What is your position at Orchard?
I am the Senior VP of Operations and joined the company at the beginning of January 2022.
What type of work did you do before joining our company?
My entire career has been in healthcare IT, on the vendor side. I have worked in many different verticals, including clinical solutions, practice management, enterprise resource planning (supply chain), capacity management, surgery and anesthesia solutions, enterprise staff and patient scheduling, as well as room management solutions, among others. For the last 25 years I have been in VP positions leading customer support, sales and implementation teams.
I am passionate about this industry because it is mission critical and impactful. We are a vital component in the complex machinery of quality healthcare delivery.
I started as an implementation analyst/project manager fresh out of the University of Illinois and was almost immediately managing my own projects. I knew right away that I had made the right choice. I had been recruited by Wausau Insurance Companies—a huge industrial business insurer that is now part of Nationwide—as graduation approached for two positions: Underwriter and Claims Adjuster. I was having difficulty deciding, and the HR recruiter made an off-hand comment about a small company that had recently been acquired which was called Management Systems of Wausau. That group had a position open that had something to do with computers and doctors’ offices. I immediately said, “I’ll take that!” on the spot, no hesitation. All these years later, I still consider that to be the most meaningful point in my career—and it was before it even started!
What excites you about joining Orchard?
There is so much about the company and opportunity that excites me. The company has a great reputation, terrific products, and is positioned for growth. Growth is great and preferred to all other scenarios. Growth also presents or uncovers all sorts of challenges and hurdles which, in turn, creates an environment for everyone to innovate, learn, grow, try new things, and stretch. The experiences you gain during business growth are invaluable. I am also excited to join a strong leadership team at the executive level and within Operations.
What do you like to do when you’re not at the office?
I play basketball every Saturday morning from 6-8 AM, play touch football on Sunday mornings (Sept. – Dec.), play on a softball team called the Friars (the original guys that started the team were classmates in the seminary—none made it to ordination!), play golf, and bike on the nearby riverside trails. Basketball is my favorite activity, and not only because a group of us go directly to our favorite local diner for a huge breakfast after.
My wife and I like to binge-stream limited series on Netflix and Prime, especially the British mysteries (we watch everything Olivia Coleman is in). I enjoyed the recent Beatles documentary enormously (I don’t want to say when I first recall seeing the Beatles—huge fan). I also enjoy reading non-fiction books on leaders like Lincoln, Grant, Kennedy, and Iacocca, as well as on history (Civil War, Vietnam, CIA, etc.).
My wife, Bev, is a self-made master cook and baker, which works out well for me because I love eating!
I was a Cubs season ticket holder 1999 through 2021 and got to go to two world series games in 2016.
Any additional information you would like to provide:
I’ve been married for 37 years and have two daughters. Mallory (husband Marc) is a social worker in a suburban school system and lives nearby. Mal and Marc have two children, Jackson (5) and Penny (2). We get to spend a lot of time with the grandkids on the weekends. Joanna (husband Jake) lives in Tujunga (LA), California and is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Glendale Community College. She is also a published author in the Al-fiction/horror genre with dozens of short stories appearing in various anthologies and collections and four books (under Joanna Parypinski and Jo Kaplan) with a fifth just sold, scheduled for fall 2022 release.
Motto or personal mantra?
1) Embrace change or get run over by it.
2) What got you here might not get you there.
3) Be positive.
Who inspires you?
Innovators and collaborative change leaders.
What is your biggest achievement to date – personal or professional?
Finding my wife and getting her to marry me!
Talking to Freddie Mercury from the third row at a concert in Chicago right after Bohemian Rhapsody was released.
Favorite newspaper, blog, or podcast?
I read the Chicago Sun-Times every day, cover to cover—old school. Including the crosswords.
Where’s your favorite place in the world?
Basketball court, tied game, next point wins.
What’s the last book you read?
JFK’s War (by Douglas Horne) and The Last Days of John Lennon (by James Patterson)
What is on your bucket list?,
Taking my dad to a Cubs World Series game was a big mission accomplished.
What music is on your phone?
Classic rock: The Who, The Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jethro Tull, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty… OK Boomer!
