INVENIASPARTNERS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Advisory Board Member and Consultant for Invenias

Brent Phillips is an Advisory Board Member and Consultant for InveniasPartners. For nearly 30 years, Brent has provided mission-focused, executive leadership to some of the country's top integrated delivery systems, including over ten years at Mayo Clinic. Today, Brent serves as the President of American Health, where he leverages a distinguished career of leading US-based healthcare systems to collaborate with international partners and provide personalized solutions that improve healthcare quality around the globe. Before leading American Health, Brent was the President and Chief Executive Officer at Monument Health, a $1.2B nonprofit health system serving patients in South Dakota and Wyoming. While at Monument, his team constructed new hospitals, clinics, expanded existing facilities, introduced new clinical services, and improved patient satisfaction, quality, safety, and caregiver empowerment. In addition to leading a turnaround effort at Monument Health, Brent has held senior executive roles at Advocate Aurora Health and Mayo Clinic. While at Advocate Aurora Health, he served at the SVP, Medial Group Operations, and the Market President for the system's largest hospital and medical group region in Wisconsin. From 1999 to 2009, Brent held various leadership roles at Mayo Clinic, including Vice-Chair of the system's Operations Coordinating Group. Brent began his career at Sentara Healthcare, where he led operations for a 2,000 physician IPA. Brent holds master's degrees in business administration and healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota University and a bachelor's degree in finance from Idaho State University. Brent is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives (FACMPE). He holds multiple United States patents on work done at Mayo Clinic and regularly speaks in the US and internationally on healthcare-related topics.

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Member of the Advisory Board

Christopher Cornue is an Advisory Board Member and Consultant for InveniasPartners. Based in Chicago and Seattle, Christopher has dedicated his life to advancing health for all. He has done this through multiple leadership, executive and collaborative roles that have focused on creating needed change within systems, communities, and organizations. Currently, as President & Principal of sláinte global partners (sgp), he leverages these experiences and a cultivated network of partners and change agents to further the best possible health outcomes for patients and communities globally.

Job Titles:

• Founding Chairman
• Managing Partner
• Member of ACHE

Curt Lucas is a Managing Partner and Founding Chairman of InveniasPartners and is based in Chicago and Los Angeles. With more than 25 years of executive search experience, Curt has conducted over 400 senior leadership assignments in healthcare, including engagements for integrated delivery systems, academic medical centers and health sciences centers, investor-owned healthcare companies, physician practice management companies, and managed care organizations. Curt has lead numerous highly visible C-suite engagements for clients such as Massachusetts General Hospital, BJC Health System, Boston Children's Hospital, GE Healthcare, University of Missouri Health Care, Inova Health System, Scripps Health, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and St. Joseph Health System. Functional search and assessment experience encompasses all senior executive levels to include operations, finance, clinical leadership, human resources, IT, physician leadership, and board level assignments. Prior to InveniasPartners, Curt was a Partner and led Heidrick & Struggles' global healthcare services practice and was based in Chicago. Prior to Heidrick, Curt was a managing director and senior client partner for Korn/Ferry International for nearly 20 years, where he held multiple leadership roles for the firm and within the healthcare services practice. Previous to his executive search experience, Curt's career was focused on hospital and healthcare administration; most recently serving as an assistant administrator for Medical Staff Affairs for Christ Hospital in New Jersey. Curt is a member of ACHE and the Chicago Health Executives Forum. He also served on the board of directors for the Chicago Metropolitan YMCA Lawson House and SuperSibs!, an organization serving siblings of children with cancer. As well, Curt served seven years as the President and Board Chair for the Naperville Youth Football League. Curt holds a BS in public health administration from Western Illinois University and a master's in health administration (MHA) from Governors State University. While in graduate school, Curt was a national recipient of the Foster G. McGaw Award and served as the President of the ACHE graduate student association.

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Member of the Advisory Board

Dr. Lloyd G. Geddes, Jr. is an Advisory Board Member and Consultant for InveniasPartners. Dr. Geddes is a versatile healthcare professional, holding diverse roles as a Physician Executive, board-certified Medical Oncologist, Healthcare Consultant, published author, serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, loving husband, and devoted father. His impressive credentials are complemented by a unique perspective on patient care, as he is also a cancer survivor. In his recent appointment as the Executive Director of the Cancer Network W. Michigan at the University of Michigan, Dr. Geddes shoulders the responsibility of providing clinical and administrative oversight for Michigan Medicine's statewide cancer network. Prior to this role, he served as the Medical Director at the Methodist Cancer Institute within the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System. With over twenty-five years of clinical and administrative expertise, Dr. Geddes emerges as a true Renaissance Healer, fueled by a profound passion for healthcare and an unwavering commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of his patients and the community at large. Furthermore, his diverse background uniquely positions him as an effective Healthcare Consultant. As a child of Jamaican immigrant parents seeking a better life in the United States, Dr. Geddes grew up in Miami, Florida, as one of six siblings. After graduating from high school, he pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology at the University of Florida, earning Honors. Dr. Geddes continued his education at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and upon completion, he relocated to Washington, DC, where he completed an Internal Medicine Residency and subsequently a Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at MedStar-WHC/Georgetown University Hospital.

Job Titles:

• Chief Diversity Strategist for CulturaLink
• Member of the InveniasPartners Advisory Board

Fred Hobby serves as an active member of the InveniasPartners Advisory Board, and provides leadership to the firm's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practice. Fred is based in our Chicago corporate office. In addition, Fred serves as the Chief Diversity Strategist for CulturaLink, LLC, a full-service language assistance and health equity consulting company in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Fred Hobby joined the American Hospital Association's Institute for Diversity in Health Management (Institute) as president and CEO in 2005 with more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership in hospital operations and administration. Fred's career includes service across three states and six hospital systems. Fred led the Institute into its second decade of service, developing tools and resources to promote, enhance and implement diversity efforts in our nation's hospitals. During his term as president, the Institute experienced unprecedented growth in influence, membership, and played a pivotal role in the creation and professional development of the Chief Diversity Officer role in health care. Fred began his hospital administration career with Humana, Inc. in Louisville, KY after serving 4 years as the Executive Director of the City's Affirmative Action Department and 3 years on the faculty of the University of Louisville. Before joining the Institute, Fred spent 10 years with the Greenville (SC) Hospital System (GHS), a 1,086-bed acute care teaching hospital system. As an administrator and chief diversity officer at GHS, he developed and implemented a system-wide diversity initiative that is nationally recognized for its comprehensiveness and success. Its components included diversity education for senior leadership and cultural competence training for the system's 7,200 employees. While in this role, Fred developed an extensive Language Assistance and Interpretation Center to improve services the rapidly growing number of limited English speaking patients and the hard of hearing. The GHS Language Assistance Center was one of the first of its kind in a hospital setting and is only 1of 2 programs in the country to receive a recognition letter from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights acknowledging the hospital's compliance with the Federal LEP Guidelines. Fred is generally regarded as the first full time, fully dedicated, Chief Diversity Officer in a healthcare setting. Prior to joining GHS, Fred served as an aspiring Assistant Administrator with Humana, Inc., the Chief Operating Officer with the Portsmouth General Hospital and is a former CEO of the Newport News General Hospital in Virginia. He is a frequent guest speaker on diversity and has been featured speaker at numerous prestigious national conferences. In 1999, he was named "Senior Executive of the Year" by the National Association for Health Services Executives. Fred was named to Modern Healthcare magazine's "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare" in August 2006 and again 2007. He was the cover story in the 2006 Winter Issue of HR Pulse, the official publication of the American Society for Healthcare Human Resource Administration. In 2010, Fred was selected to serve on the National Project Advisory Committee of the Office of Minority Health to revise and enhance the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Healthcare. The Chicago Defender appointed Fred to their Man of Excellence roster in 2010. In 2015, Fred received ACHE's President's Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from NAHSE. Fred has served on numerous boards including two terms on the National Board of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters, The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, The Urban League of the Upstate, and is the Founding President of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Health Services and Executives. Fred received a Bachelor's Degree in history and political science from Kentucky State University in Frankfort, KY, and a Master of Arts degree in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner

Jamie Cassedy is currently a Managing Partner at InveniasPartners. Based in the firm's Chicago office, he is an accomplished executive search consultant with extensive experience identifying and attracting the best-qualified professionals across the continuum of healthcare. His clients include health plans, integrated health systems, community hospitals, academic health systems, professional associations, and emerging healthcare companies. Leveraging nearly 20 years of experience, Jamie leads executive assignments with companies ranging in size from PE backed start-ups to publicly traded organizations and large, non-profit healthcare systems. Throughout his career, he has successfully completed over 150 C-suite and senior-level healthcare executive searches in the areas of operations, finance, medical affairs, nursing, human resources, and other disciplines. Over the years, Jamie has developed a deep and wide network within the healthcare sector. Among Jamie's most notable engagements, he was responsible for the placement of the System CFO for a $40B healthcare system and the CEO of a publicly traded healthcare analytics company. Jamie's ability to develop trusting, long-lasting relationships with clients, candidates, and his own colleagues has allowed him to consistently achieve positive results. When it comes to assessing talent, he is a strategic, out-of-the box thinker whose transparent communication style earns him the respect of those with whom he works. A consummate professional who is highly driven to succeed, Jamie began his career as a commodities trader at the Chicago Board of Trade, focused in the options trading industry. He transitioned to executive search in 2004 as a generalist, subsequently defining his focus on healthcare services a few years later. Jamie's executive search experience has ranged from boutique firms to one of the largest, privately held firms in the industry. Jamie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jamie and his wife are the parents of four young children and reside in the Northern Chicago Suburbs.

Job Titles:

• Community Leader
• Consultant for Invenias

Jay Eckersley is a Consultant for InveniasPartners and is based in our St. Louis and Salt Lake City offices. A Healthcare Leader--Eckersley has most recently served as Senior Health Care Consultant with The Gosser Group, St. Louis. There he advised hospitals, physicians and health plans how best to integrate their respective interests for effective managed care contracting, guaranteed cost controls and published reporting of quality patient care outcomes required under the Affordable Care Act. Before The Gosser Group, Jay was the CEO for St. John's Health System in Springfield, MO, where he led the system to the number one position in Verispan/SDI's most Integrated Health Care Systems, nationally. St. John's continues now as a perennial top ten national system, a sign of Eckersley's sound organization strategy, longevity and visionary leadership. Prior to St. John's, Jay served as CEO for Grant-Riverside Methodist Hospitals in Columbus, OH (today, known as OhioHealth), and earlier, he served as President & Senior Executive Officer for BJC Affiliates, part of BJC Healthcare in St. Louis. In his 30 years as a hospital/health care leader, Jay has successfully led over 40 hospitals, from large public academic medical centers to suburban and rural community hospitals. In all of these, he chose to actively participate in the effective recruitment, selection and placement of top-notch hospital CEO's and other C-suite team members. As one interested in the community's health, Jay is also a committed community leader who engages in Community and Church service. Jay has served as a Social Service volunteer for abused children, unwed mothers and child adoption, he is a former board member of "Feed the Hungry", a daily program of hot meals delivery to inner-city residents in East St. Louis, IL, he is a former chairperson of Regional Employment Center serving approximately 200 job seekers weekly, served as chairperson Region Welfare Council providing food and humanitarian canning services to St. Louis area community food shelves, and provides board leadership and successful fund raising for numerous community charitable organizations. Jay holds a BS in systems engineering from the University of Utah and a master's in hospital and health care administration (MHA) from Xavier University.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the InveniasPartners Advisory Board

Joe Fournier serves as the Chairman for the InveniasPartners Advisory Board and Consultant for the firm. Prior to becoming Chairman of the Advisory Board, Joe was President of InveniasPartners. For the past decade, Joe has focused on leading turnaround initiatives, developing exceptional teams, and driving workforce planning to provide safe, affordable, outstanding care and service to customers and communities at some of the nation's leading health systems. He served as Chief People Officer for Intermountain Healthcare, Chief Human Resources Officer Michigan Medicine and Chief Human Resources Officer for UMass Memorial Medical Center and UMass Memorial Medical Group. As an attorney and Air Force veteran, Joe has also been in-house counsel for UMass Memorial Health Care, a general counsel for the Air Force Medical Service, one of the nation's largest integrated healthcare delivery systems, and a military prosecutor and Special Assistant United States Attorney. Joe holds a law degree from Suffolk University Law School, a master's degree in healthcare administration from Worcester State University and a bachelor's degree in finance from Providence College. He also has a certification in Cybersecurity Oversight for corporate directors from Carnegie Mellon University, A sought after speaker at corporate and association retreats, Joe shares insights and inspiration to motivate executives and their teams. His perspectives on innovation, organizational culture and talent are regularly published in industry publications.

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Member of the Advisory Board

Kim Brown Sims is an active Advisory Board Member and Consultant for InveniasPartners. Over the last 35 years, as a registered nurse, executive, volunteer and empowerment advocate, Kim has been a champion of the human spirit and potential within us all. She also knows that great leadership is wrapped around hiring the best, listening to their expertise, removing obstacles and getting out of the way. It is Kim's life work to help individuals and organizations alike achieve their ultimate outcome by valuing individual gifts, developing diverse teams, and creating equity in access and opportunity. Kim's most recent leadership project was working with the State of California to launch its flagship Alternate Care Facility supporting public well-being in its fight against COVID-19. Prior to starting her own consulting firm, KBS Leadership Consulting, Kim served at the Queen of the Valley Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital with the Providence St Joseph Health system, in Napa, California, as the VP of Patient Care Services and Chief Nurse Executive. Kim also served as Chief Nurse Executive for Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, San Luis Obispo; Assistant Administrator, Women and Children's Service Lines for Sutter Medical Center; and Director of Nursing,Administrative Services, at Kaiser Permanente. Earlier in her career, she served as staff nurse, assistant nurse manager and nurse manager of Kaiser Sacramento's NICU. Between her tenure at Sutter and Kaiser, Kim oversaw operations for Site of Care Systems, a BayArea startup health care software company, and helped Adventist Health West implement its electronic medical record as the product manager for clinical orders and documentation. Kim is the immediate past-president for the CaliforniaAssociation of Healthcare Leaders (CAHL), the California affiliate of ACHE. She also serves as the Vice President of the national executive committee for Women in Healthcare, President of Mentis, Napa Valley's Mental Health Non-Profit, and is a member of the Racism in Healthcare task force with the American Nurses Association, California. Kim was recently inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the national nursing honor society, for excellence in nursing leadership. Additionally, she is authoring her first book, "Pricked, Healing the Heart of Healthcare" scheduled for release in the Fall of 2021. Kim earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Nursing from California State University, as well, received her MBA, magna cum laude, in strategic leadership from Trident University International. She is Lean Black Belt Certified in Healthcare and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).

Job Titles:

• Healthcare Executive

Nancy Tinsley is a transformative healthcare executive recognized for leading strategic excellence, innovation, designing scale, and driving success in execution. Her career includes leadership and board positions in healthcare, non-profit organizations, professional societies and academic organizations. She focuses her work on accelerating strategic growth and advancing leadership, as an innovator, health system and start-up advisor, and entrepreneur. Her leadership experience includes roles as hospital president, innovator, and system service line executive. She served as Hospital President in Cleveland, Rochester and Chicago. She specializes in innovation and system integration for service line strategic execution aligning with the corporate strategy. This executive work focuses on innovative strategic planning, clinical and systems integration, creating physician alignment and advancing health care services across the continuum. She has advanced experience in innovation, performance improvement, business analytics, systems thinking and leadership development. She has authored, published and presents nationally on the innovative development and implementation of system models for clinical institutes, focusing on the strategic growth, improvement and systems approach to the design. This model was identified as a nationally recognized model. Across her career, she has developed a reputation as a passionate, innovative leader - skilled at defining strategic opportunities and goals, teaching teams to think strategically, and implementing changes to solve operational challenges. She is adept at developing partnerships, building and advancing highly reliable teams, and encouraging innovative thinking across hospital systems. She has led numerous healthcare start-ups, transformations and turn-arounds. Her leadership skills are diverse and encompass executive skills in leadership, strategy, operations, finance and budgeting, analytics and improvement. Ms. Tinsley received a dual degree, holding both a Master's in Business Administration and a Master of Healthcare Administration from Cleveland State University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Kent State University and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Ms. Tinsley served as Adjunct faculty for 12 years at Case Western Reserve University developing curriculum and teaching healthcare improvement at the graduate level. She is a certified leadership coach and promotes strength in careers and leadership teams. She serves as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence for Case Western Reserve University. She holds numerous recognitions, including Crain's Cleveland Business Woman of Note, YWCA Women of Achievement, Athena Woman in Business, Beta Gamma Sigma, Honor Society for Business Excellence, Sigma Theta Tau, Nursing Honor Society and multiple scholarship and achievement awards.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner

Scott Cooper is a Managing Partner for InveniasPartners and is based in the firm's Dallas office. As a leader for the firm, Scott's practice is national in scope and focuses on providing executive search and talent advisory services to integrated health systems, payer organizations, academic medical centers, physician group practices, and emerging healthcare companies poised to disrupt the industry. Throughout his career, Scott has successfully conducted over 150 executive and senior-level recruitments for clients such as Providence St. Joseph Health, PeaceHealth, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Scripps Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Prisma Health, and many others. Through close partnership and a deep commitment to identifying disruptive talent, Scott helps his clients assess, recruit and retain the very best leaders in healthcare. In addition to leading client engagements, Scott manages the firm's market intelligence function and provides leadership to a team senior associates and research analysts. Scott holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and a Master of Education in administration and policy from the University of Oklahoma. While completing his undergraduate studies, he was a member of the OU track and field team and an Academic All-American for the Sooners. He holds a Veterans at Work Certificate from the Society of Human Resource Management Foundation. The certificate underscores the firm's commitment to assist skilled veterans as they enter the civilian workforce.

Job Titles:

• Advisory Board Member and Consultant for Invenias

Stephen Mills is an Advisory Board Member and Consultant for InveniasPartners. Based in Dallas, Stephen has spent the past 30 years providing leadership and human resources management for some of the top organizations in healthcare, healthcare services, manufacturing, and retail. As a proven human capital strategist, he is a trusted partner to senior executives on strategic, organizational, and talent-related issues. Currently, Stephen serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer for DECA Dental Group, the largest privately held dental company in Texas, where he leads all HR functions across five separate dental brands and more than 80 locations. Prior to DECA Dental Group, Stephen was the System Vice President of Human Resources at Baylor Scott & White Health, one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the country. While at Baylor, Stephen spearheaded numerous HR initiatives that increased employee engagement, reduced turnover and labor costs, and ultimately helped the enterprise grow to a $9.1 billon integrated delivery system. Stephen joined Baylor from MedSynergies, where he led human resources from 2012 to 2017. Under his guidance, the company was successfully sold to Optum which marked a chapter of tremendous growth and innovation for the organization. Earlier in his career, Stephen held HR leadership roles for Texas Instruments, Total Wines and More, Blockbuster and Hilton. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Communications from the University of Florida. In addition, he is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Union Awareness/Avoidance Certified Trainer and a certified leadership trainer through Development Dimensions International