Meet Our Leadership Team

Dennis has more than 40 years’ experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served as CORA’s CFO for almost nine years. Before that, he was CFO of Arbor Healthcare, a publicly traded company that developed and operated long-term care, subacute facilities and ancillary services such as institutional pharmaceuticals and outpatient rehabilitation. Dennis has also served as Corporate Controller at Triad Healthcare and, later, Treasurer and VP of Corporate Finance at its predecessor company, Nu-Med, Inc., and as an audit manager with Touche Ross & Co. in their healthcare department. Dennis holds a BS in accounting from Brigham Young University and is a CPA licensed to practice in California, Colorado, and Ohio.

Brad has been involved the healthcare industry for over 30 years. During his tenure at CORA, he has overseen the company’s compliance, business development and payer contracting. Prior, Brad was Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel at Arbor Healthcare, a publicly traded company that developed and operated long term care, sub-acute facilities and ancillary services such as institutional pharmaceuticals and outpatient rehabilitation. He also served as General Counsel for Health Care REIT, Inc., a publicly traded company that finances healthcare, assisted living and related projects. An attorney licensed to practice in Ohio and federal court, Brad has both his BA and JD degrees from Ohio Northern University.

Steve has more than 19 years of accounting and finance experience, operating in several roles at Ernst & Young, LLP, most recently as Senior Manager-Assurance, prior to joining CORA. He received a BS in accounting from the University of Toledo and is a member of the Ohio Society of CPAs. While at Ernst & Young, Steve operated on the engagement teams of multiple publicly traded and private clients while working in several industries, including healthcare. He also serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit charity organizations in Northwest Ohio and has taught accounting-related continuing education classes.

Luis has been in the outpatient orthopedic setting since 1998 and with CORA Physical Therapy since 2002. His career at CORA evolved from Physical Therapist/Clinic Manager at a startup clinic in Miami, Florida, to his current position as Senior Vice President, Operations, where he oversees acquisition integration and operations, as well as our Rapid Referral call center department.

Luis is a graduate of the University of Miami, where he earned his BHS in Physical Therapy in 1998 and double-majored in Exercise Physiology and Exercise Science. His Master’s degree in Physical Therapy is from Nova Southeastern University, which he earned in 2000.

Javier has been in the physical therapy industry since 1997. He started as a physical therapist with CORA in 2000, where his position has evolved from serving as a companywide leader in workers compensation and multi-market operations to his current role overseeing all existing clinic operations. Javi is a graduate of Florida International University with a BHS in Physical Therapy and also earned his certification in OSHA outreach training for general industry from the University of South Florida, as well as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.

For more than a decade, Kessem has handled compliance and clinical systems for CORA and now heads up those areas. Prior to CORA, Kessem was the Director of Dadeland Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, a full-service outpatient physical therapy clinic. Kessem was also a lab instructor at the University of Miami, specializing in orthopedic and therapeutic exercise courses. Kessem is a graduate of the University of Miami with an MS in Physical Therapy.

Brian pours 30+ years’ healthcare industry experience into implementing CORA’s acquisition and de-novo development programs and the more than 90 CORA clinics he has developed. Prior to CORA, he served as CEO and founder of On Site Physio, a provider of physical therapy services for the workers’ compensation market. Brian has also worked for national and regional organizations in acquisition and development activities throughout the United States. He is a graduate of Lycoming College with a BA in Business Administration and Finance.

Bill handles all sales and marketing activities and implementation of the company’s growth strategy, including CORA’s strategic alignments and partnerships for sales growth. Prior to working at CORA, he was the Director of Sales and Marketing – Imaging for the Adventist Healthcare System. With more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Bill has significant experience in ambulatory surgery center development and mergers and acquisitions. Bill has a BS degree from Providence College.

Sally was the president/CEO for Re-Ability and in the process of opening five of her own physical therapy clinics when she joined CORA in 1999. Her operational oversight and developmental responsibilities include clinics in the Jacksonville market in addition to the Central Florida and Tampa regions and home physical therapy. Prior, she was an area manager for Rehability Sports Medicine, developing 11 of their clinics. With 25+ years in the healthcare industry, Sally is a certified ergonomic assessment specialist and a graduate of the University of Florida, with a BHS in Physical Therapy and BS in Exercise and Sport Sciences, with a specialization in athletic training.

Rulon has more than 10 years of corporate accounting experience working in several positions within the accounting department at CORA. He currently oversees the preparation of all internal financial reports. Additionally, he works closely with our CFO and operations team on clinical financial performance as well as key indicators of clinic performance and efficiency. Rulon has a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting and Economics from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Northwestern Ohio.

From the demanding areas of continuous improvement and lean processes, to change management and talent selection, Jeri has CORA covered. Her 25 years of human resource leadership experience includes 10 years at Danaher Corporation where she served as VP of Human Resources for multiple divisions. She holds a BS in International Relations from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) since 1998.

Lynne joined CORA in early 2017, bringing with her more than 20 years of healthcare experience at health plans including Humana, Aetna, WellCare and Florida Blue, where she was most recently Senior Regional Director, Provider Networks. She also credits her robust expertise with time spent with Shands Healthcare and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust in London. Lynne earned her BA in Biology from Albion College and her MA in Blind Rehabilitation from Western Michigan University.

Sue Ella is responsible for operational oversight in North Carolina and South Carolina. Prior to joining CORA, Sue Ella was majority owner and President of Carolina Physical Therapy Associates, a successful growing practice in eastern North Carolina, which merged its operations into CORA in October 2016. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Pfeiffer University in 2002. Sue Ella has a broad range of clinical and management experience including outpatient, home health, hospital and physician contract management and business development.

John is responsible for operational oversight in Tennessee and Kentucky. Prior to joining CORA, John was majority owner and President of Champion Physical Therapy, a successful growing practice in eastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky that included 15 clinics. The company also included the management of six clinics owned by a large orthopedic group. Champion merged its operations into CORA in March 2018. He received his Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1993 and has served as Adjunct Clinical Faculty as well as President of the Board of Governors for the University of Tennessee. John has an extensive range of clinical and managerial experience that includes outpatient, sports medicine & performance, hospital, physician contract management, as well as healthcare consulting.

Originally starting with CORA as a Clinic Manager in 1999, Ancizar (AJ) Sanchez has excelled in progressively increasing roles of responsibility in Operations over two decades. As Regional Vice President of Operations, he was responsible for our South Florida region before entering his current role as Vice President of Operations. AJ graduated from Universidad Del Valle in Colombia in 1990 and he obtained his Manual Orthopedic Certification in 2010 with Ola Grimsby Institute. He also received his Board Certification as a Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy in 2017.

Primarily responsible for all information technology related decisions, products and equipment, Reece possesses more than 25 years of experience in programming and the information technology industry. Prior to joining CORA in 2002, Reece worked for a technology consulting firm specializing in system design and implementation with a focus on healthcare and shop floor automation. Before that, he was an SAP integrator at Philips. Reece has a BIT degree from the University of Toledo.