About

How Are We Different?

VitalCore Health Strategies (VCHS) has improved and advanced the field of correctional healthcare.  We’re people who are fueled by passion, not by profit. At VCHS, we come to work ready to do whatever it takes to care for our patients and better serve our partners by doing the right thing the first time.

We’ve gathered the industry’s brightest leaders to help us redefine the way correctional healthcare is delivered. We hire experienced and committed health professionals, then use our knowledge and experience to educate our staff and focus on continuous learning. We care about our employees and one of the ways that is reflected is within our robust benefits package that exceeds industry standards. Our philosophy is to hire the best professionals in the field of correctional health, in addition to competent individuals who are committed to providing quality services; we train all employees to meet our standards of care, and we retain educated and experienced staff. VitalCore’s leadership and clinical teams understand the value of a well-run system. Our patient-first approach ensures safe, high-quality care aimed at optimizing outcomes and mitigating risk. We focus on preventive care, outcomes-based behavioral services, evidence-based practice, and medical care that treats the whole patient. We know that preventative medicine leads to healthier patients, fewer risks, and lower costs.

We put our expertise and energy where it matters most. We value smart cost management. Our years of boots-on-the-ground experience delivering quality healthcare services in correctional facilities, working with the security side of corrections, and sitting on oversight boards have taught us how to deliver quality healthcare services and manage a lean budget without sacrificing end patient care.

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Our Experience Runs Deep

VitalCore Health Strategies was founded in January 2015 as Viola Riggin, LLC and quickly became a successful correctional healthcare consulting firm. In January 2018, Viola Riggin, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, and the leadership team expanded services and rebranded as VitalCore Health Strategies, LLC. In the beginning, VCHS partnered with companies in the Wichita, Kansas area to share personnel and business services, which allowed for better efficiency. However, VCHS has expanded and with rapid growth is independent providing all the personnel and business services within the Corporation.

VitalCore’s Central Corporate Office and Human Resources Department is in Topeka, Kansas with Regional offices, and contracts across the nation.

VitalCore is passionate about making a difference in peoples’ lives and assisting our clients in delivering quality health services. Our cost treatment models, sensible, realistic, and allow us to produce good patient outcomes at a fair cost.

Leadership Matters

VitalCore’s leadership and clinical teams are comprised of some of the most renowned professionals in various fields; their backgrounds and expertise have helped us achieve our mission to redefine correctional healthcare. Some of our accomplishments include:
System Management

We have built teams full of experts which include experience with system management. These professionals include people who have served as wardens, superintendents who have run prisons and jails, secretaries of large state correctional departments, and experts in all areas of the correctional healthcare system.

Turn-around Initiatives

VCHS has resolved critical issues of care within correctional institutions, state hospitals, and rural jails throughout the United States. With our guidance, these facilities have improved and transitioned from distressed; to accredited and competent.

Innovative Training

We have developed and implemented programs aimed at mitigating risk and violence. We can achieve this by creating community clinical practice standardization, grow-your-own nurse expansion plans, advanced curriculum development, and by offering national certification programs for correctional staff.

Leader Development

We have shared our expertise and taught executive leadership skills to state secretaries of correction, health authorities, and line staff for succession planning.

Our Executive LEADERSHIP TEAM

Viola Riggin
Viola Riggin, CCE

Chief Executive Officer

 

Lori Ammons, Psy.D.
Lori Ammons, Psy.D.

Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Affairs

 

Stuart Hudson
Stuart Hudson

Chief Operating Officer

 

Viola Riggin
Viola Riggin, CCE

Chief Executive Officer

 

Lori Ammons, Psy.D.
Lori Ammons, Psy.D.

Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Affairs

 

Linden Appel, JD
Linden Appel, JD

Chief Legal Counsel

 

Troy Berberick
Troy Berberick

Deputy Chief Counsel

 

Doug Strubbe
Doug Strubbe

Chief Financial Officer

 

Harold Sass
Harold Sass

Chief Information Officer

 

Susan Fout
Susan Fout

Chief of Human Resources

 

Jaime McLaughlin
Jamie McLaughlin

Chief of Staff

 

Shannon Meyer
Shannon Meyer

President of Operations

 

Nikki Gilliland
Nikki Gilliland

President of Administration

 

Roger Haden
Roger Haden

President of Business Development

 

Frank Fletcher
Frank Fletcher

President of Marketing

 

Our Executive CLINICAL TEAM

Lori Ammons, Psy.D.
Lori Ammons, Psy.D.

Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Affairs

 

Raman Singh, M.D.
Raman Singh, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

 

Dr. Harbans Deol
Dr. Harbans Deol

Deputy Chief Medical Officer

 

Deb Schult, Ph.D
Deb Schult, Ph.D

President of  Behavioral Health

 

Lannette Linthicum, M.D. Lannette Linthicum, M.D.

Medical Affairs, Consultant

 

Newton Kendig, M.D.Newton Kendig, M.D.

Clinical Peer Review, Consultant

 

Our CORE VALUES

At VitalCore Health Strategies, we believe our clients and patients are the most important part of what we do. Our Mission, Vision, Values, and Guiding Principles set the foundation for the company and are the basis for all our programs and systems. We require that all leaders and team members practice and display these core values and guiding principles and are held to these high standards of performance. VitalCore Health Strategies’ success is rooted in our core values and the corresponding culture it creates.

 

Mission

To establish a culture that recognizes the value of each patient, team member, and client through product and service excellence that results in the most positive clinical experience.

vision

To redefine benchmarks for the industry utilizing core values, strong partnerships, effective clinical practices, and innovative healthcare strategies.

purpose

VitalCore Health Strategies is driven by a passion for making a difference in people’s lives and assisting our clients in delivering quality health services to the justice involved population.

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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

We continuously raise expectations of what is possible and seek out new opportunities for individual and organizational growth. We are committed to being an industry leader and developing leaders within our company. We utilize our achievements and our setbacks to inform our actions and lead us to a path to continued success.

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THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

We take pride in what we do and strive to do a job well done. We are committed to consistently achieving the highest levels of performance and execution by saying what we will do, doing what we say, and documenting our results, which establishes clear accountability.

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TEAM CONCEPT

Although we praise and reward individual achievement, team success is a priority and we will set aside personal ambitions to make sacrifices for the good of the team. We share ideas, opinions, and expertise openly within our company, and with our clients. We believe that collaboration and participation in the decision-making process achieves the best results.

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HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

The highest standards of honesty and integrity permeate our business decisions and actions. We provide an atmosphere of respect, fairness, and trust. We conduct our business in a manner that promotes transparency and encourages open and honest discussions between all parties.

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HUMILITY

We will not permit personal or corporate arrogance to dictate our decisions or impede our progress and success. We seek feedback so that we can accurately assess our strengths and opportunities for improvements.

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SENSIBLE COST MANAGEMENT

We make careful and prudent value-based decisions concerning expenses and how we use the resources entrusted to us.

COST CONTAINMENT

VitalCore controls cost by ensuring that the patient receives the right amount of care the first time. Doing things correctly the first time means that we do not allow conditions and illnesses to get out of hand and become more complicated, which can be very costly. For example, we utilize smart Utilization Management and are privileged to partner with George Washington University that oversees VitalCore’s telehealth program through peer review. VitalCore’s telehealth program provides services on a 24/7 basis with access to over 750 physicians in over 50 different specialties.

One of the most frequent concerns VitalCore hears from the employees at the sites when we have obtained a new contract is the “frequency and cost of off-site services under the previous contractors.” VitalCore plans to reduce the need for off-site services, by ensuring that our medical staff is prepared and capable of assessing and treating patients in emergency medical situations. We hire experienced medical staff and give them the knowledge and training necessary to triage patients and determine effective treatments and medical urgency. This allows our medical staff to make informed judgment calls and send patients off-site only when necessary. VitalCore ensures that a seasoned and experienced Registered Nurse (RN) is on each shift to make such judgments. We do, of course, ensure that patients who truly need to be transported to hospital emergency rooms receive those services. However, whenever possible, we serve the patient at the facility by providing necessary care until the regular physician can see them the next day. We ensure patient care comes first, we have safety protocols in place, and provide individualized and ethical treatment.

 VitalCore believes in transparency which is why we share performance and cost information with our partners to demonstrate that we do not add on costs to the supplies, pharmaceuticals, or equipment that we purchase.