WELLPATH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- CEO of Wellpath Group Holdings
Ben Slocum is CEO of Wellpath Group Holdings, LLC and various affiliates thereof. His role is to ensure operational excellence and to drive the organization's strategic focus. He is an experienced healthcare executive who brings nearly four decades of vast knowledge to the Company's comprehensive, patient-centered medical and behavioral offering. In his previous role as Chief Operating Officer, he worked closely with our Division Presidents to ensure that we meet our commitments to our people and partners, achieve our operational goals, and of course, never waiver from our mission to provide quality care to every patient with compassion, collaboration and innovation.
Carla Wallace - Chief Compliance Officer
Carla Wallace joined Wellpath as Chief Compliance Officer in December 2019, with nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare and compliance space. As Chief Compliance Officer, she has established a compliance reporting framework for monitoring and reporting on compliance issues. She reports directly to the CEO with a dotted line to the Board of Managers to ensure that the company follows all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Before joining Wellpath, Carla held a similar role for naviHealth in Brentwood, Tennessee, and was the Principal, Compliance Consulting for Quorum Health Resources. She received a master's degree in Health Care Administration from Independence University and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Carla is also certified through the Health Care Compliance Association's (HCCA) compliance certification board (CCB) in the areas of general compliance (CHC), privacy compliance (CHPC) and research compliance (CHRC) and is a member of multiple healthcare councils.
Cindy Watson serves as Wellpath's Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Cindy's primary focus is to oversee the operations of the company and ensure we achieve our operational goals. In her previous role as President of the Eastern Region of the Local Government Healthcare division at Wellpath, she coordinated the start-up of all new contracts, oversaw accreditation processes for both adult and juvenile correctional health care programs, directed the development of all personnel and operational policies and procedures, and oversaw nursing quality management and training, recruitment and contract liaison. She received her master's degree in communication disorders from Syracuse University after earning her bachelor's degree in the same discipline from The College of Saint Rose.
Job Titles:
- Division President, State and Federal
David began his tenure at Wellpath in 2018 as the Vice President of Operations for the State and Federal Healthcare Division and was elevated to Senior Vice President in 2020. In this role, he provided strategic and operational leadership for several statewide contracts and Wellpath's portfolio of private prisons. Under his guidance, David and his team achieved significant improvements in operational and financial performance, expanded the client base and services, and enhanced clinical outcomes.
David brings more than 36 years of experience in clinical and healthcare administration to his role, including 6 years of service in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and 30 years in the correctional healthcare industry.
David holds a Bachelor's degree in Health Care Management from Southern Illinois University and a Master's of Business Administration from Webster University. Additionally, he has been a Certified Correctional Health Professional for 20 years.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Debbie Jandt serves as Wellpath's Chief Human Resources Officer, with 25+ years of experience in human resources in the healthcare, global insurance, and technology space. In this role, Debbie is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Wellpath's people strategies to support the company's business and Wellpath's team members across the country. Before her tenure at Wellpath, Debbie served as the Vice President of Human Resources-Talent Acquisition at Brookdale Senior Living in Brentwood, Tennessee, and as the Global Operations & Human Resource-Talent Acquisition leader for Marsh McLennan, based in New York, NY. Debbie earned her bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University and furthered her education through executive courses at Duke, Yale School of Management, and Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Interim Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Dheeraj Taranath is Wellpath's Interim Chief Clinical Officer. His primary responsibility is ensuring the organization provides its patients with quality healthcare. He also works as a liaison between medical staff and administration to support positive communication channels while ensuring appropriate care to all patients.
Dr. Taranath is a board-certified family medicine physician with a distinguished career. He most recently served as the Executive Medical Director for the local government division at Wellpath. Prior to this role, he was an Executive Medical Director at MedExpress, part of United Health/Optum, for over a decade. There, he led clinical initiatives aimed at improving quality of care and value-based medicine, while also training providers to deliver a consumer-centric experience with a strong emphasis on empathy and evidence-based practices.
Dr. Taranath holds an MBA from St. Joseph's University and is passionate about collaborating with various healthcare systems to create mutually beneficial partnerships that enhance continuity of care for patients. Currently, he and the Wellpath team are developing clinical programs that prioritize safety and comprehensive care, with the goal of reducing recidivism among justice-involved individuals.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- in 2010 As Vice President of Information Technology
Joel Jensen is Wellpath's Chief Information Officer. Joel joined Wellpath in 2010 as Vice President of Information Technology. Over 14 years, Joel has been instrumental in building out and scaling Wellpath's IT organization during the company's 10x growth phase. As CIO Joel leads all IT work for Wellpath and is involved in all the company's strategic initiatives that involve change supported by IT innovation. Joel is involved with many client facing projects, having led or supported the IT work for 100+ contract startups and all of the company's State contracts. Joel is known for delivering consistent results with a calm, cool and collected demeanor.
Joel brings over 38 years experience leading technical organizations, implementing growth and change, and managing vendors, contracts, and budgets. Joel's experience includes 12 years with EDS Corporation, 2 years with Xerox, and 10 years with Core Business Technology Solutions. Joel is known for his expertise at leading large initiatives, formulating and executing business, financial, and technology strategies, recruiting and leading technical teams, and bridging the gap between technical and non-technical groups.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman of the Board
Jorge Dominicis is Co-Chairman of the Board. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer for Wellpath since 2015 where he ensured the organization's operational excellence and drove strategic focus. He served 14 years as Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Florida Crystals Corporation, where he was responsible for all governmental and public affairs activity at the local, state, and federal level, as well as for the coordination of community outreach and charitable involvement. Jorge also served in various public and government policy positions. Mr. Dominicis has always had a passion for helping others, especially the overlooked and underserved. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, and international business from Florida International University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman of the Board
Kip Hallman is Co-Chairman of the Board. He previously served as the President of Wellpath since 2018. Kip has served in other leadership roles at the Company for 11 years, and has 25 years of healthcare services leadership experience, including co-founding and growing a large national healthcare services company, and leading the turnaround of a national diagnostic imaging provider. His passion is leading teams to achieve great results. Kip received his Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, in Economics from Claremont McKenna College.
Marc Goldstone is Wellpath's Chief Legal Officer, overseeing all aspects of the Company's legal operations, including managing the Legal, Compliance, Risk Management, Insurance and Worker's Compensation/Employee Safety functions. He brings more than 25 years of health law experience to Wellpath. Prior to joining Wellpath, Marc served in senior leadership roles in non-profit and investor owned health systems (both privately owned and publicly traded). Marc was also appointed to consecutive terms on the United States Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council by the Secretary of Labor, where he advised the U.S. Government agencies on matters of critical importance to the provision of EMS throughout the country. Marc is an honors graduate of the Rutgers School of Law, and a Fellow of the American Health Law Association. Prior to entering the practice of law, Marc was a certified Mobile Intensive Care Unit paramedic for many years, and his legal practice and leadership are informed by the thousands of patients he cared for during that time.
In 1984 Taylor Fithian co-founded California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG), which joined with Correct Care Solutions (CCS) to form Wellpath in 2018. Dr. Fithian, an emergency room physician in Monterey, CA, often found himself providing routine medical services in the ER to inmates from the nearby Monterey County Jail. This led to poor patient care, overloaded ER professionals, and mounting cost and risk to the county. His solution? Bring specialized correctional healthcare into the jail, which would improve care and reduce cost and risk. So together with his partners, he started CFMG. From the beginning, Taylor set the bar high and encouraged every employee to "Always Do the Right Thing." With every patient in every facility, today we follow in his footsteps and strive to add to the company's incredible legacy of compassionate patient care. In 2024, Dr. Fithian retired from the Board of Managers; in respect of his long and faithful service, the Board voted unanimously to award him the title of "Retired Board Member Emeritus".
Job Titles:
- Interim Chief Financial Officer
- Member of FTI Consulting 's Corporate Finance
Timothy J. Dragelin is a member of FTI Consulting's Corporate Finance segment, where he leads the healthcare interim management group. With over 30 years of experience in finance and accounting, Mr. Dragelin has held various interim management roles, including CFO, CEO, Chief Transformation Officer, and board member. He previously worked in the financial advisory services practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. A published author and frequent speaker on financial and accounting topics at regional and national conferences, he has also been a guest lecturer at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Mr. Dragelin holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from The College of William and Mary in Virginia.
Job Titles:
- President and Dean, Morehouse School of Medicine
Dr. Rice is the sixth president of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution. Dedicated to the creation and advancement of health equity, Montgomery Rice serves as both the president and dean. Prior to joining MSM, Montgomery Rice held faculty positions and leadership roles at various health centers, including being the founding director of the Center for Women's Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nation's first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color. She holds memberships in various organizations and participates on a number of boards, such as the following: National Academy of Medicine, The Metro Atlanta Chamber, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, The Nemours Foundation, UnitedHealth Group, Westside Future Fund, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans, and Horatio Alger Association.