Advanced ICU Care Leadership Team

Founded by Mary Jo Gorman, M.D.; Isabelle Kopec, M.D.; and David Schopp, Advanced ICU Care is committed to improving access to critical care expertise and delivering best practices to hospital ICU patients. The company has attracted respected leaders in the healthcare industry ― including experienced critical care physicians, nurse practitioners and seasoned critical care nurses, as well as healthcare managers and information technology specialists ― to bring critical care expertise to hospitals, improving patient and financial outcomes. Please read on to find out more about our founding partners, medical leadership and operational leadership.

Our Founding Partners

Mary Jo Gorman, M.D., MBA - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Throughout Dr. Gorman's career, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to transforming healthcare and improving the delivery of patient care and safety. Dr. Gorman has more than 20 years experience in solving patient care, management and efficiency issues in hospitals, and brings extensive expertise as both a practicing hospitalist and intensivist.

Dr. Gorman co-founded Advanced ICU Care to transform care in the ICU by bringing scarce medical expertise and a quality improvement program to community hospital ICUs across the United States via telemedicine. Dr. Gorman's work in optimizing care in the ICU began at the bedside at DePaul Health Center in St. Louis. From there, she founded Critical Care Services in 1991 to provide hospital-based intensivist services to St. Louis area hospitals. A strong advocate for hospital patients, Dr. Gorman also led the hospitalist movement in St. Louis by founding Inpatient Care Group in 1996, the area's first hospitalist practice. The company later merged with IPC-The Hospitalist Company where Dr. Gorman helped grow IPC into one of the leading hospitalist service providers.

Dr. Gorman is a distinguished healthcare professional, recognized nationally as one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine. A popular speaker at industry conferences, Dr. Gorman serves as a leading voice on improving healthcare for hospital patients as well as improving efficiencies and management. She is the past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and is a member of the American College of Physician Executives, the Society of Hospital Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She obtained board certifications in Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine.

David N. Schopp, MHA - Co-Founder, President and Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Schopp holds more than 30 years of experience working with physicians, hospitals, multi-hospital systems and insurers. Before joining with Dr. Gorman and Dr. Kopec in founding Advanced ICU Care, he served in executive roles with Ascension Health, one of the largest multi-hospital systems in the country.

He has conducted extensive healthcare consulting on performance improvement, revenue enhancement, management and board development and education, and new business initiatives. Mr. Schopp also led the national development and acquisition program, which included managing multiple start-up businesses, of a Fortune 500 health care company.

Mr. Schopp brings expertise in shaping and directing corporate strategy as well as financial and operations support, and he has been a strong driver of Advanced ICU Care's strategic vision and growth. Mr. Schopp is a respected leader in the healthcare industry and currently holds memberships in the American Telemedicine Association and the Board of Vincentian Service Corps.

Isabelle C. Kopec, M.D., FACP, FCCP - Co-Founder and Vice President of Medical Affairs

Dr. Kopec has had a long career managing physician performance and quality in community hospital ICUs. As a practicing intensivist and co-founder of Advanced ICU Care, she is a respected leader in critical care medicine and a true healthcare innovator.

In addition to her role at Advanced ICU Care, Dr. Kopec is chair of the department of Critical Care Medicine and president of the medical staff at SSM - DePaul Health Center in St. Louis, MO. She has led a number of quality improvement initiatives and cost-savings projects in the ICU setting that have led to award-winning performance at her facility. Under her leadership, DePaul has received SSM Healthcare's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and a five-star rating two years running from Health Grades for cardiac surgery outcomes. Dr. Kopec helped implement DePaul's Medical Emergency Team to improve patient outcomes and lower mortality rates, and she chairs the Institutional Review Board committee, implemented to review clinical studies and ensure patient safety.

Dr. Kopec has been asked to speak on the patient safety and quality outcomes of the virtual ICU program at various national venues, including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 2009 National Forum. She has also been recognized for her contributions to healthcare and was selected as one of St. Louis' "Healthcare Heros" in 2006. She is a member of the American College of Physician Executives, the Society of Critical Care Medicine's Tele-ICU Committee and Mid-America Transplant Service's physician advisory board. Dr. Kopec is board certified in Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine.

Scott Turner, MBA - Vice President - Sales and Marketing

Mr. Turner possesses more than 26 years of progressive sales, marketing and management experience serving clients across a number of markets, including healthcare, financial services, consumer products and technology. Most recently, he was vice president of national accounts for Bowe Bell+Howell, a provider of document processing and mailing software solutions. Mr. Turner has led significant sales growth in every assignment over the past 15 years, including 15 percent year-over-year growth at Bowe Bell+Howell, and sales growth from $6.7mm to $33mm over four years at Rose International, an IT services firm.

He holds an MBA from Washington University's John M. Olin School of Business, where he serves on the Alumni Board of Directors.

Gary Anderson, MHA, RN, FACHE - Vice President of Operations

Mr. Anderson has extensive experience in managing complex health care projects ranging from hospitalist services to neuroscience and orthopedic services. Mr. Anderson serves as a project manager on program implementation, along with hospital and VISICU project managers. Most recently, he was vice president of hospitalist practice operations for Inpatient Management, Inc., a private hospitalist company. Before that, Anderson served as interim chief nursing executive and director of neurosciences, orthopedic and rehabilitation services for St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis. Other career highlights include executive director of the Sutter East Bay Neuroscience Center and director of patient care and program director for neuroscience at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Anderson holds a master's of health administration from the University of Missouri, Columbia; a bachelor's degree in nursing from Webster University in St. Louis; and a nursing diploma from St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis. He is a registered nurse in Missouri and a Board Certified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Sandi Aubuchon, BSN, RN - Associate Director of Operations

With more than 30 years experience in the healthcare industry and a strong background in critical care, Ms. Aubuchon is an experienced leader. At Advanced ICU Care, Ms. Aubuchon serves on the program implementation team as the clinical lead, working closely with the hospital's clinical leaders. Previously, Aubuchon held leadership and clinical research positions at Stereotaxis, Inc., a St. Louis company providing magnetic navigation technology to hospitals. Ms. Aubuchon has nearly 20 years nursing experience in intensive care and cardiac rehabilitation as a manager, clinical specialist and staff nurse. She also spent 10 years in cardiology research, having developed and led cardiology clinical research organizations for both St. Louis University School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine.

Aubuchon holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from St. Louis University and a nursing diploma from DePaul Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis. She is a registered nurse in Missouri.

Medical Leadership

Elizabeth Raitz Cowboy, M.D., MSOD, FCCP - Virtual ICU Director

Dr. Cowboy is a respected leader in telemedicine, particularly around issues concerning virtual ICU program implementation and operations, organizational development, patient quality and safety, efficiency, and clinical education.

In her current role, Dr. Cowboy works alongside the company's medical and operations leaders to ensure outstanding performance on clinical standards and client service, deliver consistency in operations, and build communication and interaction among all stakeholders. Previously, Dr. Cowboy served as the medical director for Via Christi Health System's eCare ICU in Wichita, Kansas. She was also medical director, eICU enVision at Inova Health System in Falls Church, Virginia. Dr. Cowboy came to Inova after working with hospitals as an activation support physician for eICU site implementation.

Dr. Cowboy has presented at numerous industry conferences, served on many legislative committees concerning telehealth and critical care medicine, and has numerous publication credits. She is a University of Toledo College of Medicine Alumni Affiliate Board Trustee, on the Executive Steering committee eICU Research Institute VISICU, and a TeleICU Care second-term board member for the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She also is a member of the American College of Chest Physicians, American Telemedicine Association, Alpha Omega Alpha and University of Toledo/MCO Lifetime Alumni. She performed her pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas and received her medical degree from the University of Toledo Medical Center. She also earned a master's degree in organizational development from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. She obtained board certifications in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Francis Ntimba, M.D., FCCP - Associate Medical Director

Dr. Ntimba leads the physician team at Advanced ICU Care, along with Isabelle Kopec, M.D., and is a practicing intensivist. He also serves as the hospital physician lead throughout the Advanced ICU Care program implementation process, working closely with hospitals' physician and management teams.

Dr. Ntimba is an experienced physician educator and served as an instructor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Before joining Advanced ICU Care, Dr. Ntimba worked as an attending in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Beth Israel Medicine Center. He is a member of the American College of Physician Executives, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Dr. Ntimba completed his internal medicine residency at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in 1997 and his critical care medicine fellowship at Beth Israel Medicine Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, New York in 2000. He received his medical degree from Makerere University Medical School in Kampala, Uganda in 1991. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Dellice Dickhaus, M.D., FCCP - Intensivist

Dr. Dickhaus is a practicing intensivist for Advanced ICU Care and medical director of the ICU at SSM St. Clare Hospital, which uses Advanced ICU Care's program through beside intensivist staffing. Previously, Dr. Dickhaus served as medical director for Advanced ICU Care's virtual ICU center. She brings extensive experience in peer review, case management, protocol implementation and physician education.

She completed her internal medicine residency and her pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Dickhaus is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She received her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians.