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	Sheila S. Ray, MPA, President
	Barbara E. Bailey, RDH, MA, PhD, Senior Consultant
	Julie R. Blum, MAPA, Director of Grants Management
	George Ersek, Government Affairs Specialist
	Doug Hirano, Senior Consultant
	Melanie Merriman, PhD, Senior Consultant / Quality Improvement
	Jackie Moen, MA, Senior Consultant
	Will Rodgers, Senior Consultant
	Jeanne S. Twohig, MPA, Senior Consultant
	Nancy Weber, RN, Senior Consultant
	Mark B. Wilcox, Senior Consultant
	Jeffrey Zonis, MBA, MPA, Finance Consultant

Sheila S. Ray, President

Sheila Ray founded and has led the firm since its inception in 1990. She served as Executive Director of a large, multi-county CHC in Missoula, Montana, during the late 70s and then as Executive Director of the Colorado PCA, where she assisted in the development of the Region VIII primary care association. After consulting for George Washington University and serving as Project Director of several HRSA evaluation projects, she began her own firm. She has served as a consultant to the BPHCs network program since its beginning in 1997 and served as a member of their national workgroup during that time. She has served as faculty for Bureau of Primary Health Care; performed PCER trainings across the country, leading the governance, strategic planning and administrative modules.

Ms. Ray graduated from Northern Arizona University with an extended degree in Psychology/Sociology, with a Business Minor and, as a National Urban Fellows program participant, received her Masters in Public Administration from City University of New York, Bernard Baruch College.

Barbara E. Bailey

Before her retirement in 2004, Barbara Bailey served as the Chief of the Health Care Systems Branch in the Division of State and Community Assistance, Bureau of Primary Health Care located in Bethesda, MD, where she was responsible for the Healthy Communities Access Program and the Health Center Controlled Network program that included Integrated Services Development Initiatives, Shared Integrated Management Information Systems, and Integrated Communication Technology grant programs. Prior to this position, Dr. Bailey served briefly as the Chief of the Northern Operations Branch in the Division of Health Center Management, following four years as the Chief of the Policy Assistance and Development Branch in the Division of Community and Migrant Health. A registered dental hygienist, Dr. Bailey has served on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry, and developed the Dental Hygiene Education Program at Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas.

The majority of Dr. Bailey's experience has been in DHHS Regional Offices, having worked in Kansas City, Denver, and Dallas. In Denver and Dallas, she served as the Director of the Division of Health Services where she managed a broad range of programs including Community & Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, Primary Care in Public Housing, School-based Health Centers, National Health Service Corps, Family Planning, and Maternal and Child Health programs. Her major area of expertise is the development of primary health care services for the underserved, and in establishing networks of primary care providers that increase access to primary health care, enhance efficiency and improve performance and value.

Dr. Bailey holds a Masters Degree in Education and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Administration-Health Policy. Her areas of interest include nonprofit board development, community development and empowerment, issues of access to primary health care, and information technology and its use to improve the quality of health care.

Julie Ross Blum

Julie Ross Blum has over 30 years of experience in the areas of health care administration, association management and economic and community development.  During the last 15 years, she has successfully written proposals totally more than $25 million in grant funding for various public and private sector clients.

She served in many capacities at the Iowa/Nebraska Primary Care Association for 20 years, including Associate Director and Executive Director. She developed and administered the PCA’s successful provider recruitment program and was responsible for the start-up of three community health centers in Iowa and Kansas.  She served as COO of an HCCN for Iowa and Nebraska, INConcertCare.  Julie served on numerous HRSA independent grant reviews committees, serving as a chairperson since 2003.  She previously worked for ten years in state government management positions, including serving as Government Affairs Manager for the Iowa Finance Authority, New Business Development Manager for the Iowa Department of Economic Development and served in Governor Terry Branstad’s first administration.

Ms. Blum received her Master in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, with an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa, double majoring in marketing and industrial relations with a minor in political science.

George Ersek

George Ersek worked with programs in the Health Resources and Services Administration for over 30 years. Mr. Ersek acted as Deputy and Acting Branch Chief of the Migrant Health Branch in the Bureau of Primary Health Care over the last five years of his government career. He has extensive experience with Community and Migrant Health Centers, HIV/AIDS programs under the Ryan White Care Act and the National Health Services Corps program. In addition, Mr. Ersek has been serving as chair of a wide variety of HRSA Objective Review Committees for the past 15 years and brings to our clients the perspective of both program requirements and critical issues that grant review committees focus on during reviews.

Doug Hirano

Doug Hirano has more than 30 years experience in the fields of public health and health care. An epidemiologist by training, he has worked for governmental organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arizona Department of Health Services, the latter of which he served for three years as the chief of the Primary Care Office. He served as Vice President for Mountain Park Health Center, a Phoenix-based FQHC for five years and as Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Community in Action, a non-profit health organization focused on meeting the needs of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He is a skilled program planner and evaluator and has written a wide variety of grant proposals for local, state and national organizations. He is past president of the Arizona Public Health Association, past chair of the Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS) Family Health Centers Governing Council and has served on numerous community-based coalitions, boards and committees. In 2012, he received the Community Leadership Award from the ASU Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, an NIH Center of Excellence in Health Disparities Research.

Mr. Hirano received his Bachelor of Science from the University of California in Biological Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UCLA.

Melanie Merriman

Melanie P. Merriman, Ph.D., MBA specializes in practical approaches to problem solving.  Dr. Merriman has experience in strategic planning, communications, quality management, market research, and program evaluation.  She helps clients define problems clearly, realistically assess the internal and external environment, and craft solutions that lead to sustainable success.  Dr. Merriman led or participated in evaluations of key national healthcare initiatives focused on care at the end of life.  She has also facilitated strategic planning efforts at The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and The Carolinas Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, as well as several private sector clients.

From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Merriman was Director of Quality and Compliance for VITAS Healthcare Corporation. She is a co-author of the Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index and The QAPI Requirement: Resources for Hospice Programs, and co-developer of the Quality Navigator (an Internet-based data collection and reporting tool for hospice and home health).  Dr. Merriman has served as a quality measurement contractor to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and directed evaluation technical assistance programs for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and for a project analyzing community health centers for California Blue Shield.  Dr. Merriman has a Ph.D. in Biology and an MBA in Health Care Administration.  At R&A, Melanie focuses on developing and overseeing performance improvement systems for health center controlled networks.

Jackie Moen

Jackie Moen is a Senior Consultant for Ray & Associates LLC with over twenty-six years experience in health care planning, management, executive recruitment, board development, and grant writing. Her experience includes serving as Executive Director of a health center controlled network for twelve years, recruiting senior executives for multiple community health centers across the country and facilitating leadership, strategic planning and board development retreats.

Ms. Moen conducts client engagements with Federally Qualified Health Centers and Migrant Health Centers in executive recruitment, management assessment, board development, strategic planning, and team building. During the last seventeen years, Ms. Moen has successfully written grant proposals resulting in awards of over $13 million from federal, state and non-profit funders. She has written numerous FQHC federal grant applications including new access point programs, service area competitions, facility investment programs and budget progress reports with a success rate of 86 percent.

Ms. Moen has a Master's Degree in Organization Management from the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota and a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota.

Will Rodgers

Jeanne Twohig

Jeanne Twohig has over 30 years experience in health care program planning, development and management. Jeanne served as business manager for rural health programs, including federal Rural Health Initiative and Primary Care Research and Development programs, directed a Home and Community Based Services Program for the Elderly and served as CEO of Five Valleys Health Care, Inc. She was founding executive director of Partnership Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Missoula, Montana.

Jeanne served as deputy director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's national initiative "Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care," providing technical assistance to health care organizations ranging from community based programs to tertiary care centers. She was deputy director of Duke University's Institute on Care at the End of Life and remains Senior Advisor to the Institute. A graduate of Emmanuel College, she received her MPA from the University of Montana and has additional certifications in end of life care from Upaya Institute and in ethics from Georgetown University.

Nancy Weber

A senior consultant with Ray & Associates for ten years, Ms. Weber has been active in public policy development, needs assessment, grant review/monitoring experience in community health clinical and administration for the past 38 years. She has conducted site visit assessments, technical assistance, strategic planning, board development, customer service training and performance improvement client engagements. She has written numerous successful 330 federal grants including new start programs, expanded medical capacity and service expansion applications.

Ms. Weber served as Executive Director of a free-standing, community based, non-profit hospice where she developed a robust business plan, achieved Medicare certification and Joint Commission accreditation. In fulfillment of the Business Plan, she was responsible for negotiating a full acquisition merger with a larger hospice. She served from 2000 to 2005 as the Program Officer for the Horizon Foundation (a $92 million health foundation) where she developed the grants program and worked with a number of community-based non-profit and public agencies to develop collaborative efforts and funding initiatives.

Ms. Weber holds a B.S. in Nursing from Duke University. She is active in her community serving on a number of non-profit and public agency boards.

Mark B. Wilcox

Mr. Wilcox brings four decades of financial, information technology, operations and health care management experience, both domestically and internationally, to R&A.  He has consulted with diverse clients; MCOs, hospitals, physician groups, insurance companies, employers, state and national (domestic and foreign) governments, all types of non-profit community-based health care providers/networks/consortiums, the U.S. Armed Forces/VA and many specialty provider networks.
                     
He has served in operational management positions with several large corporations and hospitals (both community and teaching) including in Spain, where as the CEO of a nation-wide triple-option health care company (Alico Salud), he developed and managed a revolutionary triple-option health system.  His other international work includes projects in; Japan, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Hungary, Egypt and the Ukraine. Mr. Wilcox was previously Vice President, Operational Services with American International Group (AIG), where he managed multiple practices that specialized in Management Information Systems, Third-Party Administration, Health Benefits Management, Worker's Compensation and Utilization Management as well as IT facilities management for managed care companies.

He has been a consultant to the DHHS/HRSA/BPHC since 1993, assessing and providing technical assistance to FQHCs/RHCs/CHCs, Medicaid MCOs, CMPs and FQHC-based Health Center Controlled Networks and owned managed care organizations.  His work with HCCNs includes Shared, Integrated HIT (PMS/EHR) and Data Warehouse and HIE specification, acquisition, development, implementation and operations, interim management and strategic planning. He also provided Technical Assistance to over 30 HCAP grantees nationwide for coalition and operational development.

Mr. Wilcox has also led multiple projects for a ten-hospital medical center-based rural health network (nine of which were CMS Designated Critical Access Hospitals and clinics) for strategic MIS development and for the integration of clinical, patient safety systems and a regionally-networked HIT system.

Mr. Wilcox holds a MBA in Health Care Administration and Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Finance and Insurance. His areas of focus at R&A include HIT systems that provide actionable information for decision makers at all levels and financial stability and sustainability in non-profits. Personal interests include domestic and international construction and children’s ministry mission work.

Jeffrey Zonis

Jeffrey Zonis brings his decades of experience and leadership as a nonprofit health services CEO and CFO to communities and not-for-profit organizations in the areas of financial analysis, sustainability and financial planning. He has extensive knowledge of foundations, federal and state funding streams, the legislative process and health care systems.

Mr. Zonis has consulted with numerous Community Centers, providing expert consulting and technical assistance services. Internationally, he has worked with clients in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Working with USAID, Mr. Zonis helped communities focus on health issues and self sufficiency issues. As one example of the scope of his work, while consulting in Budapest for the Soros Foundation, Mr. Zonis assisted in the development of the business plan for the creation of the Open Society Institute, now one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world. Active on a volunteer basis, Mr. Zonis has served on numerous community boards.

He holds his B.S. in Mathematics, Masters in Public Administration (MPA) and an MBA, all from the University of Pittsburgh. He also earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation.

Wayne Howard

J. Wayne Howard joined R&A as a Senior Consultant after his recent retirement from Choptank Community Health System, Inc. (CCHS), an FQHC) program on the southern shores of Maryland.  He remained active in the National Rural Health Association and other national and state primary care related associations and organizations.

Mr. Howard’s leadership accomplishments with CCHS span a 30+ year period of time from the opening of the first primary care center to the current multi-county health care system on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with a staff of over 150 and an operating budget of $14 million.  The CCHS system includes seven medical centers, three dental centers, 32 school-based health centers and a network of migrant health care centers.  With his leadership, CCHS experienced significant growth through new programs, expansion of sites and acquisition of other health care practices.  The FQHC successfully utilized the Federal Facility Investment Program (FIP) to expand its dental programs.

Mr. Howard has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Bridgeport, CT and a Master of Science degree in human resource management from Wilmington University.

James Stark

James Stark is a Senior Consultant with Ray & Associates and the retired National Health and Welfare Practice Director for Aon Consulting. In this role, he was directly responsible for the organic growth and operating margins for the $250 million dollar U.S. practice and was charged with design and implementation of market segmentation strategies, strategic direction and practice standards. Mr. Stark served on the U.S. and Global Operating Committee of Aon's $1.2 billion consulting company.

He is a past president and member of the World Trade Club of San Francisco and was a board member of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. Mr. Stark is a former U.S. Army Infantry Officer with service in Vietnam. Mr. Stark holds a B.A. in Modern European History, a teaching certificate from Benedictine and course work toward an MBA at the University of Indiana.

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