Steve Priest
Chief Executive Officer and President
Steve serves as the CEO and President of Spero Health with almost 30 years of experience in leading healthcare organizations. He has a diverse background in operations, business development, accounting & finance and leadership development in both large multi-national, multi-site companies and small entrepreneurial organizations. Prior to Spero Health, Steve served as Senior Vice President & Chief Wisdom Officer at DaVita HealthCare Partners. During his tenure at DaVita, he led the operations of more than 400 individual treatment centers across the United States. In addition, he had responsibilities in leadership development, training & education and culture for more than 65,000 teammates at DaVita. Steve also proudly serves as a board member for two non-profit, mission-driven organizations – Bridge of Life Medical Missions and the Sean Karl Foundation. Steve and his wife Sheila live in Brentwood, Tenn. and enjoy spending time with their four children, traveling and time at the lake.
Rick Adams
Chief Financial Officer
Rick Adams joined Spero Health in August 2017, with over 25 years of experience in multi-site healthcare financial operations, planning and administration. Prior to joining Spero, he spent 10 years with DaVita, Inc., the largest provider of kidney dialysis services in the U.S., serving as Senior Director, Finance, overseeing financial operations and planning for over 350 southeastern clinics. Before DaVita, Rick served in financial leadership roles with several leading healthcare companies, with special focus on physician practice management, diagnostic and ambulatory healthcare services. He began his career in public accounting with KPMG, following graduation from the University of Tennessee. Rick lives in Franklin, Tenn., and enjoys spending time with his wife and teenage children.
Dena Levine
Chief People Officer
Dena came to Spero Health from Healogics, where she was the Vice President of Human Resources. There she developed a people-services strategy around performance management, teammate engagement and talent acquisition to support more than 3,000 teammates in 800 centers. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as the Group People Services Director for DaVita Healthcare Partners where she managed People Services operations for two operating groups and several business units (including Corporate Development, Wisdom, Mergers & Acquisitions and Payor Contracting) across 500 dialysis centers with 15,000 teammates in 12 states. Dena holds a Master’s in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University in New York and a B.S. in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. Dena enjoys travel, cooking and fitness classes.
Edward Littlejohn
Chief Operating Officer
Ed comes to Spero Health as former COO of Meridian Behavioral Health Systems in Nashville. In that role, he had responsibility over 9 facilities in 6 states and made significant contributions to the business through the establishment of continuous improvement and operational quality practices throughout the organization. Previously in his career, Ed served as a COO of hospitals owned by Tenet Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and HCA. Ed holds an MPH degree in Healthcare Policy and Management from Columbia University in New York and a Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from California State University, Northridge. Ed and his wife have two children and he enjoys traveling, playing golf and spending time with his family and friends.
Justin Page
Chief Legal Officer
Justin comes to Spero from Envision Healthcare (formerly AmSurg), where he spent almost 10 years providing legal support to all aspects of the business – regulatory compliance, transactions, contracting, licensure, dispute resolution, managed care, and government investigations, among others. Most recently he served as Associate General Counsel with responsibility over Envision’s enterprise operations team, supporting hospital-based physician services as well as outpatient surgical services. Prior to that, Justin served as lead operations counsel for AmSurg’s ambulatory surgery center business, where he oversaw legal support for over 250 ASCs located in over 35 states and advised senior leadership on a variety of strategic initiatives. Justin has a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt. He is a Tennessee native and has lived in the Nashville area for the past 15 years. In his spare time, he enjoys live music, playing guitar, running (slowly), traveling, and spending time with his wife and three children.
Mark Rappé
Senior Vice President, Development
Mark has over 25 years of healthcare experience specializing in mergers and acquisitions, physician practice management, dialysis services, home health, urgent care, multi-site development and financial management. Prior to joining Spero Health, Mark led business development for Med First and served as a Vice President of Corporate Development in roles with QualDerm Partners and DaVita Dialysis. Mark also served as Vice President of Operations for HCA Physician Services, CFO for Sona MedSpa, Vice President of Financial Operations for PhyCor and CFO/COO for Southeast Healthcare. Mark graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Accounting, and enjoys traveling with his family, scuba diving and sailing in his spare time.
Jim Andrews
Vice President, Revenue Operations
Jim has more than 20 years of leadership experience in revenue cycle operations. Most recently at Fresenius, he spent five years leading the overall revenue cycle performance for 225 dialysis clinics in seven states with more than $750 million in annual revenue. He was successful in driving performance metrics that consistently exceeded corporate standards. Prior to that, Jim held revenue cycle leadership roles in home health, DME/oxygen and hospital companies. He holds MBA and MHA degrees from Georgia State University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. Jim enjoys hiking, sailing, live music and traveling with his wife and family.
David Hayden
MA, LCADC; Senior Vice President, Clinical Services
David has more than 25 years of experience in behavioral healthcare. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Eastern Kentucky University. He is also a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor with experience in treatment, clinical supervision and training. Before coming to Spero Health, David was Director of Substance Abuse Services for a non-profit community mental health agency. He has experience in residential, non-medical detoxification, outpatient and medication-assisted treatment. David has led training programs in motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care and treatment for co-occurring disorders. He has served as a consultant and peer reviewer with knowledge in Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care, as well as program management and development. David is a Certified NIATx (Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment) Change Leader. David is committed to helping people overcome challenges to live a life of meaning and purpose as they define it, and developing systems that support this.
Dave Hoerman
Vice President, Spero University
Dave joined the Spero Health Community in September of 2020 to serve as Vice President of Spero University. He has been expanding his capabilities in leadership development, coaching, training and organizational development for almost 30 years. Dave has extensive experience in leading training both within the U.S. as well as internationally, in the technology, banking and healthcare industries with organizations such as Citigroup, Salomon Smith Barney, Deutsche Bank, Gambro Healthcare, and most recently, Dave served as Chief Wisdom Officer at DaVita Inc. Dave served on the Board of Directors at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, and is currently on the Board of Bridge of Life Medical Missions. Dave and his wife, Anita, are originally from Philadelphia. They have lived in Delaware, Tennessee, and Colorado, and are currently enjoying a return to the Nashville TN area. Dave loves spending time with Anita, playing drums and piano, visiting their three daughters at college, as well as spending as much time as possible enjoying outdoor sports and recreation.
Ginger Jackson
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Ginger has played a role in the launch and evolution of 95+ Spero Health locations, employing diverse segmented marketing strategies and digital innovation. Her focus on community outreach and development ensures that more people have access to lifesaving treatment. A graduate of Morehead State University in Kentucky, Ginger holds a B.A. in Business Administration and Marketing. She began her career at Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company, excelling in managing key accounts and earning national and regional recognition through multiple awards. Following her time at Pfizer, Ginger served as a healthcare consultant, collaborating with magnet hospitals nationwide to integrate processes and marketing plans, driving organizational goals and cost savings. Residing in central Kentucky, Ginger is passionately dedicated to raising awareness and transforming public perception of addiction. During her leisure time, she and her husband can be found cheering on their three kids at cross country courses, tracks, football fields, or basketball courts.
Matt Sirasky
Vice President, Finance
Prior to joining Spero Health, Matt served and led a variety of teams in public accounting and industry finance. His most recent role, as controller of a multi-state, multi-site healthcare entity, included leading the accounting and finance functions. Matt is a CPA and earned a Master of Accountancy from the University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Business Administration from Samford University in Birmingham, AL. He and his wife, Melissa, reside in Birmingham, where they are raising their two daughters and son. Weekends are busy for their family with sports teams, dance recitals, church activities and a few annual camping trips.
Chris Rathermel
Vice President, Technology
Chris joined Spero Health with rich knowledge in designing, developing, and globally scaling IT solutions. Responsible for leading software teams, security and infrastructure, Chris has experience working for a diverse portfolio of industry sectors. He has expertise in security and scalable distributed systems in high-performing teams, with a special focus on bettering lives with tech solutions. Prior to Spero Health, Chris served as VP of Technology at Bridge Connector and AVP of Technology at Work Institute, improving security and policy practices, organizational sizing for international growth with leading defense contractors and large health care systems. He co-founded MEDarchon, where he created and patented the technology for a web and smartphone app-based system, Quarc, that improves the clinical communication process.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in management information systems. He loves a good hackathon or tech meetup serving local nonprofits and aspiring Nashville tech talent. He enjoys spending time with his family and relaxing anywhere he can around the water.
