This story appears in the October issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
In partnership with Roseman University of Health Sciences, Utah Business is proud to honor those who have made it their mission to improve the state of health in Utah during our annual Healthcare Heroes event. Congratulations to this year’s honorees!
Administrative Excellence
Josh Jergensen
President & COO | PACS
Josh Jergensen is the president and COO of PACS, the second-largest operator of skilled nursing homes in the country. He’s been with the organization since its creation 11 years ago, playing a vital strategic and leadership role as the company grew from two facilities to more than 275 today. Josh’s leadership is also part of the reason PACS was able to complete its recent initial public offering (IPO) on April 11 — one of the largest IPOs in Utah’s history. Josh started his career in the skilled nursing sector with one goal: making his nursing home the premier employer and provider in the community. Nearly 15 years later, he’s been able to achieve that goal at a scale he never would have imagined.
Andria Peterson
Executive Director, EMPOWERED Program | Roseman University of Health Sciences
Dr. Andria Peterson is the co-founder and executive director of the EMPOWERED program, which supports pregnant and postpartum individuals with substance use disorders on their journey from recovery to resilience. She provides vital leadership and coordinates efforts with state, local and community stakeholders to enhance recovery and improve quality of life for participants and their families. Established in Las Vegas in 2018 and integrated into Roseman University in 2021, EMPOWERED has since expanded to northern Nevada and Weber County, Utah.
Jessica Morse Ryan
Assistant Director, RMU Clinics & Revenue Cycle | Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Foundation
Jessica Morse Ryan is a healthcare leader and advocate known for her work in expanding access to care for underserved populations and her pivotal role in establishing Rocky Mountain University (RMU)’s first fee-for-service clinic. In her current role, Jessica oversees the billing, credentialing and day-to-day operations for four on-campus clinics, including optometry, speech, counseling and physical therapy/occupational therapy (PT/OT). Her leadership ensures the clinics provide both pro bono and fee-for-service care, benefiting both patients and student clinicians.
Community Outreach
Eric S. Edwards
Executive Director - Health Officer | Utah County Health Department
Eric Edwards has spent his entire career in public health, working for over 22 years in various administrative roles for the Utah County Health Department. Data analytics have refined the department’s ability to track and manage health trends, while data modernization has improved operational efficiency and accuracy. Eric attributes all his success to the over 250 dedicated health department employees who provide compassionate expertise in their areas of public service, emphasizing that public health is a team environment.
Lisa Nichols
VP, Community Health | Intermountain Health
Lisa Nichols has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit healthcare, addressing health disparities and ensuring access for underrepresented communities. Lisa supports Intermountain Health’s initiatives to serve as an anchor institution, ensuring the organization deploys its assets to address Intermountain’s mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible through local hiring, local sourcing, place-based investing and sustainability.
Randal Serr
Community Outreach Manager | University of Utah Health Plans
Randal Serr strives to make University of Utah Health Plans the preferred health insurance provider across all communities, with a particular emphasis on reaching underserved and minority groups. Their key initiatives include redirecting outreach funds to provide rideshare services for Healthy U Medicaid members in crisis, prioritizing health fairs in areas with the greatest need, producing consumer-facing materials in up to 14 languages, and supporting community organizations that serve diverse populations.
Dawn Wright
Director, Community & Public Relations | Select Health
Dawn Wright has dedicated two decades of her career to helping those in need with positions at The Salvation Army, Shriners Children’s and Select Health. Her extensive experience encompasses corporate social responsibility, media relations, public relations, marketing and communications, but her North Star has always been serving her communities. In Dawn’s current role at Select Health, her efforts led to $1 million in contributions to community partners in 2023, spanning housing, food security, access to care and mental health.
Education & Research
Erin Rothwell
VP, Research | University of Utah
Dr. Erin Rothwell oversees all institutional research operations at the University of Utah. With over 450 employees and 24 reporting units, Erin leads the university’s diverse range of nationally recognized research activities in areas such as health and life sciences, science and technology, arts, and humanities. Under her leadership, the university’s research portfolio has grown substantially each year, reaching almost $700 million in research funding and over 2,600 grants in FY24. Additionally, Erin’s office recently launched a $200 million venture fund with EPIC Ventures with the directive to boost commercialization efforts from university research innovations.
Healthcare Educator
Miriam Cortez-Cooper
Associate Professor & Assistant Program Director, DPT Program | Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
Dr. Miriam Cortez-Cooper has dedicated nearly 40 years to the field of physical therapy, combining her expertise with a passion for teaching. A proud graduate of Boston University with a bachelor’s in physical therapy, she furthered her education with a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Texas. For 30 years, Miriam has educated aspiring physical therapists, sharing her knowledge and fostering their growth in both classroom and clinical settings. Miriam believes physical therapy is a unique blend of the “science of healing and the art of caring.”
Allison Johnson, RN
Manager, Clinical Consulting | Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah
Allison Johnson is a registered nurse (RN) with four decades of experience. Her unique skill set encompasses clinical expertise, hospital supervision, care management, employee benefit consulting, healthcare analytics and reporting. Her clinical background spans from neurology ICU to dialyzing renal failure patients. As the clinical program consulting manager, Allison leads the nurse team serving Regence plans in Idaho, Oregon and Washington while being the exclusive RN contact for customers in Utah.
Rachel Tomco Novak
Associate Dean, Enrollment & Student Success; Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences | Roseman University of Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine
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Over the past 25 years, Dr. Rachel Tomco Novak has taught anatomy and cadaver dissection to over 15,000 students. She has taught at universities in both Washington and Utah, including the University of Utah School of Medicine and Brigham Young University. Rachel began teaching anatomy at Roseman University of Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, in 2012. At Roseman, she has served as the director of biomedical sciences, assistant dean of admissions and student affairs, and associate dean of enrollment and student success.
Mayra Abish Sanchez-Gomez
Executive Director | Comunidad Materna en Utah
Mayra Abish Sanchez-Gomez, originally from Mexico, is a mother of nine children, wife and community member who enjoys listening to music, dancing, appreciating nature and continuously learning. In 2013, Mayra recognized the need to create an accessible resource where mothers, especially those from vulnerable communities, could receive childbirth education, breastfeeding support and postpartum care. Inspired by this vision, Mayra created Comunidad Materna en Utah in 2017, a nonprofit organization that empowers expectant families by improving their birth experiences and fostering confidence.
Brianne Taggart
Founder & Owner, RN, IBCLC, CEIM | Breezy Babies Lactation Consulting
Brianne Taggart combines her extensive experience as an RN with a specialized focus on lactation to help families achieve their breastfeeding goals. Since 2020, Brianne and her dedicated team of International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) experts have provided expert guidance both in-person and through telehealth, reaching families around the globe. At Breezy Babies, the mission is clear: to create confident families from pregnancy through postpartum by offering expert support on breastfeeding and infant care.
Healthcare Practitioner/Physician
Matt Bryan
Physician | UAF Legacy Health
Matt Bryan, MD, is an internist practicing in Salt Lake City. Since medical school, he has advocated for healthy outcomes for the LGBTQ+ community, working to address healthcare disparities such as decreased rates of cancer screenings, higher rates of mental health issues, higher rates of being mistreated by the medical system, and decreased likelihood of accessing quality healthcare in general. As the LGBTQ+ medical director of a large organization, Matt made improvements in access and quality of care received. Recently, he moved to the newly established UAF Legacy Health, which is a community-based health clinic with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ patients.
Kevin Christensen, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon | Revere Health, Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
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Kevin Christensen, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery. After completing his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University, he completed his doctor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he was elected to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Kevin has had the opportunity to treat patients from the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA, UFC, CrossFit, U.S. Armed Forces and many colleges and high schools throughout the country.
Emilie Johnson
Integrated Family Nurse Practitioner | Utah Navajo Health System & Rosa Clinic
Emilie Johnson is a family nurse practitioner passionate about integrated and functional medicine. She currently works for the Utah Navajo Health System in Navajo Mountain, Utah, where she sees the most vulnerable patients across their lifespans. When in the Salt Lake Valley, she practices integrated and functional medicine as the owner and founder of Rosa Clinic. Most importantly, Emilie is the wife of Adam and mother to four amazing children, a lovely daughter-in-law and one beautiful granddaughter.
Benjamin Thomas, DPM
Doctor, Podiatric Medicine | The Foot and Ankle Center of Cache Valley
Dr. Benjamin Thomas is a board-certified foot and ankle physician and surgeon who has been practicing in Utah for the past eight years. From large, multi-specialty clinics to hospitals to a podiatry-specialized group, Benjamin’s experience has spanned a variety of settings as he has treated patients from the Salt Lake area to Cache Valley. He loves building relationships with his patients and helping them overcome the unique variety of issues he sees as a podiatrist. Benjamin is patient and pragmatic in his care, believing in the pursuit of conservative treatments before turning to more invasive options.
James Vanotti
Flight Nurse | Air Methods
James Vanotti is a flight nurse and outreach coordinator for Airlife Utah in Brigham City. After graduating high school in Syracuse, Utah, James attended nursing school at Weber State University. He has worked in healthcare in Northern Utah for more than 10 years, eight of which have been in emergency and critical care environments. James has been with Airlife Utah, an Air Methods community-based air medical service, for over three years.
Healthcare Support
Jennifer Prince
Air Medical Helicopter Pilot | AirLife Utah
Jennifer Prince is the lead pilot for AirLife 1, based out of Brigham City Community Hospital. She flies a medevac AS350 helicopter. Along with her teammates, Jennifer utilizes her skills to transport patients to higher levels of care, whether from facility to facility or from scene to facility. She has been flying for 16 years, with five years in air medical in both southern Arizona and Utah for Air Methods. During this time, she has transported approximately 300 patients. As the lead pilot of her base, Jennifer’s primary responsibilities are to comply with federal aviation regulations and program safety.
Innovation
Jeffrey Ainsa
Sr. Director, Clinical Services | evolvedMD
/in/jeffrey-ainsa-lcsw-4682828a
Jeffrey Ainsa, LCSW, is an independently licensed mental health clinician who has dedicated his career to helping those in need. A mental health expert and advocate, he currently serves as the senior director of clinical services for evolvedMD. With clinical and administrative oversight of over 50 passionate clinicians working throughout Utah, he is at the forefront of helping Utah become a better place to live, work and play. When evolvedMD tests pilot programs, Jeffrey is the first leader the organization goes to. From clinical support to revenue-generating ideas, operations, data study pilots and more, he tackles new innovations while his team consistently hits their clinical goals.
Jon Beckstrand
CEO | MasterControl
Jon Beckstrand is responsible for the overall direction and vision of MasterControl. Since his leadership began, MasterControl has introduced an array of new solutions, continued the push for innovation, and advanced its position as a leading provider of quality management software and services for over 1,000 regulated companies. Cellular therapeutics company Dendreon used MasterControl’s software to produce a revolutionary immunotherapy product called PROVENGE. The integration enabled Dendreon’s quality team to detect and solve issues, reducing review and release times by almost 50 percent while maintaining a right-first-time rate of 99 percent.
Dan Burton
CEO | Health Catalyst
Dan Burton joined Health Catalyst in early 2011 when it was a three-person startup. Under Dan’s leadership, the company expanded to employ over 1,400 team members and to serve over 600 healthcare organizations globally, supporting the care of over 100 million patients. During Dan’s tenure, Health Catalyst has developed many enterprise healthcare technologies and services, including the company’s cloud-based data and analytics platform, Ignite, which organizes and encompasses trillions of facts about over 100 million patients in order to pinpoint opportunities for clinical, operational and financial improvement.
Greg Moffitt
Director, Target Development | Nusano
Greg Moffitt worked at the University of Washington in the Department of Radiation Oncology until Nusano gave him the chance to come home to Utah and apply his nuclear medicine expertise for the betterment of patients. Greg’s professional experience is in the engineering side of isotope production, radiation modeling and radiation safety. He and the team at Nusano are currently addressing and solving supply chain issues threatening the entire radiopharmaceuticals industry. Opening in 2025, Nusano’s West Valley City, Utah, production facility will make radioisotopes quickly, efficiently and affordably.
Lifetime Achievement
Andrea Nelson
President | VISTA Staffing, an Ingenovis Health Company
Andrea Nelson’s exemplary career in healthcare staffing has spanned over two decades. In her current role, her number one priority is supporting the people and world-class culture at VISTA, an Ingenovis Health Company, which directly translates into recruiting and placing only the highest quality clinicians. She has worked at VISTA in a variety of capacities, including VP of sales, SVP of operations, COO, and now as president. In 2021, Andrea led the divestiture of VISTA, positioning the company for future growth and innovation. Prior to VISTA, Andrea spent 10 years driving results and improving patient outcomes for Eli Lilly and Company. She’s also held numerous leadership roles at CHG Healthcare. Andrea consistently displays exceptional leadership, with transparency and accountability being the cornerstones of her significant organizational impact.