My Story
If you clicked here, you’re probably wondering “So, what’s the story behind this guy…” He seems to have a pleasant disposition and reasonable intelligence. What else?
I’m a product of Mississippi. I was born in the rural, northeastern part of the state known as Booneville (named, of course, after Daniel Boone) on August 16, 1961. Our family farm was about 15 miles outside the city limits in a small farming community called Altitude. Gravel roads, soybean fields, small farmhouses, and a sizzling summer sun are some of the images that come to mind. My great, great grandfather, John Burcham established the farm. I grew up on the same soil as my great grandfather (Robert Burcham: 1886 – 1973), my grandfather (Jesse Burcham: 1909 – 1990) and my father (Jessie Burcham: 1938 – Present). It was a wonderful place to grow up.
Now, the entire population of Booneville is only about 6,000 – so you can imagine what life in this little town was like. A very friendly town – but everyone knew everything about everyone else. Our newspaper, the Banner Independent, came out one time per week (and still does). Often, the most interesting news was who had visitors in from out of town, which church was having “dinner on the grounds” on Sunday, and who had the misfortune of getting a traffic ticket or arrested for a misdemeanor. It was a classic “Mayberry” (for those of you old enough to remember the Andy Griffin show). Growing up, our little town had a beautiful little town square with the county courthouse in the middle. I remember sitting on the square with my grandfather listening to the conversations on politics, farming and life. Like most small southern towns, the big-box brand (aka Wal-Mart) arrived in the late 1970’s and over the next 10 years, our little downtown fell into decline – some businesses closing, others moving out onto the “bypass” to try to catch a bit of the traffic the new big-box brand had created. Today, its not easy to visit. It’s a stark reminder that life does not stand still – we’re either making progress or falling behind… It also reminds me of my own mortality.
Mom & Dad:
My father (Jessie) is a minister. He’s one of the best individuals I’ve ever known. I challenge myself each day to be half as good as he is. He’s the eldest of 3 children – and I’m his eldest… so we have that in common. My dad has taught me so many things – but most about living each day to it’s fullest. His faith in the creator inspires me. For those who know my dad’s story (and the incredible challenges he faced as a young minister and father), his accomplishments are even more remarkable. He loves me unconditionally – and I know that he does. Regardless of life’s challenges, I’ve come to believe that we, as individuals, can push ourselves far beyond what the average individual would normally do when we know we are loved in this way. I know that many of my own accomplishments have been fueled by his love and support.
My mom (Carolyn) is a nurse. She’s done it all – ran the operations of a small rural hospital, retired from that job and ran the county health department, and now (although theoretically retired from 2 jobs) she does Medicare & Medicaid audits throughout the state of Alabama and Mississippi of long term care centers. At a very young age, I had the opportunity to see the “care” side of healthcare through her. She was never too busy to check on the neighbor with a fever, to sit with a sick patient long after quitting time, or to help an elderly member of the church with a medical issue. I don’t think it ever occurred to her to ask whether a person had insurance or not – she simply lived out (and still does) her passion for caring for others. My mom loves her children, loves her grandchildren even more, and loves yard sales and leisurely hours at a Wal-Mart the most. She makes an amazing banana pudding and knows just how to make you feel like the most special person in the world.
My mom is the definition of “unconditional love” … she joined our family when I was 9. Prior to her joining the family, we lived with my grandparents (”Pop” and “Granny”). She came into our lives at a time after a period of extreme tragedy. She went from being a single lady to a wife and mother overnight to a 9 year old (me) and an 8 year old (my brother, Keith). I’ll share the story of how she came into our lives later.
I went to elementary school at a little school called “Hills Chapel.” At that time, it was K – 8th Grade (each grade had about 30-35 students. A small school with amazing teachers. It was an environment of learning. I transferred to Booneville High School in 1975 and finished there in 1979. I learned to play the French Horn (I learned it was a good “scholarship” instrument) and was in the band throughout high school. I thoroughly enjoyed high school. My favorite subjects were science and math. I was a classic “over-achiever” (and yes, an “A” student).
I joined the Army National Guard in 1978 – mostly as a way to help pay for college. My friends today are often surprised about that part of my past – but it was essential if I were going to have the funds to go to college. With some good luck, some Army funding, an academic scholarship and a music scholarship (I learned to play the french horn) – I enrolled in college. I began as a physics major. Upon arriving at Ole Miss, I found an job opportunity – tutoring a group of Kappa Delta’s in Organic Chemistry and Physics. It was a great business relationship. In exchange for the academic help, I had the opportunity to get to know these young women. I had many meals at the KD Sorority House and served as the “official” boyfriend when dads and moms would visit – (another fun story). In 1980, I applied to physical therapy school and was accepted. That began my career in healthcare. I finished physical therapy school in Jackson, Mississippi in 1983 and immediately moved to Tennessee. Outside of living away for 2 brief periods of less than a year, Nashville (Brentwood) has been my home now for almost 30 years.
Coming to Nashville:
I began my healthcare career at National Health Corp. The firm, founded by Dr. Carl Adams, was based in Murfreesboro, TN. I was with NHC from 1983 – 1987. I had the opportunity there to move into management of physical therapy services and led the development of several outpatient programs in rehabilitation. In 1987, I was hired by HCA to direct the rehabilitation program at West Side Hospital (West Side and Parkview later merged here in Nashville to firm Centennial Medical Center). What a time to be with HCA! I was given the opportunity to transition from rehabilitation to running managed care contracting for our local market. Over the next several years, the entire of fee-for-service medicine infrastructure was transformed by managed care – and I had a front row seat. We established relationships with health plans for the new “Centennial” – a tertiary medical campus formed by linking Parkview and West Side Hospitals. I recall the day we successfully closed a relationship with the Prudential – and set up Centennial as the new PruCare central hospital – that year, our obstetrics program grew by over 1,000 patients/year via that single contract. Soon, I was helping our hospitals throughout the country organize their contracting strategy with healthplans. I also had the opportunity to put a contract in place with a physician out of Knoxville to operate our emergency room – that physician was Lynn Massingale – and his company became TeamHealth. What a small world!
While at HCA, I went back to school and completed by MBA degree (1987 – 1989) at the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University. By late 1990, I had the “itch” to start my own business… It didn’t go away..
In 1991 I had the opportunity to go to Little Rock, AR to help out with a new healthcare model – the “primary care network” – this model (centering all care decisions around the physician) had grown out of some of the early HMO models and the wife of a fresh new face in the Democratic party (aka Hillary Clinton) was interested in this type of healthcare model. She is one of the smartest women I have ever met in my life – period. I had the opportunity to work with the folks at BCBS of Arkansas to put these plan designs together. This “entrepreneurial” endeavor gave me the opportunity to finish working on my own business concept.
The Creation of Theraphysics:
In 1992, I made my first ever trip to New York, NY (really!). I remember it well. It was summertime. Hot – and the taxi had no air! The driver’s name had no vowels (only consonants!). I stayed at the Barbizon Hotel (was originally built in 1927 as a hotel for women coming to New York who wanted a “safe” place to stay). This was prior to the renovation. I met Walter Channing of Channing Wineberg on that trip. Two of Walter’s colleagues – Peter Del Col and Roy Simpson Jr. helped me refine my business model. Walter became the first investor in my first company.
Walter Channing introduced me to Ted McCourtney (Ted was leading the Venrock Fund at that time); Ken Langone & Christina Kepner (they had a fund called Invemed); Bob Higgins (Highland Capital in Boston). This group became our “Series A” investors in Theraphysics – and Theraphysics, my first company, came to life in early 1993. Later, they were joined in “Series B” by George & Robert Soros (1995) and in “Series C” by Mike Aspinwall representing GE Capital 1997).
The firm was a specialty managed care company with expertise in the development of healthcare and workers’ compensation solutions for the post-acute continuum. From 1993 – 1998, we grew throughout Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado and Georgia. We managed over 2 million lives in capitated arrangements and over 3 million lives in ASO arrangements with healthplans. We owned rehabilitation practices in Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania. Theraphysics was sold to Beverly Enterprises in the summer of 1998. I remained with the company for 24 months through the transition time into Beverly Enterprises.
Visit again soon… More of “My Story” to come.