Conference Speakers
CEO and Co-Founder, Montecito Medical
and MontecitoPLUS
As a co-founder of Montecito Medical and MontecitoPLUS, Chip serves as CEO and is responsible for the company’s vision and extraordinary growth. He plays a central, hands-on role in the company’s success, and under his leadership Montecito has transacted on over $6.5 billion in medical real estate and emerged as one of the nation’s top privately held acquirer of medical office buildings, and in each of the past seven years, GlobeSt.com named the company as a “Key Influencer in Healthcare Real Estate.”
Chip is nationally recognized in the industry. In 2021, he was named Healthcare Real Estate Executive of the Year by Healthcare Real Estate Insights (HREI). He also has received The Developer & Builder Alliance Visionary Award for Real Estate Development.
Foot & Ankle Specialist, OrthoCarolina
We are honored to have Dr. Bruce Cohen as this year’s chair.
Dr. Cohen has served in a leadership capacity throughout his tenure with OrthoCarolina, including serving as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Operations Committee as OrthoCarolina established itself as a nationally recognized model for patient success and value-based care. He served as CEO of OrthoCarolina from 2016-2023. He currently is a Professor of Orthopedics at Atrium Health – Carolinas Medical Center. He also has acted as a principal investigator in numerous active research projects through the OrthoCarolina Research Institute (OCRI).
CEO, One Health
Dr. David Cook is a seasoned physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive with over 35 years of experience leading transformational change in primary care. He has founded and scaled some of the region’s largest and most innovative care platforms, including one of Charlotte’s largest primary care practices, the Lake Norman Community Health Clinic, and the Novant Health Family Medicine Residency Program. As a former health system executive, he led strategy, population health, value-based care, and EHR implementation—always with a focus on quality, provider wellness, and cost-effective care.
Today, Dr. Cook serves as Co-CEO of OneHealth and Modern Primary Care Consultants, continuing to drive innovation and integration across healthcare systems, payers, and provider organizations.
Founder and Principal Advisor, Alison Curfman MD LLC
Alison Curfman, MD, MBA is a pediatric emergency physician, healthcare strategist, and founder who has helped build and scale clinical innovations across the healthcare ecosystem. After incubating her first company at a leading private equity firm, she launched Imagine Pediatrics—a value-based medical group serving high-needs children on Medicaid. In less than two years, she scaled the company to over 300 employees and 35,000 patients, achieving a multi-nine-figure valuation.
She brings deep operational experience in clinical model design, value-based care, technology development, and physician leadership. Through her work, she has supported healthcare organizations in translating vision into execution—while improving outcomes for some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.
Now as the founder of Startup Physicians, Alison helps other physicians apply their clinical expertise in innovation, startups, and venture. She advises early-stage companies and investors on clinical strategy, go-to-market planning, and regulatory alignment.
Alison’s mission is to create pathways for physicians to shape the future of healthcare. She believes startups offer physicians powerful opportunities to apply their expertise in new ways—and that meaningful innovation must be rooted in clinical insight.
CEO, Arena Labs
Keynote Speaker
Brian has spent his career working in high-performance organizations, learning from leaders and decision-makers in US national security, the military, and emerging technology. He has used those experiences to build Arena Labs, a company pioneering the field of High Performance Medicine ® and working across healthcare, elite military, the performing arts and professional sports.
Arena Labs partners with the top surgical, trauma, ICU and emergency department teams to use human performance data as a means of reducing medical error. By providing frontline doctors and nurses with tools and frameworks used by the world’s top performers under pressure, Arena Labs isredefining healthcare and using lessons-learned from hospitals for best-practices in sport, business and the military.
SVP, Capital Markets, Montecito Medical
Mike leads the capital raising initiatives at Montecito Medical, as well as strategic capital decisions for MontecitoPLUS. Mike also works as a family office advisor to the owners of Montecito. Mike has spent almost 20 years in financial services where he worked for large institutions such as Truist and J.P. Morgan. In his previous roles, Mike advised high net worth families, family offices, foundations, and endowments on complex financial situations. He remains active in the Nashville community where he serves on the board of trustees for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and volunteers for other non-profits.
CEO and Founder, SwitchPoint Ventures
Ray Guzman is CEO of SwitchPoint Ventures, where he has led the company’s growth from startup to over $100 million in enterprise value, with multiple successful exits. A seasoned technology and innovation leader, Ray brings 25+ years of experience spanning early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies, including Microsoft. He also serves on the boards of Ascend Federal Credit Union, Belmont University, and Montecito Medical, with expertise in AI governance and strategic growth. A U.S. Army veteran, Ray’s leadership is rooted in operational excellence and a forward-thinking approach to technology’s impact on business.
CEO, Barton Associates, Inc.
April Hansen, MSN, RN, serves as chief executive officer of Barton Associates, the sixth-largest physician staffing company in the U.S. Previously, Hansen was group president, workforce solutions at Aya Healthcare, where she achieved record-setting 27x growth in just six years through digital transformation.
Her career has taken her from nurse to serial entrepreneur to executive and noted business and personal growth expert. A Top 100 Workforce Leader and TEDx speaker, Hansen has appeared in news outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post, SIA 40.
CEO, Arrowlytics
Steve joined the Montecito family of companies through the acquisition of Arrowlytics in September of 2024. Steve is a proven, results oriented executive with 35+ years’ healthcare experience in a variety of executive, operational and information systems roles within large healthcare / physician delivery systems, entrepreneurial and investor-backed healthcare services organizations and IT companies. Former COO of Optum Specialty Practices, CEO of OrthoArizona, COO and CIO of OrthoCarolina (2005-2024); former senior executive with several healthcare services and information technology firms including MED3000, Health 1st Network, SeaView IPA, Heritage Health Systems, United Medical Care, Family HealthCare Associates and Medic Computer Systems (Misys) from (1989-2005). Steve’s extensive healthcare experience crosses all aspects of the provider side of healthcare. He has experience implementing and managing risk based / value-based contracts within primary care and specialty-based practices as well as large IPA networks. Steve received his degree in Computer Engineering from Forsyth College.
Clinical Advisory Board Member, Seed Healthcare
Dr. Mitesh Kothari attended the University of Maryland at College Park from 1987-1991 where he studied Finance. Following graduation, he attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine and graduated with his medical degree in 1995. Dr. Kothari then trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Maryland Medical System. After completing his training, he started a solo medical practice in his hometown of Hagerstown, MD. He eventually grew his small practice, which started with only 2 employees, to become one of the largest practices in the country, employing 100 people and 26 medical providers in one location. He was instrumental in the startup of several other Maryland practices during his career. He enjoyed both the clinical and business side of his profession. He retired from clinical medicine in 2024 and enjoys consulting with organizations on practice efficiencies, growth, and medical real estate. Dr. Kothari has enjoyed giving back to his community and has served on over 20 local non-profit boards, chairing many of them along the way.
CEO, OneOncology
Jeff Patton, MD, is a board-certified hematologist and oncologist, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at OneOncology, where he also served as President of Physician Services for over a year. His primary mission is to improve the lives of everyone living with cancer. Dr. Patton is leading OneOncology in growing their advanced partnership of top community oncology practices and positioning them to support the entire continuum of cancer care in any reimbursement environment. Dr. Patton practiced with Tennessee Oncology, one of the nation’s leading oncology practices, for 24 years. He is currently the Chairman of the Board, Tennessee Oncology, and served as CEO of Tennessee Oncology for a decade (2010-2020). Dr. Patton is also an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Tennessee Oncology Practice Society (TOPS), and is a board member and member of the executive committee of Community Oncology Alliance (COA).