Position Your Agency at the Forefront of Excellence

Christopher Attaya joined Strategic Healthcare Programs (SHP) in 2014 after spending 28 years in executive and consulting positions within the home health and hospice industry. He is responsible for product development and client relationships to help organizations achieve enhanced operational and financial performance by utilizing SHP’s industry-leading analytics platform and benchmark data. Prior to SHP, Chris was the Chief Financial Officer at the VNA of Boston and worked at Partners Health Care at Home as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Health from Tufts University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Management at Boston University, concentrating in health care finance.

A passionate and dedicated registered nurse with 21 years of home care experience, Emily Brown, RN, MSN, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Florida State University and a Masters in Nursing from the University of West Florida. She has a wide range of experience including working as a home health case manager, quality improvement nurse, director of nursing, administrator, marketing, and general manager. Emily is driven by a strong commitment to improve and expand access to home health care services for patients in the comfort of their homes while keeping them safe. She also enjoys advocating for the home care industry as the current Region 2 Board of Directors representative for the Home Care Association of Florida.

Melynda Lee, MBA, MA, has been a SimiTree consulting leader and interim executive for provider organizations for more than seven years and is a nationally recognized expert in organizational leadership and development, strategic planning, and learning strategy, as well as communications and public relations. Melynda previously served as a hospice administrator and home- and community-based services (HCBS) development executive in Florida and Georgia for eight years and is a former Board of Directors member and Education Committee member for the Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. She is a co-founder of the Greater Atlanta Hospice-Veteran Partnership. Melynda is an expert trainer of HCBS professionals and frequently serves as faculty at state and national association conferences, including NAHC and NHPCO.

Before making a career change to health care, Melynda served for 10 years as a marketing leader and publisher with The New York Times Company. A 2017 recipient of the Digital Marketing Certification from Cornell University, Melynda excels in the assessment of marketing and communications programs, program development, and client assistance to measure and improve competitive strategies for growth, learning, and innovation. In 2019, Melynda received a certificate in Instructional Design from ATD. 

Melynda earned a BFA in advertising design from the University of North Florida, and an MBA from Webster University, where she also earned an MA in Human Resources Development in 2022 and serves as adjunct faculty. She completed the Management Development Program at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, the Executive Development Program of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the Executive Development Program at the American Press Institute.

Meet Deedre Daniel, a former corporate America executive tired of living a boring and uninspired life. She was depressed and in a funk and thought a career change would put a little pep in her step. So, she took a leap of faith, left her nearly two-decade stable insurance career for a smaller company with perceived opportunities, and was let go nine months later, just before Christmas. So, she decided to overhaul her life and align it with her values. She founded two businesses — one to make money and the other to give it away. Her for-profit business, The Interesting Conversations Company®, helps individuals and companies stand out and attract more opportunities using her unique three-part formula that encourages creativity, laughter, and building stronger connections with others. Her passion project, The Big Fat Tip®, is a nonprofit that delivers hope through surprise $1,000 tips to strangers. When COVID-19 hit, she transformed the card game she invented into The Very Interesting Game Show® to help people get closer despite social distancing through platforms like Zoom. Her unique networking session quickly gained popularity and led to her hosting hundreds of in-person and virtual game shows globally. Deedre's signature keynote, How To Be More Interesting Than a Cell Phone®, is a hilarious and insightful guide to creating better connections with others and attracting more opportunities. A book with the same title is coming out soon! Check out Deedre's Shut Up and Say Something!® podcast on all major streaming platforms for more laughs and valuable insights. Brace yourself. It's about to get interesting!

Melinda A. Gaboury, COS-C, is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc. (HPS). With more than 30 years in home care, has over 22 years of executive speaking and educating experience, including extensive day-to-day interaction with home care and hospice professionals. She routinely conducts home care and hospice reimbursement workshops and speaks at state association meetings throughout the country. Melinda has extensive experience in Medicare Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) training, billing, collections, case-mix calculations, chart reviews, and due diligence. Medicare appeals (UPIC, RA, ADR & TPE) with all the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have become the forefront of Melinda’s current impact on the industry. She is currently serving as the Chair of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA) Advisory Board and Work Group, Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Home Care Association of Florida and serves on the Tennessee Association for Home Care Board. Melinda is also the author of the Home Health OASIS Guide to OASIS-E and Home Health Billing Answers 2023.

J’non launched her own outsourcing and coding company, Home Health Solutions LLC, in 2012. It was named by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the nation in 2017, 2018, and 2019 before merging with Simione Healthcare Consultants in 2020. When Simione merged with BlackTree in 2021, J’non took the helm of SimiTree’s new coding division as a director.

J’non Griffin is a registered nurse with 30+ years of clinical and leadership experience as a field nurse, agency director, regional director, executive, and consultant for home health and hospice agencies. She is an accredited ACHC and CHAP consultant and an AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM trainer and ambassador with certifications in home care coding (HCS-D), OASIS competency (COS-C), hospice coding (HCS-H) and home care compliance (HCS-C). A frequent national speaker, she collaborates on Decision Health’s The Diagnosis Coding Pro, has published several manuals, and assisted with online coding and OASIS instruction modules. J’non earned a Master’s degree in Health Care Administration in 2005. HCAF is pleased to have her serving as our Secretary of the Board of Directors.

Patti Heid is HCAF’s Senior Director of Best Practices & Compliance. She has been a physical therapist for over 28 years and has worked in the home care setting for 26 of those years. She believes that nothing can compare to the rapport that one develops with a patient while working with them and their families, in their own homes, helping them overcome the “real-life” day-to-day challenges that they face. Over the years, Patti has gained valuable experience by fulfilling many key roles within the home care arena, from field clinician through the management level. All these roles have given her deep abiding respect and admiration for the good that home care providers can achieve.

Patti graduated from St. John’s University in New York in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She obtained her Master of Science in Physical Therapy degree from the University of Miami in 1993. She is active with the Home Care section of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Eric Scharber serves as the Managing Principal at SimiTree, where he spearheads all talent acquisition and employee retention initiatives for the post-acute and behavioral health care industries. In his role, he supervises executive search, management recruiting, interim leadership services, and provides advisory services related to the workforce. Having founded the firm in 2005, Eric has guided it to become the premier recruiting and executive search entity for the post-acute and behavioral health industries.

SimiTree serves clients nationwide, having completed over 3,500 recruiting and interim leadership projects since its inception. Recognized as an expert in the field, Eric is a frequent national speaker on employee retention and recruitment, building culture, and leadership development.