Leadership
Contexture’s executive leadership team, led by CEO Melissa Kotrys, is made up of seasoned executives from Arizona and Colorado. Our board of directors and advisory councils represent a diverse network of healthcare organizations in both states.
Executive Team
Melissa A. Kotrys, MPH
Chief Executive Officer
Expertise: Health policy, health information exchange, social determinants of health and interoperability
Melissa A. Kotrys, MPH
Melissa is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Contexture (contexture.org), the umbrella organization of Health Current, CORHIO and Quality Health Network, health information exchanges (HIEs) for Arizona and Colorado.
Through her vision and leadership, Contexture is celebrated as a model for aligning the healthcare community with the possibilities of connected electronic health information to advance individual and community health and wellbeing. .
Melissa is recognized as a collaborative partner of hospitals and health systems, health plans, healthcare providers, healthcare associations and other healthcare sectors in Arizona. She serves on many boards and advisory councils, most notably on the Board of Civitas Networks for Health, a national collaborative of HIEs and other health data stakeholders, and on the Sequoia Project Board of Directors. She also serves as a member of the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability (CSRI) Board of Directors, the Employers Council Board of Directors and the Arizona State Medicaid Advisory Committee.
Prior to joining Contexture, formerly Health Current, Melissa worked as a consultant and health policy analyst at Deloitte Consulting. She holds a Master’s of Public Health in Health Policy from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Scott Bennett
Chief Legal Officer & Privacy Officer
Expertise: Compliance, privacy, healthcare, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence law
Scott Bennett
As Chief Legal Officer, Scott Bennett leads the team that provides legal guidance and support to Contexture and oversees the organization’s compliance program.
Before joining Contexture, Scott was a partner at the Phoenix law firm Coppersmith Brockelman. In private practice, Scott helped hospitals, healthcare providers and health technology companies navigate a variety of legal issues, including U.S. and international privacy laws; data breaches; government investigations; litigation; and healthcare-specific laws and regulations like the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute.
Scott has earned certifications in both U.S. and European privacy law from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US and CIPP/E).
Scott received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Arizona State University. (Go Devils!)
Outside of work, you are most likely to find Scott hiking on a Phoenix trail, camping in the woods or baking in his kitchen (his specialty is macarons).
Sharon Burdett
Chief Financial & Human Resources Officer
Expertise: Accounting, corporate communications, recruiting, onboarding and training
Sharon Burdett
Overseeing the accounting, administrative, recruitment, onboarding and training aspects of Contexture, Sharon Burdett helps ensure that the organization’s culture aligns with its values.
As a member of the executive leadership team, she helped navigate the merger of Colorado-based CORHIO and Arizona-based Health Current to form Contexture in 2021. The merger created the largest health information exchange in the western United States.
Sharon joined Health Current in 2011 as chief financial officer when the company was known as Arizona Health-e Connection (AzHeC). Sharon earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Prior to joining AzHeC, Sharon was the president of Independent Hydro Developers, an independently owned corporation that developed, owned and operated hydroelectric facilities.
After hours, Sharon enjoys camping and fishing with her family. She also restores classic automobiles with her husband.
Deanna Towne
Chief Information Officer
Expertise: Health IT, strategic planning, security risk assessments, capabilities-based planning, data security, project management, executive IT leadership
Deanna Towne
Deanna Towne oversees Contexture’s team of information technology professionals, as well as the development of new products to meet the needs of the Colorado and Arizona healthcare communities. All of Contexture’s vast IT functions fall within the CIO’s purview -- including network support, security, system administration, server management, data management, development, project implementation and management, and security. She oversees all IT systems required to support Contextures’ objectives and goals, as well as leads the digital transformation of the organization.
She joined CORHIO, Colorado’s largest health information exchange, as CIO in 2019. In 2021, CORHIO formalized a merger with Health Current, Arizona’s HIE, to become Contexture and Deanna assumed the CIO role for the larger organization.
Prior to Contexture, Deanna was the deputy chief customer officer and IT director for the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology. She has also served as the budget director for the Colorado Department of Revenue and the deputy director of the Colorado Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.
Deanna received her MBA and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from Regis University in economics and politics. She also graduated from the Executive Leaders Program for the Center of Homeland Defense and Security and completed coursework for a Certificate in Public Administration from the University of Colorado. She’s also an EMC Certified Expert Cloud Architect and brings Lean/Six Sigma training to her role.
She resides in Castle Rock, Colorado, with her husband, Marc, and young son. In her free time, she loves being outside and spending time with family, including a family dinner every Sunday night. In August 2022, Deanna was honored as CIO of the Year in the Corporate category of the ORBIE awards.
Jackie Sievers
Chief Growth Officer
Expertise: Social determinants of health, strategic planning, health information technology, health data exchange, human services operations, quality assurance, informatics and community resource networks.
Jackie Sievers
Jackie Sievers currently serves as the Chief Growth Officer at Contexture, where she plays a pivotal role in advancing strategic initiatives and expanding the organization’s impact. Previously, Jackie was the Vice President of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Government Affairs at Contexture, leading innovative programs and technologies aimed at improving care quality across Colorado and Wyoming.
She was instrumental in the launch of the Community Resource Network (CRN) in 2020 and has been a driving force behind its continued growth and success. Under her leadership, CRN was featured in the ONC SDOH Toolkit and earned second place in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation SDOH Innovation Challenge. Jackie has shared her expertise at national forums including Civitas Networks for Health, the San Diego 211 CIE Summit, and Alaska’s HIE Summit.
With more than 20 years of experience in human services operations, quality assurance, and informatics, Jackie is a passionate advocate for the secure exchange of whole-person health data. Her background as a former end-user informs her approach to optimizing workflows and enhancing care coordination. Prior to joining Contexture, Jackie served as Chief Operating Officer at Quality Health Network, where she oversaw the Social Health Information Exchange and the CRN initiative.
Jackie is deeply committed to empowering community leaders with the tools and processes they need to streamline efforts, foster collaboration, and improve community health through secure and effective data sharing.
Vice Presidents
Alfritch Anderson Jr
Security
Alex Demyan
Government Affairs – AZ
Brittany Dettler
Solution and Market Development
Glenn Fuss
Human Resources
Lauren Girard
Data Management
Dayton Harbo
Deputy Chief Information Officer
Micah Jones
Legal Counsel
Janeece Lawrence
Project Management Office
Erik Meredith
Application Development & Support
Catelyn Nguyen
Customer Operations & Service Management
Kelly Procopio
Contracts & Grants Administration
Cathy Story
Engagement Operations & Collaboration
Holly Swierenga
Accounting
Myriah Vandre
Integrations
Brian Van Sickle
Infrastructure & Quality Assurance
Jennifer Barrett
Business Development
Board of Directors
Joe Adragna, MD
President, Peak Family Medicine
Joe Adragna, MD
Dr. Joe is the President and Founder of Peak Family Medicine. Dr. Joe knew early on that Family Medicine, in which the doctor sees every kind of problem and person, was his calling. At the age of thirteen, Joe was already working as a hospital volunteer in the Montrose Memorial Hospital lab, learning as much about medicine as he could. After graduating from Montrose High School, he worked as an EMT while in college and during his residency at the University of Colorado, on his few days off, he would moonlight at other hospitals, always planning for the future.
Dr. Adragna is committed to helping people stay healthy, avoiding emergency room and hospital stays, allowing easy access to care, and providing office hours that are convenient for working people and those with children in school. His medical areas of interest include: Musculoskeletal medicine (arthritis treatment), primary care, cardiology, and systems integration and innovation.
Today, Peak Family Medicine has 9 providers and 23 total QHN users and has 11,462 queries in QHN Results in the last 12 months. They have sent 28,580 messages and have received 63,455 total messages in the last 12 months. This includes all result types – ADT, Lab, Radiology, Transcription.
Residency: University of ColoradoCristen Bates
Deputy Medicaid Director, Director Office of Behavioral Health Initiatives & Coverage, Colorado Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)
Cristen Bates
Cristen Bates is a dedicated public health executive with 20 years of service to the community. She currently serves as the Deputy Medicaid Director and the Office Director for Behavioral Health Initiatives & Coverage and at the Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing (HCPF). In this role, Cristen is implementing statewide behavioral health transformative initiatives to improve the behavioral health access, quality, equity and service provided to Medicaid and CHP+ members, over 1.3 million Coloradans.
She also oversees a multiple federal grants, including the $1B Rural Health Transformation program. She has served as a Senior Health Advisor at HCPF and formerly the Director of Strategy, Policy, and Communications for the state Office of Behavioral Health at the Colorado Department of Human Services. Prior to joining the state Cristen worked in community health and safety net clinics, federal contracting, hospital administration, strategic communications, and patient engagement. She holds degrees from the University of Kansas and George Washington University in psychology, public health, and health IT.Pedro Cons
CEO, Adelante Healthcare
Pedro Cons
Pedro Cons is a thoughtful, visionary leader with expertise in strategy and organizational management.
His diverse leadership and academic experience provides a unique perspective for creating strategic partnerships across corporate, nonprofit and government sectors to better integrate the delivery of services and more effectively address the holistic needs of families and create sustainable, positive change.
Named Chief Executive Officer at Adelante Healthcare in June 2020, Pedro Cons now leads a network of nine community health centers which provide primary healthcare to more than 77,000 individuals across Maricopa County.
Before joining Adelante, he spent more than 14 years at Chicanos Por La Causa (also known as CPLC). Most recently, he served as the Executive Vice President of Integrated Health and Human Services, overseeing CPLC’s primary care partnerships, home healthcare program, behavioral health, HIV testing and case management, 340b pharmacy and a host of other programs across Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. Other previous roles at CPLC include Vice President of Multi-Family Housing Operations, Vice President of Corporate Strategic Initiatives, Vice President of Human Resources, and Vice President of Recovery and Resiliency.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in social work, a master’s degree in Professional Counseling, and advanced graduate studies in school guidance counseling and marriage, family and child therapy. He has also received training in community mobilization and facilitation methods and has participated in leadership development including the Kellogg Foundation Multicultural Leadership Institute and the Hispanic Leadership Institute.Kevin Fitzgerald, MD
Medical Director, Mesa County Public Health
Kevin Fitzgerald, MD
Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is the Medical Director for Mesa County Public Health and serves the Western Healthcare Alliance (WHA) as Community Care Alliance Medical Director. Dr. Fitzgerald leads health management strategies including provider engagement and outreach, quality and utilization reporting, aligned incentives and clinical strategies to effectively manage Western ACO’s attributed patient population.
With over 30 years’ experience in medicine and medical administration, Dr. Fitzgerald brings varied experience. From the hands-on practice of medicine and teaching residents and Physician Assistant students to various administration positions from Managed Services Organizations to Health Plan Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer. He has a wealth of understanding of data, process and quality improvement activities, accreditation requirements for NCQA, practice management, IPA/health plan interface, and physician relationships.
Prior to joining Mesa County Public Health and WHA, Dr. Fitzgerald was the Chief Medical Officer for Rocky Mountain Health Plans. His previous experiences include Assistant Director for a Family Medicine Residency and the Medical Director of Colorado for United Healthcare. He was also the first Medical Director for Physician Health Partners, a start- up Managed Services Organization in Denver, eventually taking the role of Vice President of Utilization Management.
These experiences have left Dr. Fitzgerald with a sense that healthcare is best delivered and managed with the strong influence of local control. The nuance of local variation in the delivery system combined with provider professional expertise is paramount to the community and keeping the population close to their personal support systems.
Dr. Fitzgerald was raised in the Denver Metro area. After High School he enlisted in the United States Army, serving as a Fixed Wing Airplane Mechanic/Crew Chief. After his separation from the military, he completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry and math and obtained his Medical Degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at Mercy Hospital in Denver. He remains Board Certified and still practices medicine part time at a local after-hours clinic in Grand Junction. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing, hunting, camping, travel, playing the guitar, and especially time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Medical Education: Undergraduate degree in chemistry and math and Medical Degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Residency: Family Medicine at Mercy Hospital in DenverTad Gary
CEO, Mercy Care
Tad Gary
Tad Gary is the CEO of Mercy Care, an Arizona-based managed care organization serving more than 400,000 Medicaid and Medicare members under six governmental contracts. These include AHCCCS Complete Care, Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS), Regional Behavioral Health Authority for Maricopa County, Developmentally Disabled, Department of Child Safety Comprehensive Health Plan (DCS CHP), and Medicare Dual SNP contracts.
As CEO, Tad is responsible for all health plan activities for all product lines. He also supports all Mercy Care business development and implementation efforts throughout Arizona.
Tad has held multiple leadership roles during his more than 20-year career in health care and social services. Tad is a member of the Mercy Housing, Mountain Plains Board and a Trustee of the Vitalyst Health Foundation. He was also appointed to the State of Arizona Opioid Review Council and to the Phoenix Police Review and Implementation Ad Hoc Committee. Tad is the former president of the Arizona Counselors Association and former President of the Institute for Mental Health Research EpiCenter, serving adolescents experiencing their first episodes of psychosis.
He earned his master’s degrees in counseling and education and has completed executive education in finance and accounting from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.Patrick Guffey, MD
Chief Informatics and Outcomes Officer, UCHealth | Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Patrick Guffey, MD
Patrick Guffey is an associate professor of anesthesiology and practices pediatric and obstetric anesthesia. He’s chief medical information officer at Children's Hospital Colorado, as well as performance improvement and informatics officer at the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado. Patrick also serves as medical director of perioperative performance improvement and manages the quality programs for Perioperative Services and the Colorado Fetal Care Center.
Patrick is board certified in clinical informatics, the chair of Epic system's steering board for pediatric anesthesiology and president of the Colorado Chapter of the Health Information Management Systems Society. Patrick's work with Epic centers on the use of perioperative protocols to improve safety and outcomes. He also partners with Epic, GE Healthcare, Codonics and Omnicell to improve interoperability and decrease medical errors. Patrick serves as the medical director of the Anesthesia Quality Institute's Patient Safety Organization, where he helped develop the first national specialty specific reporting system for adverse events.
He’s also a member of the Children's Hospital Association's Patient Safety Team. His research interests center on application of the electronic health record and clinical informatics to improve quality, safety and outcomes. Patrick is particularly interested in using Lean principles, informatics and strong safety cultures to drive highly reliable patient care.Patrick Gordon
CEO, Rocky Mountain Health Plans (United)
Patrick Gordon
Patrick Gordon is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Rocky Mountain Health Plans (RMHP) in Colorado, a UnitedHealthcare Company. Patrick has led reform efforts in the Colorado market for practice transformation, payment reform and technology adoption to help make the healthcare system work better for everyone.
Patrick has been accountable for an array of payment reform, health data exchange and behavioral health services integration initiatives in Western Colorado. He also led the implementation of the Medicaid Accountable Care Collaborative project in western and northern Colorado. Patrick provided oversight of the Medicaid, Full Benefit
Medicare/Medicaid Eligibles, and CHP+ programs supported by the health plan, as well as the CMS Innovation Center’s Comprehensive Primary Care initiative.
Patrick has led several strategic initiatives for RMHP’s stakeholders, including the Colorado Beacon community demonstration, the design and implementation of an aligned payment arrangement with the State of Colorado and physicians to achieve Triple Aim objectives. Further, he served on the Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM) Practice Transformation and Multi-payer Collaborative work groups. Prior to joining RMHP, Patrick held various positions within the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing related to policy development and program management.Steve Hess
CIO, UCHealth
Steve Hess
Steve Hess is the chief information officer for UCHealth, a nationally recognized nonprofit health care system with operating revenue of $5.4 billion and a workforce of more than 26,000 people. UCHealth includes 12 Colorado hospitals, with about 2,000 inpatient beds and more than 150 clinics in Colorado, southern Wyoming and western Nebraska.
Steve is responsible for the management of information systems across the enterprise, including Epic, an electronic medical record system; The Source, UCHealth’s employee intranet; and My Health Connection, a patient portal.
Previously, Steve was the chief information officer for University of Colorado Hospital, a partner of UCHealth. Prior to joining UCHealth, he was the chief information officer for Christiana Care Health System, one of the country’s largest health care providers.Sheri Jackson
CNO & VP Operations Engineering, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Sheri Jackson
As the chief nursing officer and vice president of clinical quality and wellness, Sheri Jackson serves as the chief adviser within the Health Quality Assurance division for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ). In this role, she develops and implements strategies and policies to ensure continuous quality improvement drives efficient daily operations and lower operating costs.
Sheri provides support to the chief medical officer to plan, coordinate and communicate new strategies, tools and systems that improve and streamline the operations of UM, HEDIS outcomes, medical policy and wellness programs. She has oversight for the quality program and chairs the quality management committee, which provides direction and oversight of the organization’s quality management activities related to clinical and non-clinical services. The committee identifies quality improvement programs that result in measurable outcomes and ensures all activities adhere to regulatory requirements under NCQA or URAC and any requirements as an issuer of Quality Health plans.
Sheri serves as the BCBSAZ representative on the Contexture board of directors to influence decision–making and provide insight about healthcare trends and health plan customer issues and concerns, product development needs and service requirements.
Sheri joined BCBSAZ in 1988 and has held numerous executive roles overseeing healthcare quality, healthcare operations, provider capitation arrangements, value-based care program development and medical policy development during her tenure with the organization.
She earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Minnesota.Heidi Kemmer
COO, UHC Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare
Heidi Kemmer
Heidi Kemmer has been the chief operating officer for the United Healthcare Community Plan in Arizona since April 2020. She’s a seasoned managed care executive with over 25 years in the industry, holding a number of positions in network contracting and provider service, operations, and health plan leadership. This includes serving as regional contract and area manager for John Deere Health, vice president of operations and executive director for the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Tennessee, national director, community and state provider experience leading several national initiatives impacting provider service and operations; and director, west region operations supporting UnitedHealthcare Community Plans in Hawaii, Washington, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona with operations oversight and regulatory change management.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in Kansas and a dual-degree master’s in business (MBA) and healthcare administration from the University of Iowa. Heidi is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, is active in her local church and community, and enjoys supporting Arizona sports teams. Heidi and her husband, Karl, have lived in Phoenix since 2014, after relocating from Tennessee.Josh Lee, MD
SVP, Chief Information Officer and Chief Health Information Officer, TMC Healthcare
Josh Lee, MD
Dr. Josh Lee is the lead strategist for information, data and technology for TMC Health. He oversees all aspects of the Information Services department; develops and implements short- and long-range plans to meet current and future information needs of the organization. He is responsible for all technical and application infrastructure but also oversees our long-term data management strategies as TMC Health continues on its journey to being a learning health system.
Prior to joining TMC Health, he was the Physician Executive at the Banner- University Medical Group in Tucson. Before coming to Tucson, Dr. Lee served as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Health Information Officer positions with Loyola University Health System; Chief Information Officer at the Keck Medicine of USC; and Chief Medical Information Officer at the University of California San Diego Health System.
Dr. Lee has held academic positions with University of Arizona, Loyola University of Chicago, University of Southern California, and University of California, San Diego. He graduated from the University of California at San Francisco and completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard College.
He is board certified in internal medicine and has an active clinical practice in the TMC One Medical Group of TMC Health. Dr. Lee completed his training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.Sophia Meharena, DO
Director of Clinical Outcomes, Every Child Pediatrics
Sophia Meharena, DO
Dr. Meharena has been caring for patients at Every Child Pediatrics since 2011 and sees patients at the Aurora office. She began her role as Director of Clinical Outcomes in May 2020. She recieved her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry from Mount Holyoke College, followed by her medical education at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine. She then completed her residency at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP).Anna Rasmussen
AVP, Network Integrity, HealthONE
Anna Rasmussen
Anna has a Masters in Economics from the University of Denver, a PhD in Health Services Research from University of Colorado and 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Her areas of expertise include data analytics, hospital network optimization, and process improvement.
In her current role as AVP of Network Integrity, Anna leads division-wide efforts to increase HCA HealthONE in-network retention and improve continuity of care. Her current scope of work includes managing the system’s Emergency Room follow-up program, improving transitions of care across inpatient and outpatient settings, and evaluating performance across key network optimization priorities.
Prior to her current role, Anna has been leading the Hospital Transformation Program (HTP) for the HCA HealthONE hospitals. The HTP objectives include improving patient outcomes through care redesign, ensuring appropriate care in appropriate settings, and promoting value-based care delivery model. Under Anna’s leadership, the HTP has been fully implemented and scaled across six HCA HealthONE facilities.
Anna has also worked at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado in a variety of settings including research, clinical operations, and strategy management. Anna is very passionate about improving value-based care delivery through the re-design and implementation of large, multidisciplinary clinical improvement initiatives focused on advancing the excellence of patient care and the patient experience.
In her free time, Anna enjoys traveling, reading Agatha Christie, and spending time with her family.Michael Reagin
EVP, Chief Technology Officer, Banner Health
Michael Reagin
Michael Reagin joined Banner in June 2024, bringing more than 27 years of experience leading innovation, information technology and digital strategy for top-ranked health care organizations. He joined Banner from Sharp Healthcare where he was senior vice president and chief information and innovation officer. Michael has been on the forefront of identifying and implementing strategies to improve health care quality, patient experience, efficiency and safety utilizing technology throughout this career including serving as chief information officer for Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, as well as corporate vice president and chief information officer for Sentara Healthcare/Optima Health Plan.
Michael has received numerous recognitions including the 2023 SoCal Orbie CIO in HealthCare, Becker’s 2023 Hospitals and Health System CIOs to Know, Top 100 Chief Information Officers (2015, 2019 and 2020), the CIO 100 Middle East in 2015 as well as Health IT and Imaging Magazine’s Top 25 Most Innovative People in Health Care IT. He’s a certified healthcare chief information officer through the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.April Rhodes
CEO, Granite Mountain Behavioral Healthcare
April Rhodes
April Rhodes, MBA, LAMFT is the Co-Founder and Principal of The Stile Group, a consultancy focused on leadership and professional development, practice optimization, stakeholder strategy, and delivering innovative healthcare solutions across key markets. She is widely recognized for her forward-thinking leadership and her ability to transform systems through integrated, whole-person care and value-based approaches.
With over two decades of experience at the forefront of healthcare and human services management, April has led large-scale operations, advanced access to coordinated care, and championed efforts to reduce fragmentation across systems. Her work includes integrating behavioral health into primary care, hospital systems, and justice settings, as well as developing mobile crisis response models that meet individuals where they are. She also guided teams and operations through a multi-year public health emergency, maintaining continuity of care and organizational resilience during a time of widespread disruption.
April holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arizona and a Master of Advanced Study in Marriage and Family Therapy from Arizona State University. She is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist.
She currently serves as Board Chair for Contexture, the health information exchange for Arizona and Colorado, and as President of the Yavapai College Foundation Board. April is also a member of the Greater Phoenix Chamber Board of Directors and a Flinn-Brown Fellow through the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.Alexis Sgouros
VP, Analytics Services and Finance Data & Analytics, Kaiser Permanente
Alexis Sgouros
Alexis Sgouros is vice president of analytics service delivery. He leads the IT organization’s analytics delivery team, which supports enterprise analytic platforms and tools, as well as develops and maintains key data assets for the analytic community. He partners with the health plan and care delivery technology services in engaging with stakeholders across the organization, as well as with the chief data office and digital team to align on data technology strategy for Kaiser Permanente.
Since joining Kaiser Permanente in 2001, Alexis has worked in the Northern California, Southern California and Colorado markets and worked his way up through the organization. His past roles include vice president care delivery analytics and Colorado information officer; executive director for IT service and delivery in the Northern and Southern California regions, where had accountability for all business engagement and operations in the 14 hospital areas in Southern California and the 24 hospitals in Northern California; area technology leader at the San Diego Medical Center; and project manager and programmer within the medical record space.
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Alexis spent five years working with biotechnology companies bringing new products to clinical trials and to market prior to joining Kaiser Permanente.
Alexis serves on the advisory council of the Colorado School of Public Health. In his spare time, he enjoys staying active and is an avid runner and cyclist. He's married to Marnie, and they have two children.Mike Stahl
CEO, Hilltop Community Resources
Mike Stahl
Mike has worked in a variety of leadership positions within Hilltop for the past sixteen years. Before Hilltop, he worked five years for NeuroCare in California, in neurobehavioral programs for adults with brain injuries. Mike is a graduate of Grand Junction High School. He has an undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Regis University. Mike started at Hilltop in 1993, coordinating the development of Hilltop’s youth programs.
Mike has been very active in our community, serving on a number of boards including: Grand Junction Economic Partnership, Mesa County Community Corrections, Quality Health Network; Western Health Care Alliance, Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce and Colorado West Mental Health Psychiatric Hospital.
Medical Education: B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry from Mount Holyoke CollegeBrian Turner
Vice President of Mission Advancement, Diversus Health
Brian Turner
Brian Turner was previously the president and chief executive officer for Solvista Health, the nonprofit community mental health center providing integrated mental health, substance use and primary care in Lake, Chaffee, Custer and Fremont counties in Colorado. Prior to this role, Brian served as deputy director for the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, the statewide advocacy organization for community behavioral health, where he directed a range of programs and efforts focused on strengthening services, increasing funding and improving outcomes for behavioral health in Colorado.
He’s dedicated to advancing purpose-driven, nonprofit organizations and initiatives and has held roles as president for the Colorado Public Health Association, director of Mental Health First Aid Colorado and development director for an international NGO working in education.
Born and raised in Colorado, Brian earned his undergraduate degree in business from the University of Colorado – Boulder and a Master’s of Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health – Anschutz. Brian and his wife, Sara, an ICU nurse, are parents to two young adventurers and making the most of living in beautiful Colorado.Chris Thomas, FACHE
President and CEO, Community Hospital
Chris Thomas, FACHE
Chris Thomas, FACHE, was named president and CEO of Grand Junction’s Community Hospital in 2008. Prior to joining Community Hospital, Thomas was the executive director and chief administrative officer of ILS Resource Management. Thomas has worked as a healthcare executive for over 20 years. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Chris has been married for more than 25 years and he and his wife have three daughters and a son. They joke that they have a child who graduated in the class of 2013 and one who will graduate in the class of 2031. In his spare time, he and his family enjoy traveling. Most trips are centered on triathlons in different and exciting locations. In May of 2013, Chris and his oldest daughter competed together in the Ironman 70.3 in Mallorca, Spain. The next year, his middle daughter and he competed together in the Ironman 70.3 in Moselle, Luxembourg.
While at Community Hospital, Thomas has helped move the organization out of extreme OIG sanctions to a strong and active part of the western Colorado healthcare community. Revenue has grown significantly during his tenure and Community Hospital has successfully recruited nearly 50 new physicians in just the last three years. In addition, Community Hospital opened a brand new four-story, 142,000 square foot, state-of-the-art hospital in March 2016.
Under Chris’s leadership, Community Hospital was chosen as the Grand Junction Chamber Business of the Year in 2015 and Daily Sentinel readers selected Community Hospital as the “Best of the West” for medical facilities for four consecutive years from 2016-2019.
Medical Education: Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Residency: University of ColoradoSonny Varadan
CIO, Sonora Quest Laboratories
Sonny Varadan
Sonny Varadan is the Chief Information Officer at Sonora Quest Laboratories, Arizona’s leading provider of diagnostic information services. Mr. Varadan is an established executive with decades of experience leading companies through the monumental opportunity shift technology has created.
As the CIO, Mr. Varadan will meld operations and innovation, while keeping the focus on enhancing the patient experience, making it easier and more convenient for customers to navigate through their journey with Sonora Quest – from scheduling appointments to get their blood drawn, to securely obtaining and understanding their test results on SonoraQuest.com. His focus will be to implement data analytics and machine learning processes to enable decision support systems and automation to assist healthcare providers with population health management for improved patient outcomes.Michael White, MD
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Valleywise Health
Michael White, MD
Michael D. White, MD, currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Valleywise Health in Phoenix, Arizona. Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) has a proud tradition of being both the community safety net health care system, with a mission and commitment to serving the underserved and Arizona’s only public teaching hospital. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States, the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV primary care in Arizona, women’s and pediatric refugee health services, the Arizona Children’s Center, three behavioral health centers, and 12 FQHC sites throughout Maricopa County. Dr. White joined Valleywise health in August 2019.
Advisory Councils
Contexture invites our HIE community and stakeholders to guide and advise on services, policy and programs through an Advisory Council framework. Contexture has these volunteer Advisory Councils at this time: Arizona HIE Advisory Council, Colorado HIE Advisory Council, and the Contexture Policy Advisory Council.
