Goran Dragolovic

Goran Dragolovic

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Dragolovic has more than 30 years of experience scaling healthcare services companies and managing physician partnerships to grow thriving practices. He most recently served as CEO of Women’s Health USA, a leading national practice management platform focused on transforming the delivery of women’s health care.

Previously, Goran served in several capacities at Surgical Care Affiliates – namely, his role as Group President of a $500 million portfolio of surgery centers and specialty hospitals in which he led enterprise-wide strategic service line expansion. After Optum’s acquisition of SCA, he served as Senior Vice President of Practice Growth and Transformation where he aggregated and organized specialty physician groups into market-leading, clinically integrated networks.

Earlier in his career, Goran held operational roles with Symbion and Amsurg, among other smaller practice management and multi-site groups. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University.


Yousif A-Rahim M.D. Ph.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. A-Rahim works with our Medical Advisory Boards, our Medical Directors, and our quality assurance programs to oversee improvement of clinical outcomes for our patients. He also organizes and leads Company efforts to measure and improve clinical outcomes for all centers and the Company as a whole. Dr. A-Rahim earned his medical and doctorate degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. As a physician, he is known for his expertise in interventional endoscopy and minimally invasive treatments for gastrointestinal disease. He has authored several articles published in medical journals and has delivered presentations to fellow physicians around the country, including at his alma mater, Harvard Medical School.

Dr. A-Rahim is currently a Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and practices gastroenterology at the VA Boston Healthcare System West Roxbury Campus in Massachusetts, and at Pacific Endoscopy Center, an ASC he co-founded in 2008 in Pearl City, Hawaii.


Henry Artime - SVP, Marketing & Communications

Henry Artime

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Mr. Henry Artime has over 30 years of experience developing marketing communications strategies. In 1995 he founded Artime Group, a multi-disciplinary marketing agency in Los Angeles, where he successfully helped grow both B2B and B2C brands.

Prior to joining Covenant Physician Partners in January 2022 Henry’s strategic and creative thinking influenced leading brands such as Viewsonic displays, Six Flags, Sanwa Bank, CALFED Bank, Mercury Insurance, Utility Trailer, Woman’s Health USA, Coaster Fine Furniture, Kitchen United MIX, Wound Care Advantage, and many others.

Award-winning work under his direction, across the entire spectrum of marketing communications, has been selected for publication in national creative periodicals and design annuals.

Henry is a graduate of Cal State University, Northridge.


Bill Balaun - Executive Vice President - Chief Operating Officer

Bill Balaun

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

Mr. Balaun has more than 30 years in healthcare services with extensive leadership experience in multi-site operations management, strategic sales, business strategy, team development as well as supporting the growth and vitality of his business partners.

Prior to joining Covenant, Bill spent more than 20 years with McKesson Corporation in various roles including sales management, hospital strategy and national account management, government sales, operations, independent retail pharmacy support and senior general management roles. While there, he developed and launched Pharmacy Optimization, a consulting business focused on improving the efficiencies and health of hospital pharmacy customers.

Before McKesson, Bill spent time at Boston Scientific where he managed the company’s U.S. operations. He also had several sales and operational positions with Baxter Healthcare. Bill earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.


Wesley Chick

Wes Chick

Senior Vice President of Payor Strategies

Wes joined Covenant in January 2018 bringing with him over 25 years’ experience in the managed care arena. His leadership roles with companies such as HCA, United Surgical Partners International, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Tenet Health have given him the experiences and knowledge across the entire continuum of care for leading Covenant’s revenue improvement strategies well into the future. He also provides a perspective from both sides of the negotiation table that will allow for the development of partnerships with managed care entities in the value-based care arena. Wes holds a BA from Baylor University and an MBA from Texas Christian University.


Viva Elia

Viva Elia

Senior Vice President of Operations

Ms. Viva Elia joined Covenant in April 2022 and oversees our regional vice presidents. Her role involves transforming markets to exceed expectations in clinical, operational and financial performance.

Before joining Covenant, Viva spent the last 2 years with Women’s Health USA serving as Market President of two of the largest women health practices in Arizona and Nevada. Prior to that, she spent 15 years at Surgical Care Affiliates, one of the largest operators of ambulatory surgery centers in the USA. While there, she was tasked with identifying and executing market wide strategies while improving overall performance. She also served on the leadership team that launched the first behavioral health medication management system and pharmaceutical data informatics company, which is used in over 245 health systems and practices today. Her career in healthcare spans over 25 years. Viva earned her B.S. in Marketing with a minor in English from San Diego State University and her M.B.A. from University of Redlands.


Mike Field

Mike Field

Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Mike joined Covenant in 2021, bringing with him 12 years of healthcare experience in physician recruitment, business development and strategic planning. Prior to joining Covenant, Mike spent six years in a physician recruitment leadership role with Sutter Health, the 7th largest integrated healthcare delivery system in the United States. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University – Idaho; and Master’s Degrees in Health Administration and Business Administration from Weber State University. Mike currently oversees all talent acquisition and physician/advanced practice professional recruitment efforts across Covenant’s business operations.


Dan Gofman

Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President

Mr. Gofman has 15+ years of experience as a healthcare professional, including corporate strategy and development, investment banking, and leading partner-owned, physician-led and private equity-backed transaction sourcing, negotiation and execution. Dan is passionate about aligning operators and clinicians, and creating a culture of accelerated, disciplined and transformative organic and inorganic growth.

Dan previously led M&A and strategy efforts for North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA), one of the nation’s leading single-specialty anesthesia management platforms, growing the PE-backed company by more than 2.5 times in a span of 3 years. Prior to that, Dan was a healthcare investment banker at Cain Brothers, Barclays and Bear Stearns, covering physician practice management and multi-site care providers. He graduated with honors distinction from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, where he earned an MBA and BS in Finance and Accounting.


Donna Keehner-Nowak

Donna Keehner-Nowak

Senior Vice President of Clinical Services

Donna joined Covenant in November 2022 with a focus on the alignment of clinical and business operations, enhancement of the patient and caregivers experience, and continuing the momentum of excellence across the entirety of Covenant Physician Partners. She was previously at Advantia Health LLC, a women’s health system with headquarters in Arlington Virginia for the past 8 years. During her 8 years at Advantia, Donna held various roles as Sr. VP Clinical Operations and Director of Clinical Affairs. These included program implementations, policy and procedure development, oversight of the Quality Improvement Program, credentialing, and infrastructure expansion for 5 states. Prior to Advantia Donna was at Stony Brook University Medical Center in Stony Brook Long Island New York. Donna holds a BSN, 2 Master’s degrees, and a PhD in Nursing Education.


Trey Melancon

Senior Vice President of Financial Operations

Mr. Trey Melancon joined Covenant in April 2022 and is responsible for overseeing the financial operations function within Covenant. His current role involves partnering with operations and leadership to drive and execute growth.

With over 17 years in healthcare finance, Trey brings a wealth of knowledge and experience successfully leading financial operations. Prior to joining Covenant, Trey served at Women’s Health USA (WHUSA), one of the country’s largest support platforms for women’s health physician practices. Before joining WHUSA, he spent over 10 years at Surgical Care Affiliates, one of the largest operators of ambulatory surgery centers in the USA. During that time, he held several high-level financial roles. Trey holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business.


Ijeoma Odu

Senior Vice President of Revenue Cycle Services and Clinical Applications

Ms. Ijeoma Odu joined Covenant in August 2022 and currently leads revenue cycle services and drives clinical applications strategies.

Ijeoma has been in the healthcare industry for 27 years, driving small and large scale revenue cycle transformation initiatives across acute and ambulatory care settings. Prior to joining Covenant, Ijeoma served as the System VP of Revenue Cycle and Medical Imaging technologies for CommonSpirit Health, an organization with a footprint of 140 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites in 21 states. During her 10 years with Dignity Health, (now part of CommonSpirit Health) she led multiple process improvement, organizational restructuring, and technology deployments. Ijeoma earned her B.A in Psychology from UCLA and her M.B.A. from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School with an emphasis in Organizational Change.

Andrew Ard - Vice President Financial Operations

Andrew Ard

Regional Vice President

Andy joined Covenant in September of 2021. He previously worked in supply chain before joining Surgical Care Affiliates, a national ASC management organization, for the past 8 years. At SCA, he held a variety of roles in supply chain, operations, and finance, with specific focuses on improving financial and operational performance and strategic planning. Andy is a graduate of Samford University with a BS in Finance.


Mike Burney

Vice President of Laboratory Services

Mike supports the laboratory related functions of Covenant Physician Partners. He has over 37 years of experience in the healthcare field. Mike has served as Administrator/CEO of DCI Laboratory; and Vice President- Lab Services at both Renal Care Group and Renal Advantage. He also served as CEO of RenaLab, providing approximately 14 million tests per year to over 650 client sites in 38 states across the US. He has also served as a consultant for lab startups. Mike has a BBA degree in Accounting and Finance from Austin Peay State University and obtained his CPA license in 1986.


Carol Crump

Regional Vice President

Carol joined Covenant in April of 2022, and brings a wealth of healthcare expertise and knowledge. Carol’s career in healthcare has expanded for over 28 years, working as a Program Manager at an HCA hospital, Director of Marketing at a Skilled Nursing Company, Sales Manager for Home Health, and Sales Network Developer at Clinical Pharmacology Network. Before joining Covenant, Carol spent over 15 years working at Surgical Care Affiliates, one of the largest operators of ambulatory surgery centers in the USA. Carol worked in the role of Administrator for a busy Ophthalmology and GI Surgery Center. She was responsible for turning around a negative cash earnings surgery center with a successful resyndication. She earned the 2009 Leadership Recognition Award, and was promoted to Director of Operations in 2010, and later Vice President of Operations. Carol had P & L responsibility for Southern California portfolio of Surgery Centers generating $102M in Net Revenue and performed over 60,000 cases annually. While at SCA, Carol was responsible for overseeing several joint ventures, and new acquisitions. Carol is a leader who strives to empower her team, boost employee and physician engagement, and exceed companywide goals. Carol earned her B.S in Medical Social Work from the University of West Florida, and her Master’s degree in Marriage Family Therapy, from the University of Phoenix.


Jeanne Desautels

Jeanne Desautels

Regional Vice President

With nearly 30 years of diverse experience within the healthcare industry, Jeanne brings a multi-disciplinary and progressive approach to management and operations. Jeanne specializes in contract negotiations, financial management, strategic planning and physician relations. Prior to joining Covenant Physician Partners, Jeanne served as Vice President of Operations at United Surgical Partners International, where she managed operations and finances of seven ambulatory surgery centers in the Denver market. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder; Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver; and Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.


Felisha Faulkner

Vice President, Strategy

Felisha joined Covenant in January 2022 and has over 14 years of healthcare experience. Currently, she works across multiple departments to collaborate on strategic growth projects as well as supports individual sites with growth plans. Previously, Felisha served in several capacities at Surgical Care Affiliates including enterprise strategy, international development, physician practice investment, total joint and spine strategy and referral alignment. Earlier in her career, she co-founded a senior technology company that provided consulting and software to senior care organizations. Prior to that, she served as a strategy consultant at Accenture where she managed strategic transformation projects for pharmaceutical and payer clients and worked on behalf of Accenture Development Partnerships (non-profit consulting) on global energy strategy in South Africa, Mexico, and Vietnam. Felisha holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.


Kristi F. Lewis, Esq.

Corporate Compliance Officer and Vice President

Ms. Lewis, CHC, CHPC, joined Covenant in 2016 and has more than 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She has held several positions with emphasis in litigation, compliance, employment, and contract negotiating, drafting, and management. During her career, Kristi has served as the Associate Counsel of Litigation and Employment at SpecialtyCare, Inc.; as Privacy Officer and Senior Legal Counsel at Healthways, Inc.; and as the Privacy Officer and Special Counsel to the Commissioner at the Department of Children’s Services. She was also a litigating attorney for the Department of Health and Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. As an adjunct professor, Kristi taught several courses in Meharry Medical College’s Master of Public Health Program, several courses in Argosy University’s undergraduate program, and she taught Business Law at the University of Phoenix and Tennessee State University. Kristi earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis and is licensed to practice in the state of Tennessee.


AnnaLyn Ogata

Regional Vice President – Hawaii

AnnaLyn joined Covenant in April 2018 and brings over 20 years of healthcare experience in the inpatient and outpatient ambulatory arena. Prior to joining Covenant, Annalyn spent eight years in a leadership position and was the Director of Oncology at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. In that role, she oversaw the Queen’s Cancer Center, Colon Screening Program, Gastrointestinal Services, Multidisciplinary Clinics, Radiation Oncology Department, and the Head and Neck Institute, along with the oncology service line, which includes inpatient oncology, clinical trials unit, navigation, survivorship and more. She served four years active duty in the United States Army as a nurse and two years in the reserves as a Non-Destructive Inspector for the Hawaii Air National Guard. AnnaLyn received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from University of Phoenix and her MBA in Health Administration from California Coast University. AnnaLyn currently oversees the operations for all the Hawaii Regions.


Lance Perkins

Vice President of Technology Services

Lance has over 20 years of healthcare IT experience, including 12 years in the dialysis industry and eight years in the ASC industry. In past roles he has held management positions at DSI Renal, Renal Care Group, and National Nephrology Associates. In the dialysis roles he held positions that integrated and supported all hardware infrastructure for 112 dialysis centers in 28 states. While currently serving as Vice President of Technology Services, he provides leadership for an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment.


Kyle Phillips

Vice President, Finance & Accounting

Kyle joined Covenant in May 2019, bringing over 14 years of Accounting and Finance experience. Prior to joining Covenant, Kyle spent six years in Big 4 public accounting with Deloitte as Audit Manager and four years as a Chief Accounting Officer and VP of Finance for Touchstone Medical Imaging. Kyle holds both an Undergraduate and Master of Accountancy from the University of Tennessee. Kyle has held various accounting and finance roles while at Covenant and currently oversees accounting and leadership on financial reporting to the board, senior leadership, lenders, and investors.


Connie StClair

Regional Vice President – Eye Care

During her more than 25 years in ophthalmic practice management and consulting, Connie StClair has strategically led teams across the country through a wide range of challenging transitions, including navigating rapid growth and implementing new technologies. She is also skilled in overseeing daily operations and development, with experience supervising finances and accounting, integrating teams and ensuring delivery of efficient and high-quality patient care. Prior to joining Covenant Physician Partners, Connie served as COO of Loden Vision Centers, an administrator at major eye centers in Georgia and California, and CEO of Victoria Eye Center in Texas. She is a Certified Ophthalmic Executive and has completed an executive program at the Yale School of Management as well as the Management Program at Rice University. She is actively involved in the American Society of Ophthalmic Association (ASOA), having served two appointments on the Board of Directors.


Jim Turner

Regional Vice President

Jim joined Covenant in June of 2021, and brings over 35 years of high-level management experience. Jim currently oversees the efforts of clinical, administrative, and financial personnel assigned to the programs in his regional market. He is focused on balancing competing interests while simultaneously working to deploy growth opportunities for Covenant in the Northeastern regional market. Jim is a seasoned professional with experience in for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare organizations. He has considerable experience in all facets of community based medical centers, public general hospitals, children’s hospitals as well as large academic medical centers and their associated faculty practices plan. Jim has two advanced degrees, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Masters in Hospital Administration (MHA), as well as a 6 Sigma Black Belt.