.
Karen Bankston, Ph.D., M.S.N., FACHE, is the senior vice president of Drake Center, Inc., part of the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati.  Dr. Bankston previously served as the senior vice president of external affairs for the Health Alliance, which included responsibility for local, state and federal government relations, community relations and marketing and public relations. She also served as the external affairs liaison to neighborhood councils, the Uptown Consortium, United Way and other community agencies, and oversaw the Health Alliance departments of community health and diversity.

Prior to that she held positions as vice president of operations and vice president for patient care services/chief nursing officer at University Hospital in Cincinnati. She served as associate dean of clinical services, and clinical assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health. She also held various nursing and nurse manager positions at Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown, Ohio.  

She is actively involved in numerous boards including the National Association of Health Services Executives (where she is president), YWCA, Babies Milk Fund and the Health Foundation Fund (InterAct for Change).

Dr. Bankston was recently elected to a three-year term on the governing council of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Long-Term Care & Rehabilitation beginning Jan. 1, 2008, which advises AHA on policy issues, advocacy positions, emerging issues, and member service strategies. She also participated as a member of a national task force to assist the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) with identifying criteria for admission to post-acute care services.

Locally, she is involved in the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s Agenda 360 Plan for Public Health and continues to volunteer in efforts supporting the need for care to the poor and in the development of young African-American professionals. She played a role in getting legislation changed for distribution of medication for the charitable pharmacy established by St. Vincent DePaul, and was a member of its founding board. She is also former chair and a member of the board of the Center for Closing the Health Gap and was responsible for the formation of this organization. She led the United Way’s Oral Health Initiative which created the foundation for a regional approach to dental services in the eight-county region.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including: YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award; Business Courier Health Care Hero; Cincinnati Human Relations Pope Leadership Award; Cincinnati YMCA Black Achiever; and Sigma Theta Tau, Delta XI, International Nursing Honor Society. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXVII.

Dr. Bankston earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree from Youngstown State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from Kent State University, and a doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of Cincinnati with a focus on administration and organizational behavior.

Carol King  
Senior Vice President, West Chester Medical Center
Carol King was appointed senior vice  president of the West Chester Medical Center in December 2005. As the head of a hospital still being built, Ms. King is responsible for assembling a management team, establishing relationships with local community and business leaders, ensuring construction is on target and building the staff of a 160-bed hospital.

Ms. King has more than 25 years of health care experience since beginning her career as a nurse. She has served as the senior vice president of operations at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, OH, vice president of emergency medicine services for the Health Alliance and various roles at Mercy Health Partners and Franciscan Health System.

Ms. King earned a master of business administration degree from Xavier University, a master of science degree in nursing administration from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the College of Mount St. Joseph. She is a diplomate of the American College of Health Care Executives and is certified in nursing administration advanced by the American Nurse Credentialing Center.

Tom Ziesmann
Senior Vice President, Ambulatory Services
Tom Ziesmann serves as senior vice president of ambulatory services for the Health Alliance. In this role, Mr. Ziesmann is responsible for Alliance Primary Care (APC), Integrated Management Services (IMS), Health Alliance Specialty Services and the development of ambulatory care strategies, including identifying growth and partnership opportunities.

Mr. Ziesmann has 20 years of experience in health care administration, revenue cycle management, health systems operations management, physician practice management, managed care contracting, network development and corporate property management. He had served as vice president of operations for ambulatory services, APC and IMS since 2003, before being promoted to senior vice president in 2006.

Prior to joining the Health Alliance, Mr. Ziesmann was senior manager with Deloitte and Touche, where he provided management consulting services for hospitals, physician groups and health systems, including the Health Alliance. He has also worked with Sinai Health System in Baltimore, and Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati.

Mr. Ziesmann received a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Hanover College and a master of health care administration degree from Xavier University. He is a member of the Medical Group Management Association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association, American Medical Group Association and OutPatient 100.