Our Caring Leadership

John Walker, Executive Director
John Walker has over 30 years leadership experience in managed care organizations, including serving on the management team that developed the first Health Maintenance Organization in Western New York. Throughout his career he has directed a variety of operational areas including marketing, product development, provider contracting and network development, and medical services management. He has participated in a wide range of local and national healthcare development and improvement initiatives including the National Demonstration Project on Quality Improvement in Healthcare. In November 2005 he was appointed Executive Director of Family Choice of New York.

Margaret Sayers, Executive Director of Clinical Services
Margaret Sayers is our Canadian representative on the Family Choice management team. She has been a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner for 23 years. In addition to her many years of clinical experience in long-term care facilities, Margaret has extensive experience in consulting and quality assurance. During the program's development and start up phase she served as Director of Clinical Services and played a major role in developing the program's clinical guidelines and service protocols. More recently she has assumed the role of Director of Quality Management.

Bonnie Smeal, Director of Utilization Management
Bonnie Smeal, RN, BSN, joined the management staff of Family Choice of New York as Director of Utilization Management in January of 2006. She is a knowledgeable clinician, with over 12 years of long term care experience, working as an in-service coordinator, unit manager, supervisor, and Director of Nursing. In addition she spent seven years overseeing concurrent review for a local managed care organization. Her broad base of skills brings strong administrative support to the Family Choice Nurse Practitioners in providing quality care to the program's members.

Dawn O'Shei, Office Manager
Dawn joined Family Choice of New York in October 2006. She has over four years of administrative experience in a skilled nursing facility working directly on the care units. For five years, she worked at a psychiatric hospital providing clerical, human resources, and accounting support to the A/P and A/R Department. Dawn was appointed to Office Manager of Family Choice in March 2007.

Stephen Evans, MD, Medical Director
Steve Evans, MD, a native of downstate Illinois, did his medical training at Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota before coming to the Buffalo VA 18 years ago for his fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. He has practiced in Western New York hospitals and nursing facilities since that time with ElderMedical, the practice that he started following completion of his training. Dr. Evans has worked for years to understand and to replicate in Western New York high quality, cost effective programs to improve care of the frail elderly, and in this role was one of the founders of Family Choice of New York. He also works as a part time reviewer for a CMS utilization review contractor and consults with hospital and nursing facility providers around the US.

Kathleen Mylotte, MD, Associate Medical Director
Dr. Kathleen M. Mylotte did her medical training at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. She is a well recognized contributor to the development of the specialty of Geriatric Medicine within the Western New York medical community, where she has played a key role in the development of two Geriatric Practice groups. Dr. Mylotte is currently a partner in the group, Buffalo Geriatric and Rehabilitation Medicine LLP. Aside from serving as the attending physician for a full compliment of frail elderly patients at four area nursing facilities, Dr Mylotte serves as the Medical Director at two of those facilities. Her many memberships in professional organizations include the American Geriatrics Society and the American Medical Directors Association.

Zerline Tiu-Snyderman, MD, Associate Medical Director
Zerline Tiu-Snyderman, M.D., C.M.D. is a Board-Certified Internist and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine as a diplomat in Geriatric Medicine. Her work in the Long Term Care (LTC) continuum started at the VA Medical Center as the Long Term Care Medical Director. In 1997, she joined a group of local geriatricians, now known as Geriatric Associates and together, they provide Medical Directorship and direct care at skilled nursing facilities, sub-acute care units, adult care and assisted living facilities, out-patient clinics and hospitals. Today, in addition to attending to a full panel of geriatric patients Dr. Snyderman serves as the Medical Director at Seneca Health Care Center and Harris Hill Nursing Facility. She achieved distinction as a Certified Medical Director by the American Medical Director Association which advances physician leadership and excellence in medical directorship through certification, thereby, improving the quality of care for long term care patients.