Chief Executive Officer

Ben Wiederholt, FACHE, has spent his 20 years as a healthcare executive working to make the system more efficient, effective, equitable, and patient-centered. Prior to co-founding and serving as the CEO of Junction Health, he held roles across the spectrum of healthcare delivery from ambulatory, acute, post-acute, and home settings.

He was the CEO of one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Colorado with 17 locations caring for 55,000 people a year who are economically poor. During his five-year tenure, access to care nearly doubled and quality outcomes improved including dramatic increases in value-based care payments.

In 2022, Ben started his quest to impact FQHC’s on a broader level and took on the CEO role of an Accountable Care Organization formed around a Colorado statewide network of health centers. He led the expansion of additional private payer contracts resulting in increasing distributions to members by 41%.

Ben also teaches at the University of Denver’s master’s degree program as an adjunct faculty in Healthcare Management and Organizational Leadership. He earned his master’s in health administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Ben’s joy is found through his wife Jess and their seven children: Joz, Lillian, Samuel, Luke, Abiti, Joseph, and Abe. In addition to spending time with his family, he is a sports enthusiast as an observer and practitioner.

Meet Ben

Chief Operating Officer

Vinny Polito is a seasoned health system leader with 20 years of acute and ambulatory pharmacy experience, specializing in 340B optimization and pharmacy strategy. He most recently served as Vice President of PBM 340B Strategy for OptumRx, a pharmacy services subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. Prior to OptumRx, he was System Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy for Centura Health, at the time a 17-hospital system with facilities in Colorado and Kansas. He earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from Butler University and master of health administration degree from Indiana University, and he is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Meet Vinny

Chief Commercial Officer

Matt has 16 years of healthcare experience working with entities across the healthcare spectrum including providers, payers/PBMs, health insurance brokers, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and digital health companies.

Matt’s employment and consulting background includes healthcare strategy consulting firm Sg2, electronic health record vendor Cerner Corporation, Vestal Group Consulting which was acquired by a national advanced primary care provider in 2022, and enterprise technology services company ConvergeOne (C1) where he served as the practice lead for its healthcare & life sciences vertical.

He is currently the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of an infusion center management services company that partners with Federally Qualified Community Health Centers to improve access to specialty medications for vulnerable and underserved communities across the nation.

Matt serves as an adjunct faculty member with the University of Denver’s Healthcare Management program. Matt Graduated with a master’s in healthcare administration (MHA) from Ohio State University where he currently sits on the program’s alumni board of directors.

Meet Matt

Fractional Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Vian Nguyen, a board-certified OB/GYN, trained at Baylor College of Medicine and completed her residency at the Baylor-affiliated Methodist Hospital in Houston. After five years in private practice at Women’s Healthcare Associates, where she specialized in obstetrics and DaVinci robotic surgeries, Dr. Nguyen joined Legacy Community Health in 2015, drawn to address the unmet needs of underserved communities.

Promoted to Medical Director of Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2016, she expanded the department significantly, increasing the number of locations and physicians, and doubling hospital partnerships for better patient transitions. Dr. Nguyen introduced key services like the Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) and a Pelvic Ultrasound Clinic, ensuring comprehensive care within the Legacy network.

In 2019, Dr. Nguyen became Chief Medical Officer at Legacy, focusing on transforming community clinic perceptions through patient education and a commitment to quality care driven by a strong mission. Her leadership extends beyond expanding services to embodying Legacy’s ethos of providing opportunities and advocating for the voiceless, with the goal of empowering communities from within.

Following her impactful work at Legacy, Dr. Nguyen is now pioneering a path focused solely on groundbreaking healthcare solutions. She is inspired by the transformative approaches of other industries and guided by the wisdom often attributed to Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Dr. Nguyen is now only dedicated to projects that venture beyond traditional methods, aiming to significantly alter healthcare practices within her lifetime.

Meet Vian

Project Director

Chelsey is the Project Director at Junction Health, where she oversees the implementation of infusion sites at Community Health Centers. She manages the entire project lifecycle, ensuring successful partnerships and timely, on-budget completion. With over a decade of healthcare and project management experience, Chelsey is truly passionate about improving healthcare service delivery and improving patient outcomes.

Previously, she served as Director of Issuer Operations at Connect for Health Colorado, managing relationships with major health insurers and leading technology initiatives to improve efficiency and user experience. Chelsey holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and Management and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She resides in Golden, Colorado, with her husband and two wonderful children.

Meet Chelsey

Advisors

  • Kim Schwartz

    Kim Schwartz, MA, NCC is the former, founding CEO of Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center in Eastern North Carolina and a National Board Certified Counselor. As a consultant, Kim works with leaders and organizations nationally creating authentic space for reconnecting to the joy of their vocation.  Her focus as a Courage to Lead retreat facilitator is in nurturing supportive communities giving participants the space to explore meaning and purpose. Kim ‘s subject matter expertise includes: FQHC and Community Behavioral Health Administration, Telehealth, Value-Based Care and Network Development. Kim is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a BA in Psychology and MA in Counseling Education. Kim has many professional affiliations and frequently presents at national and regional conferences. She is also known as Mimi to seven grandchildren!

  • Pamela McIntyre

    Pamela McIntyre is a renowned source of infusion knowledge with over 4 decades of experience in hospital, ambulatory and home infusion therapy.  She provides consulting services to healthcare organizations for infusion program development, serves as fractional leadership, and lends her expertise as an expert for infusion related litigation through her LLC, Expert Infusion Nurse Consulting.  

    Pamela holds a Master's degree in Nursing Administration and is certified as a CRNI, IgCN, OCN, and VA-BC.  With the objective of 'Advancing Excellence in Infusion',  she has presented at infusion related conferences nationally, co-hosts and is a frequent guest on podcasts related to the infusion industry, is a member of the Clinical Practice Committee for National Home Infusion Association, served on the board of directors of Infusion Nurses Society, and is a reviewer for the Journal of Infusion Nursing and INFUSION magazine.  She savors rural life in North Central Texas and in her free time enjoys traveling with her husband in their fifth wheel.

We’re passionate about helping you grow and make an impact.

Our Founding Story

The idea for Junction Health began in 2023 when Vinny Polito, Matt Vestal, and Ben Wiederholt embarked on a journey to address a significant gap in healthcare: the lack of access to infusion services for people living with chronic conditions, particularly within Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). At the time, only a handful of the 1,400 FQHCs across the country were equipped to provide these essential services. As a result, many individuals—especially those who were uninsured, on Medicaid, or covered by high-deductible health plans—were unable to access the standard of care that IV infusion therapy offers.

This lack of access was compounded by the financial struggles faced by many FQHCs, which were grappling with reduced services, workforce cuts, and, in some cases, the threat of closure. Recognizing the critical need to both expand patient access to care and support the financial sustainability of these centers, Vinny, Matt, and Ben laid the groundwork for Junction Health. In 2024, with initial funding secured, Junction Health launched its first infusion site at Tampa Family Health Centers, marking the beginning of its mission-driven work.

Junction Health is dedicated to making infusion services a common and integral part of the care provided by FQHCs, with a goal to positively impact the lives of millions of people. By ensuring that high-quality, accessible care is available to all, Junction Health aims to transform the landscape of healthcare for vulnerable populations, providing them with the essential treatments they need to lead healthier lives.