The Pivotal Healthcare Partners Leadership Team: Ensuring Excellence in All We Do
Pivotal Healthcare Partners’ leadership team puts decades of healthcare management experience to work every day, building on our culture of excellence to provide unparalleled professionalism and care.
Excellence in All We Do
Christian Rutherford
Chief Executive Officer
Christian Rutherford is CEO of Pivotal Healthcare Partners and has over 20 years of healthcare executive leadership experience.
Prior to joining Pivotal in January of 2021, Mr. Rutherford was CEO of Envision Healthcare’s physician staffing business, which Envision acquired from Mr. Rutherford and other investors.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Rutherford was President of CompHealth Group’s physician staffing business and he served as Nursefinders’s President and COO.
Mr. Rutherford earned his master’s degree from Michigan State’s graduate school of management.
Excellence in All We Do
John Ehrie
CFO
John Ehrie is the CFO of Pivotal Healthcare Partners. Prior to joining Pivotal, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Women’s Care Holdings, NorthStar Anesthesia, EyeCare Services Partners, LHP Hospital Group, Recall Corporation and Zep Inc.
Mr. Ehrie was the former Controller for Wal-Mart International, 7-Eleven, Inc. and Acuity Brands, Inc., and former Partner at KPMG, LLP.
Mr. Ehrie is a CPA and Attorney with degrees from Southern Methodist University and the University of Mississippi.
Excellence in All We Do
Matt Smolarek
CAO
Matt Smolarek is CAO of Pivotal Healthcare Partners and has over 25 years of senior financial management experience, including 11 years as CFO for PE-backed companies.
Mr. Smolarek’s expertise focuses on M&A, post-acquisition integration, and building corporate infrastructure. He has had successful exits in worker’s compensation and healthcare (DSO) industries.
Mr. Smolarek graduated from Walsh College with a Bachelor’s in Accounting.
Excellence in All We Do
Aaron Stewart
Head of FP&A
Aaron Stewart is the FP&A Lead for Pivotal Healthcare Partners and has 15+ years of experience improving finance and accounting functions, particularly with PE-backed healthcare companies.
He is the former senior finance executive with Women’s Care Holdings, EyeCare Services Partners, NorthStar Anesthesia, LHP Hospital Group, 7-Eleven, and Protiviti.
Mr. Stewart is a CPA and holds a Master’s of Finance and Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting from Texas A&M University.
Excellence in All We Do
Brian Padgett
Chief Development Officer
Brian Padgett joined the Pivotal team June 2022.
Prior to joining Pivotal, Brian was Vice-President of Integration for Women’s Care Holdings and EyeCare Service Partners.
Other experience:
- Vice President of Internal Audit for LHP Hospital Group, Vice-President of Shared Services for 7-Eleven and did public accounting for PriceWaterhouseCoopers
- Brian has 20+ years of experience in finance and accounting functions – including with multiple PE-backed healthcare companies
- Brian is a CPA and has an MBA in Corporate Finance and a Master of Management in Healthcare from The University of Dallas. In addition, a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas A&M University