Our Team

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.