The Michigan Primary Care Association is proud to have a talented, diverse 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 clinical services and quality team:
Amy Alward (BSN, RN, PCMH CCE) is population health consultant who has been with MPCA since November 2020. Among her many duties, Amy provides direct support and technical assistance to community health centers for participation in Michigan Quality Improvement Network-supported clinical projects and grants, one-on-one technical assistance, and implementation and use of population health technology to achieve clinical outcomes. As a Patient Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert, she also gives technical assistance to MPCA’S network of community health centers in meeting and retaining Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designation.
Amy received her bachelor’s degree in 2002 from the Michigan State University College of Nursing.
Amy is a wife and a mother to four beautiful children. Outside of work, she loves to camp with family and friends. In the spring, summer and fall you can find her at the lacrosse field cheering for her two youngest boys.
Laurie Dahl has been the clinical program coordinator since November 2021. Before she officially joined the MPCA, she worked for four years as an executive assistant and office coordinator to the CEO and Executive Director at our clinically integrated health network, Michigan Community Health Network.
Her current duties include successfully fulfilling the mission, vision, strategic goals and contractual obligations of MPCA; providing programmatic and grant support to the clinical team to enhance and aid in the implementation of training and technical assistance to all of our Michigan health centers; and assist the MPCA Chief Medical Officer with clinical services and MQIN Leadership Committees.
Laurie earned her bachelor of arts degree in interdisciplinary studies in social science, with a concentration in community governance and advocacy, from Michigan State University. During her undergraduate studies, she interned at the Lansing City Clerk’s office and worked many of the local elections.
An interesting fact about Laurie is that she was a world-ranked swimmer at the age of 17, but her Olympic dreams were crushed by the United States boycott of the Moscow Summer Games. She later competed for Michigan State University and then started coaching the sport that included a highlight of taking a group on a trip to London, Denmark and Sweden for a swimmer exchange program.
Shelly Hathaway is a nurse care consultant who has been with the MPCA since March 2020. In her role, Shelly works with care management teams throughout MPCA’s member health centers to provide them with support and resources while also assisting in the support to other grant initiatives.
Shelly has a nursing background before arriving at MPCA, and she graduated with a bachelor of science degree with a concentration in community health development from Central Michigan University.
While not at work, Shelly enjoys spending time with her family (especially her grand-children!), riding her motorcycle, and just relaxing at her cabin near Harrison.
Health Information Technology Specialist Debra Kristy is the lead on MPCA’s patient and outreach engagement
tool, (Luma Health) and responsible for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) user group meeting, promoting interoperability, health information exchange, and various other duties regarding using clinical tools to achieve interoperability.
Prior to MPCA, Debra has many years of experience in the health care arena. She worked for Ascension Health, St. Johns/Providence Hospital as a clinical transformation specialist, working with ambulatory providers to implement their EHR and achieve meaningful use. She started out as a medical biller for a large hospital to implementation consultants and project manager, implementing EHR and/or practice management systems in small and large practices. She is quite familiar with all types of specialties, staff and their workflow.
Debra is a self-proclaimed Yooper, moving from Sault Sainte Marie when she was five years old to Brighton.
Marji Nichols is a registered nurse of nine years, joining the MPCA in October 2021 as the immunization program manager. She oversees and assists with federal and state vaccine program requirements with our health centers and provides technical assistance, training and education on all things vaccines.
Marji received an associate degree in nursing from Baker College-Owosso and then her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Michigan-Flint. Prior to MPCA, she spent the last six years working as the immunization coordinator at a local health department and prior to that a medical/surgical nurse in a hospital.
Marji is an avid aquarium hobbyist. She currently has three tank set ups ranging from blue velvet shrimp, ghost shrimp, mystery snails, plecos, to guppies and now recently aquatic plants. Her favorite store is Preuss Pets in Lansing, where she says they have the best aquatics department because it’s like visiting an aquarium every time her family goes. The kids love it, too, she says.
Dr. Faiyaz Syed is the Chief Medical Officer. In his MPCA role, Dr. Syed utilizes the requisite clinical experience
and public health education to rely on, plan and accomplish the programmatic goals of the MPCA while leading the clinical services and quality team . He also directs Michigan Quality Improvement Network (MQIN)–the Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) for Michigan, a program assisting the health centers to achieve quality improvement enabled by health information technology.
Before joining MPCA, Dr. Syed gained multiple years of experience as a practicing physician. He is a strong advocate for public health policies and procedures in the fight against chronic diseases. He is the current vice-chair of the NACHC HCCN Taskforce Committee and is an active member of multiple boards.
Dr. Syed received his medical degree from Donetsk State Medical University, master’s in public health from Michigan State University School of Human Medicine and Fellowship in Community Health Policy and Leadership from George Washington University.
Dr. Syed knows multiple languages. He is fluent in reading writing and speaking Russian language. He is an avid MSU Spartans sports fan and enjoys following international, college and professional league sports.
Candy Vertalka is the Director of Value Transformation. She started at MPCA in February 2018 as a nurse care consultant prior to moving into her current role two years later. She is responsible for providing quality improvement support through the QI Directors Network. She also is leading efforts related to value transformation and supporting organizational change.
Candy is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in practice management, PCMH implementation, care management and performance improvement programs within both primary care and specialty practices. She has a strong interest in the development of practice transformation models that support a shift into value-based care. In addition to her many years of practice leadership, she has also obtained her Lean in Healthcare Certification and lead LEAN initiatives within the primary care setting.
Candy is a hearty football fan – primarily at the high school level as her sons all played prep football and her husband has been a high school football coach for over 25 years. Another fun fact is that she raises chickens (layers only – she could never eat them after raising them, she says with a laugh).
Amy Zarr background is in clinical quality improvement at the MPCA after obtaining her master’s degree in public
health at George Washington University. Amy works with our members to help them meet our network’s value-based contracting goals, facilitating one-on-one training and technical assistance, and through learning collaboratives that improve access to care and clinical quality measures. She started here in September 2020.
She wants you to know that she took French and not Spanish because she can’t roll her “R’s.”
Meet the MPCA: Health Center Operations & Workforce Team
Meet the MPCA: Grants, Programs & Strategic Efforts Team
Meet the MPCA: Policy & Government Affairs Team