Susan Harrington, MS, RD, President, Communities Lifting
Communities, Hospital Association of Southern California. Susan
is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and has worked in public
health for over 32 years. She is a former director of the
Riverside County Department of Public Health and is a public and
community health consultant. In July 2018, Susan joined the
Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) as the
Executive Director for Communities Lifting Communities (CLC). CLC
is working with HASC, HC2 Strategies, and the Public Health
Alliance of Southern California to advance significant systems
change through a collective impact model aligning HASC member
hospitals and health systems, public health departments, health
plans, and community stakeholders to improve community health and
reduce health disparities. Susan holds a Master’s degree in
Nutrition from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a
Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of California,
Davis.
Dominique Diaz joined the Hospital Communities Lifting
Communities (CLC) in January 2021. She is currently a Program
Coordinator supporting the implementation of CLC’s initiatives.
Ms. Diaz has an interest in leadership engagement as well as
optimizing community collective impact model to address Social
Determinants of Health.
Prior to joining Communities Lifting Communities, Ms. Diaz
worked for the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO),
Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), as a Quality Improvement
Specialist. In this role, she was accountable for creating,
leading, and executing the strategy for deliverables set forth by
CMS across the Inland Empire, Orange County, and the Central
Valley markets. She worked on a variety of projects that
included collaborating with hospital leaders and their post-acute
partners to improve care coordination with a focus to improve
patient outcomes and reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and
readmissions.
Ms. Diaz earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
from California State University, Fullerton.
Susan Harrington, MS, RD, President, Communities Lifting
Communities, Hospital Association of Southern California. Susan
is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and has worked in public
health for over 32 years. She is a former director of the
Riverside County Department of Public Health and is a public and
community health consultant. In July 2018, Susan joined the
Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) as the
Executive Director for Communities Lifting Communities (CLC).
Dominique Diaz joined the Hospital Communities Lifting
Communities (CLC) in January 2021. She is currently a Program
Coordinator supporting the implementation of CLC’s initiatives.
Ms. Diaz has an interest in leadership engagement as well as
optimizing community collective impact model to address Social
Determinants of Health.
Karen Ochoa, Director of Health Equity Programs and Operations,
Communities Lifting Communities, Hospital Association of Southern
California. Karen manages projects and daily operations of the
organization. Prior to joining CLC, Karen served as the Education
Manager for the Hospital Association of Southern California. In
her role as Education Manager, she supported the development of
the various educational programs that focused on leadership
development for hospital clinical and healthcare executives.
