Ben Slocum Chief Executive Officer

Ben Slocum is CEO of Wellpath Group Holdings, LLC and various affiliates thereof. His role is to ensure operational excellence and to drive the organization’s strategic focus. He is an experienced healthcare executive who brings nearly four decades of vast knowledge to the Company’s comprehensive, patient-centered medical and behavioral offering. In his previous role as Chief Operating Officer, he worked closely with our Division Presidents to ensure that we meet our commitments to our people and partners, achieve our operational goals, and of course, never waiver from our mission to provide quality care to every patient with compassion, collaboration and innovation.

Cindy Watson Chief Operating Officer

Cindy Watson serves as Wellpath’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Cindy’s primary focus is to oversee the operations of the company and ensure we achieve our operational goals. In her previous role as President of the Eastern Region of the Local Government Healthcare division at Wellpath, she coordinated the start-up of all new contracts, oversaw accreditation processes for both adult and juvenile correctional health care programs, directed the development of all personnel and operational policies and procedures, and oversaw nursing quality management and training, recruitment and contract liaison. She received her master’s degree in communication disorders from Syracuse University after earning her bachelor’s degree in the same discipline from The College of Saint Rose.

Dheeraj Taranath Interim Chief Clinical Officer

Dr. Dheeraj Taranath is Wellpath’s Interim Chief Clinical Officer. His primary responsibility is ensuring the organization provides its patients with quality healthcare. He also works as a liaison between medical staff and administration to support positive communication channels while ensuring appropriate care to all patients.

Dr. Taranath is a board-certified family medicine physician with a distinguished career. He most recently served as the Executive Medical Director for the local government division at Wellpath. Prior to this role, he was an Executive Medical Director at MedExpress, part of United Health/Optum, for over a decade. There, he led clinical initiatives aimed at improving quality of care and value-based medicine, while also training providers to deliver a consumer-centric experience with a strong emphasis on empathy and evidence-based practices.

Dr. Taranath holds an MBA from St. Joseph’s University and is passionate about collaborating with various healthcare systems to create mutually beneficial partnerships that enhance continuity of care for patients. Currently, he and the Wellpath team are developing clinical programs that prioritize safety and comprehensive care, with the goal of reducing recidivism among justice-involved individuals.

Carla Wallace Chief Compliance Officer

Carla Wallace joined Wellpath as Chief Compliance Officer in December 2019, with nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare and compliance space. As Chief Compliance Officer, she has established a compliance reporting framework for monitoring and reporting on compliance issues. She reports directly to the CEO with a dotted line to the Board of Managers to ensure that the company follows all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Before joining Wellpath, Carla held a similar role for naviHealth in Brentwood, Tennessee, and was the Principal, Compliance Consulting for Quorum Health Resources. She received a master’s degree in Health Care Administration from Independence University and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Carla is also certified through the Health Care Compliance Association’s (HCCA) compliance certification board (CCB) in the areas of general compliance (CHC), privacy compliance (CHPC) and research compliance (CHRC) and is a member of multiple healthcare councils.

Joel Jensen Chief Information Officer

Joel Jensen began his journey at Wellpath in 2010 as Vice President of Information Technology. Over the years, Joel has been instrumental in numerous contract start-ups and every DOC start up. His work has taken him to more than 100 of our partner locations where he has led integration planning with our clients and the transition of site IT services. Joel is known for bringing keen insights matched with a calm, cool and collected demeanor, as well as a skillful commitment to consistently deliver value.

Timothy Dragelin Interim Chief Financial Officer

Timothy J. Dragelin is a member of FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance segment, where he leads the healthcare interim management group. With over 30 years of experience in finance and accounting, Mr. Dragelin has held various interim management roles, including CFO, CEO, Chief Transformation Officer, and board member. He previously worked in the financial advisory services practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. A published author and frequent speaker on financial and accounting topics at regional and national conferences, he has also been a guest lecturer at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Mr. Dragelin holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from The College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Casey McCluskey Parker Chief Human Resources Officer

Casey Parker serves as Wellpath’s Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, Casey is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Wellpath’s people strategies to support the company’s business and Wellpath’s team members across the country. Before joining Wellpath, Casey was a labor and employment attorney with the Nashville law firm of Ogletree Deakins, where she represented clients and provided guidance on a variety of employment and human resources matters. She received her bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from Duke University, and her law degree from William & Mary.

Marc Goldstone Chief Legal Officer

Marc Goldstone is Wellpath’s Chief Legal Officer, overseeing all aspects of the Company’s legal operations, including managing the Legal, Compliance, Risk Management, Insurance and Worker’s Compensation/Employee Safety functions. He brings more than 25 years of health law experience to Wellpath. Prior to joining Wellpath, Marc served in senior leadership roles in non-profit and investor owned health systems (both privately owned and publicly traded). Marc was also appointed to consecutive terms on the United States Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council by the Secretary of Labor, where he advised the U.S. Government agencies on matters of critical importance to the provision of EMS throughout the country. Marc is an honors graduate of the Rutgers School of Law, and a Fellow of the American Health Law Association. Prior to entering the practice of law, Marc was a certified Mobile Intensive Care Unit paramedic for many years, and his legal practice and leadership are informed by the thousands of patients he cared for during that time.

Jeremy Barr Division President, Recovery Solutions

Jeremy Barr joined Wellpath in 2011 and is responsible for leading the administrative, operational, and development efforts of Wellpath Recovery Solutions. Prior to assuming his current role, Jeremy served as Senior Vice President for Partnership Development and was responsible for identifying opportunities and developing strategies to align client’s needs with Wellpath’s capabilities, managing governmental affairs, and building strategic partnerships to support the continued growth of the organization. Jeremy received his Master’s degree in Communications Studies from Florida Atlantic University and his Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He also serves as a board member for East Nashville Wellness Center, a non-profit mental health and substance use clinic committed to restoring the wellness of Nashvillians through improving mental health, curbing addiction, and helping find the music again.

David Thompson Division President, State and Federal

David began his tenure at Wellpath in 2018 as the Vice President of Operations for the State and Federal Healthcare Division and was elevated to Senior Vice President in 2020. In this role, he provided strategic and operational leadership for several statewide contracts and Wellpath’s portfolio of private prisons. Under his guidance, David and his team achieved significant improvements in operational and financial performance, expanded the client base and services, and enhanced clinical outcomes.

David brings more than 36 years of experience in clinical and healthcare administration to his role, including 6 years of service in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and 30 years in the correctional healthcare industry.

David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management from Southern Illinois University and a Master’s of Business Administration from Webster University. Additionally, he has been a Certified Correctional Health Professional for 20 years.