Mountain Pacific Leadership
Jill Alessi
Chief Executive Officer
(800) 497-8232 ext. 5820
jalessi@mpqhf.org | Connect with Jill on LinkedIn
Mary Erickson
Chief Operating Officer
(800) 497-8232 ext. 5846
merickson@mpqhf.org | Connect with Mary on LinkedIn
Mary Erickson, MSM, RN, CHCQM, has been with Mountain Pacific since 2012 and serves as the chief operating officer (COO). Mary has many years of health care leadership experience and oversees Mountain Pacific’s Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) contracts, works as the quality management director and directs the development and implementation of data collections and reporting systems across Mountain Pacific’s many federal, state and commercial contracts. Mary also has extensive clinical experience, ranging from staff nurse to chief operating officer for a rural health clinic to working in the general medical and emergency department for a Montana critical access hospital.
Katelin Conway, MBA, MPH, became Mountain Pacific’s chief corporate development officer in 2023. Katelin is responsible for the direction and leadership of expansion and development of the programs and services Mountain Pacific offers. She identifies and manages opportunities for grants, contracts and business agreements with the goal of increasing market share, while ensuring the organization’s customers remain satisfied. Katelin has extensive leadership experience and has helped advance regional efforts in patient, family and tribal engagement, with the continued vision of improved health and health outcomes across our region. She has earned two master’s degrees from the University of Montana, one in business administration and one in public health.
Barb Flynn has been with Mountain Pacific since 1996. As the director of human resources, Barb oversees companywide policies and procedures related to staffing, compensation benefits, employee relations and health and safety programs. She works to ensure an employee-oriented, high-performance culture that emphasizes workplace quality, productivity and standards. Before moving into her career in human resources, Barb served as a vice president and bank operations officer. Her combination of experience in both business management and human resource management supports her role in providing senior management, leadership and staff consulting support.
Dr. Douglas Kuntzweiler is chief medical officer for Mountain Pacific, where he oversees clinical and review activities and promotes quality and transformational change in all health care settings across Mountain-Pacific’s multi-state region of service. Dr. Kuntzweiler has more than 40 years of health care experience, starting as a certified nurse assistant in a long-term care facility in Ames, Iowa, and finishing at St. Peter’s Health in Helena, Montana, when he retired in 2018 after being an emergency department physician for 27 years. He is certified with the Board of American Academy of Family Practice and has cared for patients at every point in their lives, from neonatal care to advance care planning. Dr. Kuntzweiler has been an advocate for serving the health and health care needs among disparate populations and has traveled around the world to serve his country with the U.S. Air Force, Army Reserve and Army National Guard, receiving the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster in 1972 and the Army Commendation Medal in 2007.
Beth Brown, MAMC
Director of Corporate Communications
(800) 497-8232 Ext. 5857
bbrown@mpqhf.org | Connect with Beth on LinkedIn
With Mountain Pacific since 2010, Beth Brown is the director of corporate communications. She lends marketing and communications guidance and support to the many federal, state and commercial contracts Mountain Pacific holds across its multistate region of service. In addition to crafting and implementing written, visual and media communications strategies, she facilitates staff learning sessions and patient/health care focus groups. Beth supports Mountain Pacific’s business acquisition efforts and is certified in nonprofit grant writing and management. Her more than 20 years of professional experience include marketing and communications, journalism, education and coaching, writing, proofreading and editing, and she holds a master’s degree in public interest communication.
Ramon Mercado, Esq.
Staff Attorney
(800) 497-8232 Ext. 5876
rmercado@mpqhf.org | Connect with Ramon on LinkedIn
Ramon Mercado, JD, CHC, CHPC, joined Mountain Pacific in 2022 and serves as the organization’s in-house counsel and compliance officer. Ramon advises Mountain Pacific on a broad range of legal and regulatory matters, leads the organization’s compliance and audit program and provides legal advice to the Board of Directors. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Montana, the Tribal Court of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Prior to his career as an attorney, Ramon served in the U.S. Navy as a diver and special operations officer.