New HOM Adjunct Faculty Members

Brent D. Magers, MS, MA, FACHE, CMPE

Executive Associate Dean of the School of Medicine
Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Practice Plan

Brent Magers has more than 28 years of experience in the Healthcare Industry. In his current role, he is responsible for all aspects of Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock, a multi-specialty academic practice plan comprising more than 150 physicians associated with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine.

In addition to working with the clinical chairs and administrators of 13 departments on delivery of care, Brent supervises all central service departments, such as the Business Office, GE Centricity (IDX) System, Cerner Electronic Health Record, Patient Satisfaction, Managed Care Contracting, Nursing Services, Infection Control, Accreditation, Performance Improvement, and Volunteers. He also serves as the Executive Director of Texas Tech Physicians Associates - a 501 (c) (3) that conducts business on behalf of the regional campuses of the Texas Tech HSC Medical School and the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster Medical School in El Paso. During his time with Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock, the practice plan has consistently increased its monthly collections and is in the top-tier for revenue growth as ranked by the Association of American Medical Colleges, improved its patient satisfaction as measured by the Press-Ganey organization, and started participation in several quality improvement initiatives, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Physician Quality Reporting Program.

Prior to joining Texas Tech School of Medicine in 2007, Brent served as the President/CEO of a hospital for 12 years and in senior administrative roles for two other hospitals. During his tenure as a hospital CEO, the hospital Brent led was named as a Top 100 Hospital in the United States, received commendation from the JCAHO, and received the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award from Texas Medical Foundation.

Brent is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Certified Medical Practice Executive, and a long-standing member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Brent has been a consultant to a long-term care facility and served as an expert witness for the defense on healthcare related legal matters. Brent is an appointed member of the State-wide Frew Technical Advisory Committee of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission which was established by the Texas Legislature to address access to Medicaid issues in Texas. Brent holds two master's degrees - one from Texas Tech University and one from Trinity University in Healthcare Administration.

Linda Gerbig, RN, MSPH 

Vice President of Performance Improvement

Linda Gerbig has over 35 years experience in the Healthcare Industry. In her current role, she is the functional oversight for Performance Improvement. She is in charge of Infection Control, Care Coordination and Accreditation with a specific focus on achieving clinical KPIs. Linda also has operational (functional) responsibility for success with national improvement projects, implementation to performance improvement tools and coordination of system-wide improvements. Her many areas of responsibility include: Clinical Performance Improvement, Joint Commission Accreditation, QUEST, NQF and other national efforts related to measurement and improvement, THR Quality Conference, PIPSC Chair, and Transformational Leader for QUEST.

Linda holds a Bachelor of Science, Nursing from Murray State University and a Master of Science, Public Health from Tulane University's School of Epidemiology and Tropical Medicine. She is a Certified Critical Care Nurse received from the University of Tennessee and a National Fellow in Patient Safety, AHA, in conjunction with USC and Stanford Universities.

Linda holds the Texas Award for Performance Excellence Examiner and Feedback Report Writer for 2001-2006. She also served as a Baldridge National Quality Examiner from 2007-2008.

Rhonda Stevens, BAS, MA, DFSS, SSBB 

Lean Specialist in Performance Improvement

Rhonda Stevens has over 25 years of healthcare experience in the areas of clinical and non-clinical performance improvement, human resource management, and organization development & education. In her current role she leads on-site Lean engagements and performance improvement projects for Texas Health Resources (THR), one of the largest faith-based, non-profit healthcare delivery systems in the U.S. In her role as THR Lean Leader, she used her training in GE Lean, Change Acceleration Process (CAP) and Workout methodologies to assist in driving organizational performance improvement through the facilitation of entity-level and system-wide implementation initiatives. She also served as a 2007-2008 Texas Award for Performance Excellence (TAPE) examiner.

As an HR consultant, Rhonda has provided expertise in the areas Employee Relations, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and Employee Performance Improvement/Appraisal. As a master facilitator, she has provided facilitation expertise for the Greater Dallas Community Relations Commission (GDCRC) Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, Northwest Region of Patient Access Services Association, Baylor Healthcare System, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc., and the cities of Dallas and Coppell, TX. She has served as a guest lecturer at the University of North Texas School of Business - Undergraduate Human Resource Management course for Diversity and Inclusion in Business, and is a certified facilitator of True Colors™,
an interactive program that provides a simple but comprehensive method of discovering one's strengths, and understanding human behavior through four primary colors.

Among her professional association affiliations are the American Society for Healthcare Quality (ASQ), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Rhonda holds a Bachelor's in Business/Psychology and a Master's in Organization & Human Resources Management from Dallas Baptist University and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Ann Allen, MSN, RN, CPHQ, MBBSS

Director of Performance Improvement

Ann has 26 years of nursing and quality experience in the healthcare field. She has worked in both large and small facilities and experienced first hand the variations in quality needs related to patient care and facility management. Her experience includes leading improvement teams, both organizational wide and department specific, leading organizational efforts to meet regulatory requirements, training of staff in performance improvement tools and methodology. Through Ann's leadership, organizations that she has worked with have received state awards for work in quality initiatives and have been recognized by national health plans for meeting and exceeding requirements that demonstrate high quality care.

Ann is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and is responsible for leading the LEAN program for Texas Health Resources. She served as an examiner with the Baldridge National Quality Award for five years and serves as a Master Change Agent for the Texas Health Resources' CAP/WO program.

Ann holds a certification in Healthcare quality (CPHQ) and is a member of the National and State Quality Associations, Agency of HealthCare Research in Quality (AHRQ), and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She also works with an architectural design firm in North Carolina to redesign work space to achieve efficiencies in production and improve user satisfaction.

Claire Thibodeaux, BS, CPHQ, SSBB

Lean Leader

Claire Thibodeaux is a performance improvement and risk management professional with over 16 years of experience in the healthcare field. She utilizes her extensive quality management background to advance key system-wide performance initiatives for Texas Health Resources (THR), one of the largest faith-based, non-profit healthcare delivery systems in the U.S. Claire joined THR after working on a national level with CIGNA Healthcare as an Assistant Director of Quality Management. She has also worked as a Director of Quality and Risk Management for HealthSouth Corporation.

In her current role as THR Lean Leader, Claire works with hospital executives, managers and frontline staff to streamline processes, maximize efficiencies and improve value from the customer (patient) perspective. Claire received her Lean Management Philosophies training through GE Healthcare Solutions a global industry leader.

Claire is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt. She is a member of the National Association for Healthcare Quality and the Texas Association for Healthcare Quality. Claire was pleased to serve as an examiner in the prestigious Texas Award for Performance Excellence (TAPE) 2007-2008 awards cycle.

Claire holds a Bachelor's of Science in Health Information Administration from Louisiana Tech University.