Leadership Team

A Fresh Vision Requires Experienced Visionaries

Premier's visionaries are accomplished and entrepreneurial. Premier is committed to constantly improving anesthesia management services.

Premier Anesthesia offers its clients a unique depth of leadership talent, evidence-based management tools and resources that stretch well beyond what others offer.

Premier's leadership team includes hospital executives, experienced anesthesiologists, practice managers and peri-operative directors. This depth means Premier Anesthesia can translate anesthesia service into a comprehensive support system for institutions.

 

Kerry Teel (President)

Kerry brings 37 years of healthcare/hospital industry experience to Premier Anesthesia. He has a track record building and managing complex, multi-facility healthcare organizations. In addition to founding and leading three healthcare companies, Kerry served as President and CEO of 526-bed Twelve Oaks Medical Center in Houston, TX from 2000 to 2006. He holds an MHA from the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Jerry Titel, MD, MBA (Vice President, Medical Affairs)

Dr. Titel is a board certified anesthesiologist with over 40 years of experience in various hospital settings. His career has included research, teaching and departmental development and management. He offers unique insight into anesthesia department development and operations. Trained in medicine at the University of Chicago, Dr. Titel also holds an MBA with honors from Pepperdine University. He began his association with Premier Anesthesia in 1991.

Norb Hummel (Executive Vice President)

Norb is a healthcare veteran with over 25 years experience growing successful practice groups. His background in banking and physician group practice management allow him to be a trusted resource to physicians and administrators seeking to optimize their service viability. He currently directs operational, business and recruiting services for all Premier sites.

Gale Ory, CPA (VP of Finance/CFO)

Gale is a CPA with over 25 years experience in various public accounting and industry settings.  She joined the Jackson Healthcare family of companies in 2000 working with Premier Anesthesia, LocumTenens.com and Jackson & Coker.  She holds a bachelors degree from the University of New Orleans and is a member of the GSCPA and the AICPA.  Gale is the financial leader of Premier Anesthesia responsible for internal and external reporting.

Wally Anderson (Vice President, Chief Development Officer)

Wally has been a sales and business development innovator in the healthcare industry for over 30 years. He is responsible for implementing and executing business development strategies that will ensure Premier Anesthesia's market leadership. Wally brings to Premier an understanding of the executive and board level challenges health systems face, having served with McKesson Provider Technologies, Johnson & Johnson, Baxter Healthcare and IBM. 

Ron McDaniel (Vice President, Development)

Ron leads Premier's new business development, in addition to managing contracts and new client assessments. He brings over 35 years of healthcare industry experience to Premier's clients. A former administrator of a multi-site hospital system, Ron has served on the Board of Directors of two publicly traded companies and held executive positions with both public and private companies. He has also participated in a successful IPO and several mergers.

Lewis Benedict (Director, Business Development)

Lew brings a proven track record in business development and marketing to Premier Anesthesia. He has over 10 years experience in the medical staffing industry, having actively served the unique needs of physicians and hospital executives. He holds a bachelor's in business administration and marketing from Georgia State University.

Charles Payette (Director, Recruiting)

With over 20 years in healthcare recruiting experience, Charles brings a proven track record to Premier Anesthesia.  He orchestrates Premier's recruitment of and contracts with anesthesiologists and CRNAs.  Charles holds a business management and marketing degree from Mercer University and began his association with Jackson Healthcare in the 1980s.

Pryia Rice (Recruiter)

Prior to joining Premier, Pryia has been a staffing consultant for hospitals for over 9 years.  She has successfully managed staffing projects for up to 160 employees involving senior administration, management personnel, physicians and ancillary staff. Pryia holds a B. S. from Nova Southeastern University in Finance.

Lynn Epps (Regional Director)

Lynn brings 15 years of experience in healthcare operations from multiple healthcare facilities to Premier.  She has served in clinical management roles with Concentra medical centers, NovaCare and Atlantic Health Group.  Lynn is a graduate of the University of Georgia.

Diane Kriegel, RN, MBA, FACHE (Regional Director)

Diane brings more than 30 years of clinical and managerial experience (including surgical services) to the Premier team. She most recently served as Director of Peri-Operative Services at a 350-bed community hospital in California. Over her extensive career, Diane has worked in healthcare operations, business development, performance improvement and clinical management. She holds an MBA and nursing degrees, is a licensed RN in the state of Florida, and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

Richard Sandvos, FACHE (Regional Director)

Rick offers a broad background in both financial and anesthesia department management.  Prior to Premier, he served with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation and West Tennessee Healthcare.  Rick holds an MA in Economics from the University of Memphis and an MS in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Lisa Farmer (Vice President, Billing & Collections)

Lisa brings more than 20 years of healthcare practice management and revenue cycle experience to Premier.  She offers specialized experience in anesthesia services.