Board of Directors

Joshua Nemzoff, Chairman of the Board

The Chairman and Founder of WoodBridge Healthcare is Joshua Nemzoff, one of the country’s leading consultants on hospital mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Nemzoff has more than 40 years’ experience in the industry and has been involved with hundreds of hospital mergers, sales, acquisitions and joint ventures with a combined transaction value in excess of $15 billion. His role in most of those transactions was project director and lead negotiator on the deal, guiding the hospital board of trustees directly. This has placed Mr. Nemzoff in the unique position of supervising hundreds of teams conducting due diligence for his clients and observing others conducting it on his clients. This has afforded him invaluable insights as to the challenges faced by each hospital and how to fix them.

His primary area of expertise is negotiating large complex transactions for clients and identifying how to return distressed hospitals to operational and financial health.

Michael Sarrao

Michael Sarrao has been a healthcare attorney for over 20 years, and has represented one of the nation’s largest health systems as general counsel and chief legal officer. His representation extended to handling disputes involving health plans, independent practice groups, insurance companies, regulatory agencies and billing reimbursement. Throughout his career, he has managed over 20 M&A transactions totaling over a billion dollars in acquisitions and associated financings.

Mr. Sarrao has represented both for-profit and nonprofit health systems, hospitals and medical groups in myriad healthcare matters including anti-fraud and compliance, health information privacy, managed care disputes, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, mergers and acquisitions, licensure and accreditation, physician relations/medical staff issues, contracting, labor and employment and risk management services for medical malpractice.

As an industry expert, Mr. Sarrao has spoken before the California state assembly and senate on a variety of important healthcare matters. He is a member of the American Healthcare Lawyers Association and the California Society for Healthcare Attorneys.

Jamie Hopping

Jamie Hopping is an experienced healthcare executive renowned for operational turnarounds, strategic planning and financial expertise. As Chief Restructuring Officer at Franciscan Alliance, Ms. Hopping transformed two hospitals, developed a long-term strategic plan, re-negotiated managed care agreements and achieved millions of dollars in annual EBITDA improvement.

Ms. Hopping previously held leadership roles with Ardent Health Services, a where she was responsible for the operational, strategic and financial success of Ardent’s 16 hospitals, health plan and IT department. She has also been a senior executive with HCA, leading their Western Group and South Florida Division. Beyond her hospital leadership experience, she has also independently consulted for Quorum Health and Catholic Health East. Through her rich tenure, Ms. Hopping brings a wealth of experience in financial growth and managing large-scale healthcare enterprises.

Stephen Bernstein, LFACHE

Stephen Bernstein brings over 35 years of executive hospital leadership experience to WoodBridge. Throughout his career, he has led a diverse range of hospitals, from a 74-bed rural facility to a major 300-plus-bed organization. Most recently, he served as the President and CEO of Plaza Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, where he successfully competed with larger medical institutions while consistently improving net revenue. Notably, he established a residency program in collaboration with the University of North Texas, which remains successful more than 20 years later. During his tenure at Plaza Medical Center, he was honored as Administrator of the Year for two consecutive years.

Mr. Bernstein’s leadership style is people- and community-centric, emphasizing the importance of building strong relationships with medical staff and identifying the unique needs of each community. At Plaza, he expanded the cardiology and neurology programs to better serve the community, earning the hospital recognition as a Top 100 Cardiac Hospital by HCIA-Sachs for two consecutive years.

Before his role at Plaza Medical Center, Mr. Bernstein held leadership positions at Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach, Delray Community Hospital in Delray Beach, and Encino Hospital in Encino, CA. With deep expertise in financial operations, strategy, service expansion, and partnerships, his approach and leadership drive excellence in care, operations, and financial stewardship.

Brian Williams, R.Ph., MBA

Brian Williams joins WoodBridge with extensive expertise in strategic planning, marketing, and commercialization excellence. As Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Execution at Herspiegel Consulting, he has led initiatives to enhance access to innovative therapies and improve health outcomes.

Mr. Williams started his career as a hospital pharmacist at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA., then transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry with Merck, progressing through sales, U.S. and global marketing and managed care. Transitioning to Bristol-Myers Squibb, he established strategic marketing processes to innovate the marketing planning process for the company. His extensive experience also includes roles at Takeda, Endo and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where as head of cardiovascular marketing, he successfully laid the foundation for a major heart failure therapy to become a $6 billion brand in the U.S.

Also, with a background in global market access, Mr. Williams has driven reimbursement for products in various countries, navigating different criteria for formulary access and managing pharmacy budgets.

 

As the founder of Percipio Strategic Consulting, Mr. Williams demonstrated a strong track record of providing strategic guidance and solutions, enhancing the success of several companies within the biopharma industry and ensuring more patients gain access to products that improve health outcomes.

With his background in hospital pharmacy and as an expert in marketing strategy and product commercialization, he always prioritizes the patient and brings a unique perspective to the healthcare market, strengthening each organization he works with.

David Taylor

David Taylor boasts over 35 years of experience and extensive expertise in software development, client relations, and critical business communications. He currently serves as the Director of Product and Services for RR Donnelley, one of the largest marketing, packaging, print, and supply chain companies in the US. In this role, he manages the development and delivery of new products and services, both developed internally and in partnership with external firms. He is also a subject matter expert on many mission-critical offerings, serving industry-leading healthcare clients such as CVS Health, Pfizer, UHG, and Cigna.

Before joining RR Donnelley, Mr. Taylor spent 28 years at Pitney Bowes, a multi-billion-dollar mailing, mailing systems, shipping and technology company, focusing on Transportation Management software solutions. During his tenure, he was awarded four patents for innovations in software and serviceability features.

Mr. Taylor has extensive experience in financial planning and industry research to develop business solutions. His comprehensive knowledge of the supply chain, distribution, and transportation industries is complemented by his business analytics and technical expertise, enabling him to offer enterprise solutions that synchronize material and information flow.

Richard Wright

Mr. Wright has been an executive in the healthcare industry for over 40 years. He served as a senior executive for Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) from 1978 – 2013 and spent eight years with its predecessor company, American Medicorp. During his tenure at UHS, Mr. Wright held positions as CEO of two acute care hospitals in Florida and Texas, Senior Vice President of the Acute Care Division, Vice President of Development and President of UHS Building Solutions. In this capacity as Vice President of Development, he led the acquisition/divestiture process for more than 35 transactions valued over $2 billion and developed strategic initiatives for acute care hospitals. His transaction experience includes: the acquisition of George Washington University Hospital in partnership with the University, acquisition of a nine county health system subject to public referendum, took a three hospital system in California through Chapter 363 bankruptcy and developed a six hospital healthcare system in South Texas. Mr. Wright also has vast experience in the design/build of acute care hospitals. Following UHS, Mr. Wright formed Allergy Services of America LLC, Wright Transactions Advisors LLC, Fusion Health Partners, and served as an Advisor to Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Senior Advisor to Blue Wolf Capital Partners. Mr. Wright has served on many hospital boards throughout his career and is a former board member for Modern MD Urgent Care in New York.