The CareerPhysician Team

Wesley D. Millican, MBA, is CEO and Physician Talent Officer of CareerPhysician Advisors, LP, and CareerPhysician, LLC, providers of comprehensive talent solutions for academic children’s hospitals, colleges of medicine and academic medical centers across the nation. Mr. Millican is an acknowledged expert in completing complex faculty and executive leadership initiatives across academic medicine. He possesses a longstanding passion for career development of all young physicians and serves as a go to career resource for training program directors and their residents and fellows. Most recently, Mr. Millican held the role of SVP and Physician Talent Officer for OU Medicine. He joined OU Medicine to lead the development of a cutting-edge academic faculty leadership talent platform. Previously, he was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MillicanSolutions, Inc., for 17 years. The firm was a leading executive search and consulting firm, recognized nationally for its success in strategic leadership initiatives for academic medical centers and colleges of medicine prior to its acquisition by AMN Healthcare in 2015. He served as Vice President of Physician Services at Physician Reliance Network (now U.S. Oncology).
Mr. Millican has long been viewed as an expert in leadership initiatives specific to child health and the academic medical center. He has a total of 28 years of experience in search execution and has completed more than 450 complex faculty and faculty leadership assignments while keeping focus on his professional passions of student education, faculty conflict resolution, retention and succession. Additionally, and in continuing his commitment to the “future of medicine”, Mr. Millican still speaks nationally at residency and fellowship programs. His Launch Your Career ® Series is a proven resource for today’s residents and fellows and has served as a go to resource for program directors over the last 15 years.
Mr. Millican holds an MBA degree, with focus in negotiation strategy and organizational behavior from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University and BBA degrees in both Marketing and Management from Texas A&M University. He has been the recipient of the National Institute for Physician Recruitment’s National Honors for Comprehensive Campaign Plans and Strategies and ACMS’s Physician Relations Executive of the Year award. Recognized as a recruiting industry expert, Millican has been published in the Wall Street Journal and was a contributor to Get Paid What You’re Worth, a book by Robin L. Pinkley, focusing on compensation and salary negotiations.
Mr. Millican serves on the Executive Committee of the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, a subsidiary of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and the Board of the Texas Methodist Foundation and its Institute for Congregational & Clergy Effectiveness.

Dr. Stapleton is a pediatric nephrologist, Professor Emeritus and Chair Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He served as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics from 1996 to 2018, as well as Chief Academic Officer and Associate Dean from 2005 to 2018.

As a leader, Dr. Stapleton champions a philosophy of teamwork and accountability accompanied with humanistic values. Dr. Stapleton believes that pediatric leaders face many challenges as generational values evolve, resources in the health industry for academic and education missions become limited and disparities challenge trust and collaborations. Many, if not all, of these challenges will be amplified following COVID-19. Successful leaders must find strategic and creative solutions in partnership with their academic and clinical partners.

Jon Hayes serves as the Executive Vice President (EVP) of child health for CareerPhysician. As EVP, Hayes drives the company's growth strategy with a focus on advancing its mission to improve the lives of children through the recruitment and development of executive leaders.

With more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Jon has a comprehensive understanding of both academic department and children’s hospital operations. Prior to joining CareerPhysician, Jon served as President of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. His previous experience also includes his role as Director of Finance and Administrator for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

In his role at CareerPhysician, Jon is responsible for overseeing the overall recruitment strategy, building strong relationships with healthcare organizations and implementing innovative solutions to address the ever-evolving talent demands in the industry. Jon is passionate about addressing physician shortages by attracting and retaining the diverse and transformational leaders healthcare organizations need.

Jon holds a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Health Administration from the University of Oklahoma. He currently serves on the board of Make-a-Wish Oklahoma and when not at work, you can find Jon spending time with family and friends, often with his two sons either at the baseball fields or cheering on the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

Marcel Barbey serves as Vice President of Search Services for CareerPhysician, LLC. He is recognized nationally for his specialization and expertise in recruiting academic physicians and faculty leaders for complex medical schools, academic medical centers, academic children’s hospitals and integrated healthcare systems. Prior to CareerPhysician, Mr. Barbey served as Vice President for MillicanSolutions, Inc., that was acquired by AMN Healthcare in 2015. At AMN, he served as Vice President in the Executive and Physician Practice of AMN Leadership Solutions. Mr. Barbey brings an unparalleled customer-centric focus to all of the executive and faculty searches which he manages, yet his strongest focus and one at which he has demonstrated success over the past 20-years is his ability to fulfill medical staff needs. Melding a facility’s senior team with key physician staff – and the downstream effect of how those physicians interact with their teams – can oftentimes spell a facility’s success or failure. Mr. Barbey has established strong partnerships with physician candidates and clients, assessing a facility’s culture to skillfully make candidate-client matches that will endure.
Mr. Barbey has been recruiting physicians and providing healthcare staffing consultative services since 1999. He has expertise in working with stakeholders throughout an organization to achieve alignment on staffing goals and in the all-important contract negotiation phase of executive search.
Mr. Barbey earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation, Tourism and Sports from the University of Alberta.

Mark Lozano serves as Vice President of Search Services for CareerPhysician, LLC. Mr. Lozano is recognized nationally for his specialization and expertise in consulting with academic leadership and search committees, and executing executive and faculty recruitment projects for complex medical schools, academic medical centers, academic children’s hospitals, and integrated healthcare systems. Prior to CareerPhysician, Mr. Lozano served as Vice President for the third largest retained physician recruitment firm in the country. During his twelve-year tenure, his role included developing recruitment strategies, executing marketing campaigns, contract negotiating, mentoring junior team members, and leading two divisions. Mr. Lozano’s decision to join CareerPhysician was driven by the opportunity to work alongside a dynamic group of consultants and focus his career on impacting the lives of patients through the success and growth of academic medical centers by executing on critical search projects integral to service line expansion, access to care and innovation in treatment.

Mr. Lozano prides himself on establishing strong partnerships with physician candidates and clients, assessing a facility’s culture to skillfully make candidate-client matches that will endure.

Mr. Lozano has been involved in physician recruitment and healthcare consulting since 2005. He has developed a passion for making a difference in the lives of patients by providing a candid perspective to clients and candidates to ensure there is clarity on expectations and objectives in each candidate/client engagement.

Mr. Lozano earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from Texas Tech University.

Mendy King serves as Director at CareerPhysician, LLC. Prior to CareerPhysician, she served as Assistant Director, Accounting and Database Management for MillicanSolutions, Inc., that was acquired by AMN Healthcare in 2015. At AMN, she served as an Associate Operations Manager in the Executive and Physician Practice of AMN Leadership Solutions.

Mrs. King has been involved in physician recruitment since 2011 and plays an integral role in the search and consulting process where she is responsible for target identification, strategic market research, database development, candidate and client coordination and overall search execution.

Prior to her career in executive search, Mrs. King was in the Real Estate industry where she was a relocation agent and property manager.

Karis joined the CareerPhysician team in September 2021 as a Consultant of Candidate Development. In this role she focuses on sourcing and engaging high-caliber candidates who are leaders in academic pediatric medicine. She works under the guidance of CareerPhysician’s Vice Presidents of Search, Mark and Marcel, to identify, screen, and collaborate with candidates to find the right job fit with our clients.

Prior to CareerPhysician, Karis graduated from Auburn University in 2019 with a BS in Kinesiology. She decided to continue her education and collegiate volleyball career at James Madison University where she finished with a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology in 2021. Karis spent her free time in college volunteering in hospitals in Alabama, Texas and Virginia. She has always been drawn to the medical field and working closely with physicians who help better the lives of children and their families every day.

Kerry Henry serves as Associate, Executive & Search Support Services with CareerPhysician, LLC., and is part of the team recognized nationally for its specialization and expertise in recruiting executive leaders and academic physicians for complex medical school, academic medical center and children’s hospital leadership endeavors.

In addition to providing executive support, Ms. Henry plays an integral role in the search and consulting process where she is responsible for target identification, strategic market research, database development, client coordination and overall search execution.

Prior to CareerPhysician, Ms. Henry served as a Practice Administrator for a large independent emergency medicine group with affiliated emergency medicine residency and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship programs. Ms. Henry was responsible for oversight of the recruitment process of physicians, advanced practice providers and staff.

Ms. Henry earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Employee Relations/Management from Penn State University. She also has completed MBA Coursework at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC.

Dr. Stapleton is a pediatric nephrologist, Professor Emeritus and Chair Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He served as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics from 1996 to 2018, as well as Chief Academic Officer and Associate Dean from 2005 to 2018.

As a leader, Dr. Stapleton champions a philosophy of teamwork and accountability accompanied with humanistic values. Dr. Stapleton believes that pediatric leaders face many challenges as generational values evolve, resources in the health industry for academic and education missions become limited and disparities challenge trust and collaborations. Many, if not all, of these challenges will be amplified following COVID-19. Successful leaders must find strategic and creative solutions in partnership with their academic and clinical partners.

Dr. Gleason is a neonatologist and Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She served as Division Director of Neonatology at Johns Hopkins from 1990 to 1997 and as Division Chief of Neonatology at the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital from 1997 to 2015. She stepped down as Division Chief in 2015 to pursue new personal and professional opportunities, including her selection as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow (2016-2018) where her year-long Congressional placement was in the Office of the Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

Dr. Gleason’s leadership philosophy is based on the premise that it takes a village: First, find the right position for the right person at the right time; Second, enable/empower that person to be successful. She believes that selfless mentorship and coaching have been among the most satisfying aspects of her academic career, and she is passionate about passing on her own learnings (especially, her failings) to emerging pediatric leaders.

Dr. Hillemeier is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Penn State University. He served most recently as the CEO of Penn State Health 2014 to 2019. Prior to that office, Dr. Hillemeier held a number of administrative roles at Penn State University College of Medicine, including Dean (2014-2019) Senior Vice President of Health Affairs (2014-2019) and Chair of Pediatrics (2001-2014). During his tenure as Chair of Pediatrics, Dr. Hillemeier led the effort to build a free-standing Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Hillemeier’s leadership philosophy centers on the importance of pediatric leaders learning how the values of respect, integrity and transparency can be transformed into the basis for exceptional leadership. Balancing the everchanging resource environment to ensure that faculty and staff feel their contributions are supported and acknowledged is a challenge that requires a commitment to values-based leadership that performs at the highest level.

Dr. Jenkins is a Professor and Chair Emerita at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jenkins served as the inaugural director of the adolescent medicine program from 1976 to 1994 when she was appointed department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health, serving in this capacity until March 2007. Dr. Jenkins served as national president of the American Academy of Pediatrics from 2007 to 2008.

The servant leader philosophy embodies the characteristics Dr. Jenkins feels are important for effective leadership. She believes a servant leader listens more than he/she speaks, shares power rather than uses his/her power to drive growth and understands it is not about them but it’s about the organization, be it the department, lab, or university. As a mentor to young and mid-career faculty, one of Dr. Jenkins’ greatest joys is seeing the mentees grow and succeed in their careers.

Danielle Laraque-Arena (AKA Danielle Laraque), MD, FAAP is President and Professor Emerita of SUNY Upstate Medical University (UMU) and served as the 7th President of UMU, the first woman and first African American to have done so in that institution’s 182 years. In that role she served as Chief Executive Officer of the health system and was tenured Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health & Preventive Medicine and Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Sciences. Currently, Dr. Laraque-Arena is a Senior Research Scientist at the New York Academy of Medicine and Professor, Mailman School of Public Health (in Epidemiology) and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (in Pediatrics), Columbia University. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics.

Dr. Laraque-Arena is the Past President of Academic Pediatric Association (2009-2010), former member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Board of Directors (2012-2016). She was elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine (2000) and the American Pediatric Society (2005), served as member to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Committee on Integrating Primary Care and Public Health (2011) and Co-Chair NYS Governor’s Task Force on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes (2018-2019). She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse America, President of Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation and is Chair of Vaccinate Your Family (formerly Every Child by Two). She serves on other national advisory boards to advance the health of children, families and communities and efforts to achieve excellence in medicine through justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. In her numerous leadership positions, Dr. Laraque-Arena has advanced maternal-child health in underserved and disenfranchised communities. Her current portfolio includes child rights, health disparities and health equity.

Dr. Opipari is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan School of Medicine and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Dr. Opipari has held a number of administrative roles at the University of Michigan including Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics and Chair of the University of Michigan Biomedical Research Council. Most recently, Dr. Opipari served as the chair for the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases (2003-2018).

Dr. Opipari believes the challenges for Chairs and all leaders in academic medicine will include the pace at which our care models, research work and training have/will be impacted by how we have had to function in response to COVID-19 and the financial impact it has had on the health care industry and all of our communities. This coupled with the rapid advancement new technologies and electronic interfaces for distance care (video visits etc.), learning and research will drive innovation and challenge historic academic structures and approaches. She believes e-technologies and social media platforms are transforming society in both good and bad ways.

Dr. Sawin is a pediatric surgeon, Emeritus Professor and Surgeon in Chief at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington. Dr. Sawin served as the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Surgery, University of Washington School of Medicine, Senior Vice President and Chief Surgical Officer of the Seattle Children’s Hospital. He also served as President of the UW pediatric faculty practice plan, Children’s University Medical Group, until 2019 when he retired from full-time practice.

At the national and regional level, Dr. Sawin has held many leadership positions including: President of the Pediatric Surgery Biology Club, Secretary of the Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons, President of the North Pacific Surgical Association, Chairman of the Organization of Children’s Hospital Surgeons-in-Chief, and President of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association.

Since retiring from full-time clinical practice, Dr. Sawin became trained as an executive coach, and has joined with Marquis Leadership and the Child Health Advisory Council to provide coaching and leadership training for individuals and teams in medicine and healthcare.

Dr. Strauss is a pediatric cardiologist, Emeritus Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Strauss served as the Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation (CCRF), and Chief Medical Officer of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) from 2007 to 2014.

Dr. Strauss believes that leaders are servants to and advocates for their constituents. Successful leaders lead by example, have the goal of developing talent, and encourage diversity and inclusion.