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Who We Are
Enabling Outstanding Care
Empowering Hospital and Health System Leaders to Deliver on Their Organizations Promises
Via Healthcare Consulting is your reliable governance and strategy partner, empowering hospital and health system executives and board members with confidence, trust, energy, and tangible results. Our commitment is rooted in fostering stronger leadership to create resilient, successful organizations and healthier communities.
Our Mission
At Via Healthcare Consulting, our mission is dedicated to empowering hospital and health system leaders, enabling them to transform their organizations, enhance community well-being, and foster effective leadership by providing expert guidance and counsel.
Our Vision
We aim to be a trusted ally for leaders in U.S. hospitals and health systems, offering guidance toward effective governance and clear strategic direction. We dream of a world where our expertise in governance and strategic insights paves the way for value-based leadership and enables organizational transformation.
About Us
Via Healthcare Consulting stands as a nationally-recognized, woman-owned consulting firm, celebrated for its warm, engaging culture and transformative impact. Specializing in guiding boards and executives, we excel in reshaping governance and co-creating strategies that better align organizational activities with the mission, vision, market opportunities, and community need. We approach our work with unwavering dedication, ensuring a deep commitment to our clients’ success. Each project is meticulously customized, reflecting our accountability and responsiveness to the unique needs of every client.
Introducing Our Leader
Meet Karma H. Bass, MPH, FACHE, the CEO/Managing Principal of Via Healthcare Consulting. With a career spanning nearly three decades, Karma is recognized as a sought-after speaker, facilitator, and consultant, specializing in governance, strategic planning, philanthropy, healthcare policy, and board effectiveness. Her extensive experience uniquely qualifies her as a consultant to modern hospital and health system boards.
Before co-founding Via Healthcare Consulting, Karma served as the vice president for ACCORD Limited, a Chicago-based consulting firm. Prior to that and during her tenure as the president and CEO of Alliance Healthcare Foundation in San Diego, she reported to an independent 11-person not-for-profit board. Notably, Karma spent a decade at The Governance Institute, holding various key roles, including vice president of membership services and director of research and publications. Under her guidance, the institute conducted the prestigious biennial hospital governance practices survey, tracking trends across nearly 5,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems.
Karma is not only board-certified in healthcare management but also holds a master’s degree in public health, specializing in health services administration, from San Diego State University.
Our Team of Professionals
Architects of Transformative Healthcare Governance and Impactful Strategic Plans
Meet the team, where we’re not just consultants, we’re your partners in strategic plan and transformative healthcare governance. We’re not here to simply advise, we’re here to reshape how hospitals and systems approach governance and strategy. With genuine care, deep experience, and a sincere passion, we’ll roll up our sleeves to tackle complex problems head-on, striving for stronger leadership and resilient organizations.
Within our team, you’ll find a group of dedicated experts all committed to this transformative mission. Our principals provide visionary leadership, guiding our teams, which includes consultants, project managers, and a small but mighty executive office team. Each member embodies our core values of authenticity, care, professionalism, curiosity, and intellectual honesty.
Together, we are a united front, working to enrich healthcare governance and strategy. Fueled by passion, unwavering dedication, and decades of experience, we are the driving force behind enhanced leadership and high-performing teams, aiming to inspire a healthcare delivery ecosystem that is not just more efficient but also more connected and compassionate.
Linda Summers, MBA, FACHE
Senior Principal
Linda has 35+ years of operational experience in hospitals and healthcare organizations. Her expertise includes strategic planning and implementation, operational transformation, business development, mentoring, and leadership. Linda is a very visible, values-based executive who leads by example.
Erica M. Osborne, MPH
Principal
Erica has 20 years of experience working with healthcare organizations. Her work focuses on the unique and important role of governance; critical issues facing healthcare organizations today; and empowering boards to make the important policy decisions necessary for organizational success.
Marianne Vicencio, CPHQ
Consultant
Marianne Vicencio has over 20 years of experience working in acute care settings and healthcare consulting. Marianne’s areas of expertise include healthcare quality, performance improvement, and clinical analytics. Her particular passion is improving patient safety and clinical outcomes.
Noreen Cervantes
Project Manager
Noreen Cervantes has over 16 years of experience in management and leadership with expertise in scheduling and correspondence, event planning, training, and coaching. She specializes in effective communication, planning, and execution.
Ryan Olenski
Analytics and Reporting Specialist
Ryan has nearly 10 years of consulting and analytics experience in the healthcare industry. He skillfully assists provider organizations in developing and analyzing the impact of value-based care models within their acute care organizations.
Jennifer Sutton
Director of Finance and Operations
Jennifer Sutton has 20+ years of accounting experience in several industries. She currently oversees Via’s financial, human resources, IT, and marketing operations. Ms. Sutton also identifies philanthropic opportunities in San Diego for our team.
Karen Wagner
Managing Editor
Karen Wagner has more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor and has focused for the past 12 years on the healthcare industry. Her work has appeared in a number of highly-respected print and online publications including www.aha.org.
Why Choose Us:
1. We Are Trusted Guides in the Industry
We navigate the complexities of the boardroom with savvy sensitivity and decades of experience, cutting through politics and noise to discover practical solutions. Our approach involves deep listening, understanding your unique challenges, and adapting our proven methods to ensure we deliver your desired outcomes.
2. We Bring a Personal Passion
Our team deeply cares about the board members and executives we work with. We view our work as personal, mirroring the passion of our clients to lead and provide exceptional health care in their communities.
3. We Are Experts in Governance, Strategy and Leadership Development
Via Healthcare Consulting stands as the leading source of expertise in hospital and health system governance and strategy. Recognized industry-wide, we are frequently invited to speak at prestigious events, showcasing our extensive knowledge and experience.
4. We Specialize in Flexible Problem Solving
We have myriad solutions in our toolkit that we know work. We approach problems with flexibility and open-mindedness, always willing to learn, listen, and adjust our course to find the best solution. Our commitment lies in exploring different paths to uncover the most effective route to a solution for your organization and situation.
5. We Deliver Impactful Change
Nearly every project includes a strong underpinning of effective change management. From the start of the project we believe in partnering with the individuals and teams who will be responsible for delivering the desired results to engender a sense of ownership. Our commitment is to deliver lasting results and leave behind stronger teams who function better following our work with them.
“Health care is a dynamic, evolving industry. Having the expert guidance of Via Healthcare managing our governing board is invaluable. We know our board is getting the information they need, when they need it. The agendas are streamlined so our trustees spend more time discussing, not reading. This service has greatly enhanced our board’s productivity and effectiveness.”
“Collaborating with the experts at Via Healthcare has resulted in enhanced board education, board leadership development, board assessment and overall board effectiveness. Their team of expert staff and use of modern technology tools demonstrates their commitment to providing leading practices in healthcare governance.”
"We wanted to take our board to the next level in terms of our performance. But we didn’t know how to get there. The Via team did. They designed and planned a retreat that provided us with the tools and practices to enhance our ability to engage and get into some substantive discussion on the challenges our organization is facing and what is needed to be fully prepared well into the future. Via’s work was absolutely invaluable in accomplishing this. We will definitely be asking Via to provide more board retreats."
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