Optimus Leadership



Chairman of the Board

John F. Vigorita,
M.D., M.H.A.

Dr. Vigorita currently serves as President/ CEO and Board Chairman of Optimus Healthcare Partners, LLC. Optimus is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in New Jersey with ...

more
Close

John F. Vigorita,
M.D., M.H.A.

Dr. Vigorita currently serves as President/ CEO and Board Chairman of Optimus Healthcare Partners, LLC. Optimus is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in New Jersey with over 500 member physicians, with both primary care and specialist practices. Dr. Vigorita has supported and helped drive the organization’s mission…”creating a network of quality physicians empowered with support and resources to achieve excellence in the delivery of healthcare for its physicians, patients, and their communities”. Working together with its physician members Optimus strives to achieve the triple aim of accountable care organizations, improved healthcare quality, improved patient experience and reduced healthcare costs.

Dr. Vigorita also serves as the President and Board Chairman of Vista Health System, LLC, an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of over 500 physicians in Summit, New Jersey.

Dr. Vigorita formerly served as Medical Director of Mission Development and as Chairman of Bioethics Oversight for Atlantic Heath System. Dr. Vigorita believes in values-based collaborative leadership and has served as President of the Medical Staff at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Atlantic Health System, Morristown, New Jersey. Dr. Vigorita is an active member of the American College of Medical Quality (ACMQ). He was certified in medical quality in 2007, was recognized as a distinguished fellow in 2008 and elected to the College’s Board of Trustees in 2012.

Dr. Vigorita is a practicing pediatrician at Summit Pediatric Associates, Summit, NJ. He did his undergraduate work at Georgetown University, medical school at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, and received a MHA at Seton Hall University.


President &
Chief Executive Officer

Thomas Kloos, M.D.

Dr. Kloos is a Vice President Atlantic Health System, President of the Atlantic ACO, and Executive Director of the Atlantic MSO, a Management Services Organization which supplies ...

more
Close

Thomas Kloos, M.D.

Dr. Kloos is a Vice President Atlantic Health System, President of the Atlantic ACO, and Executive Director of the Atlantic MSO, a Management Services Organization which supplies management services to both the Atlantic ACO and Optimus Healthcare Partners ACO. The two ACO’s serve both the MSSP program and commercial relationships and encompass over 80000 attributed Medicare beneficiaries and over 200,000 commercial attributed beneficiaries.

He currently is a board member of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS). He was the past president of Optimus Healthcare Partners ACO and Vista Health System IPA. On the payer side, he was a Trustee and past Vice President of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Health Plan a self-funded MEWA plan in NJ. Dr Kloos is a board certified Internal Medicine practitioner in Warren NJ, previously NCQA certified in Diabetes Care, and was a NCQA recognized level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home(PCMH). He graduated from the University of Louisville Medical School in 1979, and Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University in 1975.


Chief Medical Officer &
VP Physician Relations

James Barr, M.D.

Dr. Barr’s present leadership roles include VP of Clinical Intelligence at Atlantic Health System, Morristown, NJ, and Medical Director for ...

more
Close

James Barr, M.D.

Dr. Barr’s present leadership roles include VP of Clinical Intelligence at Atlantic Health System, Morristown, NJ, and Medical Director for the Optimus Healthcare Partners and Atlantic Health System Accountable Care Organizations, managing over 2,400 physicians and 300,000 members in various ACO arrangements.

Dr. Barr is a board certified Family Physician with an active clinical practice at Pleasant Run Family Physicians, a Level III NCQA recognized Patient-Centered Medical Home in Neshanic Station, NJ. He obtained his medical degree from Hahnemann University and is an assistant clinical professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He worked with Aveta Health Solutions (North American Medical Management-NAMM) as Vice President of Medical Services providing full-risk medical management capabilities using physician and patient-centric models and served on the Horizon BCBS of New Jersey HMO Board of Directors for 7 years.


Chief Operating Officer

Deborah Rodgers,
R.N., M.S.N., J.D.

Deborah Rodgers is the Chief Operating Officer of Optimus Healthcare Partners. She is the Executive Director of Vista Health System IPA.

more
Close

Deborah Rodgers,
R.N., M.S.N., J.D.

Deborah Rodgers is the Chief Operating Officer of Optimus Healthcare Partners. She is the Executive Director of Vista Health System IPA. As Executive Director of the IPA, she is responsible for the implementation and oversight of Vista's strategic plan. She is also responsible for the IPA's daily operations including payer contracting and relationships; and the support and education of the physician membership.

Ms. Rodgers has an extensive, over thirty (30) year background in healthcare from direct patient care as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, to Regional Quality Manager for Quality Improvement, Utilization Management, NCQA recognition, Managed Care contracting and leadership experience in both the Hospital, Physician and Private Payer settings. She is a graduate of Widener College in 1978, Widener University in 1984 and Temple University School of Law in 1991. Ms. Rodgers previously practiced law in a Medical Malpractice Defense Firm in NJ.


Treasurer

John Pilla, M.D.

Dr. Pilla serves on the Optimus Board of Managers and is also Treasurer of Optimus Healthcare Partners. He is a board member and President of ...

more
Close

John Pilla, M.D.

Dr. Pilla serves on the Optimus Board of Managers and is also Treasurer of Optimus Healthcare Partners. He is a board member and President of the Central Jersey Physician Network IPA. Dr. Pilla is a full time physician and the director of Medemerge since 1987. Dr. Pilla is board certified in Family Practice.

He completed his residency at Somerset Medical Center 1984-1987 and was chief resident from 1986-1987. Dr. Pilla graduated from Rutgers (Robert Wood Johnson) Medical School in 1984 as a member of Alpha Omega Honor Medical Society. He maintains active staff privileges at Somerset Medical Center and is Associate Clinical Professor at UMDNJ/RWJ Medical School.


Secretary

David Bortniker, M.D.

Dr. Bortniker serves on the Optimus Board of Managers and is Secretary of Optimus Healthcare Partners. He is a board member of the Central Jersey Physician Network IPA...

more
Close

David Bortniker, M.D.

Dr. Bortniker serves on the Optimus Board of Managers and is Secretary of Optimus Healthcare Partners. He is a board member of the Central Jersey Physician Network IPA. Dr. Bortniker is a board certified Otolaryngologist with over 25 years experience in the medical and surgical management of head and neck tumors, thyroid and parathyroid disease as well as general adult and pediatric ear, nose and throat disorders, and endoscopic sinus surgery.

He has offices in both Somerville and Westfield, NJ. Dr. Bortniker earned his medical degree at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also completed his surgical internship and residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Albert Einstein. After being Chief Resident at Albert Einstein, he received advanced fellowship training in Head and Neck Cancer Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.


Board Member

Alan Lieber

President, Overlook Medical Center, Vice President, Atlantic Health System. Mr. Lieber has served as the senior administrator at Overlook Medical Center since July, 2003. During that time Overlook has dramatically improved its clinical outcomes .

more
Close

Alan Lieber

President, Overlook Medical Center, Vice President, Atlantic Health System. Mr. Lieber has served as the senior administrator at Overlook Medical Center since July, 2003. During that time Overlook has dramatically improved its clinical outcomes.

Mortality rates have decreased by 35%, infection rates have decreased by 30%, and in 2011 the state of New Jersey reported that Overlook had the lowest readmission rates for Congestive Heart Failure in New Jersey. Overlook Medical Center participated in the CMS gainsharing demonstration project and it's average cost per case has remained flat for the last 4 years . Overlook Family Practice recently achieved xyz Patient Centered Medical Home Designation and the American College of Surgeons has twice granted commendation status to the Cancer Center.

Prior to joining Atlantic Health, Mr. Lieber directed the Lenox Hill Cardiovascular Institute. During his tenure Lenox Hill was ranked as high as #27 in US News and World Report top 50 Cardiovascular programs and was the first institution in the United States to implant drug-eluting stents.

Prior to serving at Lenox Hill Hospital, he was Vice President at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) where he directed the surgery, oncology, and neuroscience service lines across multiple sites of the system. UMMS became the largest kidney and pancreas transplant programs in the country during that time. It also pioneered some of the advances in living related donor transplants.

Mr. Lieber serves on several Boards including the New Jersey Hospital Association, Gateway Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Collaborative for Patient Centered Care, and the Cornell University Sloan Program Alumni Association.

Mr. Lieber received his BS and MBA degrees from Cornell University, where he studied Operations Research and Industrial Engineering for his undergraduate degree and Hospital Administration and Finance for his MBA.

Mr. Lieber resides in Ramsey, NJ. He is married and has two children.