Tom Charland is president of Merchant Medicine, LLC, the management consulting subsidiary of Urgent Care Partners. Tom introduced the concept of ConvUrgentCare® (pronounced convergent care), the mingling of operating tactics from convenient care (retail clinics), urgent care, work site clinics, primary care and telemedicine. He hosts the annual ConvUrgentCare® Strategy Symposium and publishes The ConvUrgentCare® Report, which covers the on-demand medicine industry.

Prior to starting Merchant Medicine, Tom was senior vice president of strategy and business development for MinuteClinic from the time it was known as QuickMedx, through its name change to MinuteClinic, and through the formation of its partnership with CVS Pharmacy, which is now MinuteClinic’s corporate parent. He was also CEO at Digital Cyclone Inc., a weather technology company that is now a subsidiary of Garmin; and managing director of the application development division at Control Data Systems, a systems integrator that is now part of British Telecom.

He is often quoted on the subject of walk-in medicine in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Fox News, Dow Jones, and Bloomberg. He also speaks frequently on the subject at investment research meetings and various healthcare conferences throughout the year. Charland grew up in Rhode Island, is a 1980 graduate of the Boston University College of Communications. He serves on the board of directors of the Urgent Care Association (UCA) and is a member of both the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the Urgent Care Association (UCA).

Leah is a Director with Merchant Medicine, LLC. She has worked with health systems and medical groups across the U.S. on urgent care market analytics, site selection, budgeting, finance, center development, clinic layout and design, contract and vendor management, operational diagnostics, and marketing programs. She brings over ten years of direct hands-on experience in designing, building, and improving urgent care operations. Prior to joining Merchant Medicine, Leah was Director of Operations for MHM Urgent Care in New Orleans, Louisiana, now part of Ochsner Health System. She worked with MHM executive leadership to grow from concept to a regional chain of fully operational clinics. Leah received her BS in Biology from Baylor University and MS in Health Care Management from the University of New Orleans.