Jason Brian, Founder and CEO, Redwood Recovery Solutions’ - TreatmentCalls.com
Jason Brian is the founder and CEO of Redwood Recovery Solutions’ family of brands and TreatmentCalls.com. Following high school, he started his career in the automobile industry and was quickly catapulted from sales into corporate management for Ford Motor Company. After his time at Ford, he oversaw marketing efforts for Chrysler dealers across the South Eastern United States. Applying his unique gifts and skills to service the automotive industry from a new perspective, he launched AutoCricket.com in July of 2008 at the age of 20.
Deni Carise, Ph.D., Chief Clinical Officer, Recovery Centers of America (RCA); Adjunct Clinical Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Deni Carise, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and part of the recovery community for over 25 years. She is currently Chief Clinical Officer of Recovery Centers of America (RCA), a company whose goal is to get 1,000,000 American’s sober and into meaningful recovery. RCA is the first provider of substance abuse and recovery support services in the country, creating neighborhood-based treatment and recovery campuses that include detoxification, residential, partial hospital, intensive and traditional outpatient and family services that will set the standard for the industry. Most recently, she was Deputy Chief Clinical Officer of CRC Health Group, providing behavioral health services to more than 42,000 men, women and teens every day at 140 programs in 33 states.
Tracy Griffin Collander, L.C.S.W., Executive Director, Behavioral Health Care Accreditation
Tracy Griffin Collander, L.C.S.W. is the Executive Director of the Behavioral Health Care Accreditation program at The Joint Commission. In this role, she is the behavioral health product line leader responsible for tactical operations including product development and strategic planning. Ms. Griffin Collander serves as The Joint Commission liaison to national behavioral health professional and provider organizations.
Ms. Griffin Collander has more than 21 years of experience in behavioral health care as both a clinician and an executive director focusing on residential, day treatment, therapeutic day schools, foster care, in-home, and outpatient treatment programs. Prior to joining The Joint Commission, Ms. Griffin Collander was the executive director of Gateway Foundation’s residential and outpatient programs in Aurora, Illinois, serving adults and youth in need of addiction and mental health treatment services.
David Chernof, VP of Quality Assurance & Standards, Bridgeway Behavioral Health
David has been working in the behavioral health field for over 20 years, and has 10+ years’ experience working with people who have sought substance use treatment. David earned his Masters of Social Work degree from Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in 1995 and then his Masters of Business Administration from Webster University in 2004. David returned to Bridgeway in November of 2008 to work as the Director of Quality and Standards after spending time working at Anthem and Christian Hospital.
Tom Doub, Ph.D., CEO, Centerstone Research Institute
Tom Doub, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Centerstone Research Institute (CRI), an organization dedicated to improving healthcare through its innovative approach to integrating research and technology with clinical practice.
Under Dr. Doub’s leadership, CRI has established a unique blend of research, technology and evaluation expertise, balancing innovative technology with deep behavioral health expertise to improve outcomes and enrich the patient experience while reducing healthcare costs. During Dr. Doub’s tenure as CEO, CRI has facilitated the award of more than $130 million in grants to Centerstone, established partnerships with prominent universities and researchers across the nation, and has been involved in 150 groundbreaking studies.
Daniel J. Gemp, President, CEO, Dreamscape Marketing, LLC
Daniel Gemp has been the President and CEO of Dreamscape Marketing since its founding in 2005. Dreamscape is a leading provider of professional business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing strategy, patient acquisition marketing, and custom digital campaign development for addiction treatment providers.
Lewis Gold, MD, Co-CEO and Chairman, Advanced Recovery Systems
Lewis Gold, MD Co-Founded Sheridan Healthcare in 1994 and was Executive Vice Chairman and on the board of directors of Sheridan Healthcare. Dr. Gold served on the board of directors since the company’s inception and was instrumental in their multiple financial transactions, including an IPO in 1995 and four private equity sales since 1994. Dr. Gold was Executive Vice President from 1994 to 1999 while Sheridan Healthcare was publicly traded on NASDAQ (1995-1999). At Sheridan, Dr. Gold negotiated four separate private equity transactions including TA Associates, Vestar Capital, JW Childs and Hellman and Friedman. Under his leadership, Sheridan Healthcare grew from a single local practice to a national company in 23 states. Sheridan Healthcare has enjoyed significant revenue and EBITDA growth each year since 1994.
After retiring from Sheridan Healthcare in November 2012, Dr. Gold co-founded EG Advisors, LLC, and on December 19, 2013, he co-founded Advanced Recovery Systems (ARS), an integrated behavioral health company specializing in the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, and associated mental health issues. Dr. Gold currently acts as Co-CEO of ARS and has partnered with Goldman Sachs private equity in this entity. Dr. Gold also currently serves as an Operating Partner for J.W. Childs.
Mary P. Hauser, MA, Vice President of Addiction Services and New Market Development, Dominion Diagnostics
Philip L. Herschman, Ph.D., Chief Clinical Officer, CRC Health Group
Dr. Philip Herschman is a national behavioral healthcare expert with over 40 years of experience. In his most recent role as Chief Clinical Officer for CRC Health Group, Dr. Herschman was responsible for the measurement and improvement of clinical services and the research and development of new treatment technologies. He also ovesaw the CRC Clinical Advisory Board of distinguished healthcare industry experts. Prior to his position as CCO, Dr. Herschman was President of multiple operating divisions at CRC Health Group.
Matthew Hicks, Partner, Excellere Partners
Mr. Hicks has more than 20 years of experience in private equity investing and financing entrepreneurial owned and managed businesses. Through his career, Mr. Hicks has partnered with numerous entrepreneurial owned and led businesses through recapitalizations and supported those organizations in buy and build growth strategies in the food and beverage, healthcare services, healthcare products and technology, outsourced marketing services, consumer products, office furniture products, and industrial and municipal products industries. Mr. Hicks currently serves on the board of directors of Advanced Infusion Solutions and previously served on the board of directors of Advanced Pain Management, MTS Medication Technologies, PhyMed Holdings prior to their sales.
Edward Jones, Ph.D., SVP, Institute for Health and Productivity Management
Currently Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning for the Institute for Health and Productivity Management, Dr. Jones is a clinical psychologist who has previously served in a variety of roles related to behavioral health care and behaviorallyfocused wellness programs. He previously served as President of the Commercial Division for ValueOptions, Inc., and prior to that he served as the Chief Clinical Officer for PacifiCare Behavioral Health. Dr. Jones earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his doctorate from Northwestern University.
William McCormick, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Medivance Billing Service, Inc.
William McCormick is a highly experienced healthcare professional with comprehensive skills in strategic planning, sales, operational management and implementation. Throughout his professional career, he has demonstrated the ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in the highly competitive healthcare industry.
Kara McVey, MA, CPC, CPMA, Owner- Ilex Consulting, LLC
Kara has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare field, having held positions in sales, sales management, and training, for three top 100 pharmaceutical corporations. Most recently, she helped launch a small, pain management focused toxicology laboratory based in Austin, Texas which sold after 9 months to a large multi-national healthcare corporation. Kara continued her work with the new parent company primarily in corporate legal & compliance, with a focus on coding compliance, Stark and Anti-Kickback education, as well as audit preparation and defense. For the past 18 months, she has built a consulting practice that works primarily with the legal counsels of toxicology laboratories, addiction treatment facilities, and pain management practices, defending their services to third party payers, as well as CMS, ZPIC, RAC audits and pre-payment reviews.
Cory Mertz, M&AMI, Managing Partner, Mertz Taggart
Cory began his career at a Fortune 500 electronics manufacturing services provider, holding several operational and business development leadership positions, including managing the transition of multiple international acquisitions across Europe, South America and Mexico. In 2006, Cory started his M&A career focusing solely on healthcare services businesses. Since then, Cory has had the opportunity to forge relationships with industry leaders and private equity groups throughout the country, having closed over 50 healthcare transactions, nationally.
Dimitre Ouzounov, Chief Financial Officer, Round Hill Services
As Chief Financial Officer, Dimitre Ouzounov is responsible for the day-to-day financial management of this provider of web marketing, revenue analytics, lab testing and other outsourced services to healthcare providers as well as analyzing market data and competitive landscape to assess overall business strategy. His role also includes assisting in the due diligence process of acquisition targets and taking an active role in the company’s CFO outsourcing program.
Todd Rudsenske, Managing Director, Cain Brothers & Company, LLC
Todd joined Cain Brothers in 2003 and today has 23 years of investment banking experience. Todd heads the firm's Equity Sponsors Coverage, where his efforts are centered on mergers & acquisition transactions involving a private equity sponsor, as well as raising equity growth capital and debt for the firm's clients. Todd also oversees the firm's coverage of behavioral health and specialty lab services businesses.
Prior to joining Cain Brothers, Todd was a Vice President at Merrill Lynch & Co. Prior to moving to Merrill Lynch's Palo Alto office to specialize in equity private placements, Todd spent time in the firm's New York office where he was focused on healthcare mergers & acquisitions for tax-exempt organizations. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Todd was a Director in Ernst & Young's Corporate Finance Group and was focused on executing strategic transactions for the firm's healthcare clients. He began his career on the audit staff of Ernst & Young LLP in Dallas.
Tom Schramski, PhD, CMAA, President/Managing Partner, Vertess
Dr. Schramski is a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor (CMAA), consultant, and Licensed Psychologist with over 35 years of very successful national experience in the healthcare marketplace, including co-founding and building a $25 million behavioral health/disabilities services company. His M&A background has incorporated national seller and buyer representation across the healthcare spectrum and he was recognized for his executive leadership in the 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year issue of Inc., as well as the Harvard Business School Press publication, Equity. As the Founder of Vertess, Mr. Schramski’s focus is on helping behavioral healthcare business owners build remarkable value in their companies and maximizing value in the transaction process. In addition, Mr. Schramski is the Editor of the Vertess bi-weekly publication, Salient Value, and the author of Selling Your Baby (2nd Edition).
Jason F. Shafer, Partner, HCP & Company
Jason Shafer is a partner at HCP & Company where he leads the healthcare services (providers, outsourced services and niche managed care) team. HCP is a $215 million growth equity firm that deploys up to $20 million of equity per portfolio company. He was previously a private equity investor at William Blair Capital Partners and Chicago Growth Partners in Chicago, and an investment banker at Thomas Weisel Partners in New York and San Francisco. Jason received his MBA from the accelerated one-year program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and his B.A with honors from Vanderbilt University. Jason is currently a board member of Polaris Hospital Company, an acute psychiatric hospital company and Trumpet Behavioral Health, a provider of behavioral and other therapies for those on the autism spectrum, and was previously a board member of TrustPoint Rehabilitation of Lubbock, an inpatient rehabilitation company. HCP also has investments in a dermatology products skincare company and allied health post-secondary for profit schools.
Michael S. Shafer, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work; Director, Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy; Affiliate Professor, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, College of Public Services & Community Solutions, Arizona State University
Michael S. Shafer, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University’s College of Public Service and Community Solutions where he also holds affiliate appointments in the Center for Health Information Research and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Dr. Shafer is the founding director of the Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy which has, for the past 25 years, conducted cutting edge research on the adoption and implementation of innovative practices in behavioral health care. Dr. Shafer has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed research articles and generated more than $45 million in grants and contracts that target capacity building and innovation in behavioral health services. Dr. Shafer earned his Ph.D. in Education in 1988 from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has received numerous awards and citations, including recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice for the development of crisis intervention training for law enforcement personnel. Dr. Shafer is a frequent contributor to professional literature and he consults with behavioral health agencies throughout the country.
Kevin Taggart, Principal, Mertz Taggart
Kevin started his career working for large enterprise software companies selling multi-million dollar software applications to midsize organizations and large multi-national firms. After ten years of working in the technology industry, Kevin founded a land development and home building company. He gained invaluable experience running all aspects of the business; including raising money, negotiating and purchasing land, planning & rezoning, permitting and building infrastructure (roads, sewers, water, pool, clubhouse, etc.), building houses, and putting together and executing a marketing plan.
