Meet Our Leadership Team

Kurt has devoted his entire career to serving in the healthcare industry. He started as a physical therapist before honing his leadership skills as Rehab Manager, Director of Clinical Services, President and Chief Operating Officer. As the CEO of CORA, his goal of helping people and empowering teams to success will not change, only expand. Kurt is active in several professional associations, has been published in trade periodicals and invited as faculty at professional conferences on various health care topics. He completed a fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of business. He holds a master’s degree in Physical Therapy and a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, both from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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.

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. He also completed the Stanford University School of Business Executive LEAD Program, Business/Organizational Design, 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.

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 Executive Vice President, Acquisitions – Integration and Operations Officer, 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.

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.

Ahmad has more than 25 years of experience in the multi-site, education, and services industry. Before joining CORA, Ahmad was an IT Management Consultant at a multi-site dental service organization and the head of technology for an international childcare provider. Ahmad Malik has also served as IT Director for a publicly traded technology service company with an international footprint. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, a Master’s of Information Systems from Lawrence Technological University in Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Denver. Ahmad also serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit charitable organizations and schools.

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 earned a BS in International Relations from the University of Minnesota and holds a SHRM-SCP certification through the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).

Calvin is responsible for overseeing CORA’s legal affairs and is involved in all business development activities. He has a strong track record as a business facilitator and problem solver. Prior to joining CORA in 2021, Calvin was an attorney with K&L Gates LLP. Calvin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Case Western Reserve University and earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Ty oversees the Revenue Cycle Management function and provides process efficiency support to all departments within CORA. He joined CORA in 2019, bringing with him 20+ years of experience in the Physical Therapy industry that included working as a staff therapist, managing multiple clinics, opening his own clinics, and later selling them to a national physical therapy company. Along the way, he has worked in the roles of compliance, clinical services, operations, revenue cycle, FP&A, and IT and data warehousing/business intelligence. Prior to his work in the Physical Therapy industry, he was a CPA for Deloitte & Touche, performing audits of large corporations. Ty has his BA in Accounting from Arizona State University and his MS in Physical Therapy from the University of Miami.

Nate joined CORA in 2016 and is integral to the company's continued expansion; he has been involved in more than 50 de novo openings and 25 acquisitions 90-plus locations. Nate oversees the approval and opening of development locations, the acquisition due diligence process, and the negotiation of many deals from the beginning of the transaction to closing. Prior to joining CORA, Nate worked with Global Endowment Management, L.P. (GEM), where he led the creation of GEM's Customer Relationship Management system for investment requirements. Nate holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University-Idaho, with a minor in Portuguese. He spent two years living and working in Brazil before he graduated from college.

Kevin joined CORA Physical Therapy in 2000.  Prior to that, he was a clinician, private practice owner and industry consultant. At CORA, Kevin has held progressive levels of leadership roles from clinic manager to Vice President of Acquisition Operations. He has extensive clinic operations and sales experience with proven track record for referral growth, employee development and clinic success. Kevin works cross-functionally with several process improvement teams and has developed DeNovo clinics and integrated new acquisition partners organization-wide. Kevin has a BS in Biology from Barry University and a Master of Physical Therapy degree from Nova Southeastern. He also holds a post-merger integration specialist certification.

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.

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.

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 practice in eastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky that included 15 clinics. The company also managed six clinics owned by a large orthopedic group. John joined CORA in 2018 when Champion merged its operations with CORA. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 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 and performance, hospital, physician contract management and healthcare consulting.

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.

Jaime started her career with CORA in 2001 conducting work comp specialty testing and programs. She has become a leader in the industry with product development, lecturing, and testing for Functional Capacity Evaluations, Work Programs, Job Site Assessments, On-site Programs and Employment Testing.  Currently overseeing the clinical, operational and business development of CORA’s WorkTracks program, she serves as the companywide liaison of Work Comp Services. Jaime earned her BS degree from the University of Florida.

Carmelo received his physical therapy training at Northwestern University in 1987 and has been practicing in Kenosha, WI ever since. He oversees CORA’s Wisconsin and Illinois operations with a focus on workers’ compensation cases. Carmelo has a strong background in orthopedics, specializing in the treatment and rehabilitation of sports medicine and industrial injuries as well as with joint reconstruction patients. Carmelo’s tenure as a physical therapist also includes founding and operating a regional private practice, an industrial medicine educational and software company as well as lecturing at local schools including the University of Wisconsin Parkside and Northwestern University. Carmelo has served in many educational and charity organizations to give back to his community. While he enjoys a strong career, his pride and joy is his family and especially his new role as a grandfather.