Meet the Clinical Team!  Made up of 4 Registered Nurses, a Quality Improvement Director and a Compliance Manager.  The team is available to support our internal Accountable Healthcare team, our Healthcare Professionals, as well as our client partners.  At the heart of our business is the patient who requires care.  The clinical team supports our mission through assistance in screening new applicants, ensuring that credential are appropriate and documented, providing education to our internal staff and HCPs, trouble-shooting clinical issues involving our HCPs in the field, supporting our clients to enhance their experience with our hcps in their facilities, and ensuring that we provide the highest quality staff and service. Meet the Clinical Team Members: The Clinical Team Leader is Merry Fort, BS, RN, Executive Vice President, Clinical Services Merry has extensive experience in healthcare staffing having owned and operated her own nurse staffing business prior to being acquired by MSN in 1998.  She joined MSN’s management team and served in various roles including VP Southeastern Division and CNO before leaving the company in 2012.  Prior to joining Accountable, in January 2013, she worked at Navicent Health as a clinical supervisor where she continued as needed until 2016. In her current role with Accountable, Merry leads the Clinical Team and assists with oversight of compliance to Accountable and Joint Commission standards of practice as a Healthcare Staffing Service Organization, supports the team in addressing clinical issues and concerns as they arise and is responsible for Risk Management activities.  Merry and the Clinical Team provide sales support for the travel and branch teams. Merry has 24 years of staffing industry expertise.   In 2015, Ms. Fort was appointed by the Governor of Georgia to the Georgia Board of Nursing, as a Nursing Administration representative and continues to serve as a current Board Member. Barbara Sverdlik, DNP, RN, CENP, Vice President, Clinical Services A Registered Nurse with over 25 years of Leadership experience as Nurse Manager, Director of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer in hospitals of all sizes; community, academic medical center and a large tertiary care hospital that serves as the safety net hospital for the community.  Barbara has a BSN and MN (Masters in Nursing) from Emory University and DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) from University of San Francisco.  Most recently, she has been the Director of Nursing responsible for overseeing the operation for all inpatient Adult Units at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Barbara is currently on the Board of Directors for the South Florida Organization of Nurse Executives (SFONE) and will serve on the Membership Committee of AONE (American Organization of Nurse Executives) in 2018. Cathy Verlinda, RN, LNC, Certified Life Coach, Director, Clinical Services for Western Region A Registered Nurse with 40 years nursing and nursing leadership experience as a Director of House Staffing and House Supervisors, CCU Assistant Nurse Manager, and Clinical Educator with a focus on Joint Commission preparation.  Cathy also worked as a Travel Nurse for 5 years in CCU and brings experience from both sides of the equation for travel nursing.  Cathy serves as Chair for 2 councils for NWONE (North Washington Organization of Nurse Executives). Maura Padgett, RN, BBA, MBA, Director, Clinical Services Maura’s nursing career includes a broad spectrum of nursing specialties from medical-surgical to neurology and plastic surgery, critical care and long-term care. She has served as the Northeast Georgia District President for the Georgia Hospital Association and has served on the Board of Georgia Hospital Association. Prior work experience includes Presbyterian Health Care System in Dallas Texas, St Mary’s Hospital and Athens Regional Medical Center in Athens Georgia and Northridge Medical Center in Commerce, Georgia where she served as the Chief Nursing Officer for many years. Carol Fornuff, Director of Quality Improvement Carol has over 25 years’ experience in the healthcare staffing field with the last 15 years dedicated to Quality Improvement. She has worked for both locally owned and national staffing companies with healthcare industry experience in permanent placement, homecare staffing, supplemental staffing and quality assurance.  In addition, she volunteered for over 10 years for 2 woman’s health nonprofit organizations and was involved in education and fundraising. Ms. Fornuff’s work experience includes recruitment, client service management, branch management, operations and quality improvement management. She has been involved in quality and Joint Commission standards in each role. Lindsay Sandy, Compliance Manager Lindsay has been with the company for over 11 years. Starting her career as an Allied Health recruiter and then joining the Compliance Division.  She is now the Compliance Manager for both the Travel Nursing and Allied Health Divisions. With Lindsay’s experience, she understands the big picture and is willing to go above and beyond to ensure the best experience for our HCP’s and clients alike.