Bill Carpenter, Chairman and CEO
LifePoint Hospitals
William F. “Bill” Carpenter III is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LifePoint Hospitals. He has served as CEO of LifePoint since 2006 and assumed the additional position of chairman of the board in 2010. Life Point Hospitals is a leading hospital company focused on providing quality healthcare services close to home. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates more than 65 hospital campuses in 21 states and is the sole community hospital provider in the majority of the communities it serves. He is a member of the board of directors and past board chair for the Federation of American Hospitals, the national representative of investor-owned or managed hospitals and health systems. He is also chairman of the Nashville Health Care Council Board of Directors for 2014-2015. Bill has been recognized by Modern Healthcare magazine as one of the the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” numerous times. Top of Page
James H. Cheek, III, Member
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
Mr. Cheek is a senior member of the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Nashville, Tennessee where he practices corporate and securities law. Mr. Cheek served as Chair of the National Task Force on Corporate Responsibility from 2002-2003 and is the former chair of the ABA Section of Business Law. He is a member of the Legal Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange, and also served as Chair of the Legal Advisory Board to the National Association of Securities Dealers from 1995 to 1997. He also has served for a number of years as a member of the ABA Corporate Laws Committee which reviews and revises the Model Business Corporation Act. Mr. Cheek is an Adjunct Professor of law at Vanderbilt University School of Law and has been a member of the faculty of law at Jesus College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. He graduated from Duke University and Vanderbilt Law School and received an L.L.M. degree from Harvard University. Top of Page
Thomas F. Frist Jr., M.D., Co-Founder
HCA
Dr. Frist is a member of the board of directors and co-founder of Nashville, Tennessee based HCA, the nations leading provider of healthcare services. In 1968, he founded HCA, with his father, the late Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr., and the late Jack C. Massey. In 1977, Dr. Frist became President of HCA and subsequently became, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer in 1987. Upon the merger of HCA with Columbia in February 1994, Dr. Frist served as Chairman of the Board and later as Vice Chairman, following the company’s April 1995 merger with HealthTrust Inc. He returned as Chairman and CEO of the company in 1997. He served as Chairman and CEO until January 2001 and as Chairman until January 2002. Dr. Frist is Chairman of the Board of The Frist Foundation, Chairman of the Board of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, past Vice President of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, past chair of the Board of Governors of the United Way of America, and founder of the United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society. From 1984 to 1995, Dr. Frist served on the Board of Directors of IBM, and is a member of the Business Council. He was the 1999-2000 Chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Frist received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and his M.D. degree from Washington University School of Medicine. Top of Page
Joel C. Gordon, Principal
The Gordon Group
Mr. Gordon is the Principal of The Gordon Group, a private investment firm founded in 1996. He has been a visionary and leader in the health care services industry for more than 35 years. In 1969, he founded General Care Corp. (GCE: NYSE), a leader in the acute care hospital industry. In 1980, General Care was sold to Hospital Corporation of America. In 1982, he founded Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA: NYSE), the second largest operator of outpatient surgery centers in the country, which was sold to HealthSouth in 1996. Gordon was a founder of HealthWise of America (HOAM: NASDAQ), a health maintenance organization which was sold to United Healthcare in 1996. Mr. Gordon served as a Director of HealthSouth (HLSH: NASDAQ) from 1996 to 2005, more recently providing critical leadership for that company as Interim Chairman in 2003 to 2004. Mr. Gordon has also served as Director for the following public companies: Genesco (GCO: NYSE), SunTrust Bank (STI: NYSE), and First Tennessee National Bank (FTN: NYSE). Mr. Gordon has served as a Director for numerous non-profit organizations, including the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and served as Chairman of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. He currently serves as a Director for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University School of Nashville and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Mr. Gordon received his BS in Management from the University of Kentucky and has been recognized as a Distinguished Graduate by the University and a member of the Business School Hall of Fame. Top of Page
Edward J. Mathias, Managing Director
The Carlyle Group
Mr. Mathias is a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group and is based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Carlyle in January 1994, Mr. Mathias was a member of the Management Committee and Board of Directors of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., a major investment management organization. He was instrumental in the founding of The Carlyle Group and assisted in raising the firm’s initial capital. Focusing primarily on venture capital activities, he serves as a member of the Investment Committees for Carlyle Venture Partners, Carlyle Europe Venture Partners, and Carlyle Asia Venture Partners. Mr. Mathias holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania where he presently serves as a Trustee. Top of Page
Ken Melkus, Senior Advisor
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Ken Melkus served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HealthWise of America, Inc., a publicly traded managed care company, since the Company’s founding in August 1993 and until it was merged into United HealthGroup of Minneapolis in April, 1996. From 1986 until assuming his position with HealthWise, Mr. Melkus served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Surgical Care Affiliates, Inc., an owner and operator of independent ambulatory surgery centers. Top of Page
Mr. Melkus currently serves on the Board of Directors of Ardent Health Services (owner and operator of acute care hospitals). Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (logistics support company), Renal Advantage Inc., (owner and operator of dialysis clinics), and Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert, California. Additionally, he is a former Chairman of the Nashville Health Care Council and has served on the Boards of numerous publicly traded companies. Top of Page
Mr. Melkus received both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He serves as a Senior Advisor to the New York based private equity firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which specializes in health care and business services. Top of Page
Raymond Pirtle, Jr., Co-Founder and Chief Manager
Claridge Company, LLC
Mr. Pirtle is Chief Manager of Claridge Company, LLC, an investment banking advisory firm which represents micro-cap size corporations. His role is to link small corporations with professional investors. He began his career at J.C. Bradford & Co. where he spent 23 years in institutional sales before joining Equitable Securities Corp. in 1989 as a director and co-manager of institutional sales. In 2001, he joined five partners to found Avondale Partners where he remained until 2005 when he left to form Claridge. Since 1985, Mr. Pirtle has served at various times on the board of both public and private companies, and currently serves on the boards of a NYSE company and a Bulletin Board company. His corporate board experience includes membership on a number of critical committees, including Compensation, Audit and Nominating. It is estimated that Mr. Pirtle has participated in over 3,000 management presentations to institutional investors and investment banking groups between the US and UK/Europe. Top of Page
Brent Turner, President
Acadia Healthcare
Brent Turner is president of Acadia Healthcare. He joined Acadia in February 2011 and served as a co-president of the company from that time until April 2012, when he was named president. Previously Turner served as the executive vice president of finance and administration of Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (PSI). Acadia operates a network of 75 behavioral healthcare facilities with more than 5,600 licensed beds in 24 states, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Brent currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) and served as its chairman in 2009. He was also recently named to the board of directors for LHC Group. Top of Page
Timothy T. Weglicki, General Partner
ABS Capital Partners
Mr. Weglicki joined ABS Capital Partners in 1993 as one of its founding partners. At ABS Capital he works directly with or serves on the boards of several portfolio companies including American Public Education, Inc., Brandywine Senior Care, Inc., The Cobalt Group, Inc., Neustar, Inc. and Workscape, Inc. Prior to the founding of ABS Capital, Mr. Weglicki spent 16 years at Alex. Brown & Sons Incorporated. While there, Mr. Weglicki held several senior-level management positions which culminated in his directing that firm’s Equity Capital Markets Group from 1989 through 1993. Mr. Weglicki currently serves on the board of directors of Coventry Health Care, Inc. In addition, Mr. Weglicki is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of The Johns Hopkins University’s Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Parent’s Committee of Denison University and is a trustee of Garrison Forest School. Mr. Weglicki is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Top of Page