Our Staff
Mary Ellen Doty
Founder & Chief Medical Officer
Mary Ellen Doty was born and raised on a Montana cattle ranch. She has been a nurse practitioner for over 20 years, exclusively working in rural and remote sites in Alaska and Montana. Because of her work in these areas, she understands the difficulty of recruiting and retaining quality medical practitioners in rural and remote clinic sites. This knowledge inspired her to create a business that truly serves the needs of rural and remote areas. She still travels to rural clinic sites to do direct nurse practitioner services, although much less frequently since the inception of Wilderness Medical Staffing.
Noah McWilliams
Co-CEO
Noah McWilliams is the Co-CEO of Wilderness Medical Staffing and his main focus is on organizational growth, strategy, and finance. Noah graduated with his Bachelor’s degree from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and then obtained his Master’s Degree from Washington State University. He was born in Montana and raised in remote Alaska. During his childhood, he saw the importance that quality healthcare can have in rural areas and he took this knowledge and understanding with him when he went to work for Wilderness Medical Staffing. When not at work, Noah loves to stay active through fishing, running, and everything else that the wilderness has to offer.
Ethan McWilliams
Co-CEO
Ethan McWilliams is the Co-CEO of Wilderness Medical Staffing and his main focus is on strategy, business development, and compliance. Ethan was born in Montana and raised in rural Alaska. After high school, Ethan completed his undergraduate education at the University of Richmond and then law school at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining WMS, Ethan served as an officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. Ethan is an avid reader, runner, and sportsman.
Jade King
General Manager
As the General Manager, Jade’s main focus is leading the Operations and Staffing departments to success. She is originally from Utah where she earned her bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University. Before joining WMS she worked at the University of Utah Hospital for almost ten years where she developed a passion for the healthcare system. In her free time she enjoys baking, mud runs and decorating.
Corrinda Burke
Human Resources Coordinator
Corrinda is the Human Resources Coordinator at WMS, who also serves as the Executive Assistant. Prior to bringing her talents to WMS in late 2019, Corrinda was a paralegal in the rural community of northern Wyoming where she was born and raised. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and friends, and riding her motorcycle through the scenic mountains surrounding her home.
Brittany Smith
Accountant
Brittany joins the WMS team from Eastern Washington State and is our accountant. Originally from Lind, WA, Brittany is a graduate of Whitworth University in Spokane, WA, and has a double major in accounting and business management. Prior to working with WMS, Brittany was a public accountant for a firm in Spokane. In her free time, Brittany enjoys kayaking, hiking, and spending time in the sun with her husband and Siberian husky.
Andrea Vreedenburgh
Accounting Administrative Assistant
Andrea Vreedenburgh is our new Accounting Administrative Assistant! A Bainbridge Island native, she has also embraced the beauty of Colorado, the charm of Maui, and now calls the Kitsap Peninsula home. Andrea’s passion for Mycology blossomed alongside hikes with her dog, exploring the serene woods since 2013. On her days off, Andrea is either cooking up a storm, traveling to new destinations, or wildcrafting with locally foraged ingredients.
Deanna Tiemann
Marketing Director
Deanna Tiemann is Wilderness Medical Staffing’s Marketing Director. Before joining WMS, she worked in a variety of marketing roles, including owning a small marketing agency in Spokane, WA for over eight years. Originally from Michigan, Deanna holds a B.A. in Communications from Hope College in Holland, MI. Deanna sees the value in storytelling through marketing, and WMS has plenty of stories to share about remote medical healthcare! Deanna enjoys spending time with her family, tending to her cat and backyard chickens, playing games with her family, hiking, crafting, and shopping.
Nyree Legnon
Content Marketing Assistant
Nyree Legnon is our Content Marketing Assistant here at WMS. With a background in running her own marketing business, Nyree brings a wealth of experience and a commitment to community growth. Hailing from the picturesque landscapes of Washington, she creates content that resonates with the spirit of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Holding a BA in Marketing from Gonzaga University, she is passionate about making business more ethical and impactful. Beyond marketing, she enjoys painting and caring for her diverse array of pets, including axolotls, a bearded dragon, chickens, and a rescued greyhound.
Lisa Vognild
Director of Recruiting
As part of the recruitment team, Lisa appreciates any opportunity to engage with providers about their professional interests, goals and desires. Finding a fit for a provider with a WMS opportunity is a great day for Lisa! Lisa has spent her career in various healthcare positions and finds provider recruitment to be a passion. Lisa obtained a BS in medical technology and a MS in healthcare administration at the University of South Dakota. Her favorite place to be is anywhere outdoors doing just about anything!
Tanner McCoon
Recruiter
Tanner McCoon is a recruiter at WMS. He was raised on 10 acres in the Blue Mountains outside Walla Walla, Washington and has always loved the peaceful lifestyle, being surrounded by nature. Tanner moved to the Spokane area to attend EWU, receiving his BA in Operations Management in 2017. He has a deep passion to search for the best medical providers available who will change lives in the remote areas we serve. In his free time, Tanner enjoys making music with his friends and baking bread or cooking, but loves spending time with his two delightful children more than anything.
Celeste Adams
Recruiter
Celeste Adams is a recruiter at WMS with over 10 years of healthcare administration experience and a bachelor’s degree in business management. Originally from Southern California, she relocated to Washington in 2009, where she found peace in nature. Passionate about provider recruitment, Celeste loves making a difference by finding top medical professionals for the rural communities we serve. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children and mini schnauzer, traveling, collecting vinyl, crafting, and exploring the outdoors.
Tiffanie Davis
Business Development Director
Tiffanie Davis is WMS’s Business Development Director, with a penchant for adventure that has led her to live in Washington, Alaska, and Idaho. She, along with her husband, spent nearly six years in Ketchikan, Alaska, where her husband was raised and where their son was born. It was there that Tiffanie embarked on her healthcare career, embracing both the rewards and challenges of life in a small, remote community. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA, Tiffanie holds a Bachelor‘s degree and later earned an MBA from Northwest University. When she’s not at work, she enjoys gardening, biking, and skiing. On less favorable weather days, Tiffanie is likely to be found delving into a puzzle or immersed in a book.
Diann Pearson
Account Executive
Diann Pearson is an Account Executive at Wilderness Medical Staffing. Diann has over 15 years of experience in staffing medical providers in Alaska. She lived and worked in Fairbanks for over 16 years and traveled extensively through the state. This experience gives her excellent first-hand knowledge which she can pass along when speaking with providers. She is dedicated to staffing talented medical providers anywhere they are needed in Alaska and works hard to make it a positive adventure in medicine. Diann is focused on meeting our clients’ needs by matching excellent medical providers who are a great fit for their clinics and communities. In her free time, Diann enjoys spending time outdoors. She and her husband of more than 20 years enjoy trail riding in the wilderness on her horses along with and their four-legged child, Tag.
Susan Mendenhall
Account Executive
Susan Mendenhall is an Account Executive at WMS. She specializes in recruiting top-notch medical providers and filling our open locum tenens positions in Montana. Susan was raised on the Kenai River in Sterling, AK, where she did a lot of fishing, dirt-bike riding, and swatting mosquitoes! Her passion for staffing rural facilities started in 2010 when she started working for a small healthcare staffing company in Spokane, WA. She absolutely loves the idea of making a difference in small communities, just like the one she grew up in.
Sheila Gibson
Account Executive
Sheila Gibson is an account executive at WMS. Between family and work commitments, she loves to write, travel, and cook, not necessarily in that order, but those three are always in the mix. Sheila is originally from Mississippi, but spent almost twenty years in beautiful Colorado, where she and her husband, Rob, raised their children. The moved from Colorado to Alaska in 2006 for a one-year empty-nest adventure. Fifteen years later, after a lengthy residence in Southeast Alaska, they’re transitioning to a part-time life in Kirkland, Washington, while keeping a footprint (at least for now) in Alaska. Sheila’s excited to be part of the WMS team, and to use the experience she gained working with three very different organizations in Alaska in her new role with WMS. Sheila and Rob love to entertain and cook, and they have an open door policy: if you stop by to visit, you’re invited to dinner!
Chris Jansen
Staffing Associate
Chris Jansen joins our team as our Staffing Associate with a robust background in healthcare administration. Originally from northern Vermont, he earned his undergraduate degree from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, and later obtained his master’s in healthcare administration while working at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Chris has since moved West to Kalispell, Montana, which he now calls home. Passionate about helping others, he is eager to contribute to the communities that WMS serves. In his free time, Chris enjoys hunting, fishing, and hitting the slopes.
Ashley MacIntosh
Operations Manager
Originally born in California, Ashley has moved from one end of the US to the other throughout her life. She has spent time in Wisconsin, Idaho, Georgia, and Utah. Living in these rural states has given her first-hand experience in understanding the impact that having accessible and adequate healthcare has on a community. As the Operations Manager, Ashley strives for excellence in overseeing the Operations Department, while assisting highly qualified healthcare professionals get to the rural communities and clinics that need them. In 2019, Ashley graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Family, Community, and Human Development with an emphasis in Child Life. She enjoys spending time at home with her husband, their pitbull Kronk, and kittens Yzma and Chaca. In her free time she enjoys sculpting and painting special effects makeup, cooking, and sewing.
Katie Gonzalez
Operations Associate
Katie Gonzalez is an Operations Associate at WMS. She strives for providing excellent customer service to our clients and medical practitioners. Katie was born and raised in Spokane, WA. She has over eight years of experience working in medical facilities where she developed her enthusiasm in the medical field. In her free time, Katie enjoys photography, hiking with her dogs, and traveling the world. Katie is committed to improving the accessibility of high-quality healthcare by collaborating with the clients and providers making it a smooth process once positions have been filled.
Cassie Hall
Operations Associate
Cassie Hall joins our team as an Operations Associate at WMS. Spending the majority of her career working in administrative roles, Cassie has a keen eye for detail and organization as she works with healthcare providers to prepare them for assignments. Cassie live in Tacoma, WA and has a passion for crafting ,enjoys true crime, and spending time outdoors. She is excited to work with a team that makes a difference in the communities that we serve.
Elysia Lopez
Operations Associate
Elysia Lopez is one of our Operations Associates. Elysia brings a diverse background in customer service, from her days of managing a health and wellness center front desk, and honing her skills as an Esthetician. Outside of work, she’s an avid reader, puzzle enthusiast, culinary explorer, hiker, painter, and yoga aficionado. For Elysia, the best way to unwind is a long drive with music and beautiful scenery. She is highly passionate about ensuring rural communities have access to healthcare!
Sarah Merriner
Operations Associate
Sarah is an Operations Associate at WMS, born and raised in Anchorage, AK, and proud to call Alaska home. She holds a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. Before WMS, she worked in various healthcare roles, including medical assisting and management. Sarah loves connecting with people, providing excellent customer service, and improving her community. In her free time, she’s rock climbing, skiing, or hiking with her husband and two Karelian bear dogs. She also enjoys baking, painting, reading, gardening, and studying ornithology.
Hillary Squires
Operations Associate
Hillary joins our team as an Operations Associate with a Bachelor’s in Human Services from Western Washington University. Passionate about people and quality community services, especially in rural areas, she has a background in Social Work and Tourism in Alaska. For the past four years, Hillary coordinated travel for medical staff at the Alaska Native Health Consortium. She’s well-versed in the challenges and wonders of working in Alaska. An avid traveler, Hillary enjoys traveling while exploring cultures, cooking, baking, and relaxing in her hammock with a good book.
Our Commitment
We are committed to growth and leadership within the rural healthcare staffing industry and are proud members of the following organizations.
IT‘S TIME TO START YOUR LIFE’S
NEXT CHAPTER
Rediscover your love for medicine, and redefine what service means. Reset your expectations for what life can offer, and reinvigorate yourself in this beautiful country of ours. Wilderness Medical Staffing wants to put you on the path to life’s next chapter today.
IT‘S TIME TO START YOUR LIFE’S
NEXT CHAPTER
Rediscover your love for medicine, and redefine what service means. Reset your expectations for what life can offer, and reinvigorate yourself in this beautiful country of ours. Wilderness Medical Staffing wants to put you on the path to life’s next chapter today.
Wilderness Medical Staffing (WMS) is a team of experienced staffing experts. We provide locum tenens staffing of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. We specialize in placing excellent, compassionate providers in rural clinics, hospitals, and communities across the continental Northwest and Alaska.
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