VanzHealth Leadership
FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Carisha Cabasa, MSN, RN, CPHIMS
Carisha has 25+ years of experience in healthcare and health technology, with a proven track record in strategy, operations, customer success, business development, change management, and organizational leadership. Prior to VanzHealth, Carisha held leadership roles at several startups including Myia Health, TransformativeMed, Life Image and Healthways. Her academic journey includes a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco, and she is presently pursuing her doctoral studies at Creighton University, specializing in nursing administration and leadership. Her current scholarly project delves into the realm of social determinants of health and their critical impact on diabetes self-management, patient education, and clinical outcomes.
Passionate about collective impact, Carisha founded VanzHealth with the belief that transformative innovation can be achieved through diverse viewpoints. VanzHealth’s mission and philosophies are embodied by our Think Team: we build a shared framework for inclusive and sustainable solutions to emerge.
Carisha’s perspective continues to evolve as an advocate for her mother while helping her navigate through a very complex healthcare experience. She resides in Pierce County, WA with her family and cavapoo, Max.
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Tora Newcomer, MSN, RN
With over 28 years of experience as a registered nurse, Tora began her career in medical-surgical inpatient hospital nursing in New York City, and as a charge nurse for a geriatric psychiatry unit in San Francisco. After completing her graduate studies, Tora found her passion in public health nursing and public health services. She appreciates and understands that healthcare happens in the community and in the home. Tora led the development of new programs for Contra Costa County in California, and designed professional development activities for staff within the area of correctional health. She has worked as a public health nurse providing direct service to clients, and in nurse leadership roles in the counties of Contra Costa, San Mateo, and the City of Oakland. Tora’s expertise is in program development, leadership, operations, training, education, and building effective teams.
Tora earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of California, Las Angeles, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing degree in Gerontological Nursing with an emphasis on mental health and psychiatry from the University of California, San Francisco. Tora also holds certifications as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) and a Public Health Nurse (PHN).
Tora grew up in San Francisco and lives in Alameda, CA with her family and pets.
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Bill Abeln, MBA, BSN, RN
Bill comes to VanzHealth with over 20 years of client-facing experience and leadership, plus another 8 years of combined healthcare-specific experience as an ICU nurse, nurse leader, and MedTech (SaaS) professional. Bill is a passionate advocate for his customers, whether critical patients in the ICU, large healthcare systems, or the numerous other relationships he has supported throughout his career.
Having first earned a Master of Business Administration and bachelor's degree in administrative management in the early 2000s, Bill found his way to his true calling in healthcare when he attended an accelerated nursing program in 2013 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Throughout this journey, he has amassed a diverse skill set and unparalleled perspectives for the customer experience. Bill has demonstrated repeatable success as a servant leader with extensive experience in high-intensity turnaround situations, change management, and blended teams.
Bill is a lifelong learner and when he eventually gets a break from raising his two young children, his goal is to pursue a doctoral degree in healthcare administration. He resides in St. Louis, MO, and has previously moved to New York City, NY, and Tallahassee, FL for professional advancement.
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Traci Burgler, BSN, RN
With over 25+ years using her nursing experience in account management, sales, marketing, product and channel management, Traci has a proven track record of using experience to guide customers to success. Traci started her career as a surgical ICU nurse. This experience formed her base, knowing that technology is a tool, but the patient and the patient’s family always comes first. Over the years this belief evolved to helping customers use technology to improve metrics and outcomes, with the end goal of better patient care.
Traci’s primary focus is on the development and implementation of program strategy, managing processes and people, and cross team communication in large complex organizations. She has experience working with multiple types of entities including commercial health plans, employer groups, Managed Medicaid health plans, healthcare systems, and individual health organizations. Traci has successfully managed diverse programs including high risk care management, disease management, health coaching and has been instrumental in increased adoption of programs, and the sale of additional products. Traci’s success is due to her strong relationship building and team facilitation skills. She believes that working together as a team will provide the best results – and the best results always provide the best patient and customer experience.
Traci earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Seattle University. She has completed her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Training. Recently she volunteered her nursing services for COVID vaccine clinics.
Traci resides in Whatcom County, WA where she enjoys gardening, boating, and hiking with her husband and 150 pound Newfoundland, Oscar.
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Tom Kowalski, MS, RN, CDCES
Tom received his nursing degree at Triton College and his Master of Science in Exercise Physiology from the University of Wisconsin. He has been providing inpatient and outpatient diabetes education for patients and staff since 1998 and has been living with type 1 diabetes since 1988. Tom has worked with a variety of major health care organizations including Kaiser Permanente and currently with Swedish-Providence Medical Group. He has also has worked with diabetes device companies such as Animas as a Clinical Manager, Sanofi-Aventis as a Diabetes Educator and product trainer, and Brook Diabetes as a startup consultant.
Tom has a special interest in new technologies and devices to facilitate behavior change and quality of care, including insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring, and smart apps. He embraces the concept that knowledge is power and managing diabetes is a day-to-day learning process. Additionally, he believes that diabetes should never be a hindrance to whatever goals one has, and technology is at the forefront of facilitating behavior change. Tom has extensive experience in inpatient diabetes program development and has played a lead role in the use of Teladoc for inpatient diabetes education utilized across multiple Providence-Swedish campuses.
Tom served as a board member for the NW Chapter of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association of WA, and the Diabetes Educators of Chicago. He was a public speaker for Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) and ConnecT1D. He continues to volunteer at the American Diabetes Association Camps and Camp Leo for children with diabetes.
Tom resides in the Seattle area with his wife Tish, daughter Ria, and golden retriever, Ringo.
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Georgia Stobbs-Cucchi, BS, RN
Georgia loves understanding problems – and potential solutions – that impact health. And her more than 25 years of clinical care and clinical research experience, and deep expertise in effectively managing both privately funded and NIH-funded studies at leading health care organizations, continue to provide her with ample experience to excel in this area. But it's her focus on the patient that truly sets her – and her work – apart.
As a skilled clinical provider and researcher, and as a nurse who began her career on the floor of a Level 1, primary trauma center, she understands and appreciates the importance of patient interactions.
For the past three years, she has currently served as the nurse research coordinator for the MYIA clinical trial, a partner project through the Washington University and Barnes Jewish Hospital Innovation Lab which focused on studying remote digital monitoring to reduce heart failure-related hospitalizations and the optimization of GDMT (med titration).
Prior to joining cardiology research, she served more than three years in neurological research as a nurse research coordinator, with the Memory and Aging Project at the NIH National Institute on Aging-designated Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Knight ADRC) at Washington University Medical Center, working alongside AD research pioneer, John C. Morris, M.D., to assess and document signs of cognitive change in study volunteers.
Additionally, Georgia has more than 20 years of experience in orthopaedic clinical trials and care expertise, serving as the lead nurse research coordinator on the groundbreaking NIAMS/NIH RO1 study: The Asymptomatic Rotator Cuff Tear Study at Washington University School of Medicine, which received an impressive three rounds of five-year funding periods, as well as on multiple innovative spine-related clinical trials led by Lawrence G. Lenke, MD.
She is an author of close to 20 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, has held multiple leadership roles and guest speakerships within the clinical trials community, and has been recognized by her peers for her exceptional dedication to patient research and care as a recipient of the Excellence in Nursing Award. Georgia is a licensed registered nurse, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
As a lifelong learner and lover of nature, she is also an accredited Master Gardener. She resides in the Midwest with her husband, three dogs and numerous plants.