Angelina Salazar, MA
Chief Executive Officer, Western Healthcare Alliance
Angelina is the Chief Executive Officer of WHA and its affiliated companies. Working with the Board of Directors, key stakeholders, and the executive management team, she establishes long-range goals, strategies, plans, and policies for the overall benefit of rural healthcare in Colorado and eastern Utah. She joined the WHA team in May 2016 to strengthen and lead the marketing and communications programs. In January 2019 she was named CEO after stepping into the interim role in July 2018.
Angelina started her career in education quickly advancing her role from Outreach Coordinator to Regional Development Director for a national nonprofit. After many years of developing programming and support, Angelina was recruited into the realm of healthcare. She started in marketing for a Critical Access Hospital in western Colorado, quickly advanced to Director of Customer Service, Marketing, Community Relations, and Development. Before leaving the hospital to join WHA, she held the executive position of Vice President of Business Development. In that role, she oversaw all communications, volunteers, marketing, physician services and identified business development opportunities. She established and implemented the infrastructure to support the organization through state and federal grants, fundraising events, and the establishment of a foundation.
In addition, Angelina serves on the National Cooperative of Health Networks Board of Directors (current Board President), the Colorado Health Institute Board of Directors (current Board President), the Saybrook University Board of Trustees, the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions Advisory Board, Club 20 Healthcare Policy (current Co-Chair), National Rural Health Association Rural Health Policy Congress, and the Prime Health Advisory Board. Her dedication to solving rural healthcare challenges and building strong relationships in the community have helped to build visibility, impact, and financial stability.
Angelina possesses a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English with a minor in Spanish, two Master of Arts Degrees in Language Acquisition and Psychology as well as a certification in mediation and conflict resolution. She is also a certified Reality-based Leadership facilitator.
Chris has been married for more than 31 years and he and his wife have three daughters and a son. They joke that they have a child who graduated in the class of 2013 and one who will graduate in the class of 2031. In his spare time, he and his family enjoy traveling. Most trips are centered on triathlons in different and exciting locations. Competing with his daughters in different locations from Mallorca, Spain to Costa Rica with a couple of finishes at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. In total, he and his daughters have completed over 30 Ironman and Ironman 70.3s.
While at Community Hospital, Chris has helped move the organization out of extreme OIG sanctions to a strong and active part of the western Colorado healthcare community. Revenue has grown 5-fold during his tenure and Community Hospital has grown from 400 employees to almost 1,200, now the 3rd largest employer in the Grand Valley. In addition, Community Hospital opened a brand new four-story, 142,000 square foot, state-of-the-art hospital in March 2016 and ground breaking for a new 130,000 sq/ft. Grand Valley Oncology and Medical Office building should begin this summer. Under Chris’s leadership, Community Hospital was chosen as the Grand Junction Chamber Business of the Year in 2015 and Daily Sentinel readers selected Community Hospital as the “Best of the West” for medical facilities for four consecutive years from 2016-2019 and the have received the prestigious 5-Star recognition from CMS for two consecutive years.
