Meet ESIS People

David Patterson has served as the president of ESIS since December 2005, leading ESIS colleagues as they continue to provide innovative and effective risk management products to enable clients to strengthen their bottom line. Prior to accepting this position, Dave most recently served as the executive vice president of claims and account management for ESIS. In this position, he was responsible for leading ESIS’ network of claims centers, including providing oversight to field operations throughout the United States and handling all claims technical matters. He was also responsible for ESIS’ account management team, where he provided oversight for client relationships and coordinated customer service initiatives.

Dave has more than 31 years of diverse experience within the insurance arena. He joined ESIS from Kemper National Services, Inc., located in Plantation, Florida, where he held a variety of senior leadership roles in property casualty claims, Integrated Disability Management, and medical and absence management, culminating with his appointment as president and CEO from 1994 to 2003.

Dave holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Education program at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael J. Hoberman joined ESIS in October 2006 to lead client relations and account management functions across the United States. His work with ESIS team members, brokers, consultants, and clients has helped set ESIS apart as a company that achieves top performance for its accounts.

Recognizing the growing needs of clients to have greater control over their risk management programs, Mike has executed the ESIS vision to leverage useful information. To establish a firm foundation for each client, Mike’s approach blends client and industry data and personal knowledge of each client’s program goals and objectives. With a sharp focus on identifying cost drivers, this provides the basis for consultative analysis and a collaborative approach to specific problems as a means to continual program improvement. Mike believes this methodology is not only key to the business relationship but also to achieving a significant and sustainable impact on the client’s bottom line.

Mike’s accomplished career spans two decades in the insurance industry and is punctuated by notable achievements in risk management program development and service delivery. Mike has leveraged his expertise in strategic planning and business development to create a service discipline that is second to none. He applies creative and practical strategies that lead to high rates of satisfaction and client retention.

Prior to ESIS, Mike served as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for Broadspire Services Inc. in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. Previously, he was Vice President, Risk Management Services, for Kemper Insurance Companies in New York, New York. In these executive level positions, Mike earned a reputation as a highly motivated leader. He successfully led large account teams driving a wide range of strategic initiatives and achieved substantial levels of competence. Rounding out his career, Mike has worked for Reliance National Insurance Company, Signet Re-Insurance Company, and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

Frank Murray is responsible for the management of all ESIS field claim offices nationwide, Recovery Services International (RSI), product management, catastrophe services, compliance, and carrier relations. Frank has more than 25 years of insurance/claims industry experience, including five years of corporate risk management experience with CIGNA Corporation and 22 years of experience with CIGNA/ACE/ESIS as a claims supervisor, claims manager, regional claims vice president, and vice president of field operations. He became ESIS’ senior vice president of claims in April 2009.

Frank received his bachelor of science degree in management from Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut; he has also earned the Claims Law Associate (CLA) designation from the American Education Institute. Frank has participated in numerous training and development programs during his career and has completed several Associate in Claims (AIC), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), and other insurance industry related courses.

Nancy DiVincenzo is responsible for technical oversight of workers’ compensation, general liability, and automobile liability claims as well as those situations with potentially high exposure impact and catastrophic loss. She is also responsible for claims file quality and manages the claim audit function as well as the operation audits for the organization. Additionally, Nancy provides oversight of all medical programs used in the management of workers’ compensation claims, including medical bill review, telephonic case management, pharmacy, and field case management services. She also oversees product development relating to the claims line of business within the organization.

Nancy has more than 30 years of claims management experience. She manages a home office staff of product line managers who are responsible for providing technical guidance, conducting audits, establishing policy and procedures, and providing training to the local claim offices.

Nancy attended Pennsylvania State University.

Veronica M. Cressman is dedicated to the implementation, management, and oversight of ESIS’ medical programs, including bill review, Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), pharmacy, and case management.  Veronica manages a staff of medical program coordinators who are responsible for maintaining external and internal customer relations specific to medical cost containments services, conducting audits on managed care services, overseeing state compliance on managed care regulations, and providing ongoing training to ESIS’ field offices and clients.  Veronica ensures consistency in our extensive medical program offerings and acts as the national liaison with our vendor partners.

Veronica has more than 25 years of medical management experience with ESIS. Prior to advancing to the role of Vice President, she served as a Vocational Rehabilitation Case Manager, Workers Compensation Claims Manager, and Director of Medical Programs.

Veronica received her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from San Diego State University and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University.

Sam Terzich is the Senior Vice President of Product & Professional Liability for ESIS. Sam heads up this business unit with overall responsibility for the operation and also functions as the Practice Group Leader for this division. Sam oversees claim operations, develops and monitors training protocols, ensures compliance with best practices, and manages and monitors accounts to ensure adherence in the delivery of all agreed upon services.

Sam has more than 25 years of industry experience, working with all types of liability claims, including excess and surplus lines, reinsurance, and third party administration on a nationwide basis. Sam joined ESIS in September 2008 to oversee the Product and Professional Liability business unit, which manages healthcare professional liability, errors and omissions, employment practices, product liability, and other specialized programs.

In particular, Sam has extensive experience working with product liability. His operation has managed numerous product liability accounts, including a wide variety of product lines such as electric power tools, lifting devices, compressors, consumer electronics, gaming systems, chemicals, furniture, water pumps and filters, construction equipment, food, and other industrial and consumer items.

Sam served as Executive Vice President of the Product Liability Division for Cambridge Integrated Services from 1981 through 2006, and as the Executive Vice President of the Liability Division for Intercare Insurance Services from 2006 to 2008. Sam has also written several articles regarding the insurance and claim industry, including the following:

• Risk Management Magazine, “Best Practices in Product Liability Management,” August 2005
• Risk Management Magazine, “Executives Under Scrutiny: The Changing D&O Landscape,” February 2004
• Risk & Insurance, “Claim Managing & the Long Term Care Facility,” January 2001

Lori Brassell-Cicchini has more than 25 years of industry experience and is responsible for the promotion, development, and service of catastrophe services and crisis management services.  She also manages ESIS’ national catastrophe management center in Wilmington, Delaware, which provides third party emergency response services to clients in the petrochemical, transportation, utility, and product manufacturing industries.  She assists clients in their preparation of emergency response plans to address their company image, regulatory compliance, and financial concerns in the event of a catastrophic event.

Lori holds a bachelor of science degree in political science and criminal justice from Wayne State University, located in Detroit, Michigan.  She also holds both a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and an Associate of Risk Management (ARM) designation.

David H. Landrum has been with ESIS for more than 25 years, beginning his career as a claims intern. He served in various claims positions before settling on construction. As the vice president and national construction leader, David is responsible for the growth and development of ESIS Construction. The overall focus of his responsibilities is the continued growth and development of ACE USA Construction Group.

David manages six regional ESIS Construction client service managers and oversees the development of ESIS Construction Risk Control, ESIS Construction Claims, and products and services specifically geared toward the construction market segment. He carved out dedicated construction claim hubs and a team, which has expanded into a nationwide regional format that has become a top provider of construction risk management services. David also increased the number of offices handling construction defect claims from one to three and has been instrumental in the development of both a national construction defense panel and the Rapid Response program.

David holds a bachelor of business administration degree in management and insurance. He also holds an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation.

Pam Mitchell has more than 18 years of industry experience.  After starting her career at the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission, Pam held numerous leadership positions with the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund (Texas Mutual) and Zurich in internal audit, claims, account management, and distribution management.  In her current role, she is responsible for marketing, sales, and transition of new accounts for ESIS’ southern region.

Pam holds a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from The University of Texas at Austin.

Frank Westfall is the Vice President of the environmental division of ESIS Global Risk Control Services and manages the Hygienetics direct contract consulting business, internal environmental engineering reviews for ACE Environmental Risk accounts, ACE PaC^SM and ACE ECO PaC^SM products, and both bundled and unbundled account assignments for ESIS’ internal accounts.  Frank has worked in the environmental consulting industry since 1989, with his primary emphasis in asbestos and other regulated materials inspections, project design, and remediation oversight contracts.  He has also performed Phase I Environmental Site Assessments as part of transactional due diligence and property acquisitions/divestitures.

Frank began his career in the environmental consulting industry as a building inspector for Earth Tech in 1989, assigned to asbestos and lead paint site inspection projects throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware.  He assisted the Industrial Hygiene division of Earth Tech with the initiation and growth of their California operations in 1991, and remained with the firm through their extension into municipal and federal government contracts in Southern California.  From 1991 to 1993, Frank managed asbestos and industrial hygiene projects, as well as asbestos compliance training services for Ecologics, a California-based environmental consulting firm.  Frank became a Hygienetics Environmental Services employee in 1993, working as a project manager in the firm’s southern California office, and became a regional director in 1995.

Frank’s professional experience includes servicing industrial, commercial, and manufacturing environments, designing and implementing remediation programs for commercial clients, and developing management plans for assuring regulatory compliance related to asbestos and other regulated materials within operating facilities.  While under prior ownership by L-3 Communications Corporation, Frank directed environmental due diligence activities for the parent company’s acquisition targets, reviewing recognized environmental concerns and environmental compliance records at the target’s site locations.

Frank holds a bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University.  He is a United States Environmental Protection Agency Certified Asbestos Building Inspector/Management Planner, Project Designer, and Contractor Supervisor, as well as a Certified Hazardous Waste Operations Supervisor.  Frank is also a NIOSH 582 trained analytical microscopist for airborne dusts.

Kirsten Early has been working in and with the insurance industry for nine years.  Her experiences vary from underwriting workers compensation, bodily injury, premises liability, product liability, property, and auto physical damage insurance to corporate insurance litigation as an attorney.  She has worked as an attorney, an outsourced international risk manager for large global clients, a team manager, and has extensive experience in litigation and litigation management.

Prior to coming to ESIS, Kirsten was an outsourced global risk manager and global account manager for Marsh.  Prior to that, she was a commercial litigation attorney for a large New York City firm where her practice focused on complex commercial litigation matters with a focus on insurance recovery.  Her experience also includes representing corporate policyholders in complex national coverage disputes.  Kirsten has handled coverage disputes involving claims under property and casualty, directors and officers, fiduciary liability, employment, and comprehensive general liability policies.  She has litigated coverage cases at both the trial and appellate level.

Kirsten became a global account executive for ESIS in 2009.  She has acted as the primary liaison between her global customers and all internal departments in securing the implementation of all insurance services as well as the resolution of any and all service issues.

Kirsten holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Columbia University and a juris doctor degree.  She is currently pursuing a master of business administration degree in finance from Drexel University.

Debbie Johnson was appointed Vice President of ESIS Business Support Services in January 2007.  Ms. Johnson oversees operations, information technology, and administration for ESIS.

Ms. Johnson has more than 23 years of experience within the information technology and support services arena.  Prior to being appointed Vice President of Business Support Services, Ms. Johnson served as Assistant Vice President of Information Products and Services for ESIS.  In this position, she was responsible for leading the development and support for Global RiskAdvantage^®, an industry-leading Risk Management Information System (RMIS).  Ms. Johnson was also responsible for inbound and outbound data conversion services, customer support, account service consulting, and quality assurance.

She earned her bachelor of arts degree from Rowan University in New Jersey, her MBA from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Management (AIM), and Associate of Risk Management (ARM) insurance designations.  Debbie also has a master’s certificate in information technology project management and is a member of the Project Management Institute.

Joel Raedeke joined ESIS in January 2007 to head the ESIS Client Benchmarking and Strategic Outcomes team.  He is responsible for the development and implementation of progressive and practical business consulting strategies to benefit ESIS clients.

Mr. Raedeke was recruited by ESIS to support the efforts of Michael J. Hoberman and his Client Services team to provide clients with greater control over their risk management programs.  He was selected for his experience and his keen skills, both critical to the implementation of this vision.

Mr. Raedeke is responsible for bringing innovative change to the existing benchmarking discipline at ESIS.  With the unique blend of talent and the innate desire to make connections between data and the root cause of a wide range of risk management program cost drivers, Mr. Raedeke has created a new model for ESIS benchmarking.  He has realized early success and recognition for his pioneering work toward continual program improvement and comprehensive cost reductions.

Mr. Raedeke built a new technical infrastructure that ESIS believes to be unrivaled in the industry.  He has also selected and trained a highly skilled team who now use these tools every day to the benefit of a growing number of ESIS clients.  In addition, he has designed new methods in outcomes analysis for workers compensation programs to help meet the evolving needs of the industry.  Mr. Raedeke has transformed ESIS into a state-of-the-art business consulting company with a mission to achieve continual program improvement using the most advanced reporting tools and cutting-edge analytic methods available.

Prior to coming to ESIS, Mr. Raedeke served as the manager of advanced reporting and data conversions for Broadspire, a Crawford Company.  Before working with Broadspire, Mr. Raedeke was a business analyst in charge of data conversions at RSKCo.

As the vice president of alternative markets for ESIS Global Risk Control Services, Stephen Craig is responsible for identifying new market and service opportunities, developing additional revenue streams (including product and service development, vertical market expansion, channel development, technology integration, and geographical expansion), and enhancing the company’s visibility and stature with current and prospective partners.

Prior to joining ESIS Global Risk Control Services, Stephen was with Environmental and Occupational Risk Management (EORM) where he held the titles of vice president of sales and marketing, director of sales, regional sales manager, and managing principal.  While at EORM, he was responsible for achieving revenue objectives, providing executive leadership and management of the company’s sales and marketing infrastructure, and directing inbound and outbound marketing activities including lead generation, corporate marketing, partner/channel marketing, and service marketing.  Stephen was also responsible for identifying, evaluating, and integrating new service lines and executing geographical expansion plans.  While with EORM, he led the execution of a turnaround through a comprehensive industry and geographical diversification effort.

Stephen’s technical risk management experience includes servicing industrial, commercial, and manufacturing environments.  He managed broad-based environmental, health, and safety consulting project teams for clients and designed, developed, implemented, and delivered environmental, health, and safety solutions.  He was a technical engagement lead in environmental, health, and safety strategic planning and business continuity planning.

Previously, Stephen was with Deltagen, a public biotechnology company, where he held various roles in environmental health and safety, facilities operations, research, and production.

Stephen holds a bachelor of science degree in molecular biology from Grove City College.  He is a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) and was awarded a certificate in project management from the University of California, Berkeley.

Felice A. Balkin is responsible for the growth and development of ESIS Construction in the northeastern United States. She is focused on risk management products and services specifically geared toward the construction market segment. Her dedicated construction safety consultants and construction claim teams share her goal for building long-term relationships. Felice serves as a focal point with clients, brokers, and consultants to help create and administer a customized construction risk management program with the goal of eliminating jobsite injuries, reduce claim frequency and lowering the overall cost of risk.

Felice has been in the insurance industry since 1991 and has dedicated more than 10 years of service to the construction claims division. She also has her property and casualty broker license that she obtained while working at Aon Risk Services. Felice also worked as a paralegal in defense work for insurance companies prior to entering the insurance industry.

Felice holds a bachelor of science degree in a dual major of business economics and political science from the State University of New York at Oneonta. She also holds a paralegal certification from Adelphi University, located in Garden City, New York.

Todd is responsible for the growth and development of ESIS Construction in the western United States.  He is focused on risk management products and services specifically geared toward the construction market segment.  His dedicated construction safety consultants and construction claim teams share his goal for building long-term relationships.  Todd serves as a focal point with clients, brokers, and consultants to help create and administer a customized construction risk management program with the goal of eliminating jobsite injuries, reduce claim frequency and lowering the overall cost of risk.

Todd has been in the insurance industry since 1993 and has more than 10 years of claims management experience along with 7 years of account management experience working with a diverse range of clientele in the construction, entertainment, hospital, transportation, restaurant, and hotel industries.

Todd holds a bachelor of arts degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton.  He also holds an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation.

As an account executive, Greg Molidor is responsible for the regional growth of the ESIS and ACE Construction group.  He acts as a liaison between the claim department and the client in effort to provide a level of service consistent with the needs of each individual client.  Greg’s responsibilities include sales, account management, program implementation, and program maintenance.

Greg has more than 21 years of claims experience.  Has been with ESIS since 2002 and has been involved in the construction group since 2005.

Greg holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Iowa.  He also holds an Associate in Claims (AIC) designation.

Lori Ludas is responsible for management of ESIS Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) and ACE Risk Management (foreign casualty, custom casualty, public entity, and excess) accounts.  In addition, she provides technical support to ESIS HSE for workers compensation, general liability, products liability, completed operations liability, environmental liability, and automobile liability as well as those situations with potentially high exposure impact and catastrophic loss.  She is also responsible for foreign casualty report quality control for the organization.  Additionally, Lori provides oversight of risk control activities to Chicago accounts, including underwriting surveys, industrial hygiene surveys, ergonomic surveys, OSHA 10-hour general industry training, and other HSE services.

Lori has more than 15 years of experiences in health, safety, and environmental services.  She has worked for insurance companies, hospital organizations with ambulatory facilities, nursing homes, and various manufacturing facilities both as a safety professional and as a line employee.

She holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Phoenix in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a bachelor of science degree in occupational safety and health education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Whitewater, Wisconsin. She is a certified Healthcare Environmental Manger (HEM).