Management Team
Our founders held a radical belief—finding and receiving the best health care should not be a difficult, frustrating, hit or miss endeavor. They had personally experienced the difficulty of obtaining top notch care and witnessed too many unnecessary tragedies, from wrong diagnoses to inappropriate treatment solutions. Their solution? A model that focuses on the individual’s unique needs that is not biased by the pressures created by physicians, hospitals, cost control programs, and insurance companies.
PinnacleCare’s Executive Team
Bruce Spector, Chairman and CEO
“The need for PinnacleCare today is essential. We have a cost-driven healthcare system and a lot of consumers who want a better system, and are willing to pay for better service. We have trusted advisors for every other important part of our lives, why not healthcare? Is our family's healthcare not important enough? Is the healthcare system so simple we don't need advisors? I think we all realize the answers to these questions. There is a clear and pressing need for the services PinnacleCare provides.” – Bruce Spector
Bruce Spector, Chairman of PinnacleCare, has been the founder of many successful companies. All of the companies he has helped form have capitalized on anticipating changes in consumer behavior, and all have been extremely successful. Recognizing changing consumer demands, he has successfully built companies in the cable television industry, then the radio broadcasting industry, and the online consumer industry. All of those companies have now been sold at substantial premiums, and his sole focus is PinnacleCare. Prior to forming his investment company, Benchmark Holdings, he was a partner in a national law firm.
Contact: BSpector@PinnacleCare.com
Tom Christopoul, Vice Chairman
Mr. Christopoul is responsible for supporting the marketing and business development groups at PinnacleCare. He also plays a critical role in fostering new luxury and lifestyle partnerships and expanding PinnacleCare’s membership base of individuals, families and organizations proactively seeking to improve their experience with and access to the best in healthcare in the world.
He has an extensive business background, spanning over 25 years in management, marketing, and business development for some of the most prominent corporations in the world. For 15 years, he served in various executive capacities at Cendant Corporation including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Marketing Services and Financial Services Divisions as well as Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to that, he held senior management positions at Nabisco and Pepsi-Cola Company.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Rutgers University and a Master of Science (MS) degree from Purdue University.
Contact: TChristopoul@PinnacleCare.com
John Hutchins, Managing Director
“Medical care in the U.S. offers great quality, but with 800,000 doctors in the country, it’s difficult to know who provides the best care in any given field. Many people have multiple problems being managed by several doctors, like heart disease and diabetes for example, so no one physician is treating the whole patient. By creating a comprehensive service that provides objective, high quality professional health management 24/7, we are able to help people who are confused by the multiplicity of treatment options and the complexity of medical information.” – John Hutchins
PinnacleCare’s founder is John Hutchins, one of the industry’s foremost experts in coordinating the highest caliber medical care at VIP service levels. Mr. Hutchins conceptualized and created the first international patient program targeting the world’s elite at the Cleveland Clinic. Later, Mr. Hutchins initiated the number one rated international program at the top hospital in the world, Johns Hopkins (as rated by U.S. News and World Report). Mr. Hutchins was an innovator in adding high-end concierge services to meet the requirements of his busy and influential clientele.
Contact: JHutchins@PinnacleCare.com
Miles J. Varn, MD, Chief Medical Officer
“The challenge of identifying the newest and best practices and practitioners for our Members is a rewarding and gratifying enterprise. The vast array of treatment options and the wealth of new medical knowledge demand non-stop rigor and breadth of analysis. PinnacleCare is helping create the role of the healthcare advocate — that expert navigator whose job it is to ensure our Members obtain all the benefits the system has to offer, without its inherent frustrations and confusion.” – Dr. Miles Varn
Dr. Miles J. Varn, PinnacleCare’s Chief Medical Officer, is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Varn joined PinnacleCare after 15 years of innovation and leadership at Inova Fairfax Hospital Emergency and Trauma Center. He was an attending physician for a level I trauma center with 75,000 patient visits per year. In 2004, Dr. Varn was awarded the Inova Health System’s Service Excellence Legend Award for extraordinary patient care. He is responsible for bringing new medical advances to the attention of PinnacleCare and its 1,000+ Members, overseeing high standards for the company’s growing legion of PinnacleCare Advocate™ teams throughout the nation, and serving as the chief contact with the PinnacleCare Medical Advisory Board, as well as other leading medical specialists, physicians, and medical centers worldwide. He earned his Medical Degree from the University Of Virginia School Of Medicine in 1988.
Contact: MVarn@PinnacleCare.com
Benjamin Yang, MD, Director of Research
“The heart of PinnacleCare's service is customized treatment, and the core of successful treatment is information, about what any individual PinnacleCare Member needs and what is now available to address that need. Building out our medical research capability means that our Members have a better chance of finding what will work best for their health in a personalized manner.” – Dr. Benjamin Yang
Dr. Benjamin Yang is the Director of Research for the company. He provides research that is efficient and comprehensive but also authoritative, thus bringing our member service to the highest level in this regard. Dr. Yang is in charge of organizing and expanding the company’s research database, as well as identifying a comprehensive network of physicians to serve our members.
Dr. Yang received his M.D. in China in 1985. He received a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from Johns Hopkins University in 1996. After working as a research scientist in the University and biotech settings, Dr. Yang launched Discovery Medicine, a cutting edge medical research journal. Its audience included physicians, scientists, pharmaceutical executives, and educated members of the general public. As part of his work there, he developed comprehensive, personalized research reports detailing all aspects of mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases. He also developed a search engine that empowers a user to quickly search the table of contents of more than 500 key medical journals. Finally, he has worked with more than 400 accomplished physicians and scientists who contributed to the journal.
Contact: BYang@PinnacleCare.com
Ellen Maidman-Tanner, Senior Vice President Member Relations
“The Member experience is the focus for Member Relations at PinnacleCare. Our mission is to exceed our Members’ expectations and do all we can to ensure their optimal health and promote good healthcare experiences, despite the many obstacles inherent in the healthcare system today.” – Ellen Maidman-Tanner
Ellen Maidman-Tanner is Vice President for Member Relations focusing on issues of quality and service excellence for PinnacleCare’s Members. Ellen spearheads efforts designed to support the company’s mission, to help Members obtain the best healthcare possible.
Prior to joining Pinnacle Care, she served for several decades as a marketing and strategic planning executive within a variety of industries, including consumer goods and the legal profession. When she moved to the Washington, DC area from Toronto in 1990, she undertook work in the non-profit arena, including work for: the Canadian Embassy; a homeless shelter; Financial Executives International, a professional association; and, just before coming to PinnacleCare, Ellen helped found the Organization for Autism Research (OAR), which funds applied research studies.
Ellen joined PinnacleCare in July 2004, and has been involved in a host of projects including the creation of research and marketing tools, revamping the Company’s website, and in creating a series of educational White Papers and Guides on healthcare issues for public distribution.
Contact: EMaidman-Tanner@PinnacleCare.com
