MISSION
The mission of the California Urgent Care Association is to support the ongoing success of our membership through strong advocacy and education and to promote urgent care as a patient-oriented, accessible, and cost-effective sector of our healthcare system.
CAUSES
The California Urgent Care Association passionately cares about a variety of elements of that allow us to do what we do. Learn more here.
MEET THE BOARD
Our board consists of a diverse team of specialists from medical directors, practicing urgent care physicians, to business and legal support. To get involved, click here.
Claudio Varga - President
Claudio has been Director of Operations for Vital Urgent Care in Newport Beach, California since 2013, where he was promoted from Director of Marketing, a position he’d held since 2010. During a medical management career spanning over three decades, Claudio has worked his way up the ladder from his first job as a medical assistant and X-ray tech, to eventually holding several key executive positions at prominent healthcare organizations throughout Southern California. His wide range of medical management expertise includes marketing, HR, RCM and EMR implementation. Claudio’s passion is retail healthcare, and he has been a fervent supporter of urgent care and the Urgent Care Association where he has been a regular conference lecturer specializing in urgent care marketing, operations, and customer service. In addition to a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration, Claudio also holds a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) designation from the Patient Experience Institute (PXI) and the Beryl Institute, the leading authorities in the field of patient experience in healthcare. He resides in Corona, CA with his wife and two children where they enjoy exploring and appreciating everything The Golden State has to offer.
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Board Member: 2020-present
President: 2022-2023
Tiffany Reguera, FNP - Immediate Past President
Tiffany Reguera, FNP graduated from California State University, Chico with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and Western University of Health Sciences with a master’s degree in nursing concurrently becoming a family nurse practitioner. She is the managing owner of three walk-in clinics in far Northern California. In addition to leading her three clinics, she has worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs for 20 years. There she has been the chair of the VA’s Sierra Pacific Network Pain Committee. She has volunteered with Project Hope in Central America providing healthcare services with the US Navy on the USS Boxer. Tiffany is interested in continuing the work of UCAOA to expand urgent care services. She is passionate about the future of urgent care and promoting it is a necessary component of healthcare in our communities. Tiffany is happily married with two boys, ages 7 and 9. She enjoys dabbling in real estate and traveling. She lives in Redding, CA.
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Board Member: 2019-present
President Elect: 2020-2021
President: 2021-2022
Scott Prysi, MD - Board Member
Dr. Prysi earned his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University, his medical degree from the University of Virginia and his Master of Architecture degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He worked as both a healthcare architect and physician for several years before taking a full-time position as an Urgent Care provider with Doctors On Duty Medical Clinics in Monterey, CA in 2004. He became Medical Director of the group in 2014 and has focused on the incorporation Primary Care and Specialty services into their nine clinics. He is a passionate believer in evidenced based medicine and has developed “Best Practice” guidelines for the use of narcotics and anti-biotics throughout his organization. As a member of the Physician Advisory Group for the Central California Alliance for Health, he helped create and initiate a successful pilot program to divert MediCal patients from the ER to Urgent Care Centers. He is currently developing a Telemedicine platform for Doctors On Duty to meet the future needs of its’ growing patient population. He is an avid tennis player and downhill skier and lives in Monterey, CA.
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Board Member: 2018-present
President Elect: 2019-2020
President: 2020-2021
Omid Akbari, MBA - Board Member
Omid has more than 20 years of experience in leadership and business development. After graduating from medical school, Omid began his career as a public health officer and ER physician. He then transitioned to leadership and business development in the health and pharmaceutical industry. After completing an executive MBA program, he transitioned to retail healthcare in the urgent care and occupational health sector, focusing on leadership, practice management, and administration. He oversees the operations of two urgent care and occupational health clinics in Southern California. He is also CEO of California MSK MSO, which provides management, financial, HR, revenue cycle management, and marketing services to medical groups in California. Omid’s interests are strategy, marketing, and lean leadership.
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Board Member: 2018-present
President: 2019-2020
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Rob Mahan, MBA - Board Member
Rob became CEO for Exer Urgent Care 6 years ago and has grown Exer from 4 sites to over 30 locations today. He has been a member of the CalUCA for the past 5 years. He has over 23 years of experience in multi-site retail healthcare. During his time as CEO at Exer, he has renegotiated payer contracts, raised debt/equity, added a lab, restructured its staffing model, revamped documentation practices, and launched several new business lines. Before Exer, he served as the CFO and then COO for a behavioral health company for 8 years. Preceding that, he worked for DaVita, a Fortune 500 Company in the kidney dialysis space. During his 9 years at DaVita, he lead the billing and collections team collecting $5.5 billion in annual collections, performed turn around services, and was a CFO for 7 start-up businesses lines ranging from $5M to $100M in annual revenue. He earned an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA after working at PricewaterhouseCoopers doing financial consulting for distressed companies and turnaround services. He enjoys time with family, traveling and surfing as much as time allows.
Board Member: 2022-present
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Kathryn Vandervort, MBA - Board Member
Kathryn is from Carmel Valley, CA. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College with her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. She went on to pursue her medical assistant certificate, while completing her MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Administration from Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. She started with Doctors on Duty in 2014, working as a cross-trained receptionist and medical assistant. She has advanced through the ranks of the company to become the Chief Operating Officer. She is passionate about putting humility and empathy in the heart of her leadership style. ​
Board Member: 2022-present
Roger Hicks, MD - Secretary
Dr. Hicks earned his BA from Brown University and his MD from Cornell University Medical College. He completed his Family Practice residency at UC Davis, and became board certified in Family Practice and Emergency Medicine. A Director of the Urgent Care Association of America from 2011 to 2017, he served on its Executive Committee, and as its Treasurer and then Secretary. He is currently on the Health and Public Policy and Awards Committees of UCAOA. He is a founder and current Board member of the Urgent Care Assurance Company, a malpractice company specializing in urgent care. Drawn to Nevada County by the Yuba River, he is the founding president of SYRCL, the South Yuba River Citizens League, a watershed-based grassroots advocacy organization now in its 35th year. He is owner of Yubadocs Urgent Care in Grass Valley, CA.
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Founding Board Member: 2017-
Founding Chapter President: 2017-2018
Immediate Past President: 2018-2019
Secretary: 2018-2020