Meet the MPCA Information Technology Team: VirtuALLY

The Michigan Primary Care Association is proud to have a talented, experienced staff to advocate for and support our member health centers which provide their communities with excellent care and services. We are excited to introduce each of our teams so that you can get to know them a little better, so next up is the VirtuALLY team.

Rob Pazdan, MBA, is the Chief Information Officer and started at the MPCA in September 2000–the longest-tenured employee at the Association.

Rob graduated from Michigan State University and earned a master’s in business administration from Wayne State University almost 15 years later. Then seven years after that, he received a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certificate.

Rob, who is a fan of the Detroit sports scene, has played ice hockey since he was 7 years old and still competes two to three times a week. He tended goal for the last 30 years before recently returning to forward again for the first time since a 9-year-old.

Dave Hickman (517.827.0486) has been the IT manager at VirtuALLY for almost four years and coordinates the systems administrators that oversee data center operations for our hosted health centers, manage cloud migrations, and facilitate security analysis and hardening operations. Dave is excited about the evolution from VirtualCHC to VirtuALLY and all the new IT services we can offer at non-profit adjusted prices. A fun fact about Dave is that he was born in England and moved to the U.S. when he was 12. Dave layers an American accent over his English one, but there are some words he just can’t seem to Americanize. To relax, he plays golf–but It never works.

A 12-year MPCA veteran, Dustin Barber has served in a lot of roles here during that time. Dustin currently has been working with health centers in upgrading their Electronic Health Records (EHR), which involves a lot of time spent doing project management. Another recent project was setting up a new phone system for MPCA through Zoom, as the project had a lot of different pieces to keep organized. Dustin is proud that it turned out really well, ending up being a great experience making a transition like that to a new technology. Fun fact about him is that his fellow IT cohorts thinks he is overly obsessed with John Deere tractors. Dustin can be reached via phone (517.827.0483).

Daniel Dawkins (517.827.0488) has been with the MPCA for six years, starting as an intern and now realizing that he has not yet been kicked out of his current position after rising to System Administrator III. In his capacity, Daniel’s focus is in networking and security. He takes pride in that his co-workers get a lot done for a small team, and that it’s a very rewarding place to work in IT–doing a little of everything. Daniel has installed and maintained network equipment for health centers, as well as the data center in Grand Rapids. He recently obtained his Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, and looks forward to continuing to work to improve MPCA and health center’s security posture. Fun fact about Daniel: he has a 3D printer and enjoys making mostly useless things with it.

Shaun DeKarske considers himself a wizard, and for the last month as one of the MPCA’s newest employees has been using his powers for the benefit of MPCA and its members. A talent,  however, for the mystical IT arts has not always been Shaun’s focus; he’s also been a professional musician, waiter, carpenter, machinist, salesman, and mathematics tutor over the years. He even pursued alligator wrestling for a time but realized that there aren’t many alligators in Michigan so he had to give up that dream. One of his favorite parts of IT is that he can change the trajectory of someone’s day by resolving issues with their obstinate computer. He looks forward to learning more within the scope of health care systems and is excited to be part of Team MPCA. Chat (517.381.8750) or email with Shaun.

Chance Sharp joined the MPCA four months ago as a systems administrator. Prior to MPCA, Chance worked at the Two Men and a Truck corporate office for five years wearing many hats during that time, but mostly ensuring that all the franchise’s phones worked smoothly and the IT ticketing system was efficient. Chance is on a Michigan Reconnect scholarship while attending Lansing Community College to obtain his associate’s degree in computer science; he also is planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree. A fun fact about Chance is that at 20 years old, he went to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival alone and has returned every year. The group that he camps with has grown to be over 50 people. Connect with Chance by phone (517.827.0471)