VBCare Staff

Tony Rodgers

Tony Rodgers

Chief Executive Officer

Tony Rodgers, Chief Executive Officer, Tony is an experienced healthcare executive who has held executive positions in both the public and private sectors. His executive leadership experience included positions with CMS, state Medicaid, health plans, and hospital systems.

He is currently Chief Executive Officer, VBCare Network LLC, a start-up healthcare provider-led network serving Arizona. He previously held the position of Principal with Health Management Associates (HMA), where he worked with federal, state, and local government clients, public and private health plans, and safety net providers.

His past executive experience includes CMS Deputy Administrator, Center for Strategic Planning (CSP). He was responsible for CMS long-range strategic planning, healthcare program research, Medicare demonstration, research databases, and policy formulation. While at CMS, he directed the development of the Innovation Center’s State Innovation Models Initiative.

Mr. Rodgers previous positions include Agency Director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), where he was responsible for the Arizona Medicaid and Children Health Insurance Programs, General Manager, WellPoint Medicaid Managed Care, CEO LA Care Health Plan, CEO Maricopa Integrated Healthcare System, hospital administrator Olive View/UCLA Medical Center, and CEO Hudson Comprehensive Health Center. He also has served as a member of numerous public commissions and Boards of Directors.

Mr. Rodgers has a Master of Science Public Health degree and a BA degree in Economics and Political Science from UCLA. He has held visiting professor appointments at Arizona State University, the W.P Carey School of Business, and at UCLA School of Public Health.

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Aashish S. Patel, MD, MBA
Clinical Performance Improvement Manager

Aashish Patel, Clinical Performance Improvement Manager,

Dr. Aashish Patel focuses on clinical quality improvement for community health centers in Arizona. Working with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in Arizona since 2020; as well as his educational background, experience, and training; he has successfully developed numerous improvement plans, workflows, data analyses and performance metrics to help the FQHCs deliver high quality care for the communities they serve. Originally from New York City, Dr. Patel began his education at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York where he majored in Biomedical Sciences. He travelled to Europe where he attended the Medical University of Lublin in Poland and completed his medical training and earned a Doctor of Medicine. More recently he attended The State University of New York at Oswego and earned a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Administration and Management.

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Dr. Mazen Salama (Peace)

Senior Clinical Data Scientist

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Jennifer Tapken

Jennifer Flynn

Chief Financial Officer

Jennifer Flynn, CFO, Jennifer is a CPA and joined VBCare Network in 2020. She provides strategic financial leadership and forward-thinking to develop the policies, procedures, and systems for a start-up organization in her current role. This involves managing banking services, setting up financial software, forecasting, cost analysis, and financial reporting.

Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a business administration minor and an MBA with a Human Resource focus from Lakeland College in Neenah, Wisconsin. Jennifer has 25 plus years in her field and has worked in the printing and service industries focusing on small businesses to grow them to the next level.

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Shannon Weiland

Clinical Care Improvement Specialist

Shannon Weiland, Clinical Care Improvement Specialist, Shannon is a dynamic and results-oriented professional with over 16 years of managerial, clinical, and analytical sales seeks further advancement in the global medical industry. She is an expert in interpreting, implementing, and maintaining regulatory standards (NCAQ, HEDIS, QPP, GPRO, MIPS/MACRA, CMS). Also performed data analysis in collaboration with IT to drive results by identifying key opportunities and developing strategic plans to enhance and grow territory business. Shannon also develops healthcare provider dashboards and tools to track monetary and quality outcomes.

She has worked for Arizona Care Network (Phoenix, AZ), where she was a clinical performance representative and was responsible for 30 high-profile top-performing accounts. In this position, she developed, analyzed, reviewed, and reported key metrics to assist providers in meeting quality standards, state contractual requirements, and pay for performance initiatives. She is considered a subject matter expert for assigned Medicaid/Medicare/Commercial HEDIS / CMS / Stars measures. She worked with both accountable care organizations and United Healthcare/Optum as Clinical Operation Manager. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Slippery Rock University and her nursing diploma from St. Margret School of Nursing.

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Sonia Sanato

Business Operations Administrator & Beneficiary Engagement Center Manager

Sonia Sanato, Business Operations Administrator, Sonia has over 24 years in Private Trade Associations specializing in improving daily operations and cost reductions while improving customer engagement. She is a result-driven Operations leader with a track record of building life-long teams and life-long customers.

Being with her most recent company for over 19 years, Sonia offers a unique approach to employee engagement and retention, utilizing creative alternatives sought by competitors and employees alike. As Chief Operation Officer, she successfully manages a membership base of over 12k while reducing costs and improving benefits in all organization areas.

Sonia holds an associate’s degree in Business, an RCE designation from the National Association of REALTORS, andis Certified in Strategic Planning and Nonprofit Management. Sonia brings a unique perspective to business policies, acting as a change agent, implementing process improvement initiatives, motivating office activities, and driving operational excellence.

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Vinit Mekala

Database and Data Security Administrator

Information coming soon.

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Joan Kwamboka

Healthcare Data Analyst

Joan Kwamboka, Healthcare Data Analyst, is an experienced informatics specialist. Kwamboka (Qu-Ahm-Bo-Ka) grew up in Kenya and received her master’s in biomedical informatics (BMI) from Arizona State University. Her previous work experience is in healthcare research as an analyst and project manager on a state funded opioid data project. Her professional interests are in informatics, education, data, and policy analysis. In addition, she serves as an Academic Associate for the BMI Seminars at Arizona State University and is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Kwamboka is active in the organized community volleyball scene in Arizona. She also sings as an alto and sits on the Council of a community choir, the North Valley Chorale.

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