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Led by our president, Jackie Larson, the Avantas leadership team provides leading edge ideas in healthcare workforce management. Similarly, they expect their teams to continually make meaningful contributions to the strategies and science of managing labor at the enterprise level. Avantas teams are encouraged to challenge ideas and innovate from within to help our clients achieve better outcomes, decreased labor spend, and increased staff satisfaction.
This approach has helped our company become the foremost provider of industry solutions and has positioned our team members as experts in the field.
Avantas leaders and team members are frequent speakers at national conferences and are routinely published in some of the leading publications in the industry, including Becker’s Hospital Review, HFMA’s Healthcare Cost Containment, Healthcare Finance, Healthcare Informatics, and the ADVANCE Healthcare Network of publications.
Jackie Larson, President
Jackie Larson is a healthcare industry veteran and recognized thought leader. She joined Avantas in 2008 and has been the driving force in building out the company’s client management, analytics, and consulting groups into world-class teams providing guidance and support to clients on a wide range of issues including workforce optimization, productivity, labor pool and incentives, system integration, resource management, and business analytics.
A sought after writer and speaker on healthcare staffing and workforce optimization topics, Jackie has been featured at national conferences including AHIMA, AAACN, and Becker’s Hospital Review Annual Meeting in addition to being published in Medical Practice Insider, MGMA Connection, Executive Insight, HFMA’s Healthcare Cost Containment, Healthcare Finance News, and Becker’s Hospital Review, among others.
Jackie is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the American Organization for Nurse Executives (AONE).
Marc Celia
VP of Strategic Operations
An RN and an accomplished executive with a strong background in change management, process improvement, and Lean Six Sigma, Marc leads our client services, consulting, education, support, and staffing optimization areas.
Marc has successfully led a variety of organizations ranging from ambulance corporations to health systems. His ability to create organizational “superstars” focused on developing subject matter expertise with a passion for serving the customer provides the framework that puts our clients’ interests at the heart of everything we do.
He served in leadership roles in several prominent organizations including Meridian Health, Memorial Hermann, and United Surgical Partners International/ Tenet Health.
He has earned a BSN in Nursing and an MS in Healthcare Management. He is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the American Nurses Association.
Shelly Hunter
VP Product Management
An accomplished product management professional with a history of success and experience in financial services and healthcare sectors, Shelly has oversight on all scheduling software and analytics product offerings, and the product management and marketing teams.
Her focus on the continued evolution of the Avantas suite of scheduling and analytics tools is delivering an innovative, user-centric, enterprise leading set of solutions that help healthcare provider organizations accomplish clinical and financial goals while providing staff with an unparalleled user experience.
She is recognized as a leader focused on people, culture and business results, with a proven track record of product delivery, organizational development and relationship management.
Shelly brings considerable experience leading product teams in a variety of settings, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Brent Hansen
Sr. Director of Innovation
Brent is responsible for the strategy and execution of each phase of the end-to-end software development life cycle including research, functional requirements, development, and testing.
Brent has more than 10 years of experience building Software-as-a-Service labor management tools on Java-based applications with Oracle and IBM-database products.
Prior to coming to Avantas, Brent was the director of product development for a publicly traded telecommunications service provider. He was a developer and leader of software teams supporting call center applications such as real-time management, adherence between scheduling and time and attendance systems, enterprise analytic reporting for revenue opportunities, and UI design.
Jenny Korth, MHA, FACMPE
Sr. Director of Consulting & Education
Jenny has been deeply involved in implementing strategic labor management plans and processes in the Avantas client base for more than fifteen years. As an experienced workforce strategist, she has driven analytic engagements and best practice policy reviews in addition to technical implementations at more than 100 client facilities. Additionally, Jenny serves as a strategic advisor and mentor to clients on ongoing education and optimization strategies.
Jenny is board certified Fellow in medical practice management through the American College of Medical Practice Executives. She is certified as a change management specialist, a Six Sigma Lean professional, a Reality-Based Leadership facilitator, and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).
Holly Holz
Sr. Director of Client Engagement & Optimization
Holly has strategic oversight spanning the entire Avantas client base. She is responsible for the account management team and the execution of Avantas’ strategy of helping clients implement best practices to achieve success in their staffing and scheduling outcomes.
Holly brings a substantial amount of experience to her role at Avantas, including prior roles in the benefits administration industry and travel nurse recruitment.
Holly joined Avantas as a member of the RMC in 2004 and moved onto client implementations and account management. Holly is certified as a change management specialist and Six Sigma Lean professional.
Brian Daniel
Sr. Director – Center of Excellence
Brian’s teams are responsible for Business Intelligence/Analytics, Centralized Resource Management, and Agency Management. His teams provide the insights and execution of key workforce strategies, which allow for continuous strategy and product development.
Brian brings two decades of working with and for Fortune 500 companies, building multi-faceted teams to work cross functionally for client gain. His past experiences include senior management, sales, and product development roles with Johnson and Johnson, Boston Scientific, and InfoGroup, building on the foundation of business strategy, process optimization, and quality.
Brian earned his BBA in Marketing at the University of Oklahoma, and previously served on the board of ADG (Aim Institute).
Laura Thies
VP Sales
Laura has oversight of all business development practices, seeking to partner with clients to align recommended workflows in combination with automation via Smart Square and advanced analytics to achieve financial outcomes and deliver time back to clinicians to provide excellent patient care.
Laura brings considerable experience leading teams of sales professionals, subject matter experts, IO psychologists, and more, focusing on products including cloud HR software, content management, consulting, and analytics with cognitive computing, in addition to oversight of survey, assessment, and leadership development solutions.