Ovatient bolsters its clinical, operational and digital leadership teams to scale alongside health system demand
CLEVELAND, OHIO, Jan. 20, 2026 — Ovatient, a non-profit virtual-first healthcare delivery company co-founded by The MetroHealth System in Ohio and MUSC Health in South Carolina, announced today a series of strategic leadership appointments and promotions to support health system partnerships and advance integrated virtual care.
To support this next phase of growth in 2026, Ovatient announced the following leadership updates:
- Amy Lukowski, Psy.D., has been promoted to Vice President of Operations and Integration, where she will serve as Ovatient’s operational leader, aligning strategy, execution and cross-functional teams. She previously served as Director of Integrated Behavioral Health and prior to joining Ovatient served in senior leadership roles at National Jewish Health and Teladoc.
- Sapna Shah, M.D., has joined Ovatient and will serve an additional role as Senior Medical Director and Head of Integrated Care, overseeing clinical leadership across virtual urgent care, virtual primary care and integrated behavioral health. Dr. Shah also serves as Vice Chair for Virtual Care with the MetroHealth System and previously served in senior virtual care clinical leadership roles including Chief Medical Officer at Beam Healthcare, a virtual care company that serves health systems.
- Likhitha Musunuru, M.D., who has been serving as Interim Medical Director, has been named to the role permanently. She first joined Ovatient as a virtual primary care provider, having served previously as the Chair of Family Medicine at RWJ Barnabas Health. Dr. Musunuru has been instrumental in advancing coordinated, whole-person care across the organization during her time at Ovatient.
- Meghan Eberle, Psy.D., has joined Ovatient as the Director of Integrated Behavioral Health with more than two decades of experience in clinical psychology and clinical services experience. She previously served as VP of Clinical Services at Carelon Behavioral Health, a specialty behavioral health organization that is part of Elevance Health.
- Yasir Tarabichi, M.D., Chief Medical Informatics Officer, has been named Head of Digital, where he’ll oversee product strategy, technology development and clinical quality measurement. Dr. Tarabichi was part of Ovatient’s founding leadership team and has been essential to advancing Ovatient’s Epic-integrated virtual care strategy. He also serves as Chief Health AI Officer at MetroHealth and is a practicing critical care pulmonologist.
- Jamie Carracher has been promoted to Head of Growth and Brand, reflecting the maturation of Ovatient’s brand and go-to-market efforts. He came from AHIP, the national trade association representing health insurance providers, where he served as VP, Public Affairs and Digital Engagement.
- Kortney Orueta has joined Ovatient as the Head of People, Finance, and Business Operations, a newly established role that supports Ovatient’s ability to scale and operational readiness. She previously served as Chief of Staff at digital health companies Forta and Bridge, where she served as senior operational leader supporting the CEOs at both companies.
“Health systems are looking for partners who can help them expand access while improving continuity, quality, and the overall patient experience,” said Ovatient Founder and CEO Michael Dalton. “We’ve strengthened our leadership structure to deepen expertise and sharpen accountability as we deliver fully integrated, virtual-first care—designed to keep patients connected to the health systems they trust in the communities they call home.”
The leadership updates reinforce Ovatient’s commitment to serving as a true extension of its health system partners. With virtual-first care playing an increasingly central role in access, workforce strategy, and patient experience, Ovatient’s leadership evolution signals readiness for what’s next.
“Being built by health systems for health systems, we know that operational excellence requires focus, alignment and strong leadership, which is why we’ve set Ovatient up to scale in a way that delivers an unparalleled experience for patients and health systems,” said Lukowski. “With scale comes complexity, and Ovatient’s focus is on removing friction for our partners without asking clinicians or patients to carry the burden.”
The launch of the Rural Health Transformation Program presents opportunities for health systems to make foundational investments in virtual-first care, and Ovatient is poised to partner with states nationwide to help expand access to virtual primary, urgent and integrated behavioral healthcare built on Epic.
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About Ovatient
Ovatient is a virtual-first healthcare company that puts a person – not just a patient – at the center of how they receive care and improve their health. Ovatient’s team of dedicated virtual providers and care team members work closely with health system partners to provide patients with connected, coordinated and convenient virtual care. Ovatient integrates with hospital system and patient medical records via Epic and MyChart, providing a more meaningful, personalized patient experience that empowers care teams with nearly real-time data. Ovatient was formed through a partnership between The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio and MUSC Health in Charleston, S.C., in October 2022.
