Leadership
Meet the Emanate Health administration.
President & CEO
Roger Sharma is the President & CEO for Emanate Health. He has more than 20 years of experience in health care finance and leadership. Roger most recently served 10 years as the Chief Financial Officer for Emanate Health working closely with former CEO Rob Curry in successfully guiding the organization to a secure financial future, propelling the growth of service lines and expanding physician practices. Before joining Emanate Health, Roger served as Senior Vice President of Financial Operations for City of Hope in Duarte. He previously held leadership positions at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles and Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center.
A Certified Public Accountant, Roger earned his Presidential and Key Executive Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University. He also completed an executive education program in health care delivery at Harvard Business School, is an inaugural fellow of Coro's Health Leadership program and is a fellow of Leadership Southern California. Among his many accolades, Roger has been named for five consecutive years to the national list of the “100 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review, a respected health care industry publication.
Chief People Officer
Angela Bernacki is Chief People Officer for Emanate Health. She is responsible for Human Resources' strategic development and senior management of recruitment and retention, Patient Experience, Patient Relations, Interpreter Services, physician coaching, the Patient and Family Advisory Council and the Cope Health Scholar program. Since joining Emanate Health, Bernacki has taken a leadership role in developing the organization into a recognized employer of choice.
Prior to working at Emanate Health, Bernacki advanced innovation across a variety of multi-national organizations including Western International Media and City of Hope. At Western International Media, an $11 billion media management company, Bernacki developed, led and executed employer branding and talent acquisition strategy. During her employment at City of Hope, she helped build their HR infrastructure through people, technology, and compliance.
With more than twenty years of experience in the human resources field, Bernacki brings expertise in talent acquisition management, reward and recognition, and organizational and professional development, which has contributed to Emanate Health's growth. She is passionate about patient and family-centered care and employee engagement. She has successfully driven a culture of service excellence and accountability across the system. Emanate Health presented Bernacki with a Women of Achievement award for her exceptional achievements and dedication to Emanate Health and the communities they serve.
Bernacki is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she studied Business Administration and Human Resources management. She is a member of Professionals in Human Resources, Society for Human Resources Management and the Beryl Institute, a global patient experience community. She has a Green Belt from the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare and received a certificate by Gallup in strengths based coaching. Bernacki's ability to build and strengthen the link between people and strategy, as well as motivate and manage talent, is invaluable to the long–term success of Emanate Health.
Veteran finance executive Leon Choiniere, CPA, FHFMA, is the Chief Financial Officer and oversees all financial operations and related departments for Emanate Health. Leon possesses more than three decades of hospital finance experience and leadership. He joins Emanate Health from St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, where he served six years as the CFO beginning in 2015, and the Controller for the prior eight years. During his long career, Leon has also held various senior finance leadership positions at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles and Antelope Valley District Hospital in Lancaster.
Leon is a Certified Public Accountant, which he achieved while working with KPMG, one of the four largest accounting firms in the United States. He is a Fellow in Healthcare Financial Management Association, a leading organization to support health care finance professionals in the evolving hospital industry. Leon graduated cum laude from Walla Walla University in College Place, WA, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Chief Nurse & Clinical Executive, ICH/FPH
Melissa is the Chief Nurse and Clinical Executive for Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital and Emanate Health Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. She started her career at Emanate Health in 2000 as a new graduate nurse, serving as the Director of Performance Improvement and Director of Medical Surgical Services before progressing to the Chief Nurse Executive Role in 2012.
Melissa has been on the board for the Sigma Theta Tau-Iota Sigma chapter and is a former member of the Association of California Nurse Leader's Philanthropy Committee. In her years of leadership roles with Emanate Health she has worked to standardize processes throughout the system, improve the patient experience as well as quality of care patients receive. She has worked with the FPH nursing leadership team to implement Nursing Shared Governance as well as improve nursing services through the reincarnation of the Clinical Ladder program, increased professional certifications among the nursing staff and promote advanced degree completion. Melissa received her MSN from Azusa Pacific University.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Gurjeet Kalkat is the Chief Medical Officer for Emanate Health. Before he took on this role he was the Medical Director of Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. He also served as the Chief of Staff at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in 1997. Dr. Kalkat has been with this organization since 1992.
He received his Medical degree from the University of Delhi and trained in pulmonary and critical care at University of Southern California. He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, palliative care and hospice medicine.
His focus is to provide integrated, quality and efficient medical care to our community.
Chief Nurse & Clinical Executive, QVH
Mary is the Chief Nurse & Clinical Executive for Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina. She is a registered nurse who oversees all clinical operations and patient care at the 325-bed hospital. Mary is a senior executive and management leader for Emanate Health who reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.
Most recently, Mary served as Vice President of Nursing and Ancillary Support Services at QVH, where she managed clinical operations in departments throughout the hospital beginning in 2019. Before that, Mary was the Corporate Director of the Neuroscience service line, as well as the Neurosurgical Unit, the Direct Observation Unit and the Medical/Surgical Unit, a position she held for six years. Mary first arrived at QVH in 2012 and held several director positions in various departments.
Before joining Emanate Health, Mary held nursing positions at Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital for more than 13 years.
Mary holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a focus on family dynamics from Phillips Graduate Institute in Chatsworth, CA. She also holds a Master's Degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Phoenix.