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Our story

began over three decades ago, when Debbie Martin, a respiratory therapist by training, recognized the need for better patient service in the long-term care space. She envisioned a care model of better diagnostics, faster.

Founded in the philosophy that “every tube is a patient”, our relentless pursuit of patient care has guided our path for over thirty years to become the largest clinical laboratory service provider to the long-term care market in the United States.

Today our scale, tech-enabled logistics network, and speed have made us the preferred choice for healthcare providers seeking unparalleled service and quality in the home.

Leadership

Debbie Martin

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Martin

President

Nirav R. Shah

Chief Medical Officer

Al Bowles

Head of Partnerships

Daniel Schwartz

Chief Development Officer

Jay Kaczmarzewski

Chief Information Officer

Derek Mathieson

Chief of Staff and VP of Strategic Initiatives

Jennifer Holt

SVP of Revenue Cycle Management and Compliance

Mindy De. Medeiros

SVP of Operations, New England and Imaging for Eastern US

Corey Gillen

SVP of Customer Success

Andrea Hart

SVP of Operations, Midwest

Stephanie Brauns

SVP of Human Resources

Advisory Board Members

Kenneth T. Schiciano

Jason Friedman

Christian Baatz

Our Mission

At American Health Associates we believe that healthcare should be kind.  For us, “every tube is a patient.”  We bring compassion and excellence to every lab test, every patient exam, and every patient visit. Every day.

We also believe in the incredible power of diagnostic data to improve patient’s lives. Disease is uncovered through chemical markers measured in the diagnostic process.

Approximately 70% of all clinical decisions are made based on lab diagnostics, and nearly all disease is preventable or at least mitigated through early diagnosis and intervention.

We are grateful for the opportunity to empower providers and patients with the accurate and reliable data they need to guide their health decisions with confidence. 

Debbie Martin

Founder and CEO

Debbie Martin founded American Health Associates in October of 1990 to provide high-quality, reliable clinical reference laboratory services to physicians’ offices. After seeing gaps in quality of services to long-term care facilities and a need for better patient care, she positioned American Health to begin serving nursing homes and the range of post-acute care facilities emerging in the early 2000’s. Debbie continues to be involved in the company’s clinical operations and ensures high-quality levels of patient care and customer service. Prior to American Health Associates, Debbie worked in sales at Baxter.  Debbie is a registered respiratory therapist.

Christopher Martin

President

Christopher Martin is the President of American Health Associates and has been with the company since 2013. Chris led the largest acquisition (MEDLAB) in American Health’s history, tripling the size of the business. Chris holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from Duke University. He completed the Owners and Presidents Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2023. Chris was recognized as a global shaper by the World Economic Forum and is the former Chapter Chair of the Miami Chapter of YPO. He is Chair of the Diagnostics Testing Committee for the National Association for the Support of Long-Term Care, is a member of the American Academy of Clinical Chemistry, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the American Clinical Laboratory Association. Chris is the former Chair of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business Healthcare Alumni Advisory Board and is a member of Fuqua’s Health Sector Advisory Council.

Nirav R. Shah

Chief Medical Officer 

Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH is the Chief Medical Officer of American Health Associates and serves as a Senior Scholar at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He is a leader in digital health and innovation, care transformation, patient safety and quality, and the strategies required to transition to high value, patient-centered care. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, and as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Shah is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale School of Medicine, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Al Bowles

Head of Partnerships

Al Bowles has deep expertise in steering organizations through change in today’s complex healthcare environment. In an executive career spanning diverse healthcare organizations, Al was a driving force behind growth strategies, market pivots, product/service transformations, acquisitions and other consequential changes creating positive, long-term outcomes for the organizations and the people they serve. 

Most recently at Quest Diagnostics, Al served as senior executive for 50% of the company’s $9 billion in revenue. Under his leadership Quest tripled its revenue growth by transforming its fee-for-services emphasis to an in-network partnership with major health insurers. Al’s prior experience includes leadership positions with CIGNA, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and United Health Group, where Al was a key strategist and M&A dealmaker forging the creation of Optum—a consolidated group of healthcare services that is today a $277B business.

Daniel Schwartz

Chief Development Officer

Daniel Schwartz is the Chief Development Officer of American Health Associates. He is an experienced deal professional, and was a Partner in the merger and acquisition group of the national law firm Akerman LLP. Daniel has been appointed to numerous posts in Florida by three consecutive Florida Governors. He recently served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the State of Florida’s venture capital fund (The Florida Opportunity Fund). 

Jay Kaczmarzewski

Chief Information Officer

Jay Kaczmarzewski is the Chief Information Officer of American Health Associates.  He is a recognized information technology leader in the healthcare space.  Jay has led numerous teams building technology products for large health plans and health systems, as well as laboratory and pharmaceutical organizations, with a focus on data utilization and technology to improve patient outcomes while reducing treatment and administrative costs.  He was a leader at Accenture, Deloitte and HP and led large scale data and product development initiatives at Mayo Clinic, Advent Health, Advisory Board, GuideWell – Florida Blue, United Healthcare, Optum, BCBS of Michigan, Blue Shield of California, BCBS of Tennessee, Capital Blue Cross, Capital District Physicians Health Plan (CDPHP) and Health Alliance Plan.

Derek Mathieson

Chief of Staff and VP of Strategic Initiatives

Derek Mathieson is the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. He leads the implementation and project management of key at-home services clients along with supporting American Health’s leadership team on key initiatives. Prior to American Health, Derek was with Amazon for 6 years as the Head of Program Management focused on marketplace expansion in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. Derek has an M.B.A. from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Jennifer Holt

SVP of Revenue Cycle Management and Compliance

Jennifer Holt is the Senior Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management and Compliance for American Health Associates. She has oversight of all revenue cycle billing and collections in multi-state locations and is responsible for ensuring compliance with all state and federal regulations governing American Health’s laboratory, imaging diagnostic, and at-home services. Jen has more than 25 years of experience in medical billing in the diagnostic care space, including 16 years at Schryver Medical and 4 years at TridentCare.

Mindy De. Medeiros

SVP of Operations, New England and Imaging for Eastern US

Mindy De. Medeiros is the Senior Vice President of Operations, New England and leads American Health’s imaging operations in the Eastern United States. She joined American Health in January of 2021 when the company acquired Mobile Xray Diagnostics (MXD). Mindy has more than 20 years of experience in mobile radiology through her time at Mobile Medical Radiography, MobilexUSA, and TridentCare. Mindy was a key player in the original team behind US Labs and Radiology (acquired by Trident) building the Northeast Region (lab and imaging) in NH, VT, ME, MA, RI and CT.

Corey Gillen

SVP of Customer Success

Corey Gillen is American Health Associates’ Senior Vice President of Customer Success.  She has worked in the laboratory industry since 1996 and has extensive experience in laboratory operations and customer service and success. Corey previously served in Medi-Lab’s (Ohio) billing operations and with MEDLAB as an Account Manager and Director before joining American Health’s senior operations team. She leads key initiatives with American Health’s clients and large national corporate contracts as well as providing support internally in various operations capacities. 

Andrea Hart

SVP of Operations, Midwest

Andrea Hart is the Senior Vice President of Operations, Midwest for American Health Associates and has been with the company since American Health’s 2014 acquisition of MEDLAB. She manages the day-to-day operations in OH, IN, MI, IL, MO and KY related to long-term care facilities, at-home patients, and clinical laboratories. Prior to her time at American Health, Andrea served in various capacities with MEDLAB for 15 years including Billing, Patient Service, Operations Expansion and Client Management. Andrea is a trained Nurse and Medical Assistant.

Stephanie Brauns

SVP of Human Resources

Stephanie Brauns is the SVP of Human Resources of American Health Associates. She is a human resource executive with over 30 years of experience in human resource management. Stephanie is inspired to innovate and make an impact on an organization’s most valuable asset, its people. Since joining the company in 2014, Stephanie has been responsible for leading AHA’s overall human resources strategy, talent acquisition, workforce planning and other key human resources functions. Stephanie works closely with AHA’s leadership team to build and manage an HR organization that reflects and supports the company’s dynamic needs. 

Kenneth T. Schiciano

Ken Schiciano joined TA Associates in 1988 and has 35 years of experience in the private equity industry, with deep expertise in the software and financial technology space. TA Associates, founded in the 1960s, is a leading global private equity firm focused on scaling growth in profitable companies. Ken formerly served as co-head of TA’s North America Technology Group. He became a Managing Director of TA in 2000 and a Senior Advisor of the firm in 2022. Ken holds a BS, summa cum laude, in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Duke University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master of Science in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

Jason Friedman

Jason Friedman is a Partner of Marathon Asset Management, Global Head of Strategy & Business Development and a member of Marathon’s Executive and Investment Committees.  Mr. Friedman is responsible for Marathon’s firmwide business development and strategy, fund structuring, and client communications for the Marathon Family of Funds.  From 1996 to 2007, Mr. Friedman worked for CCMP Capital and its predecessors JP Morgan Partners, Chase Capital Partners and Chemical Venture Partners, where he was a Principal.

Mr. Friedman has been engaged in all aspects of the investment process including sourcing transactions, performing complex investment analyses and diligence, developing growth and restructuring strategies in conjunction with management teams and monitoring Company performance at the Board of Director level. Prior to joining CCMP in 1996, Mr. Friedman began his career working as an investment banking analyst with Chemical Bank’s Acquisition Finance and Global Loan Syndication groups.  Mr. Friedman holds a BA in Public Policy and Economics, cum laude, from Duke University and has an MBA with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from the Harvard Business School.

Christian Baatz

Christian Baatz was named Managing Partner of Merz Holding GmbH & Co. KG in 2012. In addition to this role, he serves as Member of the Merz Holding Board and Supervisory Board for Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KG.

Christian Baatz belongs to the fourth generation of the Merz family and first joined the company in 2011 preparing the transition from the third to the fourth generation of shareholders. Before joining he gained experience in management consulting working for ZS Associates, Inc. in Frankfurt, Germany. He is passionate about family and business governance and has worked to build the Merz system according to best practices and the needs of the shareholders and operations.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business administration and a Master of Arts in Marketing, Services and Communication Management both from University St. Gallen, Switzerland while gaining international experience in Singapore and Mexico. He also completed The Owner/President Management Program (OPM) at Harvard Business School in spring 2022 and is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).