Sam Donaldson, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer, President

Sam provides leadership for all aspects of service delivery, company growth and financial stability. He is the liaison between company and key stakeholders including government agencies, advocacy groups, regulatory bodies, Centene health plans and other specialty divisions. He oversees all company operations to assure maximum efficiency and ensure accountability for superior delivery outcomes. Sam is a leader in development of innovative clinical models for treatment of Medicaid members.

Len Whyte

Chief Operating Officer

Responsible for the overall day to day operations of clinical and network functions for Cenpatico – Len and his team ensure that our clients experience exceptional customer service. Stressing accountability and transparency, his team oversees all aspects of the client and provider experience from contracting to claims adjudication to ensuring effective care is being delivered.

Angela Perri

Vice President, Business Development, Marketing and Communications

Angela and her team are charged with identifying new business opportunities, developing new and improving current product lines and leading marketing initiatives to foster an environment of innovation and growth throughout Cenpatico and its subsidiaries. Angela brings to Cenpatico and the Business Development department more than 13 years of experience in establishing strategic visions and achieving operating efficiencies and business growth objectives in multiple managed care environments. Angela is also a JURAN® Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Mary-Katherine Kutac

Senior Director, Human Resources – Specialty Companies

Mary-Katherine oversees the delivery of human resources service and support for Cencorp Health Solutions and Cenpatico. Mary-Katherine and her team are charged with implementing human resources strategies that are designed to attract, engage, develop and retain the exceptional talent that keeps Cenpatico competitive in the marketplace and enables the business to achieve its mission and goals.

Phil Nieri

Vice President, Compliance

Phil directs compliance and regulatory affairs for all lines of business at Cenpatico. His team monitors compliance with all business contracts, provides oversight of ongoing budget and strategic planning initiatives and tracks regulatory and legislative issues which impact our business. Phil has more than 15 years of experience in Medicaid managed care and holds a masters degree in public administration.

Cindy Peterson, LCSW

Vice President, Clinical Operations

Cindy provides clinical leadership for all markets and products and is responsible for ensuring that the Utilization Management, Intensive Case Management, Care Coordination and Call Center functions support the Cenpatico Mission through activities that promote the development and strengthening of members’ resiliency factors, facilitate recovery processes and achieve meaningful and measurable results that will improve the overall qualify of life for members and their families.

Francis Terway

Vice President, Finance

Francis has oversight of all of Cenpatico’s fiscal activities and is responsible for developing financial modeling and feasibility analyses. Francis also manages our data analytics team, which is responsible for reporting, trend analyses and market profiling. Francis and his team are driven to continually look for ways to add value to our clients by evaluating current programs and services to ensure maximum performance. Cenpatico’s most tenured employee, Francis is celebrating his 11th anniversary with the company this year after joining our team as a Financial Analyst in 2000.

Tracy Eilers

Foster Care Director

Tracy oversees and manages Cenpatico’s foster care program.  Her team helps to ensure that more than 30,000 youth in the STAR Health Foster Care Program receive quality behavioral health services through a range of programs. Tracy, an award-winning advocate for abused and neglected children, works closely with child welfare, community organizations and judiciary aspects of the foster care system. Tracy previously served as the founding Executive Director of the Adoption Coalition of Texas.

Bernard Engelberg, M.D.

Medical Director

Bernard works with our providers to make sure the best care is being given to our members. He has more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health and is a member of The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Chief Executive Officer, Cenpatico Arizona

Terry has more than 30 years of behavioral health experience in both public and commercial managed care. She began her career as a child and family therapist in a rural community mental health center in central Illinois and has worked for the last 20 years in Arizona. Terry earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois in Clinical Psychology, and she is a licensed counselor, certified coach and certified focus director.

Jay Gray, Ph.D.

Chief Operating Officer, Cenpatico Arizona

Jay has 20 years of experience in developing, leading and successfully managing behavioral health and educational systems of care. He holds a Ph.D. in Counseling and Student Personnel Services from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in Theology with an emphasis in counseling from Bethany Theological Seminary, a master’s degree in Agricultural Industries from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a graduate certificate in Organizational Development from George Williams College. Jay completed his pre-doctoral internship in Professional Psychology at Arizona State University.

Chief Officer of Consumer and Community Affairs, Cenpatico Arizona

Melinda has more than 14 years of experience in working with  Medicaid, Medicare and commercial health plans. She is responsible for the Community and Peer & Family advisory councils as well as Cenpatico Arizona’s Cultural Competency Plan. Melinda also oversees Customer Service and local Natural Supports Specialists and Community Connections Coordinators. Prior to joining the Arizona team, she worked at Cenpatico in Austin as the Director of Business Implementations and with NurseWise to develop and coordinate a centralized call center for the corporate office of several Medicaid plans.

Erik Ryan

Vice President, Educational Services

Erik oversees the development, implementation, and marketing of programs that address the academic, behavioral, and social challenges of children with special needs. He markets and develops services to school districts and children’s behavioral health networks in order to initiate, implement, and maintain service contracts and works with Cenpatico and affiliated Business Units on strategically integrating school-based services into larger Health Care and Behavioral Health Care Contracts. Erik also provides consultation services to public school districts on topics related to positive and effective behavior supports and interventions.