Team

Carollee Brinkman

Chief Executive Officer

Carollee has over 20 years of healthcare industry experience holding numerous operational and senior executive management roles throughout her career. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, Carollee served as a National Group President of Surgery Partners, an operator of over 120 ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals across 32 states with over $2 billion in annual revenue. Carollee had operational oversite of approximately 4,000 employees within Surgery Partners, managing over $1 billion in annual revenue for the company. Prior to Surgery Partners, she was a Senior Vice Present of operations with National Surgical Healthcare, a previously privately held company that specialized in operating surgical hospitals in partnership with doctors. She served in numerous roles at National Surgical Healthcare, but spent substantial time partnering with doctors and clinicians to build and operate surgical hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers across the country. Carollee has also held leadership positions as a hospital Chief Executive Officer and a physician practice consultant. Carollee was raised on a ranch in Southwestern North Dakota and received her degree in Healthcare and Business Administration from Concordia College.

Peter Jacobson

Chief Financial Officer

Peter has over 15 years of finance and accounting leadership experience, including over ten years serving as a Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, Peter served as the CFO of BridgeHealth, a surgery benefit management company that provides its members with access to high quality healthcare while reducing costs. Prior to BridgeHealth, he worked as a CFO with other privately held high growth businesses in the technology, software, and manufacturing sectors, overseeing all financial reporting and integration related efforts. Earlier in his career, Peter was a Vice President of KeyBanc Capital Markets, where he worked with small and mid-sized businesses in capital raising and M&A activities. Peter is a Certified Public Accountant and received his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and undergraduate BA with honors from Harvard University.

Grant Wilson

Chief Development Officer

Grant has over 15 years of private equity, investment banking, and corporate development experience. Most recently, he served as a Principal for Tyree & D’Angelo Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm where he invested in and worked with numerous provider-based healthcare services companies. He previously worked as an investment professional for Waud Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm focused on investments in healthcare and business services. Grant also worked in corporate development with CME Group and corporate finance and M&A advisory at Lehman Brothers in Chicago. Grant holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and received a BS in Finance and Accounting and a Master of Accountancy from Miami (of Ohio).

Bernard Presutti

Chief People Officer

Bernie has over 35 years of healthcare industry experience, encompassing numerous senior-level operation roles until he permanently moved into the human resources arena in 1999. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, Bernie served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for National Surgical Hospitals (a privately held company), laying the groundwork for the initial HR department and Talent Acquisition function with a scalable infrastructure that supported the growth of the company from 100 employees to over 3500 employees across 14 states until the time of acquisition. Bernie was instrumental in building a talent acquisition program that resulted in high-quality, rapid placements of individuals who remained with the company for lengthy periods of time. Prior to National Surgical Hospitals, Bernie spent the first part of his career gaining operational expertise in acute and tertiary care hospitals, some of which were not-for-profit and others for-profit, holding senior-level operational roles. Bernie was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gannon University. He went on to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio where he received his Masters degree in Hospital and Health Services Administration, with a minor in Human Resource Management.

Jen Abram

Director of Business Development

Jen has spent the last decade in animal health providing medical and business solutions to veterinarians and their staff.  As a Strategic Account Manager with Zoetis, Jen’s role was to educate and partner with veterinary practices to better the health of their patients, practice and team. In this role, she developed training tools and an accredited leadership certificate program for the industry.

As a Regional Sales Manager with KindredBio, Jen pursued her passion around people and their development by mentoring and coaching a multi-state sales team. Jen has also served on various industry boards, including Project VETS–a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and welfare of animals around the world. 

Prior to animal health, Jen spent ten years on the human health side with Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories in technical sales and recruiting.  Jen holds a BA in Journalism and Business from Indiana University.

Jessica Bird

Director of Recruiting

Jess has over 20 years of experience in the veterinary field. Most recently, Jess served as the Hiring Team Manager for VetCor, where she specialized in talent acquisition, veterinary school relationship building, and employee engagement. Prior to VetCor, Jess served as the Human Resource Generalist/Surgical Department Head for two large 24hr Emergency Specialty Veterinary Hospitals located in Massachusetts. She began her career working as a veterinary technician in her hometown of Bourne, Massachusetts. Jess attended UMASS-Amherst where she focused her studies on equine sports therapy and animal science.

Nick Clairmore

Accounting Manager

Nick has over 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry, with a significant focus in the optometry and ophthalmology sectors.  Most recently, Nick has over three years of audit and accounting experience from Plante Moran, one of the nation’s largest tax, assurance, and business advisory firms. Nick obtained his Certified Public Accountant license immediately after completing his Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Suma Cum Laude, from Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Megan Collins

Regional Director of Operations

Megan has 10 years of healthcare industry experience, including insurance, care coordination, human healthcare, and veterinary medicine. Prior to Western Veterinary Partners, Megan served as Manager of Operations for the Baylor Scoliosis Center. Most recently, she worked as Hospital Manager for two specialty veterinary hospitals. Megan received several awards for client satisfaction and innovation throughout her career. Megan has her BS in Human Relations and Business and her MBA in Strategic Leadership from Amberton University.

Stephanie Cooper

Senior Recruiter

Stephanie brings over six years of talent acquisition experience to Western Veterinary Partners. Previously she has been recruiting information technology professionals for companies ranging from start up to Fortune 100 firms. She has a passion for guiding professionals on their career development journey, and connecting companies with top talent for niche skill sets.

Prior to recruiting, Stephanie spent 10 years in the consumer packaged goods industry as a Business Analyst and Marketing Manager. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology, an MBA from the University of San Francisco, and recently obtained her SHRM-CP certification.

Eva DeTolve

Director of Operations

Eva has twenty years of experience in the veterinary and animal welfare industries. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, she served in leadership roles as Director of Veterinary Services and Executive Director in large animal welfare organizations. Previously, she worked in manager and director roles in several veterinary hospitals, including specialty and 24-hour emergency practices. Eva started her career as a Veterinary Technician in a small two Doctor practice. Eva holds a BS from Metropolitan State University in Denver.

Kevin DeWitt

Director of Business Development Execution

Kevin has over 8 years of investment banking and finance experience. Most recently, he served as a Vice President in the Leveraged Finance group for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, a middle market focused investment bank. Kevin helped structure and raise debt capital for both public and privately owned companies to fund acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, dividend recapitalizations and other general financing needs. Kevin received a BS in Finance from Miami University (Ohio).

Anna Engebritson

Financial Analyst

Anna has over three years of experience in finance and has conducted analysis for multiple industries. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, Anna held financial and pricing roles in the aviation industry. Anna hails from Minnesota, and holds a BS in Finance from St. Cloud State University. In her free time, Anna is an avid traveler and is working on visiting all seven continents.

Sarah Garza

Accounts Payable Manager

Sarah has seven years of experience in accounts payable in various industries including banking, mining, construction and entertainment. Sarah started her career as an AP specialist, and has worked her way up to managing teams and departments. She enjoys bringing teams together, as well as creating new processes and procedures that support both internal customers and vendors. Prior her work in accounting, Sarah managed back office processes in the furniture industry, and also managed multiple retail locations. Sarah and her family are huge animal lovers. They love sharing every experience possible with their dogs.

Lindsay O’Grady

Director of Business Development

Lindsay has more than 20 years of experience in the veterinary industry. Most recently, Lindsay held leadership roles in development, recruiting, and regional operations for VetCor, a leading group veterinary hospital support organization with over 300 hospitals nationwide. Prior to VetCor, Lindsay served as a practice manager of two small animal practices in addition to a large specialty animal hospital center. She began her career working in reception for her hometown veterinarian and over her career has held positions in nearly every area of a veterinary hospital. Lindsay attended Bentley University and holds a master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. She continues to maintain her veterinary technician license and membership in veterinary community organizations.

Jessica Rodriguez

Human Resources & Payroll Specialist

Jessica Rodriguez joined Western Veterinary Partners with over 11 years of human resources, payroll, accounting, customer service and administrative experience. Prior to joining Western Veterinary Partners, Jessica oversaw the payroll process for over 1800 employees for a national company operating in the continental U.S.  Jessica’s background as a seasoned and talented Human Resources and Payroll professional meets a critical need of the organization as it enables Western Veterinary Partners to honor and promote our culture of valuing each individual team member. 

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration, from American Military University.  Her education and background have positioned her perfectly to support a rapidly growing company in the veterinarian industry.

Michael Rubey

Director of Business Development

Michael has over 25 years of veterinary sales and leadership experience. He has built and lead national sales teams for IDEXX, HESKA and BioMerieux, three of the largest veterinary laboratory service providers in the world. He has sold veterinary equipment and solutions and helped hundreds of practices enhance their diagnostic capabilities throughout the country, with a primary focus on the Western United States. Throughout his time in veterinary sales, Michael has received numerous awards for both customer satisfaction and high performance. Michael holds a BA from San Diego State University.

Gillian Vance

Business Development Associate

After graduating from the University of Colorado in May 2019, Gillian gained experience in sports marketing and strategic partnerships while working for the Arizona Golf Association (AGA). Gillian oversaw advertising, social media outreach, website development, and member acquisition at the AGA. During her time at the CU Boulder Athletic Department, she worked in event promotions where she created campaigns to drive ticket sales for students and potential fans. She holds a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Colorado where she was also a leader and competitor on the Women’s Golf Team. During her free time, Gillian enjoys playing golf, running, and spending time with friends and family.