Cole McWhorter
CEO and Founder
Sets Valére's direction and leads partnership and capital decisions. Works with doctor-owners to connect long-term goals, partnership structure, and the operating priorities required to build toward them.
Our Team
The people who enter the work.
A partnership is only credible when responsibility is visible.
Visible responsibility
Named people. Clear responsibility.
Valére brings investment, finance, operations, practice development, procurement, and front-office expertise around partner practices.
Clarity in practice
What partner practices should know.
Clear responsibility
- Who is carrying what
- Who can make a decision
- When the right specialist needs to enter
How our team works
- Close enough to see the consequences
- Direct enough to surface the truth
- Disciplined enough to leave stronger systems behind
The team
Named owners for the decisions that matter.
Braden Bennett
Chief of Platform Development
Builds the shared resource system around partner practices, connecting tools, vendors, education, and operating capabilities to the needs of the network.
Maria Birch
Head of Regional Operations, Mountain Region
Works with practice teams to improve billing, collections, scheduling, patient communication, and the day-to-day follow-through behind healthier front-office performance.
Derek Shields
Head of Growth and Value Creation
Leads financial planning, banking relationships, forecasting, and practice-level visibility so doctor-partners can make decisions from clearer information.
Misty Bauer
VP of Operations
Partners with practices to establish operating cadence, surface roadblocks, coordinate resources, and keep priorities moving.
Melissa Mitchell
Head of Regional Operations, West
Supports partner practices in strengthening execution, communication, and the operating habits behind reliable performance.
Rick Cromar
Chief Business Development Officer
Helps practices strengthen treatment acceptance, referrals, community relationships, and the systems that help patients understand their care options.
Dylan Walker
Head of Procurement
Leads vendor management, pricing, equipment, and supply strategy, turning individual purchasing decisions into a coordinated platform capability.
Brooke Bird
Head of Revenue Cycle Management
Dreyson Killpack
Head of Finance
Spencer Marsh
Head of Risk and Compliance
Shelly Bridges
Chief of Talent
The first question is not who can sell the capability. It is who can own the work.
Tell us the decision in front of you.
We will tell you who would carry it.