Speaker Bios (in alphabetical order)

Nate Awrich, MBA Vice President of Pharmacy Operations for the University of Vermont Health Network. My 340B experience began in 2005 as a pharmacy technician responsible for managing the program for Fletcher Allen Health Care (now the UVM Medical Center). I have held progressive leadership roles in the organization’s pharmacy operations, including with the launch of mail order and specialty pharmacy services. I now co-lead our system’s pharmacy department alongside a VP of clinical pharmacy. Originally from New Hampshire, I have lived in Vermont since 2002 and earned an undergraduate degree from Champlain College and an MBA from the University of Maine.

Nate will be presented in the Pharmacy Integration Panel on Tuesday.

Minela Beric is the Network 340B Manager for the UVM Health Network. Minela is directly involved in various aspects of 340B Program oversight for all six of the organization’s hospitals. She has had the pleasure of working with many amazing Pharmacy and 340B resources across our Vermont and New York hospitals over the four years that she’s been with the team, as well as with numerous colleagues from other 340B organizations.

Minela has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with a Premed concentration from the University of Vermont and recently received her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Champlain College. She finds that being able to positively contribute to patients’ lives and the community that she grew up in through my professional work in healthcare and specifically 340B extremely motivating.

Minela will be presenting in the Referral Capture Panel on Wednesday.

David Christian, BS, DPh, 340B ACE is the Pharmacy Director for Central Virginia Health Services, Inc. (CVHS), Virginia’s first and largest federally qualified health center (FQHC) consisting of 20 clinics, serving over 48,000 patients across Virginia. He is responsible for the administration of two in-house pharmacies, 100+ contract pharmacies, integrated pharmacy services, case-study management, the pharmacy and therapeutics committee, pharmacy preceptor programs, 340B compliance and referral capture.

As pharmacy director of CVHS, David oversees the operation of all pharmacy issues. He has initiated a FQHC pharmacy directors gathering that meets annually and communicates more frequently as needed. He is an advocate on the state and federal levels for FQHCs, 340B, and Medicaid reimbursements. David began to conduct formal medication therapy management in Virginia in 2006. He is leading an effort to expand pharmacy away from the traditional dispensing role to develop an approach of collaboration with all departments—including, but not limited to, medical, dental, behavioral health, and nutrition. Currently 7 pharmacists are practicing clinically at CVHS managing diabetic patients, complex compliance issues, annual wellness visits and Hepatitis C, HIV PrEP.  CVHS Pharmacies are currently undergoing URAC and ACHC accreditation for Specialty and Mail Order.  David also serves as a faculty member for Apexus 340B University and as Chair of the Apexus FQHC Advisory Council. His professional interests are quality improvement and positive patient outcomes, and obtaining provider status for pharmacist from CMS.

David is the president of CHC Pharmacy Partners which provides a remote pharmacy solution for 340B Covered Entities.  Through economies they decrease overhead expenses and maximize profitability.  CHC Pharmacy Partners also provides pharmacy accounting, 340B compliance and monthly reports to the management team.

David received his bachelor’s degree in business management/finance from Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia, and his bachelor of pharmacy degree from Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia.  He was awarded a Doctor of Pharmacy from the state of Tennessee in 1995.

David Christian will be presenting during the Auditing Panel on Wednesday

Robert Ferraro PharmD, MBA, 340B-ACE has over 15 years of pharmacy experience, including 6 years as a specialty pharmacy and 340B program executive. He is currently the Chief Pharmacy Officer at Ravin Consultants. Robert’s role includes overseeing clinical pharmacy programs and pharmacy business initiatives. He is passionate about data analytics and leveraging information to grow client revenues while maintaining clinical excellency.

Robert earned his Pharm.D at The University of Rhode Island and his MBA at The University of Tennessee. He also is an accredited Six Sigma Green Belt in Healthcare Operations as well as a certified 340B ACE. Robert has had the pleasure of speaking at the 340B Coalition Winter Conference as well as The Advisory Board round table. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his children and coaching youth soccer.

Robert will be presenting during the Hospital Breakout on Tuesday and during the Audit panel on Wednesday.

Chris Hatwig is President of Apexus, the organization responsible for managing the Human Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) 340B Prime Vendor Program (PVP). He works closely with HRSA’s Office of Pharmacy Affairs in Washington, DC, to educate all stakeholders and to improve the integrity and value of the 340B Drug Pricing Program for the nation’s safety-net providers. Participants in the program include more than 15,500 HRSA grantees and disproportionate share hospitals serving the nation’s low-income and uninsured populations. The PVP provides added value by collectively representing the 340B covered entities’ purchases to secure federal sub-ceiling discounts on pharmaceuticals and discounts on other outpatient pharmacy-related products and services.

Mr. Hatwig is consulted frequently about maximizing the benefits of the 340B Program. He routinely makes national and regional presentations related to the 340B Drug Pricing Program, innovative ambulatory pharmacy services, and drug cost containment strategies.

Before joining Apexus, Mr. Hatwig was the director of ambulatory pharmacy services and value analysis programs at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, where he practiced for 13 years, managing one of the nation’s largest and most progressive ambulatory pharmacy programs serving low-income and uninsured patients. He was responsible for managing Parkland’s network of ambulatory pharmacies, which processed more than two million prescriptions annually and operated with a drug expense budget of $65 million.

Mr. Hatwig received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Arkansas. He completed residencies in hospital pharmacy and hospital pharmacy administration at the University of Wisconsin, culminating in a master’s degree in hospital pharmacy.

Chris Hatwig will be presenting during the Current Environment Panel on Tuesday.

Felicity Homsted, PharmD, MBA,  is a Chief Executive Officer at FQHC 340B Compliance. In this role, she works with health centers across the country to manage and improve their 340B and pharmacy programs. Dr. Homsted is also a Lead investigator for the National Institute on Drug Abuse- Clinical Trials Network Research Study CTN-0116: Pharmacist-Integrated Collaborative Model of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (PharmICO).

From 2012 to 2018, Dr. Homsted was Chief Pharmacy Officer for Penobscot Community Health Center Inc. (PCHC), Maine’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center. She was responsible for the administration of four pharmacies, integrated pharmacy services and PCHC’s accredited community pharmacy and health systems pharmacy administration (HSPA) residency programs. She has served as subject matter expert for the Apexus 340B Prime Vendor Program and faculty member for Apexus 340B University.

Dr. Homsted received her Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from Dalhousie University, in 2006. In 2010, Felicity obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy from Idaho State University and her Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from New England College in 2018.  Dr. Homsted’s specific professional interests are 340B Program advancement, the integrations of pharmacists in the primary care setting, and healthcare advocacy.

Felicity will be presenting during the Hospital Breakout on Tuesday and the Referral Capture Panel on Wednesday.

Katelyn Keys is the 340B Compliance Manager for Hudson Headwaters Health Network, an FQHC in Upstate, NY. She has a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Business and Management from Excelsior College and an Associate of Arts in Accounting from SUNY Adirondack. Her day to day focus is audit readiness, documentation and reporting, 340B training, and overall program oversight. Katelyn previously serviced as the Compliance Manager for Hudson Headwaters 340B, LLC. During her time with the HH340B team, she implemented and improved 340B compliance for all third party administrative clients while supporting finance team functions.

Katelyn will be presenting during the Auditing Panel on Wednesday.

Jared Macey is the Director of Product at Hudson Headwaters 340B, LLC.  He focuses on product vision and strategy and works closely with all stakeholders to remove roadblocks and oversee the entire product lifecycle.  Prior to his current role, Jared held many positions within the team, including Operations Manager and Systems Development Manager. He received his B.S. in Business Administration and Management from SUNY at Plattsburgh.

Jared will be presenting during the Referral Capture Panel on Wednesday.

Leslie Mattison, Quality and Testing Coordinator, began working for Hudson Headwaters 340B in November 2016 as a Client Success Analyst. IN this role she developed close relationships with clients while helping optimize their 340B programs in a compliant manner. In her tenure on the team, she also completed a variety of independent 340B audits and consulting engagements. Leslie recently completed her 340B ACE certification.

Leslie will be presenting during the Referral Capture Panel on Wednesday.

Colleen Meiman is the National Policy Advisor for the 52 state and regional associations of Community Health Centers (CHCs), often called Primary Care Associations (PCAs.) Prior to starting this role in January 2021, she spent six years with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) as the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Senior Policy Advisor. Previously, she spent more than two decades in the federal government, including in the HHS Secretary’s Office, in the U.S. Senate, in CMS, and in numerous positions within HRSA. Her expertise is in the regulatory, administrative, and financing aspects of federal programs such as 340B, Medicaid, Medicare, Section 330, and the ACA, and how they impact CHCs and their medically underserved patients.

Colleen will be presenting during the Current Environment Session and FQHC Breakout on Tuesday.

Jason Reddish is a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell.  Jason focuses his practice on the federal 340B drug discount program and the complex legal and compliance issues facing safety net providers, pharmacies, and other 340B program stakeholders.  Jason began his career representing pharmaceutical manufacturers before finding his passion helping 340B program covered entities, including disproportionate share hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Ryan White HIV/AIDS clinics, and other grantees navigate the 340B program.

In addition to providing guidance on 340B program issues, Jason helps safety net providers, pharmacies, and other stakeholders by negotiating and reviewing contracts relating to the provision of pharmacy and professional services. Jason has worked on dozens of 340B program contract pharmacy and pharmacy services agreements.  Jason is an authority on 340B program contract pharmacies, including transactional, operational, and compliance concerns.

Jason will be presenting during the Current Environment Panel on Tuesday.

Sue Veer has served as the President and CEO for Carolina Health Centers, Inc. (CHC) since 2006. In addition to her senior leadership of the health center, Sue has developed and conducted organizational development and training programs for health care organizations for over 25 years and currently serves as the principal consultant for consulting services offered by CHC. A primary area of expertise is strategic planning and leadership development, and Sue has facilitated related organizational development projects for numerous health centers and PCAs during the nearly 20 years she has been part of the health center community.

Sue has also developed significant expertise related to health center 340B pharmacy programs. Over the last 3 years, she has presented 340B training programs for community health centers coordinated by the Primary Care Organizations in 22 states, participated as a lead contributor to the development of the NACHC 340B Compliance Manual, and provided consulting services to individual health centers. Sue has testified on behalf of community health centers at 340B hearings convened by both Senate and House committees.

Sue is an active member of the National Association for Community Health Centers, with long standing participation on the Legislative, Health Policy, and Rural Health committees and as Chair of the 340B Work Group. In 2019 Sue was elected to the NACHC Board of Directors and has been appointed by the Chair to serve on a recently convened Task Force on Racial Justice.

Sue will be presenting during the Pharmacy Integration Panel and the FQHC Breakout on Tuesday.

William H. von Oehsen III is a Principal in Powers, Pyles, Sutter and Verville, P.C., a law firm specializing in health care law and policy.  Mr. von Oehsen has more than 30 years experience on pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement matters, including the 340B drug discount program, the Medicaid drug rebate program, Medicare Part D, Robinson-Patman, and state Medicaid and pharmacy laws.  He helped establish and serves as outside counsel to 340B Health, an advocacy organization of over 1,400 public and private non-profit hospitals participating in the 340B program.  Mr. von Oehsen played a key role in helping to enact the 340B program in 1992, as well as to expand the law in 2010 under the Affordable Care Act.  In addition to representing clients on 340B matters, Mr. von Oehsen provides guidance to pharmacies, pharmacy-related vendors and consultants, states, local governments, and other health care entities in their efforts to improve access to pharmaceutical care and to ensure compliance with drug pricing laws.  Mr. von Oehsen received a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, an M.T.S. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.

Bill is presenting during the “Protecting the 340B Program” session on Tuesday.

Jangus B. Whitner, PharmD, MHA, BCACP, 340B ACE,  is the Director of Pharmacy Services for PrimaryOne Health, the oldest and largest community health center in central Ohio. He is the Founder and Past Chair of the Ohio 340B FQHC Consortium, a 340B Apexus Certified Expert, and has served as a subject matter expert for Apexus through webinars and virtual workshops. Jangus received his PharmD degree in 2016 from The University of Toledo and went on to complete two years of post-graduate pharmacy residency training. He became a Board-Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist (BCACP) in 2020 and finished his Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree in 2021.

Jangus will be presenting on the Pharmacy Integration Panel and the Advocacy Session on Tuesday

Logan Yoho is the Director of Pharmacy at Hopewell Health Centers.  He received his PharmD in 2010 from Ohio Northern University and obtained board certification in Ambulatory Care Pharmacy in 2016.  Logan is also an Apexus Certified 340B Expert.  Prior to joining the team at Hopewell, Logan practiced community pharmacy for over 7 years.  He is Apexus 340B University Faculty.  He is the Chair of the Ohio 340B FQHC Consortium and Logan is also the current President-Elect of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.  Logan was a 2020 recipient of the OPA Under 40 Recognition Award for excellence and vision in the profession of pharmacy.  When he’s not in the pharmacy world, Logan is doing fireworks as a licensed Pyrotechnician Assistant.

Logan will be presenting during the Advocacy Session on Tuesday.