Michael Tackitt began his career in 2004 when he enlisted in the United States Army as a combat medic. After three years of active duty he began working as a paramedic in Texas while serving another six years in the Army Reserve. In 2019 Michael was asked to lead the Rural Health Clinic at Brownfield Regional Medical Center in Brownfield, TX and is currently the Director of Operations for the hospital system.

Amanda Dennison is a Manager with the Hospital and Physician Services Team at Blue & Co. based in Louisville, Kentucky. Amanda has been with Blue for 12 years, starting as an Administrative Assistant. For the last nine years, her primary focus has been all things rural health. Amanda is Blue’s RHC expert working with clients through the various aspects of the RHC certification process from application through implementation. Amanda is a Certified Rural Health Clinic Professional (CRHCP) through the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC), and is a frequent speaker on all topics impacting Rural Health Clinics at the National and State levels.Amanda has served on the NARHC Education Committee since 2021, and became a Board Member in 2023. She is also the current President of the Kentucky Rural Health Association, and has been involved with the Association as a Board Member, Co-Chair of the Education Committee, and member of the Executive Committee over the last 5 years. She is a past member of the Advisory Committee for the Kentucky Office of Rural Health’s RHC Summit, and a volunteer with the Advocacy Committee for the Kentucky Primary Care Association.Amanda lives in her hometown of Versailles, KY with her husband, Ben, and their two kiddos – Sarah (6 1/2) and Harry (3). She volunteers with Kerrington’s Heart, Inc. as her son was born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), serves on the board at First Christian Church of Versailles, and helps run her parent’s Christmas tree farm!

Jeff Johnson is the firm’s Western U.S. geographic market leader with more than 25 years of in-depth experience in providing audit, reimbursement and consulting services to a variety of healthcare organizations across the country. He provides strategic and financial solutions to hospitals, medical practices (including rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers) and other healthcare providers.

Kate Hill, RN joined The Compliance Team in 2012 to direct TCT’s RHC accreditation program and has fallen in love with Rural. She has a passion for delivery of the best care possible to every patient. She presently serves on the Board of the NRHA. She speaks at meetings countrywide which gives her the opportunity to learn firsthand the diverse issues clinics are facing. Kate also works with clinics in TCT’s PCMH and Swing Bed programs and is seeing that PCMH accreditation is being increasingly rewarded by payers as we move into value-based care and that Swing Bed certification increases patients in those beds. Kate lives in suburban Philadelphia near her three granddaughters.

Sarah is the Director of Government Affairs for the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC). She leads both regulatory and legislative federal policy efforts for the organization and provides direct technical assistance and education to RHCs across the country. Sarah advocates for reimbursement policies that incentivize and support rural primary care and other health services. Prior to joining NARHC, Sarah worked for the Pennsylvania State Office of Rural Health. She earned her BS in Health Policy and Administration from Penn State University and her Master of Public Health from the Penn State College of Medicine. Sarah resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Erin Fredericks is a community health educator, specializing in older adult nutrition and the factors which impact our aging experience. Erin advocates for food & lifestyle medicine within healthcare, with the dual aim of helping individuals find confidence and capacity to better manage their own health, while supporting vital public interests such as reversing muscle loss, preserving bone, and building brain resilience. The purpose: help reduce the public and personal burden of chronic disease through the promotion of accessible, self-directed health behaviors. Before getting her master's degree in nutrition at the National University of Natural Medicine (2016), Erin spent 15 years in food publishing with Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray, and online health programming with WebMD and Medscape. Erin founded FAMILIAR Foods in 2020, and currently produces public health programs within community centers, independent & assisted living residences, and virtual group environments throughout Oregon.

With his contagious positive energy, ALEX WEBER immediately impacts audiences and ignites record-breaking achievements! Alex is an International Keynote Speaker, Award-Winning Host for NBC, and competitor on American Ninja Warrior. Alex is also the only person ever to Host and Compete on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior. Alex helps Leaders, Individuals, and Organizations be relentless, gain their competitive edge, and unlock new levels of achievement!Alex connects so well with audiences because of his genuine openness about the challenges, self-doubt, and uncertainty that we all face - and how you can overcome it! As a professional entertainer, US Lacrosse Coach of the Year, and acclaimed Author, Alex is highly sought after for his unique ability to engage, transform, and empower audiences. Alex has positively inspired over 3.5 million people worldwide, and worked with major companies like Xerox, Apple, Fidelity, Amazon, Under Armor, LinkedIn, The Los Angeles Lakers, Stanford Business and many more. Alex is also the only person ever to Host and Compete on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior.With his riveting storytelling, uplifting humor, and captivating energy, Alex empowers you to be a positive leader, propel past challenges, and accomplish your highest goals in your career, your relationships, and your life!

Charles took the position of President & CEO in 2004 after the loss of the company founder, Charles James, Sr.  North American Healthcare Management Services (NAHMS) celebrated its 25th year in business in 2017. Charles began his career with James Clinic running the IT department.  As part of NAHMS, Charles has overseen & helped develop all aspects of the company. North American Healthcare Management Services is a proud gold-certified, Aprima EHR/PRM. In addition, he provides Revenue Cycle Management, RHC certification/cost reporting/Annual Evaluations, Provider Enrollment, and Financial Consulting to all types of healthcare entities. Charles is the current President of NARHC.  

Nicole Coarsey has been working in state government for over 25 years. In her position, she serves as the Deputy Director of Programs and as the Louisiana State Rural Health Officer. As the Deputy, and her team work to increase the number of rural healthcare facilities; strengthen existing rural healthcare facilities; help recruit and retain healthcare professionals in shortage areas; and work to implement chronic disease programs in rural areas. Nicole says “All of the work this team does works to improve access to primary and preventive healthcare services in rural and underserved areas. I am very proud of the work we do. We are truly trying to move the needle.”

Sarah Chouinard, M.D. serves as Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Main Street Health. Prior to Main Street Health, Dr. Chouinard was the Chief Medical Officer of Community Care of West Virginia for 15 years. Dr. Chouinard also served as National Faculty for quality improvement initiatives at the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Service. She recently served as Medical Director for West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) where she worked on value-based care initiatives. Outside of her professional endeavors, Dr. Chouinard is a yoga Instructor and loves to spend time outside.

Tressa R. Sacrey joined Health Services Associates in May 2015. Mrs. Sacrey has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and has completed courses in Business Applied Technology. Key areas of responsibility include creating policies, developing emergency plans, facilitating hazard training, researching CMS regulations, conducting on-site compliance mock surveys, and creating forms and tools to assist RHC’s across the nation.

Dan Godla is the Founder and CEO of ThoroughCare, Inc. Dan founded ThoroughCare in 2013by creating an intuitive software platform to enhance Chronic Care Management (CCM). As anentrepreneur and Healthcare IT leader, Dan takes a creative hands-on approach to identifyingand developing solutions to help improve patient care and achieve value-based care success.Dan is a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Six Sigma Green Belt. He holds a BS inManagement Information Systems from Penn State University and a Master of Science inManagement Technologies from California University of Pennsylvania.

Nathan joined the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC) in 2015 as the Director of Government Affairs. In 2022 Nathan became the Executive Director of the organization.Nathan has worked on a wide range of RHC legislative and regulatory issues including CPT reporting, chronic care management, emergency preparedness, and RHC compliance. During Covid, Nathan fought to secure several hundred million for rural health clinics for testing and mitigation, and other COVID relief programs. After the funding was distributed, Nathan worked with HRSA to educate the RHC community on how to properly use the COVID allocations and built the official reporting website for the RHC program.In 2019, Nathan helped get the Rural Health Clinic Modernization Act introduced in Congress which would modernize several outdated aspects of the RHC program. This legislation eventually led to the major RHC Medicare payment reforms included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

Ed’s background includes over thirty years’ experience in managed care, finance and revenue cycle operations. His extensive experience in managed care includes MSO operations, contract modeling and analysis, contract negotiations and strategy, business and product line development, fee for service and alternative payment methodologies, including capitation. Finance background includes decision support, costing systems development, capital budgeting and managed care finance and accounting. On the revenue cycle side, Ed specializes in denials and underpayment management centered around driving process improvement in the revenue cycle by integrating functions across patient access, utilization management, HIM, business office, managed care and payment verification (denials/underpayment) management.Ed has worked in settings including for-profits, not-for-profits and academic medical centers for many provider types including hospital, physician, integrated delivery systems and ancillary service providers (i.e. home health, DME, hospice, etc.). In 2014, Ed and five others formed Trilogy Revenue Cycle Solutions where Ed is the subject matter expert for managed care operations and negotiations to support clients.Ed holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis where he graduated with distinction. He also holds a Bachelors Degree in Finance from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from Langston University. Ed earned his CPA and was awarded the Silver Medal for highest score in the State of Oklahoma for the CPA exam.