John E. Peterson, CPA, is a Principal in the Healthcare Audit and Consulting Practice of Freed Maxick. John joined the Firm in 1994 after working for a local financial institution. John is responsible for the overall planning, supervision and completion of various client engagements. He focuses on audits and consulting engagements within the not-for-profit healthcare industry with a concentration on hospitals and skilled nursing homes. John also is responsible for both the preparation and review of annual Medicare and Medicaid cost reports and overseeing payor audits of mentioned cost reports. John's responsibilities include in-depth reviews and compliance testing of healthcare internal accounting control systems and developing recommendations for suggested improvements to those internal controls. He has prepared financial statements in various formats including consolidations and combinations, as well as bankruptcy accounting. John has coordinated and reviewed work performed by internal auditors, aided in preparing annual budgets, and has presented numerous times to clients, boards of directors, audit and finance committees and management. In addition, John is involved with supervising and training 20 to 25 staff and senior members of the Firm’s healthcare group. Additionally, John has experience working for clients as a finance and operational leader. John served as Interim CFO from January 2018 through February 2020 for a hospital in upstate New York. During this assignment, John was actively involved in all the aspects of the CFO role including, but not limited to, the month end close and financial statement preparation and overseeing the year-end audit and the annual budgeting process. John ensured regulatory agency reporting was complete and accurate, and oversaw the hospital's cash strategy and management and managed care contracting, as well as assessing whether all existing reimbursement opportunities were obtained. John was responsible for annual cost report filings, the completion of disproportionate share, cost report and wage index audits. John has also served in an operational role for clients in managing the countless day-to-day activities including providing direction to employees, preparing strategic financial plans and reviewing and the revision of internal controls. In these leadership roles, John supervised up to 10 individuals. A graduate of D'Youville College, John is a member of the New York State Society Health Care Committee, the Western New York HFMA Reimbursement Committee and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has been published in the Secured Lender trade magazine and has presented at seminars on numerous healthcare topics.

Thomas J. DeMayo leads the Firm’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Advisory Group and is responsible for the implementation and design of cybersecurity and privacy related services, internal and external audit programs and testing procedures. He focuses on services relating to threat and vulnerability management, governance, privacy, incident response, business continuity, disaster recovery and computer forensics. He has 20 years of experience with securing and managing information risk across a wide range of industries including commercial entities, hospitality, not-for-profit, governmental, healthcare, private schools and higher education. He is also a computer forensic specialist and can assist with the acquisition and analysis of data in a forensically sound and legally-approved manner. Tom specializes in the areas of information threat and vulnerability management, PCI-DSS compliance, SOX 404 IT Controls, HIPAA, COBIT, and ISO 27001. He has helped many organizations achieve their compliance obligations through intensive and meaningful compliance gap analysis, cyber and information security risk assessments, privacy assessments and penetration tests. Tom has also made numerous presentations on cybersecurity before client and industry groups and has written extensively in this area. As of 5/1/25

Kevin Krawiecki leads Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) fiscal policy and data informatics division. He has compiled nearly 15 years of Medicare and Medicaid fiscal policy experience during his tenure with HANYS, serving in various capacities including data analyst and data product director for both HANYS and its analytic subsidiary DataGen, and associate director of federal relations in the HANYS Washington, D.C. office during the development and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In his current capacity, Krawiecki focuses on the development of rational fiscal policy at both the state and federal levels. He received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Nick is a Director with FORVIS, a Top Eight national professional services firm, created by the merger of BKD & DHG, providing assurance, tax and advisory services. Nick is a member of FORVIS’ National Health Care Industry Group and National Nonprofit, Education, & Public Sector Industry Group. He has more than 10 years of experience in public accounting, providing audit and attestation assurance services, including single audits, as well as other consulting advisory services related to financial accounting and reporting, healthcare reimbursement and regulatory matters, changes in accounting standards such as the new revenue recognition standard and the new standard for leases, and tracking and evaluation of COVID-19 funding for compliance and financial reporting. Nick is a member of FORVIS’ New York office and also spent time working in the firm's National Office as a national accounting and auditing assistant director where he researched and helped develop firmwide resources and guidance on new accounting and professional standards, assisted with internal office inspections, researched technical questions and helped provide support for accounting and auditing professionals across the firm. He recently served for 4 years as the learning and development director for the New York office and is involved in developing content and instructing local and national internal and external trainings, webinars and presentations, as well as performing internal quality control inspections. In addition to external presentations through FORVIS and presentations to clients, Nick has presented for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, multiple Healthcare Financial Management Association chapters and regions LeadingAge NY, and Accounting Today. Nick is a licensed CPA in New York and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA) and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Nick is a member of the Health Care Committee and Not-for-Profit Committee of the NYSCSCPA, and serves as chair of the NYSSCPA Annual Health Care Conference. Nick is an officer for the HFMA Metro NY chapter and is Chair of the HFMA Metro New York Chapter’s 64th Annual Institute and assists in coordinating the CFO Panel. Nick is a member of HFMA Metro New York chapter's finance and reimbursement education committee, where he previously served as chair of the committee for several years. Nick is a Certified Healthcare Finance Professional (CHFP) as issued by HFMA and is an HFMA Fellow (FHFMA). Nick is a graduate of Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, with a B.S. degree in business administration and accounting.

Stella V. Pappas, LCSW-R, ACSW, is an essential part of the Healthfirst Clinical Department with primary responsibility for behavioral health operations. Ms. Pappas provides oversight of the Behavioral Health Mainstream, HARP (PWP) utilization management teams, case management teams and activities for all Healthfirst members. In her first year Ms. Pappas has focused on streamlining clinical operations, enhancing quality outcomes, and strategic planning. In her previous employment Ms. Pappas held several roles at Optum, part of United Health Group, including the executive director for the Optum New York City Behavioral Health Organization (BHO). Under her leadership, Optum provided administrative and management services for inpatient behavioral health treatment. By working closely with providers to improve clinical outcomes and increase access to care, she played a key role in supporting New York State’s efforts to enhance the quality and efficiency of the public behavioral health system as it transitioned into managed care. Additionally, Pappas has held a variety of leadership positions in the hospital, behavioral healthcare, and managed care industries in New York City. Prior to joining Optum in 2013, she served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president for the Institute for Community Living, one of New York City’s largest behavioral health provider agencies. Ms. Pappas received her Master of Social Work and Advanced Clinical Certificate from New York University’s School of Social Work; she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with honors from New York University. Ms. Pappas says, “As a licensed clinical social worker, I’m passionate about helping people solve their problems with real-life solutions. I thrive on establishing meaningful relationships and working with people of diverse backgrounds and expertise. I bring careful listening, strategic thinking, and collaboration to everything I do, offering our members, my organization, and my team a leader who is invested in their wellness and success. Outside of work, I spend the majority of my time with my husband, our two kids, and our dog. We love to travel, go out to dinner, and make memories. I also enjoy reading and cooking.