Experienced Clinical Innovators and Change Agents
Dr. Darrell Bruga, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bruga is a rehabilitation services innovator who has implemented solutions to positively impact delayed recovery, work disability and opioid management. He is clinically focused on improving worker-centric rehabilitation and return to work outcomes through evidence-based behavioral, physical and psychosocial interventions. He has a diverse background in biopsychosocial rehabilitation, program development, functional capacity evaluation, marketing and strategy, and operations. Darrell holds a Cert. MDT (spine) from the Mckenzie Institute, was the first American to complete the STarTBack biopsychosocial training at Keele University in the U.K. and has been trained as an EPIC/Matheson Functional Capacity Evaluator. Darrell developed and led an interdisciplinary rehabilitation functional restoration program while serving as Co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of the SpineOne Program in California from 2005 to 2010. More recently, Darrell was one of the first Americans to complete PGAP® training and subsequently developed a national program of premier PGAP® providers across the U.S. Dr. Bruga serves as CEO of Empatha.
Heather Bruga, Cofounder, President and Chief Operations Officer
Heather has been involved with care coordination, clinical and business development since 2011. Heather brings a diverse background coming from a place of empathy that includes experience in sales, accounting, customer service, logistics and design. She has developed and maintained strong working relationships over the past 20 years. She is trained as a rehabilitation coach and has worked closely with injured workers. Heather serves as President and Chief Operations Officer.
Dr. Bradford Alex, Clinical Director
Bradford graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1981. He furthered his education at California State University Northridge entering the Graduate program in Biomechanics and also entered the Chiropractic program attaining his Doctorate in 1995. In establishing a successful chiropractic practice with an emphasis in workers' compensation he was recruited to undertake Utilization Review and Independent Medical Reviews. Upon leaving private practice in 2005 he became the Director of a Functional Restoration Program/Chronic Pain Program in Southern California. Brad has been a leader in the area of rehabilitation and managed care for over 2 decades. Dr. Alex is the Empatha Clinical Director.
Dr. Gideon Letz, Medical Director
Dr. Gideon Letz obtained his M.D. degree from UCSF in 1976 and is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine. He has an MPH degree in environmental health from UC Berkeley and has post-graduate training in Emergency Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at UCSF. From 1980 - 1987, he served as Public Health Medical Officer with the California Department of Health Services in the Hazard Evaluation and Information Service (HESIS) that provided medical support services for Cal-OSHA compliance operations. From 1987 until 2010 he served as Medical Director at the State Compensation Insurance Fund of California. While at State Fund he developed and supervised a statewide utilization review program and focused his efforts on improving the value of health care services and the outcomes for injured employees.
Dr. Letz has served on numerous boards and committees including the University of California Advisory Committee on Occupational Health, the Western Occupational Environmental Medical Association Board of Directors, Chair of the CMA Scientific Advisory Panel on Occupational Health, Chair of the IAIABC Medical Committee and member of the URAC Committees for Utilization Review and Physician Networks. He is currently a member of the ACOEM Work Fitness and Disability Task Force and lectures frequently on the physician’s role in disability prevention and management. He has served as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at UCSF supervising Occupational Medicine Residents and has worked as a staff physician with Kaiser Permanente Occupational Medicine.
Dr. Letz’s current areas of interest include screening tools for the early identification of patients at high risk for delayed recovery after industrial injury, the use of multidisciplinary approaches for the treatment of chronic pain and the development of collaborative interventions to facilitate successful return to work and prevent unnecessary pain related disability. Dr. Letz is involved in the education of physicians re: the biopsychosocial approach to help chronic pain patients recover their function without reliance on opioid medications. He provides consulting services for the Dept. of Labor and various disability insurance carriers as well. Dr. Letz serves as Empatha Medical Director.
Jason Parker, Director of Recovery Management
Jason Parker is the President and Senior Work Disability Prevention Consultant of CentriX Disability Management Services Inc. Jason is the creator of the Return to Work Toolkit, which is the only strategic behavioral risk management tool of its kind. The Return to Work Toolkit has been delivered internationally to over 2000 participants and is recognized as advanced training in Disability Management. The Return to Work Toolkit has advanced to Motivation and Action Planning (MAP™). Jason has extensive experience in Work Disability Prevention and Stay-at-Work/Return to Work program with over 20 years of experience covering almost every employer group. Jason holds a Bachelor of Human Kinetics from the University of British Columbia. Jason oversees the leadership of CentriX as well as continues to work in providing direct consulting to organizations while maintaining his hand in case management. Jason is the Empatha Director of Recovery Management.