Position Spotlight: Director of Strategy and Growth

Kerry grew up in a small town in upstate New York and moved to Nashville during high school. He attended Indiana University and graduated with a degree in finance and accounting. Out of college, he worked at Ernst & Young in Chicago for a few years before moving into a role in management consulting with AArete, where he was introduced to healthcare and process improvement for both health insurers and health systems.  

Kerry moved back to Nashville in 2021 and has been at Contessa for two and a half years working to help grow Contessa’s health system partnerships as a part of the development team. Outside of work, his favorite activities are skiing, golfing and rooting for the Indiana Hoosiers. 

 
What does a Director of Strategy and Growth do at Contessa? 

I work alongside the Mergers and Acquisitions team at Amedisys to identify and work through prospective health system partners that are looking to bring care to the home through one or more of our service line offerings. More specifically, we typically work with health system discharge data to produce financial modeling of prospective joint ventures and speak with health systems about the benefits of partnering with Contessa and Amedisys. 

Why did you choose a career in healthcare? Specifically, this career?  

I have found that this career in healthcare is particularly rewarding because of the impact that we have on patients and their families. Being a part of an organization that brings high quality, impactful and innovative care to the home throughout the country helps me stay focused on the mission behind what we do. 

How does the work you do at Contessa differ from other jobs?

I have found that my work at Contessa is different than many other jobs because of the ability to interact and learn from many different teams within our growing organization. Having the opportunity to learn on a daily basis from our medical, clinical, operational, product and legal teams, amongst many other vital departments within Contessa, is a unique opportunity that is provided in our work. In addition, being able to speak with leadership teams at the nation’s leading health systems to learn about their problems and how we can help them to fulfill their mission is a unique and rewarding opportunity. 

What is the best part of your job?

The best part of what we do is being able to speak with health systems and prospective partners to show them how we can address many of their problems that they face around bringing more care to patients’ homes. In addition, seeing patient testimonials at our current health system partners is particularly exciting, knowing all of the hard work that was put into making their hospital at home experience a reality. 

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part of our job is to make sure that we are cognizant of the ever-changing needs that health systems face. We constantly look to listen to the pressing issues of health systems that we are exploring partnerships with and ensure that we are tailoring our offerings and approach to fit their needs. In such a quick moving industry, we constantly focus on being on the forefront of care in the home. 

What inspires you to come to work every day?

The patients and their families that we impact on a daily basis, as well as the hardworking visionaries at Contessa who have paved the way for us to continue to bring hospital level care to patients throughout the country.