Management Team

Jeff Pan – Managing Partner & Chief Administrative Officer
Jeff Pan has been in the financial services industry over 30 years. Jeff was Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer and became President of Summit Global Partners, Inc. (“SGP”), one of the largest privately-held U. S. insurance brokers. SGP was an integrator of high-performance independent insurance brokers across the United States. Prior to joining SGP, He was a senior executive with the Gerald J. Ford Banking Group, a banking group with over $20 billion in total assets. Jeff was President of United National Bank and Ford Capital, Ltd., and held other executive positions responsible for business reengineering, mergers and acquisition, and investments.

Jeff has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. degree from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Nick DiGiovanni - Managing Partner
Nick has been a manager in the accounts receivable outsourcing industry for over 30 years. Nick successfully launched and managed a highly profitable accounts receivable outsourcing company for 12 years that he sold to MedSource (which later became NCO) in 1999. Shortly thereafter, he was named the national sales manager for a leading healthcare AR company, before he was asked become the Senior Vice President of Operations for that same company. Nick brought in Tim McCarthy (described below) as the Senior Vice President of Practice Development at the company and together they built the company into one of the largest in the industry.

Nick is a past President of the American Collectors Association, and has published several articles on healthcare receivables for the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Nick holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University.

Board of Directors

Doug French
Doug French was recently the President and Chief Executive Officer for Ascension Health, the largest not-for-profit Catholic health system in the country.

Mr. French began his career in healthcare in 1978 when he joined the former Daughters of Charity National Health System as an administrative resident at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. After eight years, Mr. French joined St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1989, he became President/CEO of St. Mary's. In 1994, Mr. French was named co-President and CEO of St. Vincent Community Health Care Network and the President/CEO of St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center, Inc., one of the largest local health ministries within the Daughters of Charity National Health System (DCNHS). In 1998, Mr. French became Executive Vice President and COO of DCNHS, and two years later he became the President and CEO of Ascension Health, which was formed by DCNHS and the Sisters of St. Joseph Health System.

Mr. French holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville, Tennessee and a Masters in Hospital and Health Services Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ken Melkus
Ken Melkus serves as a consultant to the New York-based leveraged-buyout firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which has a significant focus in healthcare services investing.

Mr. Melkus is the former Chairman and CEO of HealthWise of America, Inc., a publicly traded health care services company that was acquired by United HealthGroup in 1996. From 1986 until assuming his position with HealthWise in 1993, Mr. Melkus served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Surgical Care Affiliates, Inc., an owner and operator of independent ambulatory surgery centers.

Mr. Melkus is also former Chairman of the Nashville Health Care Council (NHCC), and currently serves on the NHCC Board of Directors.

Mr. Melkus received a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Kevin Lalande
Kevin Lalande is a Principal at Austin Ventures, where he focuses on services investing. Before joining Austin Ventures in 2001, Kevin co-founded and sold three Internet-related companies: NetProfit, sold to a privately held advertising agency in 1996; Serus, sold to Netopia (Nasdaq: NTPA) in 1998; and TimeMarker, sold to PrimeHoldings (OTCBB: PRIM) in 2001. He was also a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he served U.S. and European clients in the communications and computer industries.

Kevin received his MBA with high distinction (Baker Scholar) from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering with honors from Brigham Young University.

Blaine Wesner
Blaine is a General Partner at Austin Ventures, and has been at the firm since 1990. At AV, Blaine focuses on services and special situations investing. Previously, Blaine was with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York and also co-founded Wesner Publications, a chain of suburban and community newspapers in Oklahoma and Texas.

Blaine received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with highest honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.