Transforming Healthcare Through Technology

Curtis Watkins is President and Chief Executive Officer of CereCore. In this role he is responsible for the strategic implementation and support of information technology services, applications and processes for CereCore’s clients. Before serving as president and CEO, he held the position of vice president and chief strategy officer for CereCore. Curtis has more than 20 years of IT experience, including IT strategic consulting, systems strategy development and leadership.

Prior to joining CereCore, Curtis served as the corporate vice president and deputy chief information officer (CIO) for Community Health Systems (CHS). Responsible for hospital clinical systems strategy and product development, he also led the organization’s enterprise architecture and meaningful use program. Earlier in his career, he served as CIO for St. David’s Health System, as well as a program director with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), successfully leading one of the largest IT realignments in the company’s history.

With an extensive track record of IT leadership, Curtis has refined the development of IT organizational support structures, in addition to complex system implementations and integrations. Curtis serves on the board of directors of the Nashville Technology Council and is an avid supporter of the United Way. He earned his MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Jessica Burns is responsible for recruiting and managing top IT clinical and technical contract labor talent to support HCA Healthcare’s application and infrastructure portfolio for Staffing Services at CereCore. Additionally, Jessica has direct responsibility for providing MEDITECH project and implementation services to HCA Healthcare. 

Jessica has served HCA Healthcare since 2000 and has held various leadership roles across their Information Technology organization including Business Continuity, Information Security, Product Development, Infrastructure Management, Project Portfolio Development and Customer Support Services. Jessica is a 2016 graduate of HCA Healthcare’s Emerging Leader program and she earned her MBA in Information Technology from Western Governors University in November 2015. Jessica currently serves as a board member for the Heimerdinger Foundation and she teaches Servant Leadership classes at HCA Healthcare and for Belmont University. 

Josh Dunaway leads development and delivery of advanced data solutions and services by a talented team of experienced technology consultants at CereCore. He has more than 20 years of healthcare IT experience.

Prior to CereCore, he served as the director of a technical consulting practice leading the successful delivery of integration programs for a large hospital system helping them to achieve goals in areas of EHR conversions, ambulatory and meaningful use in over 80 hospitals. Josh’s healthcare IT foundation was cemented through 10 years serving the IT department of a large hospital system leading clinical application, technology implementation and operation. 

Brigham Freeze is Chief Financial Officer of CereCore. In this role, he manages all aspects of financial planning, budgeting, accounting, billing and reporting as well as providing oversight of CereCore’s contracts management team.

A Certified Public Accountant (Inactive), Brigham has more than 20 years of experience in financial and accounting management roles. Prior to joining CereCore, Brigham was employed with HealthSpring/Cigna and Iasis Healthcare. Brigham also spent seven years with Ernst & Young’s Audit and Advisory Services group where he served a number of publicly-held healthcare companies in the Nashville area. Brigham served for close to ten years as treasurer for his church. 

Craig McCollum is responsible for MEDITECH International Services for CereCore International and MEDITECH implementation and delivery services for CereCore. Prior to CereCore, he held the position of MEDITECH practice director for Vision Consulting. Craig has more than 30 years of healthcare IT and finance experience, including practice leadership, business development, EHR project leadership, EHR implementation, and financial management. 

Craig previously served as MEDITECH practice manager for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), where he was responsible for project management of large health system MEDITECH revenue cycle implementation and multiple MEDITECH related consulting engagements. Craig also served as financial applications director at Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth, Texas and managed MEDITECH revenue cycle/financial implementation across system. 

Craig is a member of Medical Users Software Exchange (MUSE) and Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Craig is MEDITECH READY certified in project management, general financials, supply chain management and human resources planning. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Fresno State University. 

Stephanie Murray oversees professional, staffing, and advisory services within the Epic practice at CereCore. With more than 15 years in the healthcare IT industry, Stephanie brings an eclectic background from her experience working in a healthcare organization, EMR vendor, and consulting firm. 

She gained her unique perspective working with healthcare organizations on numerous clinical healthcare technology initiatives and in a variety of roles from training and implementation to project management and consulting. Throughout her career she has tapped into her leadership strength as an active listener and her ability to understand the situational needs of a client – both of which have been key to helping organizations obtain their goals. Stephanie earned her Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Sociology with a Certificate in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds seven active Epic Certifications. 

Clay Posey is responsible for IT infrastructure services at CereCore. He works with healthcare clients on their IT roadmaps and initiatives, and leads teams of technical experts in the delivery of quality and cost-effective networking services. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare IT, Clay began his career as a systems engineer working across multiple industries and then focused on healthcare customers by performing network, systems, and EHR installations and conversions.

As he progressed in his career, Clay managed vendor relationships and IT budget expenditure requests. He became a trusted advisor for hospital department leaders and helped translate their patient care and safety needs into IT infrastructure solutions. Prior to joining CereCore, Clay served in leadership positions with Presidio where he provided oversight to subject matter experts, and he worked with healthcare customers to successfully complete complex projects including acquisitions/divestitures, data center migrations, and co-location redesigns. A leader and mentor for IT teams, Clay began a training program which helped build subject matter expertise that led to faster successful customer support resolutions. In addition, he is skilled at developing infrastructure plans that help hospital systems achieve the goal of more reliable services at a faster speed with a lower total cost of operation (TCO).

He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Belmont University in Nashville, TN and has an aptitude for foreign languages including French and German.

Phil Sobol oversees all sales and marketing initiatives and works with the sales team, delivery organizations and strategic business partners to support our clients’ strategic direction. He has more than 20 years of experience working with organizations to align their business objectives with appropriate enterprise technology solutions.

Prior to CereCore, Phil was general manager and vice president of Sales & Marketing for several enterprise resource planning (ERP) consulting companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Taylor University. 

Joel St. Francis nurtures client relationships, enhances organizational effectiveness and operational practices and develops growth strategy for Managed Services at CereCore. Joel brings more than 20 years of client and account management expertise and delivering solutions for complex clients’ needs to his role.

Prior to his VP role, Joel served as a client executive for Parallon managing a portfolio of solutions to achieve client revenue and profitability targets while expanding the CereCore business portfolio. Joel earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Worcester State University. He is a certified project management professional, Six Sigma Black Belt, and CHCIO.

Peyman is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) for CereCore. In his role he works closely with the CEO and company officers to formulate new business ventures and helps guide the team to achieve the company’s long-term vision. Peyman is responsible for developing the strategy framework and tactical plans to achieve the vision. He also assists in leading key strategic initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions, transformation, partnerships, and business expansion and development plans.  

Peyman holds a Bachelor of Science in Computational Mathematics and Engineering from Michigan State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Michigan. Peyman is a Certified Healthcare Executive (CFCHE) through CHIME College and has served on the board of Tennessee Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (TNHIMMS) and Southeast HFMA.