Dr. Jeff Comer
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Jeff Comer has been a hospital and corporate CEO for over 20 years. Most recently, he was CEO of two hospitals and one medical group south of Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Comer feels most rewarded and at home in independent, smaller community hospitals and was drawn to Summit Healthcare. As he says, "There’s truly nothing like the family feel of participating in a hospital that is critical to the community and staffed by people who care what happens to it."
He holds a Doctorate in Psychology, where he had a research focus on evolutionary psychology and psychoneuroimmunology, a Master’s of Healthcare Administration, a Bachelor’s of Psychology, and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Born and raised in Arizona, having grown up in Flagstaff, he developed a deep appreciation for the culture, beauty, and history of the Mogollon Rim and White Mountain area. He believes that understanding and fitting in to the local culture is paramount. Work ethics, values, employee morale—these all function inside of the microcosm not only of the hospital but of the general culture around it.
In addition to his work as a CEO, he frequently writes and speaks about topics including leadership, burnout, and managing stress. He is a certified Airline Transport Pilot and has been flying since obtaining his pilot certificate in Flagstaff during high school. Finally, he enjoys reading, exercising, hiking, practicing mixed martial arts, and shooting firearms.
He and his wife, Mariah, who provides business consulting and education in the fitness industry, are adopting a young girl from Taiwan and expect to bring her home in early 2024. The Comer’s are thrilled to put down roots in the White Mountain community and raise their family in a place they love. He says, “We cannot think of a better place to call home."
Billy Gardner
Chief Clinical Officer
Billy is a dedicated healthcare professional with a lifelong commitment to serving communities nationwide. Throughout his career, Billy has made a significant impact in various capacities within non-profit and for-profit healthcare organizations. He has held numerous essential roles, including bedside clinician, House Supervisor, various Director positions, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, and Chief Operating Officer. This experience has given him a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare industry and has been a driver of positive change across organizations.
Billy is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONE), and other professional organizations in both healthcare and other related fields. His commitment to education has led him to contribute his expertise by teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses in Nursing and Business Administration at the University of Phoenix and Rio Salado College.
Billy holds a BSN degree from the College of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina, and he further pursued his academic journey by achieving an MSN, MBA, and HCM from the University of Phoenix.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Billy is a husband to Kim Gardner, who is a Family Nurse Practitioner, and a proud father of three daughters.
Jay Larson
Chief Information Officer
Jay has spent his entire career working in IT, most of which has been in a healthcare setting. He started out at the Help Desk of a 217 bed hospital in his Iowa hometown, and quickly worked his way up, garnering experience in up-front, behind-the-scenes, and leadership aspects of IT. Over the years, Jay has written many programs to track and reduce patient safety events and improve overall healthcare quality.
Jay holds degrees in Computer Systems Networking and Network Design and Management, as well as a diploma from Arizona Institute for Healthcare Leadership.
He is certified as a Fortinet Net Security Expert Level 3 and CISSP(Certified Information Systems Security Professional), the latter of which is one the most recognized and respected certifications in his field. Jay has also been a member of many panels, councils, and committees. Currently, he is part of the Infragard Joint FBI and Private Sector Partnership working to improve American cyber security. During his brief time away from healthcare, Jay worked for the U.S. District Courts where he was featured in Fed Tech Magazine for his work in redesigning and updating courtroom technology.
Jay is married to his high school sweetheart, and together, they have 4 wonderful children. In his spare time, Jay can usually be found with his family at The Dance Academy in Lakeside taking classes, coaching tumbling, or preparing for his recurring role as Drosselmeyer in the studio’s biennial production of The Nutcracker.
Mitzi Melero
Chief Nursing Officer
Mitzi has been with Summit Healthcare for 20 years by way of Northwest Indiana, and Tucson. She now serves as the Chief Nursing Officer. She brings extensive experience in critical care, having started her nursing career in Labor & Delivery before transitioning to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Throughout her time at Summit, she has overseen many different departments including Cath Lab, Cardiac Rehab, Acute Dialysis, Pacer Clinic, Infusion Clinic, and the Inpatient nursing units. Mitzi earned her nursing degree from Purdue University in 1981 and later obtained a degree in Healthcare Administration/Health Information Services from the University of Phoenix in 2012. In her spare time, she enjoys going to AZ Cardinals football games, watching most any sport on television, gardening, and playing with her dogs.
J. Brian Olack, MD, FACS
Chief Medical Officer
Originally from Reno, Nevada, he graduated from The University of Arizona, and then returned to Reno to receive his medical degree from The University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Dr. Olack received his General Surgery training in Springfield, Massachusetts at Baystate Medical Center, a hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. During this time, he participated in numerous research projects, which resulted in several publications and presentations at the local, regional, and national levels. He received an award for the outstanding poster presentation at the 2005 annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
During his residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida, Dr. Olack had extensive training in the entire field of Plastic Surgery, including cosmetic surgery, reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, and many other non-surgical techniques. Dr. Olack also participated in mission trips to Honduras, where he performed cleft lip and cleft palate repairs for underserved children.
David Rothenberger
Chief Financial Officer
David has over 25 years of healthcare finance experience. Prior to joining Summit Healthcare in 2017, he held the Market CFO position at Sparks Health System, an affiliate of Community Health Systems in Fort Smith, AR. Prior to that he was the Group CFO at Health Management Associates managing the financial operations for 24 hospitals in the State of Florida. David received his Bachelors in Accounting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana where he was born and raised. He is married with three grown boys. He enjoys spending his free time reading and riding his motorcycle.
