Board of Trustees
Trustee Bios
Rob Roy
Board Chair
Dr. Rob Roy is senior vice president of investments and chief investment officer for AdventHealth. In this role, he oversees investments for one of the nation’s largest faith-based health systems, which includes operating capital and employee retirement portfolios totaling approximately $16 billion.
Roy, who has 30 years of institutional investment experience, oversees a 10-person investment team that internally manages over half of the organization’s operating capital. He has dedicated 17 years to supporting AdventHealth’s mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, during which time he has played a lead role in the development of the organization’s investment philosophy and process, created to reinforce its core values and principles. This philosophy, called “stewardship alpha,” describes the process by which the organization builds its investment portfolios to be sensible, efficient and robust.
Prior to his current role, Roy served AdventHealth as director of cash and investments. His other experience includes holding the position of chief investment officer for Cain Brothers Asset Management, bond trader for Putnam Investments, fixed income specialist on the floors of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and portfolio risk manager for Ferrell Capital.
Roy earned a Ph.D. in finance from The University of London, a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology and bachelor’s degrees in finance from Suffolk University and applied mathematics from Southern New Hampshire University.
He is currently chairman of the AdventHealth Employee Plan investment committee and serves on the finance and investment committee of the Adventist Health Care Retirement Plan. In addition, he serves on the Ardmore Institute of Health board of trustees, Institutional Investor’s Defined Contribution Institute advisory board and has previously served on the board of advisors for the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.
In 2016, Roy won the Mission and Thought Leadership Award from Institutional Investor, a leading international business to business publisher, focused primarily on international finance.
Heidi Hittner
Heidi is the Chief Experience Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. She is responsible for the company’s in-market organic growth strategy, patient and provider experience, and quality and experience measures including HEDIS, STARS and Net Promoter Score (NPS). She led the re-working of agilon's provider engagement model to include a differentiated network experience, integrated innovative strategies into practice for EMR workflow, and collaboration on creative clinical solutions to improve quality, as well as provider and patient experience.
Prior to joining agilon health, Heidi led the development of physician services and strategies which fueled success in value-based care Fresenius Medical Care North America. She also spent over a decade at Concentra, where she led operations nationally, and the success of Concentra’s NPS transformation is highlighted in Fred Reichheld’s book “The Ultimate Question 2.0”. Heidi earned her B.S. and master’s degree in Physical Therapy at Loma Linda University.
James Malone
Investment and Finance Committee Chair
James Malone is chief financial and diversity officer for Community Capital Management, LLC (“CCM”). In his role, James is responsible for overseeing the firm’s finance operations and financial reporting as well as establishing policies and opportunities to foster an inclusive, equitable, and supportive work environment. He also spends his time on business development with religious organizations. James is a member of CCM’s Board of Directors and DEI Committee.
James joined CCM from Franklin Templeton where he was a vice president for the investment platform division responsible for business development with research platforms across multiple distribution channels. In this role, he generated significant mutual fund platform wins and new sub-advisory mandates with major financial institutions. Prior to this, he was a senior product manager at Putnam Investments responsible for product management of various alternative investments including the THL Partners private equity funds. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
James is on the Board of Directors and Finance Committee (Chair) of Sawgrass Adventist School, a private elementary school in South Florida. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Urban League of Broward County, Florida. James received his B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Northeastern University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of South Florida. He holds FINRA licenses: Series 7 & 63.
Cindy Rima
Secretary
Cindy Rima DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, DipACLM is a professor at Southern Adventist University’s School of Nursing, as well as a primary care provider at a private, non-profit clinic for the uninsured in the Chattanooga region. Dr. Rima successfully completed ACLM’s Lifestyle Medicine professional certification with the inaugural cohort in 2017, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice with an emphasis in Lifestyle Medicine from Southern Adventist University in 2018, both of which enrich her work with patients and students alike.
Prior to joining SAU, Cindy completed her Masters of Science in Nursing adult nurse practitioner (ANP) degree through George Mason University, which was in collaboration with George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She received GMU’s nurse practitioner award for excellence in primary care, and is board certified through ANCC. Cindy practiced as a primary care provider in the D.C. metro region (Maryland and northern Virginia) for several years before moving to the Chattanooga, TN area in 2008.
Cindy is an active member of ACLM’s RN/APRN Member Interest Group, where she serves as the southeast regional leader, and previously served on ACLM’s Education Committee for several years. She is passionate about educating and uplifting others on their journey for optimal health, wellness, and vibrant life through the joy of lifestyle medicine.
Dexter W. Shurney MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM
Vice Chair
Dr. Dexter Shurney is President of the Blue Zones Wellbeing Institute, a 501c3 subsidiary of Adventist Health, that focuses on applied population health research including social determinants, payment reform, in addition to helping advise health care executives on value-based strategy and operations.
Dr. Shurney’s unique business expertise comes from varied roles he has performed over his career as a senior healthcare executive. Most recently he served as the Chief Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer for Adventist Health, a multi-state hospital system that operates in CA, OR, WA, and HI.
Other former roles have included Vice President, Chief Medical Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of Globlal Employee Benefits at Cummins, Inc. CMI, Chief Medical Director, Employee Health Plan at Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer at Healthways HWAY, and Senior Advisor Managed Care Strategy at Amgen AMGN. During his tenure at Vanderbilt, he held dual faculty appointments at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the Owens Graduate School of Business.
He is the Vice-Chair of the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) board representing 100+ large employer group members, and is a Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). Under his leadership, ACLM launched a new provider education program for Blue Shield of California; led national conversations on provider payment reform and quality metrics; and spearheaded groundbreaking health disparity and equity efforts. He also serves as an independent director on several other boards including the Bon Secour Mercy Health Foundation, National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP), Population Health Alliance (PHA), and the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (TKC).
Dr. Shurney is a highly regarded national authority on the health care industry with significant expertise in health insurance, employee health and well-being. He is also a well-regarded speaker at industry conferences and corporate events, and has appeared on NBC Today, in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, The Detroit Free Press, and numerous trade publications.
He is co-author of the book Integrating Wellness into Your Disease Management Programs a “how-to” strategic guide for employers that wish to innovate their approach to chronic condition management.
Dr. Shurney received his BS from Loma Linda University and his MD from Howard University College of Medicine. He also has an MBA and MPH from the University of Detroit/Mercy and the Medical College of Wisconsin, respectively. A licensed physician, he is board certified in both preventive medicine and in lifestyle medicine, and is a Fellow in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Elliot Smith
Personnel and Nominating Committee Chair
Elliot is the manager for the Spiritual Care department at the Kettering Main Hospital. He joined this department in 2017. Prior to this he served as the associate pastor at the Kettering Adventist Church since 2009. He was ordained as a minister in the SDA church in 2002. He holds a MSW degree and has experience as an individual and group therapist. He is married to Jacqueline and they have two children (Chloe and Cole).
Roy Vartabedian
Dr. Roy Vartabedian is a specialist in Clinical Preventive Care and holds a Doctor of Public Health degree from Loma Linda University, and Master of Public Health degrees in Nutrition and Health Education.
He is founder and President of Vartabedian and Associates Designs for Wellness, and has worked with corporations, hospitals, medical practices, universities, and fitness/wellness programs in the fields of health promotion and disease prevention internationally for over 30 years.
His landmark book, Nutripoints: Healthy Eating Made Simple, a New York Times Best-Seller, has been used in 13 countries in 10 languages worldwide. He has been featured on over 200 T.V. and radio shows in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Dr. Vartabedian was Executive Director of Wellness Programs at the world-renowned Cooper Clinic in Dallas for 6 years, working with Dr. Kenneth Cooper to create the live-in Cooper Wellness Program on the 30-acre facility.
Earlier in his career, he taught Patient Education and Preventive Care in the Family Medicine Residency at Florida Hospital in Orlando, where he trained physicians how to incorporate Patient Education and Preventive Medicine into their practices, and developed the award-winning Preventive Care Learning Center for patients.
His personal goal is to live to be at least 100 years old, in good health, and help as many other people come along with him as possible!
Janet Solomon Calhoun
Treasurer
SVP and COO
Ardmore Institute of Health • Full Plate Living
Janet is the SVP and COO of the Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH). As part of her role at AIH, she has operational and promotion responsibility for Full Plate Living, a free nutrition resource for individuals and clinicians. She also leads staff and granting initiatives focused on health improvement through lifestyle change that leads to improved whole-person health. Janet is a senior executive with 25 years of leadership experience working within healthcare and wellness organizations. Janet has had a lifelong interest and career in helping organizations of influence strategically plan for and support individual and corporate health improvement.
Prior to her role at AIH, Janet spent much of her career working with healthcare and wellness companies to turn strategic objections into actions that create growth and stability.
Janet is a graduate of Auburn University with a Master Degree in Exercise Science and has completed extensive work toward her Doctorate in Exercise Physiology. She is married and has one son. She enjoys traveling, hiking, and taking long walks with their dog.
Ron Stout
President & CEO
Ardmore Institute of Health • Full Plate Living
Dr. Ron Stout serves as President & CEO of the Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH), whose mission is to improve the health and vitality of people to live more meaningful lives. Previously he worked as Medical Director at Procter & Gamble (P&G), leading occupational health, pharmacovigilance, and Medical Affairs. At P&G he supported acquisitions and New Ventures including MDVIP, OTC, VMS and pharma product launches.
Dr. Stout was formerly Medical Director for Preventive Medicine and Occupational Services at Kettering Health Network in Ohio. He served in the United States Air Force (AF) as Occupational and Preventive Medicine Consultant, Principal Investigator Air Force Health Study and IMA to the office of the AF Surgeon General.
Dr. Stout has served on the NIOSH Board of Medical Advisors, the Preventive Medicine Section Council of the AMA, American Board of Preventive Medicine, American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and numerous other private and public Boards. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine, General Preventive Medicine & Public Health, Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Prior to a racing bicycle accident in 2008, Ron enjoyed downhill skiing, wakeboarding, off-road motorcycling and many other vigorous activities. Rather than regret what he can no longer do, Ron celebrates the power of lifestyle medicine that has enabled him to progress from being paralyzed with a medical prognosis of being wheelchair bound, to an active lifestyle. Ron enjoys biking, walking, outdoor activities, travel, his family and eats a flexitarian diet. His life partner Pam Stout BSN, MPH, is a Lactation Consultant, who has served as an educator, manager and hospital Director.