Who We Are

Michael Copeland

Director of Operations

Michael has been working in the behavioral healthcare space since 2013 and is passionate about helping those suffering from addiction and other mental health disorders. Michael has worked in a number of roles across the behavioral healthcare spectrum. He started on the front lines, serving as Technician, and later as a BHT Supervisor, at highly reputable treatment centers in both Florida and California. Due to his effective communication and understanding of the space, Michael advanced quickly – eventually serving as Director of Community and Director of Admissions for these treatment centers. After transitioning to the Revenue Cycle Management side of the business, he started working as an in-house verification of benefits and claims follow up specialist. He excelled in his role as a Utilization Review Representative here at AVA and has been promoted to Director of Operations. He continually advocates for his facilities and feels responsible for ensuring that the client receives the help that they need.

Katie Russell

Utilization Review Manager

Lezlie Walla

Senior UR Represenative

Lezlie’s entire career was built around addiction recovery- personally and professionally.

After getting sober while in college, she changed her degree path to psychology and began working as a psych tech for an adolescent inpatient substance abuse facility. After graduating with a BS in Psychology from the University of Houston (GO COOGS!) and starting her internship as a chemical dependency counselor, she worked as a clinician in various levels of care for adolescents and adults. She also worked as an assistant to compliance officers at two different facilities while they were pursuing their initial JCAHO accreditation. (Do you know where your MSDS is?)

A coworker’s maternity leave for 3 months in 2011 opened the door to learn about utilization review. Having clinical experience in all levels of care and falling in love with the insanity that is compliance, Lezlie found her place in UR and hasn’t left since. Over the years, she has taken on much more than just authorization reviews. She’s managed UR departments, conducted clinical documentation trainings for nursing/therapists/physicians/techs, medical record compliance reviews, written appeals, payor relation issues, and numerous mock audits.

Lezlie’s passion to advocate for the addict seeking recovery, love for collaborating with the treatment team, and comprehensive knowledge of various criteria (along with enjoying a good argument every now and then) has resulted in her saying numerous times over the years: “I know what I do every day matters, my coworkers know what I do matters- and how many people are lucky enough to say that?”

Amanda Luna

Billing Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Stephanie Doyle

VOB Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Juan Herbas

Payment Posting Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Danielle Garfield

Account Manager

Danielle has worked in behavioral healthcare solely since 2015. She graduated from Chapman University with a degree in Business Administration in 2019 and utilizes those skills by assisting facilities with their Revenue Cycle and Business Operational needs.  She came to AVA in 2019 and has flourished in her position as Account Manager. She has held positions in the financial segment of treatment both internally and third-party. She an unbridled passion for improving quality, delivery, employee engagement, financial performance, and customer satisfaction, and believes these ingredients are the cornerstone of establishing the foundation for client retention, resulting in consistent company revenue.

Michelle Gomez

Account Manager- Medicaid

Michelle has been working in the healthcare field since 2010. Starting out in the primary care and MAT clinic side of healthcare she quickly learned that Substance abuse and Mental Health was her niche. She has been closely working with substance abuse facilities since 2012 in the Midwest and South and excels in billing for Medicaid primary facilities. In 2020 she joined AVAs team and assists our clients who accept medicaid in growing their programs.

Gina Bruno

Account Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Laura Robertson

Account Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Mandi Watkins

Account Manager

Born and Raised in Middle Tennessee, Mandi has worked in the Revenue Cycle Management field since 2004 and the Behavioral Health portion since 2011. In 2015, Mandi assisted in building and growing a Central Business Office for a prominent Behavioral Health Company that owns and operates several Treatment facilities across the United States.

Mandi is very passionate about the work our Behavioral Health Clients provide to their patients. Due to this passion, she is eager to learn new billing guidelines, payer rules and regulations, and about new services and treatments that can assist in the patient care and sharing that knowledge with others.

Mandi has several years of experience within her role with AVA, initially worked as a Claims Specialist providing her insight and knowledge needed to transition into the Account Manager role. She goes above and beyond to maximize reimbursement from multiple payers, strives to provide excellent customer service, and cultivates good working relationships with the facilities and peers.

Neil Bair

Account Manager

Bio Coming Soon!

Joyce Anderson

Account Manager