Physician Leader Profiles

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Yazdi Amaria, MD, MBA -- Dr. Amaria was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India and completed medical school in 1973. He trained as a general surgeon. In 1976, he married and moved to England where he practiced as a general surgeon. In 1984 he and his family moved to Michigan where he completed a family practice residency and earned board certification in family practice. Since 1991, he has been in solo practice, providing patients with family practice and surgical services in a small, rural community-based hospital. Dr. Amaria has served on the hospital's Executive Committee in a variety of capacities.  He serves as chairman of both the credential committee and the surgical committee He is currently President of the Medical Staff. He is also a member of the hospital's Board of Trustees, having served for the past two years. Dr. Amaria is a founder member of his local physician organization. As a joint leader on his hospital's steering committee, he has been instrumental in the implementation of new endoscopic surgery procedures as well as the design and introduction of new clinical pathways for the hospital.

Jose Antony, MD, MBA -- Dr. Antony received his Medical Doctorate from the University of Rome, Italy in 1979. A native of Kerala, India, he came to the United States in 1979. After finishing his training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. Dr. Antony began practicing in North Carolina. While managing a busy practice, he served as Chief of Medicine, Chief of the Medical Staff, and as a member of the hospital's Board of Trustees. Dr. Antony also enjoys teaching and is currently the Director of Medical Education at his area's medical center. At the Area Health Education Foundation, he is a member of the Board of Trustees. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, public speaking, music, and golf.

Miguel Nunez, MD, MBA -- Dr. Nunez is the founder, CEO and President of Green Cross, Inc. which has provided outpatient mental health services in South Florida since 1994. He participated in many a lobbying effort both in Washington, Baltimore and in CMS regional offices in Atlanta, among other cities, to defend and try to preserve benefits for Medicare patients. Dr. Nunez is active in supporting various charities in the community. He has served on the board of directors of a large not-for-profit Community Mental Health Center from 2003 through 2004. He has also served on the board of directors of the Zoological Society of Florida from 2002 through 2004. Dr. Nunez is a 1991 graduate of Georgetown University Medical School and a 2000 graduate of PEMBA. He still practices primary care medicine part time and spends the rest of his time in administrative, entrepreneurial and investment pursuits. While his shift from medical practice to business started before PEMBA, PEMBA accelerated the shift and, in his opinion, very likely improved the outcome.

Tim Burrell, MD, MBA - Dr. Burrell is an emergency physician from Bloomington, Indiana. He has been in practice 5 years and work in an emergency department that treats about 50,000 patients yearly. Dr. Burrell is employed by a regional staffing corporation that specializes in emergency departments and urgent care centers. The corporation employs about 110 physicians. Most of his work is clinical. He currently belongs to the Hospital Medical Executive Committee and to his corporation's Board of Directors. Dr. Burrell was raised in Brazil. He returned to the United States to go to college. He first attended Veterinary School at Purdue University then transferred to Medical School at Indiana University. Dr. Burrell is married and has 3 children: Camilla 4, Amanda 2, Victor, 1. He really enjoys foreign travel, computers, reading and some cycling.

Ward Oakley, MD, MBA - Since 1983, Dr. Oakley has practiced as an Orthopaedic Surgeon in a multi-specialty surgical group (Pinehurst Surgical Clinic) in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He is a native Tennessean and graduated from The University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences in 1975. He received his orthopaedic training at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis. Dr. Oakley is a veteran of the armed services, having completed his last tour of duty for the Army in 1983 at Ft. Devens and Ft. Stewart. Dr. Oakley is married. He and his wife have four children, Neal, Susan, John and Willie. He is an active troop leader in the Boys Scouts, is involved with his church, and participates in community affairs. In his leisure time, he enjoys winter backpacking, scuba, golf, and traveling. Dr. Oakley also works at a medical mission in Kenya.

Andrew Egol, DO, FCCP, FCCM, MBA - Dr. Egol completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Brown University's Program in Medicine and a 2 year fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Presently he is a Physician Executive in the Care Transformation Division of Cerner Corporation. In 2002, Dr. Egol joined a new venture, IntensiCare as it's CEO. IntensiCare is a Critical Care management company that will focus on the goals of improving the quality of Critical Care delivered to patients. IntensiCare works closely with hospitals, healthcare providers as well as other physicians to implement innovative and effective solutions toward achieving these goals including the establishment of full-time Intensivist programs. Formerly, he was the Medical Director of Critical Care Medicine and Respiratory Care Services at Baptist Hospital of Miami as well as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at both the University of Miami School of Medicine and the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Egol is Chairman of both the Ethics Committee and Critical Care Committee of Baptist Hospital and serves on the Ethics Committee and Disease Management Committee for the Health Council of South Florida. He lectures frequently on Medical Futility and End-of-Life Decisions and is the author several national guidelines and protocols amongst other publications. His medical interests are in quality improvement, critical care utilization, efficiency, and collaboration. He was recently honored by the Society of Critical Care Medicine at their 27(superscript: th) Annual Convention in San Antonio by being the recipient of the 1998 Internal Medicine Specialty Award. Dr. Egol also has been honored and recognized by the Society of Critical Care Medicine with their Presidential Citation in 1997-1999 for organizational service. He has been nominated for a council seat of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Toks Owo, MD, MBA - Dr. Toks Owo is a practicing board-certified Internist in Lexington, KY and he also "moonlights" in various Emergency Departments. He is a soccer player and enjoys traveling. Dr Owo is a member of various organizations geared towards the progressive improvement of Africa, and Nigeria in particular. He enrolled in the Physician Executive MBA program to enhance his business and leadership skills, and to position himself better for a job in Medical Management and Administration. His spouse is a Gastroenterologist at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

Peter Embriano, MD, MBA - Dr. Embriano is a native of New York City. He earned his medical degree at New York Medical College. His post-doctorate training was in internal medicine. Dr. Embriano completed a forty-month training program in ophthalmology, resulting in board certification. He ran a very successful private practice for seventeen years. Dr. Embriano drew great satisfaction and fulfillment in providing direct patient care, in managing the practice, and in participating in professional meetings and educational conferences during these years. He is a member and past president of his local chapter of the International Lions Organization. He served a four-year term as president of the Recreation Commission in Somers, Connecticut. Although retired from private practice, he remains active in investment research and online stock trading. His major recreational pursuits revolve around tennis, golf, skiing, reading, music and antique automobiles. He lives in New England with his wife and their two children.

Steve Paragioudakis, MD, MBA - Dr. Paragioudakis received his medical education at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, The New Jersey Medical School in 1993. He has been active in professional societies. He has been published in medical journals and has made professional presentations. Dr. Paragioudakis is married and enjoys all sports activities and traveling with his family. He then completed his spine surgery fellowship at the St. Mary's/Stanford University Combined Program. He is presently a faculty member of the Department of Orthopaedics at Stanford University and also serves as the Assistant Director of the Orthopedic Spine Center.

Ramesh Gandhi, MD, MBA - In 1972, Dr. Gandhi received his medical degree from the Medical School of Amrisar in India. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and Gastroentrology. He practices Gastroenterology in Dayton, Ohio. He has been in practice for the past twenty-one years and leads a group of nine gastroenterologists. His managerial and leadership duties have greatly intensified in the past three years. His hobbies include playing tennis and golf. He has three children, two sons and a daughter.

Mariano Petilla, MD, MBA - Dr. Petilla bachelor's degree is in the field of Zoology. He earned his Medical Doctorate at University of Santo Thomas. His post-doctorate training included work in public health, a four-year residency in general surgery and four additional years in a thoracic and cardiovascular residency and fellowship. Since 1974, he has been in a thoracic and cardiovascular surgery group practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1998, Dr. Petilla earned a Masters degree in Healthcare Policy and Management at Carnegie-Mellon University. He also earned his Masters in Public Management from Carnegie-Mellon in 1999. His hobbies include seeing movies, attending concerts, reading history - especially about World War II, traveling to other countries and, occasionally, sailing.

Vijay Jethanandani, MD, MBA - Dr. Jethanandani is a Geriatric Psychiatrist in group practice with Psychiatric Associates, PC a five Physician group. His group is affiliated with Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville. He has been the Medical Director of a 20 bed Geriatric Psychiatry Unit at the hospital since April 1989. He serves as a Consultant/Interim Director of Geriatric Psychiatry Unit at Morristown Hamblen Hospital, a start up unit. Dr. Jethanandani completed his Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry and two years as an Instructor at Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His residency was taken in General Psychiatry at (Univ. of Missouri Kansas City affiliated) Western Missouri Mental Health Center in Kansas City. He completed his Medical School at Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry a former French Colony now a part of India. He is a native of Ballarpur India and is now a naturalized citizen of US. He is married with two children. Dr. Jethanandani's interests are reading, playing soccer and tennis, swimming, traveling and learning new skills.

Ramanathan Raju, MD, MBA - Dr. Raju is originally from Madras, India. He earned his medical degree in 1975 from Madras Medical College. He pursued general surgery post-graduation and a fellowship in pediatric surgery. Subsequent to his fellowship, he received further training in surgery in England. Dr. Raju is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons. In 1982, he came to the United States and completed a residency in surgery and received a fellowship in vascular surgery. Dr. Raju has considerable experience in academic and administrative medicine. He held various administrative positions in the academic medicine. He held clinical professorships in various medical schools. He has served as a director of surgery, director of trauma and senior vice president for medical education. He is an avid researcher and published widely in peer reviewed journals. He is the Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Medical Officer for Health and Hospital Corporation in New York. Prior to that he was the Deputy Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Coney island Hospital. His wife is a practicing urologist. Together, they have two children.

Paul Kivela, MD, MBA - Dr. Kivela is a practicing emergency physician and currently lives and works in Napa, California with his wife Madeline and three children, Madeline Marie (13years), Alex (3 years), and Ariel (15 months).He grew up in Chicago and completed his undergraduate and medical school at University of Illinois and emergency medicine residency at LA County- UCLA Harbor Medical Center. After finishing his residency, Dr. Kivela completed an administrative emergency medicine fellowship in San Francisco. He then moved back to Chicago and helped found an emergency medicine residency program and eventually became the Medical Director and Chief-of–Service of the Emergency Department at Michael Reese Hospital. Along the way, he also started a medical software company, medical education company, and consulting practice. A little over a year ago, he and his wife decided that they were tired of daily commuting and resolved to spend that time with their children. So they both gave up their administrative and academic positions (his wife is a forensic psychiatrist) and moved to wine country.

Scott Reeves, MD, MBA - Scott Townsend Reeves, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Dr. Reeves is a member of the Board of Directors of University Medical Associates. This university practice plan, at the Medical University of South Carolina, has 525 physician members. He received a degree of Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude in Biochemistry in 1983 from Clemson University and M.D. in 1987 from the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed both Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology residences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He completed a year of advanced training in Echocardiography at the Medical University of South Carolina from 1993-1994 following his appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative in 1993. Since that time, he has also been the Medical Director of Critical Care at MUSC. In 1997, he was promoted to Associate Professor. He has been a guest editor of several journals including, Southern Medical Journal, The Journal of Critical Illness and Critical Care. He has received several grants as principal investigator studying rocuronium bromide and propofol use in critical care patients over the last 5 years. He has also been principal and co-investigator in many intramural studies since 1993. He has authored 23 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He has been active in many University, College and Departmental Committees. He is the creator and director of the Clinical Preceptorship at the Medical University of South Carolina for Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography since 1998. He is an invited lecturer for international, national and regional meetings as well as many University and departmental lectures to residents and medical students.

Jack Liao, MD, MBA - Dr. Liao is the Medical Director for WellStar Health System. Previously, he served as Medical Director at The Emory Clinic, Fayetteville and an Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. He received his medical training at China Medical College in Taichung, Taiwan. His residency was completed in the Department of Family Medicine at East Tennessee State University. He has served as a member of the medical advisory board for Healthsource of Georgia and Prudential Healthcare of Georgia and is presently a leading member of several committees and councils at Emory University Health Care System.

Ken Robertson, MD, MBA - Dr. Robertson attended medical school at the University of Tennessee, Memphis College of Medicine. He began a residency at LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in 1990 in pediatrics. After finishing his residency, he opted to join a private practice in 1993. He presently works for Memphis Children's Clinic, PLLC, as a managing partner. The practice now has 22 pediatricians. It is the largest pediatric practice in the city of Memphis. The practice has five offices and currently employs approximately 60 full-time employees. In addition to his practice responsibilities, he serves as treasurer and permanent steering committee board member for PIPA (a pediatric independent practice association) in Memphis, which currently represents 80 pediatricians in the city. He also serves on the management board of his church of 1000 members. He has received several awards throughout his career including the usual Who's Who and Outstanding Young Men of America awards. He considers his greatest honors to be the trust of his partners in managing his practice and the privilege of being a father and husband. He has two daughters and a wife who runs her own home business. His hobbies include golf, playing the saxophone, singing, and walking.

John Lowry, MD, MBA - Dr. Lowry is a 1989 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Hawaii and residencies in Honolulu. Dr. Lowry worked for three years as a general practitioner in Hawaii, both in a private clinic in Waikiki and for a large HMO. He then traveled to Germany where he served as a CHAMPUS partnership physician on a U.S. army base for two years. Dr. Lowry returned to Knoxville to finish residency training in Family Medicine and graduated in October 1997. He is currently in a two physician group practice in Madisonville, Tennessee, his hometown. He is married with two children, Houston and Andrew. He enjoys skiing, photography and travel. His future plans are to apply what he learns in the Physician Executive MBA program to the quickly changing business of rural medicine.

Lourell Sutliff, MD, MBA - Dr. Sutliff completed his medical studies and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences in Memphis. He is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Medical Corps and has practiced in San Angelo, Texas since 1983. Dr. Sutliff is a member of the Board of Directors of the Shannon Clinic, a 105 physician multispecialty group. Dr. Sutliff has continued to practice obstetrics and gynecology since completion of PEMBA in 2000 and also serves as Chief Medical Officer of Legacy Health Plan, the Chapter 20 insurance company funded by the Shannon Health System. He is board certified by both the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Quality Assurance Utilization Review. Dr. Sutliff and his wife (an occupational health nurse practitioner) have been married over 30 years and have four grown children: a landscape architect, a financial analyst, a lawyer, and a medical student.

Larry Marr, MD, MBA - Dr. Marr is an anesthesiologist who lives and works in Wheeling, West Virginia.He is also trained in Internal Medicine. He is Canadian by birth and spent most of his adult life in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1992 he moved to the United States and in 1998 became head of anesthesiology. Dr. Marr is Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospitals. He is a member of many professional organizations including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Canada. He is an active member on many hospital committees and serves as Associate Medical Director for a large HMO in the Ohio Valley. His responsibilities at the HMO include setting policies and medical standards. Dr. Marr's leisure activities include reading, music, drawing, traveling, playing sports such as tennis, golf, and particularly hockey - which he played semi-professionally prior to attending university.

Gail Thurmond, MD, MBA - Following completion of residencies in both internal medicine and neurology, Dr. Thurmond was a founding member of Blackwell Medical Associates, Boston’s first all women’s group practice. After many years of clinical neurology practice in Boston and Memphis, she was recruited by a large health system to be its first Director of Medical Informatics. While in this role she and her staff accomplished implementation of multiple physician initiatives in support of technology, connectivity, training, and other information needs. Dr. Thurmond was then recruited to be Medical Director of Health Choice, LLC, an established PHO - a joint venture of Methodist Healthcare and Metrocare Physicians representing more than 950 physicians and 470,000 covered lives. She is well-versed in medical management, enterprise technology solutions, and HIPAA security compliance. Current efforts and interests are directed toward standardizing processes between providers and payors to ease physicians’ administrative burdens, collaborations across provider barriers in promotion of quality, and strategic enterprise planning. She is an active member of several medical societies, has lectured widely to multiple professional groups, and enjoys teaching and developing CME content. The mother of three teenagers, she is an avid scuba diving instructor.

Monte Masten, MD, MBA - Shortly after graduating from PEMBA in 2000, Dr. Masten left a career in Ob-Gyn after 10 years, and assumed a Medical Director position with Trigon, formerly BCBS of Virginia. Trigon was subsequently acquired by Anthem, which is his current employer. In his role, he is involved in credentialing, utilization management, disease management, quality improvement, network relations, and other medical management functions. Along the way, Dr. Masten completed a graduate program in Medical Informatics, so he also has an interest in clinical information systems.  Dr. Masten now serves as Medical Director for M-Care in the University of Michigan Healthcare System.  Dr. Masten's main interests in managed care are in population health management and disease management. He has done some consulting work with HMC, a disease management company. Dr. Masten adds that he is "always grateful for the excellent education and skills acquired from UT!"

Jim Woody, MD, MBA - Dr. Woody attended Columbia University in New York for medical school and completed his residency at the University of Kentucky. While at the University of Kentucky, he completed his Family Medicine residency and served a Chief Resident. He served as the National Chairman of the American Medical Association’s Medical Student Section, and has continued his active involvement in organized medicine. Dr. Woody is in private practice in Connersville, Indiana. He is married and has a beautiful daughter. He enjoys running and golf.

Valerie Moore, MD, MBA - Dr. Moore is the Managing Partner of Neonatal Consultants, PA and has dual board-certifications in Neonatal Perinatal Medicine and Pediatrics. She graduated from the Albert Chandler School of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. She completed her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She completed her Neonatal Perinatal Medicine fellowship at Kosair Children's affiliated with the University of Louisville in Kentucky. She has 18 years of clinical practice experience in neonatology. In April of 2001, she accepted the position of Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hermann Southwest in Houston, Texas. She was certified in Health Care Quality Management in 2002 and has extensive experience with quality improvement initiatives. In 2003, Dr. Moore was awarded "Physician of the Year" at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital Dr. Moore has held progressive medical leadership positions and belongs to several professional associations. She enjoys teaching and is progressive by nature. She has a passion for change management and healthcare informatics. In her spare time, Dr. Moore enjoys going to movies, traveling, walking, and reading mystery novels.

Ramy Yakobi, MD, MBA - Dr. Yakobi earned his medical degree at the University of Padua, Italy in 1990. He is in practice at Cornell Medical Center as an Emergency Care Physician. He is a member of Cornell Medical School's faculty as an Assistant Professor and Clinical Instructor. Dr. Yakobi was born in the U.S.S.R., but has lived in several countries. He speaks multiple languages fluently. He enjoys research and working on the publication of a booklet and website that will provide medical information. He also teaches at Cornell Medical Center and was commencement speaker for 1999 graduation.

 

 

 

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