About Us

Jim is CEO of Ingine, an early-stage healthcare analytics company bringing novel artificial intelligence-based clinical decision support tools supporting personalized medicine to providers and payers. He brings over 30 years of experience in healthcare and general management.

He was the VP and CEO-in-Residence for BioEnterprise for the group's healthcare IT sector. He also was on the management team of HealthSync, a start-up company developing corporate sponsored health insurance marketplaces, Glengary Ventures, as well as consulting to major financial institutions while with the First Manhattan Consulting Group.

He received his B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his Executive MBA from Case Weatherhead School of Management.

Loren Anthes is a Principal at Health Management Associates, a leading independent national research and consulting firm specializing in publicly funded healthcare. In this role, he leverages extensive experience in healthcare policy, managed care, and value-based contracting to provide strategic advice and support to healthcare organizations, government agencies, and other stakeholders.

Loren has worked extensively with both legislative and executive branches of local, state, and federal governments and is a lecturer at Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine where he specializes in quality improvement and health systems science.

Loren holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio University, a Health Care Master of Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace University, and is a Certified Six Sigma Greenbelt.

Anita Cook is the former Executive Director of the West Side Catholic Center, a nonprofit organization founded over 40 years ago on Cleveland’s near west side. The Center provides hot meals at no charge, hospitality, clothing and household goods, emergency services, advocacy, a family shelter, employment programs and programs to transition families to stable housing.

Ms. Cook, a retired Certified Public Accountant also worked many years in the financial services industry. A resident of Cleveland, she also serves on the boards of Neighborhood Family Practice, Community of Hope, and is the Treasurer of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. She received a B.S. in Accounting from Miami University and a Master’s in Accounting from Cleveland State University.

Donald Ford is a family physician and the Chair of Family Medicine for the Cleveland Clinic Health System. He serves on the Cleveland Clinic Board of Governors and provides leadership in Community Health and Physician Wellness. Dr. Ford served as Better Health Partnership's Chief Medical Officer from 2018-2021 and in executive roles, including Interim President of Hillcrest Hospital and Acting Chief Executive Officer at Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., which Cleveland Clinic manages.

He is a former professional actor who worked in New York City for 14 years before attending medical school. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from State University of New York, his M.D. at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a Baldwin Wallace University Health Care MBA.

Shawn Lyden recently retired as the Chief Strategy Officer of Akron Children’s, where he served in a variety of executive leadership roles for over 16 years. Akron Children’s experienced tremendous growth during Shawn’s tenure and now serves 33 counties in eastern Ohio with a population of one million children. He previously practiced health law for over 23 years, including 10 years at a national law firm based in Chicago. Shawn has been involved in a variety of community organizations and trade associations during his career. He earned his B.A. in economics from Denison University and law degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Dr. Robert Eick became the President and CEO of Better Health Partnership in November 2024. He is a physician leader and health policy expert with over a decade of experience with social drivers of health, health equity, health system management, value-based care delivery models, Medicaid and Medicare innovation, and payer and provider engagement. He is committed to building inclusive relationships, fostering collaboration, providing mentorship, and co-creating and driving strategic vision to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities.

Dr. Eick served as Principal Consultant at Eick Consulting for seven years. His additional roles have also included Senior Consultant on Population Health and Health Equity at RTI Health Advance, Vice President of Clinical Strategy for UnitedHealthcare, Policy Fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC), and Executive Director of Carolina Medical Home Network at the North Carolina Community Health Center Association.

Dr. Eick holds a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Public Health from the Physician Leadership Development Program at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio. He also earned bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and Spanish from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Matt is the Director, Pathways HUB, serving as operational leader for Better Health Partnership’s care coordination services, a centralized, evidence-based care coordination model serving at-risk populations in Cuyahoga County. He also serves in the elected position of Board Secretary for Better Health Partnership's Board of Directors. 

Prior to joining Better Health, Matt spent over 26 years as a Human Resources professional leading, coaching and consulting with individuals and management teams in the healthcare, manufacturing and insurance industries. He most recently served as the Human Resources Manager for a global manufacturing company that has teams in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Sweden.

Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a specialization in Human Resources Management, from The Ohio State University, and is an alumnus of The Ohio State University Marching Band. He attained his Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification in 2006 and is also certified as a Myers-Briggs instructor. This, along with deep people development experience, will enable Matt to also assist BHP to bolster its talent, culture and competencies in areas strongly aligned with the organization’s mission and vision.

Nick Bernard is the Associate Treasurer for The MetroHealth System and has been with the organization since 2014. Among other treasury duties his responsibilities include monitoring and managing liquidity through the System’s bank and investment accounts, contributing to and executing the long-term capital market strategy and acting as chair of the internal capital preparedness committee.

He received his Master’s in Business Administration from Cleveland State University and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Majoring in Finance, from the University of Dayton.

Vivek Bhalla, M.D. is a strong physician champion previously serving as the Summa Health Medical Group Chief Medical Officer. He is now the President of Summa Health Medical Group where he is leading in care transformation and proactively getting full involvement of other team members to derive the best results possible for the system.

Dr. Bhalla is a member of Better Health Partnership’s Adult Health Leadership Team. He received a Bachelor of Science Integrated Life Science degree from Kent State University in their combined BS/MD program where he graduated Magna-Cum Laude. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, OH.

Karen K. Butler  serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services, Inc. (NEON), a nonprofit community health center network. Established in 1967, NEON is one of the oldest Federally Qualified Health Center systems in the country.

Karen previously served as the Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health. She also has the unique distinction of serving as the Commissioner of Health for the City of Cleveland under the leadership of two Cleveland Mayors.

Karen served as an adjunct instructor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She has presented frequently at local and national conferences and has traveled to the White House to present before the Domestic Policy Council.

Crain’s Cleveland Business Magazine recognized Karen as a Notable Woman in Health Care and The Ohio State University honored her as The Champion of Public Health.

Karen earned an Executive MBA from the Case Weatherhead School of Management; a Master’s degree in Community Health Planning Administration from the University of Cincinnati; a Bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University; and a Certificate of Non-Profit Organizations from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

Christopher Esmurdoc is the Chief of Social Work Service for the Department of Veterans Affairs Northeast Ohio Healthcare System. With over nineteen years of clinical social work experience in non-profit, county, and federal systems, his previous clinical experience includes serving as Outpatient Mental Health Therapist, Supervisory Social Worker with Homeless Programs, Assistant Chief of Social Work Service, Program Manager for Home and Community Based Care Programs and National Program Manager for Purchased Home Care-VA Central Office. He also has experience as an adjunct faculty member at Youngstown State University School of Social Work.

He earned his Master of Social Work degree from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. A Cleveland native, he enjoys spending time with friends and family soaking up the cultural wonders of Northeast Ohio with a particular affinity for theater, music, and art.

Yvonka M. Hall, MPA is the Executive Director of the nationally recognized Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition.

She received a Master of Public Administration from Texas Southern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Notre Dame College. She is a proud graduate of John Marshall High School in Cleveland, Ohio and a 2019 inductee into the Alumni Hall of Fame.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently named her the Home Grown Hero for her work addressing food insecurity. She is a member of numerous local and national organizations.

She is also a nationally recognized Congressional award winning health disparities expert. She speaks all over the country about effectively engaging the African American Community the Art of Community Engagement. She is an activist, leader, influencer, humanitarian, speaker, researcher and philanthropist.

Andrew “Drew” Hertz, MD is a leader in pediatric medicine with over 25 years of experience driving success in multiple aspects of health care. He has the perspective of a physician with private practice, health care executive, population health, alternative payment models, and start-up endeavor experience. His consistent goal is to optimize solutions for patients, physicians, hospitals, and child-related community organizations.

Drew was a first round winner of the prestigious Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Healthcare Innovation (CMMI) award. This 12.8 million dollar grant helped established one of the first pediatric Medicaid accountable care organizations in the country.

Before leaving corporate medicine, Drew was Vice President, Community Women and Children’s Services at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital where he oversaw 200 general pediatric and OB/GYN providers. In 2021, he started Teknion Health Equity, a purely pediatric healthcare consulting company.

In 2022, Drew co-founded Zest Pediatric Network – the country’s first concierge-style direct pediatric care network now with 5 offices in two states. He also serves as a Medical Advisor for several companies.

Kevin Lauterjung is co-founder and President of Viridi, LLC, a sustainability and energy management firm, and has served as a member of Better Health Partnership's Leadership Team since 2008. He was Chair of Better Health Partnership's Board of Directors from 2016-2020.

Mr. Lauterjung worked at Medical  Mutual of Ohio from 1998 to 2013 serving in various executive capacities including Executive Vice President, Managed Care. He is a former officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In addition to volunteer activities with Better Health, Mr. Lauterjung has served on the boards of Business Volunteers Unlimited, the USO of Northern Ohio and the local chapter of the March of Dimes. He currently is a board member of Medina County Economic Development Corporation.

He received his bachelor's degree in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, earned an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Health Services Management from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and has attained multiple professional certifications within the Association of Energy Engineers.

Dr. Srinivas Merugu is an Internist with over 10 years of clinical practice and 20 years of hospital administration, graduate medical education, and health plan experience. He obtained his medical degree from Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, India, and completed his Internal Medicine residency at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He was part of a multispecialty group practice in Cleveland until 2014. At St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, he served in several leadership positions including Associate Residency Program Director, Chair of Hospital Performance Improvement and Patient Safety. In these roles, he led the establishment of a culture of continuous quality improvement, with clinicians serving in leadership and pivotal roles. As the hospital’s first Chief Medical Informatics Officer, he led the transition from a paper record to an electronic health record across the entire organization. His interests in physician leadership of policy, strategy and technology led him to pursue a Master of Medical Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

He then went on to serve as Chief Medical Officer for the state of Ohio for United Healthcare’s Medicaid Managed Care Plan and then National Chief Medical Officer for Provider Strategy with United Healthcare Community and State. His areas of focus included advancing value-based care through provider collaboration and enablement, payment reform, and innovations in care delivery. He had a leadership role in advancing population health management and health equity across the national footprint of United Healthcare.

Dr. Merugu currently serves as Senior Vice President for Population Health and President of the Institute for H.O.P.E. at The MetroHealth System. In this role, he leads the health system’s Social Drivers of Health strategy and programs. He brings a passion for community service through direct engagement and partnerships, care delivery system reform to achieve the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Quintuple Aim, and relentless pursuit of improving the health of the community he lives in.

Dr. Wymyslo is the past Senior Medical Advisor of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) and past Director of the Ohio Department of Health. Dr. Wymyslo has worked over 40 years as a practicing family physician, educator, practice organizer and healthcare leader and is active statewide and nationally in efforts to integrate public health and primary care to improve population health. Dr. Wymyslo has served on the Better Health Board from 2011-2023.   In his role at OACHC, he worked with leadership and member practice sites across Ohio to improve quality of care, control costs, enhance health centers’ workforce, and expand the Patient-Centered Medical Home care model. He has been recognized for his contributions to healthcare and the community by the American Medical Association, Ohio State Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.