FC COMPASSUS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Executive Team
- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer / Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Bhavesh Shah joined Compassus as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2020, bringing nearly two decades of health care finance and leadership experience to the company at a time of significant growth. He oversees all aspects of Compassus financial operations, including treasury, financial planning and analysis, controllership and revenue cycle.
Prior to Compassus, Shah spent more than eight years leading financial operations for Fortune 50 health care companies. Most recently, he served as vice president and head of retail planning and analysis at CVS. Preceding CVS Health, he was vice president and chief financial officer of consumer health products and services for Aetna.
Earlier in his career, Shah was a health care investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. He also spent five years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Captain. Shah holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Connecticut.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
As CEO, David Grams is responsible for thoughtfully stewarding Compassus' growth as one the nation's leading providers of home health, infusion therapy, palliative and hospice care.
Before joining Compassus in 2020, Grams was senior vice president at DaVita Healthcare Partners where he held several positions of increasing responsibility during his decade-long tenure. He most recently led company operations for a group of 800 clinics and 15,000 team members across 17 states and oversaw the team responsible for negotiating and managing more than 600 payor relationships. Grams' career prior to his time with DaVita was largely focused on private equity opportunities across a wide range of segments within health care.
Grams holds two degrees from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL; a master's degree in Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a bachelor's degree in Economics.
Job Titles:
- Media Inquiries / Public Relations
Job Titles:
- Bereavement Coordinator and Chaplain in Savannah, Georgia, Offers Ways to Handle the Sometimes Difficult Emotions of Hospice Caregiving
Joseph S. Wadas, bereavement coordinator and chaplain in Savannah, Georgia, offers ways to handle the sometimes difficult emotions of hospice caregiving.
Phoenix hospice care consultant Kelly Sanders, was honored for her outstanding performance and inducted into the 2020 Compassus Presidents' Circle.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
- Senior Vice President
Kirsty Leyland is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Compassus. Leyland is responsible for all human resources functions, including recruitment and retention, compensation and benefits, and colleague relations and development, including helping to cultivate, reinforce and evolve the Compassus culture.
Leyland has held strategic and operational leadership roles in international and domestic organizations in health care and other industry sectors, including Fortune 500 and private equity backed companies. Before Compassus she served as CHRO for ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers, a private equity backed dental services organization with multi-site operations across North America. Her experience includes 15 years with Walmart, where she advanced within its People Services division to vice president, human resources, and eight years as senior director leading a global HR transformation effort for the Kellogg Company.
Leyland is a graduate of the Kellogg Executive Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School. She holds both a postgraduate degree in Human Resources from the Leeds Business School and a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Leeds Beckett University in West Yorkshire, England. She is a Certified Professional in HR, a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and certified in Hogan Assessment, which evaluates characteristics colleagues need to thrive, factors that impede career success and drivers of individual engagement and core values.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer / Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
Kurt Merkelz, M.D., is senior vice president and chief medical officer of Compassus and has been in this role since 2017. He previously served as medical director for the Compassus program serving Houston and a member of the Compassus Medical Director Advisory Committee.
Dr. Merkelz leads the company's quality and clinical initiatives, ensuring delivery of quality patient outcomes and increased access to end-of-life care across the communities Compassus serves.
Throughout his career, Merkelz has focused on caring for older adults. His perseverance in raising industry benchmarks for quality hospice care earned him the Compassus R. Sean Morrison, M.D., Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hospice Physician Leadership in 2012. He is currently serving a third term as co-chair for the National Quality Forum (NQF)'s Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) post-acute workgroup. Dr. Merkelz pioneering work in standardized care delivery garnered Compassus national recognition by NQF in 2020. Merkelz serves on several national organization committees including AAHPM, AMDA, and NHPCO.
He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center and completed residencies in family medicine and geriatric medicine at the University of Cincinnati. Following his residency at the University of Cincinnati, he became assistant director of the international health program and assistant professor in geriatric medicine.
Merkelz is triple-board certified in hospice and palliative care medicine, family practice and geriatrics.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Operations Officer / Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Operations Officer
As Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Operations Officer, Laura Templeton leads all aspects of clinical operations and how patient care is delivered. Joining Compassus in 2012, she has held roles that include hospice division president, managing clinical director, executive director, director of operations and regional vice president of operations.
With natural leadership skills and operational experience developed over nearly a decade with Compassus, Templeton also brings a nursing background to her clinical operations role to all patients and families receive high-quality clinical care.
Prior to joining Compassus, Templeton worked at various health centers near Jefferson City, Missouri, most recently serving as the director of maternal child health, ICU, telemetry and cardiac short stay at St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri.
She obtained an MBA in Health Care from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri.
Meghan Ortiz, hospice care consultant in Savannah, Georgia, was honored for outstanding performance and inducted into the 2020 Presidents' Circle.
Phoebe Smith, hospice care consultant in Auburn, Alabama, was inducted into the 2020 Compassus Presidents' Circle.
Rebecca "Becky" Friend, hospice care consultant for the Compassus program serving Payson and the surrounding areas, was honored for her outstanding...
Russ Adkins - Chief Legal Officer, SVP
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer / Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
Russ Adkins was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer in 2020, having joined Compassus as senior vice president and general counsel in 2013. He provides the organization with counsel on health care, regulatory, strategic transactions, operational and corporate governance matters.
Adkins has nearly 20 years of experience in general corporate and business matters, mergers and acquisitions and health law. Previously he was vice president, legal, for M*Modal Inc., a leading global outsource provider of clinical documentation technology and services. He served as associate general counsel and then vice president, legal, for Spheris Inc. Prior to moving in-house, Adkins practiced law for private firms located in Boulder, Colorado, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Adkins received a master's degree in Law from New York University School of Law and completed his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Louisville School of Law.
Tanisha Roberts receives national recognition for delivery of superior hospice care during National Nursing Assistants Week.