CARIS HEALTHCARE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Rector
- in 2014 As a Regional Director of Operations
Brad Rector joined Caris Healthcare in 2014 as a regional director of operations and in April 2016 was promoted to senior vice president of operations. A licensed nursing home administrator with years of experience with the National HealthCare Corporation (NHC), Brad provides strategic and operational planning across Caris.
Brad started as an intern in finance and facilities management at NHC. He obtained his license as a certified nursing assistant, which fueled his desire to work in health care and showed him what it took to provide hands-on, high-quality and compassionate care. Brad joined NHC's administrator-in-training program and quickly rose through the ranks.
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Brad spent most of his youth in the St. Louis, Missouri, area and graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in finance.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Patient Care
Cindy Jacquemin dedicated 30 years of her nursing career to hospice care. Cindy started her career at The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast in Clearwater, Florida. During her 17 years there, Cindy served as a registered nurse, patient family care coordinator, clinical trainer and director of information systems training and clinical services.
Cindy joined Caris Healthcare in 2007 as Admissions RN. Cindy was quickly promoted to patient care manager, then administrator and then served as the east regional director of clinical care.
In 2015, Cindy joined her family back in Florida. There, Cindy served as a care team manager for Suncoast Hospice where she oversaw all operations and hands on care for approximately 150 patients per day.
Cindy earned an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) from Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Florida and Bachelor of Arts in Health Care Administration from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In 2004, Cindy obtained certification as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) through the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Sales and Marketing
- Caris in 2016 As a Marketing Representative
Darrah is a growth and goal-oriented marketing and sales professional with nearly a decade of proven results. She is committed to recruiting, training, and retaining the highest performing sales force and increasing use of high-quality hospice care.
Darrah joined Caris in 2016 as a marketing representative. Her passion for hospice care, hard work, and innovation earned her a promotion to regional director of sales and marketing by the end of 2017 for our South Carolina region. Darrah now serves as vice president of sales and marketing.
Throughout her tenure at Caris, Darrah significantly increased the number of lives touched and patients served. She developed strategic partnerships in the healthcare community for a smooth transition across the continuum of care for patients and their families.
Darrah earned a Bachelor of Science from Tennessee Technological University (TTU) in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer
- Corporate Medical Director
A medical professional with firsthand understanding of high-quality hospice care, Dr. Mark Murray joined Caris Healthcare as corporate medical director in 2019. He ensures medical excellence is the primary force behind our care.
Dr. Murray oversees 28 locations across Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia. Based in Greeneville, Tennessee, he serves as liaison among Caris Healthcare offices, community physicians, associate medical directors, nurse practitioners and health care providers. He also serves Caris as an associate medical director for hospice care in Greeneville.
With direct knowledge of the guiding principles that inform decisions for our patients and their families, he reviews all patient care protocols; advises the Caris Healthcare leadership team; and acts as a member of the ethics and compliance committees.
Dr. Murray is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in Hospice & Palliative Medicine and Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (FPHM).
He started his medical career in 2002 as executive vice president of STAT Care of Texas, an emergency department management company. Dr. Murray has experience and expertise in hospice care with holding positions with VITAS Healthcare and in a GIP unit. Most recently, before joining Caris, Dr. Murray served as director of hospitalist medicine at Greeneville Community Hospital West (previously known as Takoma Regional Hospital) and worked with Wellmont Health System in Kingsport.
He earned his medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California after attending the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Loma Linda and University of Texas Medical School in Houston.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Human Resources
Gary Fleenor transformed Caris Healthcare's human resources platform to support the company's evolution from a statewide hospice provider to a large, multisite provider with offices in five states. A certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), he has served as vice president of human resources for Caris since 2011.
Caris' workforce has increased by nearly 70 percent since 2011 and to keep pace with the company's growth, Gary established new procedures to improve efficiency in hiring processes, introduced a new performance improvement method and modified compensation and benefits plans to better suit the needs of Caris employees.
Gary's experience includes human resources management at two of the world's largest industrial and engineering companies. He served as a strategic human resources business partner for six years at Siemens Molecular Imaging. He also worked as a senior human resources generalist for CTI Molecular Imaging, Inc. and a human resources representative for Bechtel National Inc.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Board Member for Hospice Action Network
Norman McRae, founder of Caris Healthcare, has more than 30 years of experience in hospice care. Originally operating out of a home office, Norman began Caris in 2003 with a vision to provide exceptional, mission-driven hospice service - not just in major metropolitan areas but wherever there was a need.
Norman's passion for hospice care began when he attended a class provided by Hospice of Louisville. Later, when studying for his master's degree in public administration at the University of Kentucky, Norman wrote a business plan for a hospice company as his thesis.
Prior to beginning Caris Healthcare, Norman worked seven years as the head of the hospice division at Housecall Medical Resources, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based post-acute provider. After three years, he was promoted to CEO and improved operating margins in each division, leading the company through three successful accreditation surveys by The Joint Commission, an independent nonprofit that accredits health care organizations in the United States.
Norman also served as the first full-time employee and president of Hospice of Hope in Maysville, Kentucky, where he built a community-based provider that continues to thrive. Under his leadership, Hospice of Hope quickly attained Medicare certification, became the first hospice in Kentucky and Ohio to be accredited by The Joint Commission and expanded its service area to 12 counties across northern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Norman also created the Hope Endowment, which had assets of more than $7 million when he left the organization in 1997.
An advocate for high-quality, end-of-life care, Norman is an active board member for Hospice Action Network; National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; and Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence. Norman also serves as director of Knoxville-based Clayton Bank and Trust.
Norman earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in health care at the University of Kentucky and a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina.
Paul Saylor joined Caris Healthcare in 2004 and served in multiple senior leadership positions before becoming president and CEO in 2018.
Paul started his career at Caris as regional director of operations. In 2006, he was promoted to vice president of operations and in 2009 became chief operating officer.
He helped lead the implementation of Caris' signature program, The Better Way, a customer service approach based on 20 promises that each Caris staff member must fulfill during interactions with patients, referral sources, volunteers, fellow staff members and the community.
Paul's ascent to CEO was part of a leadership succession plan announced in 2016 by Norman McRae, founder of Caris Healthcare.
Prior to joining Caris, Paul worked at Apria Healthcare as a regional logistics manager. He also worked for American HomePatient, a predecessor of Apria Healthcare, and served as an administrator for Housecall Hospice - where he worked with McRae - and as general manager of Housecall Medical Resources.
Paul served as an examiner for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA).
He is an active board member of the nonprofit that the company operates to support the mission of Hospice Ethiopia, which partners with Caris Healthcare under the auspices of Global Partners in Care.
Paul earned an MBA with a major in management from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.
Job Titles:
- Corporate Compliance Officer
An expert on medical record review and compliance, Sylvia Singleton oversees the design, structure, implementation, education and auditing of the company's comprehensive corporate compliance plan.
She also is responsible for evaluating all calls to the Caris Values Line (1-800-273-8452), which employees, volunteers, medical directors, vendors and contracted partners are encouraged to contact if they see anything amiss within any of their interactions with Caris Healthcare or its representatives. Under company policy, the caller remains anonymous without any retaliation.
Sylvia started at Caris Healthcare in 2012 as an internal auditor, and within one year, was promoted to her current role as corporate compliance officer. She is certified by the Compliance Certification Board of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA).
Prior to joining Caris, Sylvia, who also has 10 years of hands-on nursing experience, worked with Palmetto GBA/BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, one of the nation's largest providers of high-volume claims and transaction processing.
As a leader and advocate for hospice quality and compliance, Sylvia is an at-large member of the Board of Directors of The Carolinas Center, the leading voice for quality end-of-life care in the region. She also served as a presenter for The Carolinas Center and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Sylvia attended the University of South Carolina before changing her academic focus to nursing. She obtained her associate degree in nursing from Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter, South Carolina.