Clinical and support staff are the backbone of the healthcare industry. Often asked to work with few resources to deliver care at the most important times in a patient’s care journey, clinicians deserve recognition and appreciation for all they do. Faced with a workforce crisis like never before, health systems and hospitals need someone who understands these challenges — and at Get Well, we do understand. And we certainly appreciate those on our staff who have spent time as clinicians. That’s why we launched the Get Well Clinician Spotlight series — an opportunity to give the clinicians who work for Get Well the recognition they deserve and the space to share their stories and thoughts about the biggest challenges facing today’s clinician workforce. We hope you’ll take some time to learn more about each of our Get Well clinicians supporting clinicians.

Katherine Virkstis, Vice President, Clinical Advisory Services

Katherine started her work in healthcare as an EMT while she was a pre-med student at the University of Vermont. She attended medical school at the National University of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, OR, after which she spent several years in family medicine, focused on women’s and children’s health. After leaving her practice, she worked at Advisory Board, a subsidiary of Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group where she researched best practices to solve operational, clinical, and workforce challenges.

At Get Well, Katherine is a leading voice on our leadership team as she works to establish best-in-class training and cohort services.

LouAnn Bala, Vice President/CNO, Content Strategy and Clinical Programs

LouAnn is a nursing leader with more than a decade of clinical and operational experience. She was formerly certified in step down intensive/progressive care, critical care and neurosciences and the founder and former president of the Association of Neuroscience Nurses in Upstate New York. She also holds memberships in a variety of professional organizations.

As Get Well’s Vice President of Content Strategy and Clinical Programs, LouAnn, is responsible for ensuring that the content and resources provided through our products meet the highest standards for patient communication. 

Carrie Hallock, Vice President, Clinical Excellence

Before coming to Get Well, Carrie worked as a critical care nurse in many different health systems across the country specializing in surgery, trauma, transplant, and burns. After working at a hospital that was an early adopter of Get Well’s inpatient solution, Carrie became an onsite navigator for Get Well at a community hospital client site, focused on the day-to-day operations and working with staff and patients to use GetWell Inpatient.

Today, Carrie’s work continues to focus on the patient experience, and spending time onsite, rounding with the staff remains a critical part of her role.

Karen O’Hern, Vice President, Client Success

Karen was a registered nurse for 15 years in Children’s Hospitals and an academic medical center; 13 of those years were in nursing leadership positions as a Nursing Director and then Nurse Executive.

At Get Well, Karen brings her experience as a nurse to her work ensuring Get Well’s clients are set up for success. As the leader of Get Well’s Client Success team, she collaborates with hospital executive teams to better understand their needs and help them meet their goals. 

Kailin Hsu, Director of Ambulatory Product Solutions

Kailin worked as a pediatric oncology/blood and marrow transplant hospital physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for two years before joining Get Well in 2021. 

Now, as Get Well’s Director of Ambulatory Product Solutions, Kailin works to increase healthcare accessibility and patient engagement for underserved patient populations, leading our work to develop and optimize programs and services to improve health equity, facilitate comprehensive care, and provide patients with a more streamlined healthcare experience. 

Gabriella Mitchell, Regional VP/Value Management Lead and CNO – South

Gabi worked in critical care her entire career before being recruited to come to Get Well to  help lead the Clinical Practice Design development for the VA health system.

She is now a Divisional VP, where she encourages and leverages use of the Get Well platform, identifying areas of growth, and negotiating on key renewal opportunities. She’s an invaluable member of the team, and her clinical experience and expertise uniquely positions her to understand and identify with our valued Get Well clients and partners. 

Maria Reese, Senior Director, Health Equity and Community Service Programs

Maria leads our team of Get Well Navigators — a team she correctly refers to as the heartbeat of our organization. A public health practitioner for more than 25 years, Maria’s work has focused on building strategic partnerships and improving the health of the community with a focus on vulnerable populations.

Maria’s role as Senior Director, Health Equity and Community Service Programs, positions her well to help organizations address health equity challenges through screenings for SDOH, providing resources, removing barriers, and ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to achieve optimal health outcomes.

Jennifer Taylor, Senior Clinical Consultant

Jennifer’s passion for patient care is evident in everything she does. She’s been involved in healthcare in some aspect since she was a teenager, and she takes pride in working with Get Well clients to help them best leverage our solutions.

She’s a senior clinical consultant, which means that she often works directly with the clinical staff at our client hospitals and clinics. It is her passion for healthcare — and in particular, improving healthcare — that makes Jennifer extraordinary at her job. From advocating for workplace safety to espousing the importance of recognizing healthcare workers for the vital work they do, Jennifer is always putting the clients — and patients — first.

Robin Forester, Senior Clinical Consultant

Robin has been in healthcare for more than 25 years, and every bit of that experience is evident in the work she does each day at Get Well. She came to work at Get Well after using Get Well solutions at an organization where she worked. What a great endorsement!

Now, she’s a senior clinical consultant, who works directly with our clients, helping them to better understand the importance of using our digital engagement technology to provide a better patient and clinician experience. She can see first hand where they are gaps and needs for our clients, and she makes it her mission to help them see how Get Well can help!

The bottom line

There are so many faces behind the work we do at Get Well. For much of it, the “secret sauce” is the fact that so many of our talented employees have worked on the front lines of healthcare. They know first hand the challenges that today’s clinicians face, and they can approach solutions from a place of understanding and empathy. It makes our solutions better, and, we hope, their work more meaningful.

Thank you to all of our Get Well clinicians — and all of the clinicians working in hospitals and clinics across the country. We understand, and we support you.