AMERICAN PHYSICIAN PARTNERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President of Clinical Integration
Aaron is the Vice President of Clinical Integration at American Physician Partners. With nearly 20 years' experience in medicine, he started his career as an Aeromedical Physician Assistant with the United States Army. He attended an Emergency Medicine Fellowship in San Antonio, TX and was the Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Fellowship at Fort Hood, TX. Aaron served our country for 23 years and spent over 3 years deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was previously the VP of Clinical Operations at Align MD. Aaron earned his Master's of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Job Titles:
- Chief Development Officer
- Member of the Corporate Leadership Team
- SVP
As SVP & Chief Development Officer, Andy leads the planning and execution of the company's business development efforts, including growth through strategic acquisitions of physician groups and partnerships with hospitals and health systems. Andy brings significant experience advising companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital formation, corporate governance and other strategic legal matters. Prior to joining APP, Andy was a partner at Bass, Berry & Sims, a law firm based in Nashville. Andy received his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law and holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Lipscomb University. Prior to law school, Andy was a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young. Andy has been elected by his peers to serve on the 2022-2023 Class of the EDPMA Board of Directors.
Job Titles:
- Senior Regional Vice President
Ben serves as a Senior Regional Vice President at American Physician Partners. He was previously the President of Physician Services at Capella Healthcare, VP of Physician Services at Essent Healthcare, Owner of Medico of South Carolina, and Divisional Director at Providence Hospital. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University where he studied Political Science and earned his Master's in Health Administration from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
As VP & CIO, Ben leads our Information Technology teams and initiatives. Having worked as an IT technology consultant, as well as the IT leader for several Nashville-based, fast-growing healthcare IT organizations, Ben has proven himself to excel in aligning the IT function with organizational vision and strategy. Some of Ben's key areas of expertise include overseeing systems that require continuous availability, information security and risk management, software development leadership, strong customer support, project management, and quality assurance. He graduated with a B.S. Degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Regional Vice President
Ben currently serves as a Senior Regional Vice President at American Physician Partners. He was previously CEO at Turkey Creek Medical Center, CEO at Dyersburg Regional Medical Center, and COO at Community Health Systems. He attended Freed-Hardeman University where he earned his BBA in Finance. He is also a graduate of the University of Alabama Birmingham where he earned his Master's in Business Administration as well as his Master's in Healthcare Administration.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Bill Cauthen, MD presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Dr. Cauthen was previously the Medical Director at Medical University of South Carolina-Florence, formerly known as Carolinas Hospital System in Florence, SC. While there, he successfully developed occupational health programs for the facility. He received his Doctor of Medicine from University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, Human Resources
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Executive VP, Human Resources
Brandon Dyson joined our team in August 2020 as Executive Vice President, Human Resources. Previously, he served as the senior Human Resources leader for numerous organizations including PhyCor, Surgis, RCCH Healthcare Partners and Results Physiotherapy. Brandon has also held Human Resources leadership roles at HCA and Nortel Networks. He brings extensive experience in advising and leading growth-focused organizations on people strategies that lead to operational excellence. Brandon works with APP's dyad teams to implement provider compensation models that align clinical providers with the company's strategy and leads talent efforts to best attract, develop and retain top performers. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Carson-Newman University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Caley Spotts, MD, MBA, FHM, presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, she served as Hospitalist Director for Methodist South Hospital. She earned her Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Spotts completed her residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Area Health Educator Center and received her Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Market Medical Director - Banner System
Cornelius Powell MD, MBA presently serves as a Regional Medical Director for Arizona at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, he served as the Emergency Medicine Medical Director for a large trauma center in Arizona as well as CEO and co-founder of RadViz, a dental image analysis solution using AI technology. Dr. Powell his medical degree from East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine and his executive MBA degree from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management. Dr. Powell completed an Emergency Medicine residency with the Carolinas HealthCare System. He is also a U.S. Army veteran as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant and serves as Chair of The Second Half Initiative, a committee within the Special Operations Medicine Association that was serves as a mentoring network for current and former military Special Operations veterans who are transitioning to civilian medical professions or health professions schools.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Prior to joining APP, Dr. Crane, MD, FACEP served as the ED Medical Director and Administrative Chair at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has extensive trauma experience, having worked at a number of trauma centers throughout Alabama and Mississippi. Throughout his career, Dr. Crane has served on a number of hospital committees, including the Medical Executive Committee, Chest Pain Committee, Trauma Committee, and Patient Flow Committee. Dr. Crane received his medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine, is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and has authored a number of clinical articles and lectured on a variety of emergency medicine topics.
Job Titles:
- Controller
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
David presently serves as the Controller and VP for American Physician Partners where he oversees all finance and accounting activity throughout the company. David has over 12 years of industry experience. He is the former Vice President of Finance at Shadow Mountain Recovery and was the AVP Operations Controller at Surgery Partners, LLC. He also spent time at Meridian Surgical Partners as an Assistant Controller. David received his Master of Accountancy Degree from Vanderbilt University and holds a B.S. Degree in Finance from Western Kentucky University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
David Darrigan, DO, FACEP, FAAEM presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, he served as Vice President of TruePartners Emergency Physicians. Dr. Darrigan earned his Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Texas Tech University and his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
David Pelini, MD, MHCM, FACEP presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, he served as Regional Medical Director at AlignMD, a predecessor to APP, and as a System Medical Director for Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Boston University, his Doctor of Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine and his Master's in Health Care Management from Harvard University. Dr. Pelini completed his residency at The Stamford Hospital.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Medical Director
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
David Soria, MD, FAAEM presently serves as an Executive Medical Director at American Physician Partners and joined our team in October 2019 with the acquisition of TruePartners Emergency Physicians. Dr. Soria previously was Managing Partner at TruePartners. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Bowling Green State University, then received his Doctor of Medicine from The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Executive Director, Hospital Medicine
Dennis has more than 15 years of hospital medicine leadership experience, having served as owner and CEO of a private medical practice and also holding executive roles with national hospitalist companies. Recognized as a national expert on the Affordable Care Act, Dennis has been featured on a number of television and radio talk shows, in newspapers and medical journals, and at national healthcare conferences. He also recently published his second book, "Your Healthcare Playbook: Winning the Game of Modern Medicine." He received his medical degree from Albany Medical College, is board certified in Internal Medicine, and is a fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Market Medical Director - CHRISTUS
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Market Medical Director - Lutheran System
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Market Medical Director - McLaren System
Job Titles:
- Associate General Counsel
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President
Eliot joined our team in August 2022 as Vice President & Associate General Counsel. In addition to his leadership in the legal department, Eliot oversees the compliance function for APP. Some of Eliot's key areas of expertise include drafting and negotiating complex, high-value contracts; supporting all stages of the corporate acquisition process; advising on privacy laws and general data security; and overseeing corporate compliance programs. Prior to joining APP, Eliot was a Senior Corporate Counsel for Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., a publicly traded owner and operator of behavioral health facilities. Eliot received his Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from The University of Tennessee College of Law and holds a B.A. Degree in Humanities from Loyola Marymount University. Eliot is a member of the American Health Law Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Tennessee Bar Association, and the California Bar Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Eric presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, he served as an Emergency Medicine physician at Kalamazoo Emergency Associates since 2000. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Wayne State University. He then went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine from Wayne State University School of Medicine.
In his role as Regional Vice President, Isaac is responsible for overseeing the operational and financial performance of his assigned APP hospital partners. Isaac has a stellar track record as a healthcare executive, most recently serving as CEO of CHRISTUS Shreveport Bossier Health System, a 3-hospital system based in Shreveport, LA. Under his leadership, the system consistently performed at the 90th percentile for patient satisfaction, the highest in the company; won recognition by Women's Choice as one of the top 2% nationwide for safety; won the Women's Choice Award for heart care, bariatrics, OB, and cancer; was named top hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report; and attained national recognition by Modern Healthcare as one of the 150 Best Places to Work, 2017 and 2018. He has also served as COO of Florida Hospital and CEO of Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital. Isaac received MBA in Finance and Leadership from Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, was recognized as "40 under 40" by Crain's Chicago Business Magazine in 2007, and was named Businessman of the Year in Bossier City, LA, for 2019.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Corporate Leadership Team
- Senior Vice President
James has responsibility for all accounting and financial activities of the company, including financial reporting, budget oversight, tax and treasury functions, growth forecasting, and revenue cycle management. He is a growth-oriented leader, supporting more than $4B of acquisition and organic growth. He also has extensive external financial reporting experience, including 144A debt financing and SEC experience. He started his career in a senior audit role for Ernst & Young, LLP and has spent the last 18 years with Ardent Health Services, a Nashville-based owner/operator of hospitals and ancillary operations with $5B in net revenue.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Executive Medical Director, Texas
Jeremy Finkelstein, MD, FACEP joined APP January 2019 with the acquisition of EmergiGroup Physician Associates, for which he served as president & CEO for 18 years. The group manages 7 hospital EDs, and 8 FSEDs within Houston Methodist. He remains medical director of emergency services for the hospital system. Prior to this, he was a Regional Medical Director with a physician outsourcing company. He received his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Finkelstein is an active member of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Texas Medical Association, Harris County Medical Society, and he serves on multiple advisory boards of healthcare related entities.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President, Revenue Cycle Management of APP
- VP, Revenue Cycle Management
Jim Blue serves as Vice President, Revenue Cycle Management of APP. In this role, he'll be enhancing our revenue cycle activities and optimizing our outsourced billing partnerships. Jim is a healthcare executive with more than 25 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in acute and post-acute hospital systems and the pharmaceutical industry. He comes to us from Ampersand Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm with a focus on growth equity investments in the healthcare sector. His past healthcare roles include: VP of Operations for Kindred Healthcare, VP & COO for OrderInsite, CEO of Novus Healthcare Solutions, Director of Supply Chain& Centralized Pharmacy Operations for HCA, and Director of Operations for Cardinal Health. Jim earned both his BS in Industrial Engineering and MBA in Business from West Virginia University.
Joe presently serves as a Regional Vice President at American Physician Partners. He has previous experience as Chief Operating Officer at Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville, TN (part of HCA's TriStar Division) and a strong background in Emergency Department management. Under his leadership, Southern Hills built and launched the first free-standing ED in the Nashville metropolitan area. Prior to moving to Nashville, Joe spent much of his time in the Far West Division for HCA in multiple executive leadership roles. During this time, he oversaw the $35M ED expansion at Riverside Community Hospital (Riverside, CA)-a facility with more than 110,000 annual ED patient visits.
Joe received his Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of Nevada and his Master's in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities School of Public Health.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Kelly Chumbley, DO, presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. An Emergency Medicine physician with APP from 2018-2021, he served as Medical Director and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine for Holston Valley Medical Center Emergency Department. While on staff, he was active on the Internal Review Committee, Medical Executive Committee, Medical Director and Chair of the Quality Peer Review Committee, and Medical Staff Secretary. Prior service included the Credentialing Committee, Chair of the Allied Health Provider Credentialing Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Ballad Health Medical Staff Sub-Committee. Kelly earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Radford University, his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency through Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Kenji serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. He was previously Executive Medical Director at ModernMed Recovery, Executive Medical Director at Brightside Clinic, Interim Medical Director and Chair at Norwegian American Hospital, Emergency Medicine Staff Physician at Union Hospital, President Region IV at ApolloMD, and Medical Director at Vista Health System Emergency Department. He studied Psychology at Northwestern University and earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- VP, Quality & Clinical Performance
In her role as Vice President of Quality & Clinical Performance, Liz Harris, RN, BSN, MHAL, MBA, works directly with our hospital partners to develop performance improvement plans to optimize operational and clinical metrics. Throughout her career, Liz has held a number of nursing and quality leadership roles, including Emergency Department Director for 2 Bon Secours hospitals, Operational Performance Consultant for a national physician practice management company, and most recently as Administrative Director for Bon Secours Mercy Health in Norfolk, VA. Liz earned her nursing degree at Christopher Newport University and an MHA and MBA from Bellevue University. She also gained her Black Belt Six Sigma certification from Norfolk State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Logan Houlihan, MD, MBA, FACEP presently serves as a Regional Medical Director at American Physician Partners. Prior to joining our team, he served as Systems Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at Community Healthcare System and Chair of Emergency Medicine at Community Hospital in northwest Indiana. Before that, he served as Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Houlihan earned his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Biology from Trinity International University and his Doctor of Medicine from Pennsylvania State University, where he also completed his Emergency Medicine residency. He received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President of Provider Recruitment
Mary Ann Smokler joined our team in September 2021 as Vice President of Provider Recruitment. She has served in leadership roles for numerous organizations, including , RCCH Healthcare Partners, ReVIDA Recovery Centers, Community Health Systems, and Signature Hospital Corporation. She brings extensive experience in leading provider recruitment efforts, medical staff development, and creating recruitment marketing programs for healthcare companies. In this role, Mary Ann develops initiatives and strategies to attract high-quality physician and APP talent. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Vanderbilt University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Corporate Leadership Team
- Chief Operating Officer for American Physician
Matt presently serves as Chief Operating Officer for American Physician Partners where he is responsible for the day-to-day success of all administrative and operational aspects in delivering results to our hospital partners by leading our team of Regional Vice Presidents. He plans and oversees short- and long-term financial, operational, and strategic goals for APP. Matt has extensive experience in healthcare leadership, where he most recently served in the newly created role of Chief Operations and Clinical Officer for Healogics, a company that provides treatment of chronic wounds with more than 640 Advanced Wound Centers in 48 states. Prior to that, he served as SVP for a national physician practice management company where he had operational oversight of 150 Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine programs. Matt earned his B.S. in Biology from Bowling Green State University, his B.S.N. from Case Western Reserve University, and MBA from the University of Phoenix, and has earned a Six Sigma Green Belt.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Regional Medical Director
Neil Gandhi, MD, MBA, FACEP joined APP in January 2019 with the acquisition of EmergiGroup Physician Associates and serves as the Regional Medical Director for the Houston Methodist Hospital System. He is the current president elect for the Houston Society of Emergency Medicine, is a member of the ACEP Reimbursement and Coding committee, and is a member of the Texas Medical Association's Government Affairs committee. Dr. Gandhi has lectured nationally on physician onboarding and implementation of APCs, and he has been published in the Harvard Business Review. His professional interests include ED throughput, lean management, provider recruitment, and legislative advocacy. Dr. Gandhi completed his medical school and residency training at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
Penn is currently a Regional Vice President. Prior to joining our team, he was with Health Monitoring Systems, Forest Devices, Medical Alliance Partners, and Cardinal Health. He is a graduate of Occidental College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics as well as an MHA and MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Job Titles:
- Regional Vice President
- Healthcare Executive
Rob is a seasoned healthcare executive, having served for 13 years as VP Operations for Tulane University Medical Center, COO for Rio Grande Regional Hospital, CEO for Mainland Medical Center, and most recently as CEO for St. Luke's Sugar Land Hospital. Rob received his Master's in Healthcare Administration from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Market Medical Director - Ardent System
- Regional Medical Director for American Physician
Stacy presently serves as Regional Medical Director for American Physician Partners. Prior to joining APP, Stacy served as Regional Medical Director for another national emergency department management group. She has also served as the Emergency Department Medical Director and General Services Chair at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County in Rock Springs, WY; Associate Regional Medical Director at Lea Regional Medical Center, Carlsbad Medical Center and Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in NM; and Emergency Department Medical Director at Loveless Medical Center and Lovelace Heart Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. From 2011 to 2016, she served as State Flight Medical Director for AMRG/AIR MED in Salt Lake City, UT, and has served as the Regional Medical Director for Guardian Flight in Wyoming and Utah. Other clinical leadership roles include Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF San Francisco, ED Team Director of Cath Lab Services, Stroke Team Medical Director, and EMS Educator. Stacy received her BA degree at Dartmouth College and her MS/MD degree at Georgetown University. She completed her Emergency Residency at Harbor-UCLA and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. In addition to NM, she holds licenses in CA, CO, ME and WY.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President of Human Resources
Stephanie is currently the Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to joining APP, Stephanie spent 20 years at Ascension Health where she was responsible for developing and implementing strategic design, financing, communications and administration of health and welfare plans and programs sponsored by Ascension. She oversaw vendor relationship management, benefit operations and communications, merger and acquisition activity, and national benefit standardization for 27 health ministries. Prior to Ascension, she held numerous human resources roles with MetLife, Ascension and Saint Thomas Health. Stephanie received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer
- Member of the Corporate Leadership Team
Tony presently serves as SVP and Chief Medical Officer for American Physician Partners where he oversees all of the company's clinical initiatives, including champions for sepsis, stroke recognition and opiate prescribing. He is also responsible for developing the APP Leadership Academy and plays an active role in the business development and client management process. Tony served as President & Chief Medical Officer for AlignMD, a predecessor to American Physician Partners, and was the Executive Medical Director for Emergency Medicine Services at Sparrow Health System. He played football while earning his Bachelor of Science in Physiology at Michigan State University then earned his Doctor of Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Tony is board certified in Emergency Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- VP, Marketing & Communications
Tracy leads the marketing and communications functions for APP. She has 25 years of experience building brands, market share and revenue through successful marketing, communications and business development initiatives in the healthcare B2B space. Areas of expertise include brand development, thought leadership, event marketing, proposal management, internal communications, CRM and digital marketing platforms, and team development. Tracy has a BS degree in Economics from Furman University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Physician Leadership Team
- Executive Medical Director, Michigan
Tressa serves as an Executive Medical Director at American Physician Partners. She was previously Emergency Department Director at McLaren Greater Lansing, Emergency Department Director at Garden City Hospital, Chief of Staff at POH Regional Medical Center, President at Oakland Country Osteopathic Association, Chairman at Oakland County Professional Standards Review Organization Review, Vice Chairman at Oakland County Medical Control Authority Board of Directors, Medical Director at Oakland County Children's Village, Emergency Department Director at St. Joseph Health System, and Medical Director at Palace Sports and Entertainment. She is a graduate of Oakland University and earned her Doctorate of Osteopathy from Michigan State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Support Center Leadership Team
- Vice President of Operations Support
Wendi is currently the Vice President of Operations Support and has over 15 years of industry experience. In her most recent role as AVP of Operations Support, Wendi significantly contributed to APP by building the provider enrollment program and process, which provides a foundation for revenue cycle; restructuring and support of the mobile elite program; building the Provider Solutions Department which provides contracting and quality assurance through provider onboarding; building the practice support program and processes which provide daily support for all locations; providing standardization of and leadership for new program onboarding processes; and developing our Hospital Medicine IngeniousMed processes, policies, and procedures. Prior to joining APP, she served as Practice Administrator for Volunteer Medical Group and was Practice Manager for a multi-specialty practice/Physician Recruiter for Cookeville Regional Medical Center. Wendi received her MBA from Tennessee Technology University.