Our Team

Bart Valdez

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Valdez has worked in healthcare for over three decades. In his last position as CEO of Ingenovis Health, Bart had the opportunity to work with over 14,000 nurses, 4,000 health professionals, and 1,200 physicians in providing healthcare staffing across the country.

Prior to joining Ingenovis Health, Mr. Valdez worked with Syneos Health, a clinical research organization, as the President of its Global Strategic Resourcing Division. In that role, he worked with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to help them complete their drug trials and eventually bring their drugs to market domestically and internationally.

Before Syneos, Mr. Valdez was the Executive Vice President of Ceridian Corporation where he led the company’s US human capital management business which included leading various service categories such as payroll, benefits services, and full HR outsourcing.

Mr. Valdez is originally from Colorado and has a B.S. in Management from Colorado State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado. Mr. Valdez also served in the US Naval Reserve for just over 6 years.

Grant Brown

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Brown has over 25 years of operational and business development experience and is focused on managing and improving Care’s agency operations, ensuring integration success post-acquisition, managing key vendor relationships, and developing marketing and sales collateral. Prior to Care Hospice he held financial and operational roles at a software and consulting firm, an energy company, and a water engineering and manufacturing company. He spent five years in management consulting at the Monitor Group, including work with numerous healthcare companies, and began his career in corporate finance at Texas Instruments. Mr. Brown received a BS from the University of Colorado, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Robert Steel

Chief Operating Officer

Robert brings more than 25 years of operational management experience to Care. Mr. Steel previously worked with Hearth Hospice, who joined the Care Family in 2021. Most recently, Robert has been the COO at a large home health and hospice organization on the West Coast. His primary focus has been on helping organizations to grow and scale while improving processes and efficiency. His background includes significant experience in healthcare organizations where he has supported rapid growth and expansion. He holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a BS in Finance from the University of Alabama.

Kristin Rich, RN

Chief Clinical Officer

Ms. Rich has over 30+ years of clinical and compliance hospice experience, including acting as Chief Compliance Officer for numerous large hospice agencies. Ms. Rich served as the Quality Chairman in 2007 for the National Quality Workgroup. She also served two terms on the NHPCO Regulatory Committee and most recently the Emergency Preparedness and Relatedness Sub-Committees. She recently became Certified as a Hospice Compliance professional through NHPCO and represents Care on the HOPE Quality Assessment Tool Taskforce.

Jesse Moore

Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary

Mr. Moore was appointed Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer in 2024 after joining in 2023 as General Counsel and Secretary. Most recently, Jesse served as Vice President, Legal and Government Affairs and General Counsel of the Mobility segment for Aptiv, PLC. Prior to Aptiv he was Deputy General Counsel with inVentiv Health, Inc. Jesse earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Colgate University and a Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law.

Jamie Cairns

Chief Information Officer

Mr. Cairns has more than 10 years of technical leadership experience. Most recently, Jamie served as the Vice President of Operations and Infosec Officer for PunchOut2Go. Additionally, he has held technical leadership positions such as CIO with WorldStrides and VP of Infrastructure Services with S&P Global

Tim Walkup

Chief Human Resources Officer

Mr. Walkup has more than 25 years of Human Resources leadership experience. Tim is responsible for leading all aspects of Human Resources at Care Hospice, including organization development, talent management, leadership development, and culture. Tim is a graduate of James Madison University with a bachelor’s in Management and a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Marymount University.

Wade Stuber

Chief Growth Officer

Wade is a dynamic and seasoned leader with over 22 years of sales leadership experience in the hospice industry. Having led hospice expansion and growth across 25 states, Wade brings invaluable expertise in strategic sales planning, census development, CRM, and sales talent development. Wade is driven by being part of a team that provides the finest and most compassionate end of life care to every possible eligible patient. To that end, he is passionate about developing elite sales leaders and sales teams to identify and serve these patients.

Ronne Curry-Custer

Senior Vice President – DeNovos

With more than 16 years of experience in healthcare sales and operational support, Ronne is a visionary, mission-driven leader with a strong focus on the Home Health and Hospice service lines. Ronne's expertise spans strategic market expansion, operational excellence, and team development, ensuring sustainable growth while upholding our patient-centered values. As our Senior Vice President of De Novos, she is committed to driving both census growth and exceptional patient care by building and nurturing high-performing, empowered teams.

Dana Reid

Senior Vice President – Compliance, Regulatory and Privacy Officer

Dana joined Care Hospice as part of the acquisition of Hospice of Chattanooga in 2021, bringing with her a wealth of experience from her role as Chief Compliance Officer and EVP of Organizational Excellence at Hospice of Chattanooga, where she had served since 2017. With a career foundation that began at Deloitte as a CPA and auditor, Dana went on to serve in various leadership roles at a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), including CFO and Compliance Officer. Her passion lies in identifying potential risks and building robust systems to address and mitigate them proactively.

Robert McMullan

Senior Vice President – Corporate Development

Mr. McMullan has a broad range of experience in finance and operations working with both established and high growth companies across various sectors. His focus at Care Hospice is on corporate development including M&A and other strategic projects. Previously, Mr. McMullan worked for Tiger Management, a New York-based investment firm, where he was responsible for managing a portfolio of private investments. Mr. McMullan began his career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley and received a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.

Erik Sinegal

Senior Vice President – Financial Planning & Analysis

Erik began his journey with us in 2012 at Embrace Hospice where he was the CFO. Since Embrace joined Care in 2019, Erik’s dedication and leadership have been evident while serving in various capacities including Program Director, Director of Business Intelligence, and most recently, Vice President of Business Intelligence. Erik holds a bachelor’s degree in financial accounting from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Coastal Carolina University.

Jenny O’Pry

Senior Vice President Revenue Cycle Management

With 24 years in the healthcare industry, including the last 15 years in the fast-paced, high-growth private equity-backed healthcare sector, Jenny is a seasoned professional. She holds an undergraduate degree in business with minors in accounting and finance, and a graduate degree in science with a specialty in Clinical Practice Management from Texas Health Science Center. Her career has largely focused on the ambulatory side of healthcare, where she excels in streamlining processes and leveraging technology. Proudly referring to herself as a "data geek," Jenny loves analyzing data to drive significant returns and is dedicated to developing tomorrow’s leaders.

Tony Accetta

Senior Vice President – Finance & Controller

Tony brings diverse experiences from Accounting and FP&A leadership roles, supporting publicly traded and private equity back entities. His primary focus is on scalable process improvement and financial reporting, along with financial operations and treasury functions. Before joining Care, Tony served as Assistant Controller for Lumos Fiber, Senior Director of FP&A for Segra, and Senior Accounting Manager for Marriott International. He started his career in public accounting with Big Four firm KPMG, holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and is a licensed CPA in Virginia.

Brad Hunter

Founder and Vice Chairman

Mr. Hunter founded Care Hospice’s first location in 2008 with a focus primarily on underpenetrated secondary and tertiary markets. Brad’s vision was for a strict top-down culture of compliance pervasive across the entire organization with intense admissions screening and recertification scrutiny to ensure hospice eligibility and reduce compliance risk. Mr. Hunter, a 25+ year hospice industry veteran, founded Hospice Care of Louisiana in 1997 and Community Hospices of America in 2003, which was renamed Compassus in 2008. He then founded a Virginia-based hospice agency, which became the foundation for Care Hospice. Mr. Hunter has served as a Director of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and has been the President or Director of several state hospice organizations. Additionally, he has chaired NHPCO’s Regulatory and Audit committees, and vice-chaired or was a member of NHPCO’s Finance, Public Policy, Legislative, and Governance committees. Early in his career he worked with Ernst & Young, LLP after graduating from the University of Florida.