team
Maryellen pratt, CEO, St. James Parish hospital
lihnc board chair
MaryEllen Pratt is the CEO of St. James Parish Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital located in Lutcher, Louisiana. As a graduate of Tulane University with a Master of Health Administration, Pratt started her career in the c-suite of academic medical centers and large community hospitals, but the last 15 years she has been dedicated to rural health. Her leadership in rural health care is evidenced by the fact she currently serves as a member of the Board of the National Rural Resource Center, Caravan ACO Collaborative, and the AHA’s Future of Rural Taskforce and was the past Chair of the AHA Small Rural Hospital Governing Council. At the state level, she is on the Board of the Louisiana Hospital Association, the Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition, and NAMI Louisiana. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Rural Health Association. Mary Ellen was named in Becker’s “50 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know” for 6 consecutive years, from 2015-2020. Pratt has also participated in numerous speaking engagements at many state association events.
Naveed Awan, CEO, St. Helena Parish hospital
lihnc Board vice chair
Naveed Awan is the Chief Executive Officer of St. Helena Parish Hospital, Louisiana’s first Critical Access Hospital. He has also served as the Chief Executive Officer at St. Helena Parish Hospital Service District since April 2012. With 27 years of hospital and healthcare experience, Naveed is skilled in healthcare consulting, performance improvement, electronic health records, system automation, team building and disaster response. Naveed has served on the Louisiana Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners since 2014 and is a past President of the Southeast Louisiana chapter of American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a graduate of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Edgardo Tenreiro, CEO, General Health System
LIHnc Secretary
Edgardo Tenreiro’s healthcare career started at the NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Florida. He spent almost 20 years there working in many clinical and support departments from Accounting to X-Rays and everything in between. He learned hospital management from the ground up, and has a great appreciation for the role of every member of the team. He is active member of the Baton Rouge Health District, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Hospital Association, and the LSU Healthcare Engineering Keck Advisory Board. His favorite charities are the Baton Rouge General Foundation and Hogar de la Madre (a convent in Spain where his daughter is a nun.) In his spare time he enjoys reading on his back porch, riding dirt bikes on the single track trails of the Kisatchie National Forest and playing golf. He has four beautiful children – Joan Isabel, Alex, Kristen and Cecilia Zoe
Blake Kramer, Administrator, Franklin Medical Center
lihnc treasurer
Blake Kramer is the current administrator of Franklin Medical Center in Winnsboro, LA. A Winnsboro native, Mr. Kramer graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame in 2000 with degrees in economics and philosophy. He went on to study at LSU’s Paul Hebert Law Center, earning his Juris Doctor and BCL in 2003. As an associate with the law firm of Hammonds and Sills, Mr. Kramer represented primarily school boards and other public bodies. In 2006, he was hired by Franklin Medical Center as in-house legal counsel, later assuming the roles of compliance officer and risk manager. He was promoted to the position of hospital administrator in January of 2010. He became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2019.