What’s your role at Ursa Health, and what do you do?
I recently joined Ursa Health as chief administrative officer. In my role, I support Ursa Health's general operations and maintain the smooth functioning of its administrative processes. I also manage the company's vendor relationships, ensuring best-in-class services so the Ursa team can work efficiently and focus on delivering for clients. In addition, I'm responsible for the company's privacy policies and procedures, working in partnership with the security team.
Can you share a little about your background?
My background is in supply chain management and lean operations. I started my career as a consultant working for a firm that helped design and implement end-to-end supply chain solutions for companies across various industries.
I moved to Nashville in 2016 and joined Aspire Health, a community-based palliative care company that was reshaping the way people think about traditional end-of-life care. Initially I was brought on to help scale their clinical operations, and over time I transitioned into a partnerships role working with payers and providers all across the country. I had the privilege of working closely with Ursa’s vice president of operations, Aaron Mock, while I was there.
Supply chain management is all about how you move things—whether that’s people, places, or goods—in the most efficient and effective way. In healthcare today, there is a lot of opportunity to improve on existing processes. So I am particularly interested in how you make the best use of available tools to optimize the system and help the inefficient world of healthcare change for the better.
Why did you decide to work for Ursa Health?
I met [CEO] Robin Clarke a year ago and really respected what he was doing with Ursa Health, plus he’s a real salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. In a partnership role, I meet a lot of physicians, and Robin really stood out for his wisdom and the way he thinks about things. He has tremendous respect for the space but also sees the room for creativity, and he’s looking for ways to allow healthcare to get out of its own way.
In my previous role, I had worked with a wide range of national and regional health plans, risk groups, physician practices and health systems, accountable care organizations, and others. I saw all the data inefficiencies, yet also how rich the various data sets are. There’s total misalignment between the value of the data and the ability to put it into use—it’s chaos, really. I definitely saw the connection to what Ursa is doing and believe it’s solving an ever-present problem. Once I met the rest of the team, I was totally locked in.
What do you find to be the best part about working with Ursa Health?
I love being elevated by the team here. But aside from the team, it’s the fact that the solution actually works. When you’re in a role like mine, encouraging people to buy in to our approach and join the Ursa Community, having a product that works makes your job much easier.
What is one thing your colleagues would be surprised to know about you?
Well, my go-to ice-breaker fact is that on my honeymoon I caught a mahi mahi that was only 11 pounds off the world record. Other than that, I love sports and am a huge Nashville Predators fan. I’d never been a hockey fan before coming to Nashville, but I got hooked when the team went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017. Other big loves are dogs and exercise, and I’m a foodie and wine enthusiast.
