Our Leadership Team

Darren Schulte, MD

Chief Executive Officer 

Darren brings two decades of healthcare leadership experience and data analytics expertise to VyncaCare. Most recently, he served as the Chief Innovation Officer and President of Advanced Technology at Centene, a government-sponsored health plan. At Centene, Darren focused on applying technology to improve clinical, administrative, and operational activities. 

Before joining Centene, Darren was CEO of Apixio for six years until its acquisition by Centene in late 2020. Apixio applies proprietary AI to determine care quality and patient risk from clinical records. Prior to Apixio, he served in executive roles at Resolution Health and Anvita Health, both healthcare analytics companies with successful exits to national health plans. 

Darren is a nationally recognized expert on healthcare analytics, quality improvement, and risk adjustment, and he serves on the NCQA Committee for Performance Measurement. He received his B.S. degree from UC Berkeley, his M.P.P. degree from Harvard, and his M.D. from Stanford. Darren trained in internal medicine at UCSF. He is the co-inventor of six U.S. patents. 

Angela Poppe Ries, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Angela Poppe Ries combines her expertise in patient care with her knowledge of health care management to lead health care innovation. She can create healthcare solutions that achieve cost efficiencies while maintaining the highest quality standards with her dynamic approaches to population health with provider and payor groups. 

Angela started her career at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health System.  There she founded their palliative care program and served as the Chief of Staff of the health system for four years, working with utilization management, provider services, quality and compliance, and numerous multidisciplinary collaborations. In addition, she has been the medical director for Amedisys Hospice and Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care. While at each of these organizations, she also partnered with local health systems to reduce readmissions for patients with complex needs. 

Dr. Poppe Ries is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hospice, and Palliative Medicine. She earned her medical degree at the Duke School of Medicine and completed her residency training. She has a Master of Business Administration from the Fox School of Business at Temple University and a bachelor's in biochemistry from Dartmouth College. 

Maggie Baker

Chief People Officer

Maggie has 20 years of human resource and leadership experience and has extensive experience leading complex change management initiatives to include culture, engagement, mergers and acquisitions, HR technology; and has led and built programs to include onboarding, performance management, engagement, and leadership development. Before VyncaCare, she was on the HR leadership team at Olive AI, a healthcare technology company focused on growing and scaling the organization. In addition to her experience at Olive AI, she spent over 17 years at McKesson Corporation in various roles within their technology business.  

As VyncaCare's Chief People Officer, Maggie is responsible for leading the company's overall people strategy and efforts to attract, develop, retain, and engage talent while fostering an exceptional employee experience and organizational culture. 

Jessica Reid

Vice President, Business Operations

Jessica has over 20 years of experience in healthcare operations, with extensive knowledge of post-acute delivery and skilled nursing facilities.  Before VyncaCare, she served as Vice President and General Manager at CareMore Health, responsible for growth, P&L, and general operations of Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. Jessica has broad experience in managing national operations and developing and implementing national care strategies for health systems and physician groups. 

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and finance from Texas Christian University. 

Michelle Ward

Vice President, Clinical Operations

As Vice President of Clinical Operations, Michelle Ward brings nearly 20 years of healthcare experience to VyncaCare. Michelle blends a background in direct healthcare delivery with operational excellence to ensure we deliver quality care with exceptional patient outcomes.

Before joining VyncaCare, Michelle held clinical operations roles with several prominent healthcare delivery organizations, including Optum and Elevance. There, she built and scaled clinical programs focused on serving vulnerable populations while improving patient outcomes and satisfaction. 

Michelle is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner. She earned her Master's in Nursing from the University of San Diego and a Bachelor's in Natural Science from Loyola Marymount University.

Philip Fortunato

Vice President, Finance and Accounting

As Vice President of Finance and Accounting, Philip brings over 15 years of healthcare and public accounting experience to VyncaCare. He has broad experience in healthcare organizations, helping them achieve financial improvement and transparency by partnering with stakeholders to link operations and finance.

Before joining VyncaCare, he served as Chief Financial Officer at US Anesthesia Partners of Colorado. In addition to his experience at US Anesthesia Partners, he spent five years at McKesson as a Regional Finance Director within the US Oncology Network. 

Philip holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Oregon.