About

Rural Physicians Group

Saving Hospitals. Saving Lives. Saving Communities.

At Rural Physicians Group (RPG), we are dedicated to strengthening rural healthcare by partnering with hospitals to deliver high-quality, consistent patient care. We provide experienced Hospitalists, Surgeons, and Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) through tailored service line management solutions designed specifically for rural settings. Our flexible care models include Hospitalist coverage, General and Orthopedic Surgery services, and our innovative E.D. Frontier Hybrid model.

With over 20 years of experience, RPG is a trusted leader in rural medicine. We understand the unique challenges rural hospitals face—and we offer proven, impactful solutions to meet them. In addition to on-site care, our advanced Telemedicine Model connects rural patients with Board-Certified Specialists across multiple disciplines. This approach helps reduce unnecessary patient transfers, enhances local access to specialty care, and keeps patients close to home.

Our mission is simple: We Keep Local Patients Local®

By improving access to care, enhancing patient outcomes, and reducing provider burnout, we make a meaningful and lasting impact that extends beyond clinical care. RPG gives rural hospitals the critical resources they need to stay strong and continue serving as vital pillars of their communities.

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The Experts in Rural Medicine

Our Guiding Principles

INTEGRITY:
•We live by the highest ethical standards ​
•We honor the trust placed in us by our patients and hospital partners​

RELIABILITY:
•We provide consistent, exceptional care​
•We can be trusted to honor our commitments​

TEAMWORK:
•We are one team with our hospitals and rural-community partners​
•We treat each person with empathy and respect in every interaction​

Our Mission

Bringing rural hospitals and providers together to enhance the care of their community. Together, We Keep Local Patients Local®!

Our Vision

We help rural hospitals better fulfill their community charters by providing local access to high-acuity care.

Our Values

ICARE: Integrity. Collaboration. Accountability. Reliability. Excellence.

Teams

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Dr. Sukhbir Pannu

Founder - Executive Chairman of the Board

Dr. Sukhbir Pannu is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board at Rural Physicians Group. With over 30 years of medical experience, Dr. Pannu enjoys combining his love for medicine with his passion for starting businesses. His current role allows him to serve rural communities and hospitals by affording him the opportunity to constantly seek improvements in both the quality and quantity of what RPG can provide. Dr. Pannu is motivated by RPG because he feels it accomplishes the synergistic mission of using best business practices as a foundation to support, enhance, and grow the healthcare industry. In his free time, Dr. Pannu enjoys spending time with his wife, kids, and dogs.

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Mike Patterson, FACHE

Chief Executive Officer

Mike is the Chief Executive Officer at Rural Physicians Group. He has 3 decades of business experience including being a Staff Accountant in the health insurance industry, a Controller in the park and recreation industry, Chief Financial Officer of a small rural hospital and Chief Executive Officer in rural hospital settings. Most recently, Mike was a Market President in Northwest Arizona and had responsibility over two rural hospitals. He has had the opportunity to work at hospitals in Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona.

Mike earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Utah and a Master’s in Business Administration from Utah State University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

Mike has been married for over 27 years and has 6 children. He likes to spend time with his family, doing anything outdoors, traveling, doing projects on his house, and going for drives in his car.

The mission of RPG is right in line with Mike’s passion. Bringing great healthcare to rural communities is what Mike has been focused on for almost 20 years. He understands the needs of rural communities and rural hospitals. He is excited to utilize his passion and skills as part of the leadership team at RPG who are working hard to realize the vision of helping rural hospitals better fulfill their community charters by providing access to high-acuity care, keeping local patients local!

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Dr. Matt Pappy

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Matt Pappy is the Chief Medical Officer of Rural Physicians Group. Over the past decade, he has worked in both large urban hospitals as well as rural Critical Access Hospitals across the country. With RPG, he has served as Chief Hospitalist, and later as Regional Medical Director, prior to working in his current dual-capacity role as both CMO and Hospitalist on the frontlines.

Rural hospitals are the lifeblood of their communities. Dr Pappy shares a passion for RPG’s mission to deliver high-acuity care to hospitalized patients in rural communities, keeping local patients local, which helps revitalize rural hospitals and their local economies downstream. He fully understands what’s at stake. Physician leaders are a crucial part of that transformation.

In his own words, “… As CMO, I am deeply committed to fostering a culture of excellence at RPG, to help each other grow, to challenge, inspire, and elevate those around us, to maximize our potential both individually, and collectively as an organization. It is through that incredible work and collaboration between our teams, physicians, and partner hospitals, that our rural communities receive our very best, every single day – that is the bedrock of RPG’s success. I’m honored to be a small part of it.”

“… At the heart of the rural hospital crisis, RPG has a tremendous platform from which physician leaders can be the catalyst for revitalization and healthier living across rural America. That RPG is committed to the cause with physicians leading the way, is a force multiplier.”

Dr. Pappy also works to ensure RPG is perpetually positioned to be the destination of choice for Hospitalists seeking the ultimate career opportunity. He states, “… On a personal level, from bedside to boardroom, I have had the privilege of living out the full arc of what RPG has to offer – physicians thriving at the crossroads of practicing medicine with full autonomy and group governance, through the lens of entrepreneurship, and enriched with opportunities for professional growth and leadership.  I want other physicians to be able to experience RPG the same way.”

In his free time, Dr. Pappy enjoys spending time with his wife, family, friends, and draws inspiration from his faith. He enjoys football, basketball, working out, mixed martial arts, and music production.

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Cameron Byers, PA-C

Vice President of Service Line Implementation

Cameron is the Vice President of Service Line Implementation at Rural Physicians Group. With almost two decades of patient care experience, Cameron is focused on blending the world of business with the ever-changing world of medicine, and believes our responsibilities lie first and foremost in caring for people, but doing so with an eye toward resource management. Growing up and practicing in a rural setting has shaped Cameron’s passion for revitalizing inpatient and surgical services in rural communities across the U.S. Cameron believes that by expanding both access and services, and truly aligning with rural facilities in quality, community, and financial partnership, RPG makes that difference for thousands of patients across the U.S. every day. Cameron is driven by the opportunity to help reshape the standards of quality and accountability for critical access communities and enjoys working with hospitals to grow their services. In his free time, he enjoys motorcycle riding, traveling, photography, and mountaineering.

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Jessica Spencer

Vice President of Operations

Jessica serves as the Vice President of Operations at RPG, bringing over two decades of healthcare experience to the role. With a strong background in multi-specialty physician practice administration, revenue cycle management, and physician contracting, Jessica offers deep expertise and strategic insight to the RPG team.

Jessica is especially passionate about RPG’s mission to serve rural communities—a commitment rooted in her personal story. Born at Richland Hospital in Richland Center, Wisconsin, she maintains strong ties to the area, where much of her extended family still resides.

Her connection to the rural space, combined with a deep respect for community-based care, fuels her dedication to RPG’s work. Jessica takes pride in being part of an organization that prioritizes access, compassion, and service to those in need.

Outside of work, Jessica cherishes time with her children, beach vacations, and all forms of art and design. She finds joy in live music, the challenge of running stairs at Red Rocks Amphitheater, discovering new experiences, and the peaceful stillness of early mornings.

Jessica lives by values of family, integrity, loyalty, self-trust, and personal well-being. She leads with inclusion and respect, firmly believing in treating others the way you’d like to be treated and always striving to bring out the best in her team.

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Christopher Dick

Vice President of Finance

Chris is the Vice President of Finance at Rural Physicians Group. Chris enjoys working for a company that brings high-quality healthcare to communities that might otherwise not receive it, and feels it is rewarding to know his work is helping to support a mission that has an impact in others’ lives across the United States. Before joining the RPG team, Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Wichita State University and worked at Enterprise Holdings for nine years, five of which were spent in the accounting department. During his free time, Chris enjoys adventuring in the Rocky Mountains with his wife, hiking, camping, backpacking, slow-pitch softball, and Denver sports.

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Cody Patten

Vice President of Business Development

cpatten@ruralphysiciansgrou.com303-889-9065

Cody is the Vice President of Business Development at Rural Physicians Group. He has over 7 years of sales experience, primarily focused in the healthcare industry. Cody’s career began in physician recruitment so he has a true understanding of the daily challenges of staffing a rural hospital. His passion for providing rural communities with access to great healthcare is what drives him to connect Rural Physicians Group with more facilities across the country. In his free time, Cody enjoys golfing, hiking with his golden retriever, and spending time with family.

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Dr. Jay Afzal

Regional Medical Director

Dr. Jay Afzal currently serves as the Regional Medical Director for the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Wyoming at Rural Physicians Group. Having grown up in Northern Virginia, he embarked on a journey to pursue medical education. Channeling his initial passion for 2D art, he ultimately developed an affinity towards the art and science of medicine. Throughout his academic and professional pursuits, he has served as a Hospitalist in both urban and rural communities. Dr. Afzal derives great satisfaction from collaborative growth and prioritizes the positive impact that can be made on rural communities. He looks forward to supporting RPG in enhancing physician leadership and individual contributions to their hospital.

When he is not practicing medicine, Dr. Afzal enjoys exploring topics such as history, religion, and influential people. He also remains physically active through performance training, as well as playing futbol and basketball. His interest in traveling serves as an opportunity for him to gain perspective and escape from complacency.

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Dr. Caitlin Brandsdorfer

Regional Medical Director

Dr. Caitlin Brandsdorfer received her D.O. Degree from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, New York. She then completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut. As a resident of the east coast, Dr. Brandsdorfer is a Regional Medical Director for Rural Physicians Group (RPG) for most partner hospitals located in the eastern time zone. She feels RPG has provided the opportunity to use her training and knowledge broadly not only by providing care to an underserved population, but also by working with hospital staff and administrators to implement changes that improve patient care and safety overall in rural communities.

In her free time Dr. Brandsdorfer enjoys spending time with her family, oil painting, restoring antique furniture, and skiing.

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Dr. Jacob Kalliath

Regional Medical Director

Dr. Kalliath is a Regional Medical Director for Rural Physicians Group. Since becoming a physician he has worked as a hospitalist in both large academic hospitals as well as a hospitalist in several critical access hospitals throughout the country. He is also currently the chief hospitalist at Richland Hospital in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Dr. Kalliath has found that providing excellent care to rural communities is his true calling in medicine.

“Giving patients the opportunity to receive their care locally so that they can be close to their family and friends during the most vulnerable time of their lives has given me true purpose.”

Dr. Kalliath grew up in rural Alabama. His experience there fostered his love for small rural communities in which appreciates the deep bond that is shared amongst the population of the community. His interests outside of medicine include going to see live music, skiing, camping, playing tennis, playing piano, and spending evenings watching Netflix with his wife.

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Dr. Faraaz Osmani

Regional Medical Director

Dr. Faraaz Osmani is a Regional Medical Director (CA) at Rural Physicians Group. Dr. Osmani grew up in Chicago and went on to complete his residency at Mercy Hospital in Detroit followed by a fellowship in nephrology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Hollywood. Dr. Osmani is passionate about working for RPG because he enjoys the autonomy he has over patient care as well as cherishes the opportunity to provide medical care to an underserved community. In his free time, Dr. Osmani likes to travel, read, work out, and play soccer and volleyball.

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Dr. Frederick Workman

Regional Medical Director

Dr. Workman completed his internal medicine residency at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland Ohio. Following residency, he completed a sports medicine fellowship in Toledo Ohio. He practiced traditional internal and sports medicine and for eight years in Toledo prior to becoming a full-time Hospitalist in 2008 in Colorado. Growing up in a small town in Indiana, he wanted to provide service in a rural setting and simultaneously make an impact in mentoring and leadership roles.  He joined RPG in 2017.He continues to practice sports medicine as a Team USA volunteer physician and travels internationally with the US Figure Skating Team.

He is married with three grown kids, two are serving on active duty in the US Army and one is at Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta. When not working, nor visiting his kids,  Dr. Workman, enjoys golfing with his wife, weight training, hunting and fishing.

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Anna Craig

Regional Program Director

Anna Craig is a Regional Program Director for Rural Physicians Group. She holds a Masters degree in Teaching & Applied Behavior Analysis and an additional graduate certificate in Organizational Behavior Management. Anna is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with more than a decade of experience working in behavior analysis in an applied setting, as both a clinician and a Clinical Director, serving predominantly rural communities.

After years of living all over the country during her husband’s military career, Anna is proud to call Kansas City, MO, home once again (Go Chiefs!). Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, decorating, and spending time with her husband, three children (3 under 3), family, and two dogs.

Anna is passionate about Rural Physicians Group’s mission. She was born in a Critical Access Hospital and grew up in a rural area in South Arkansas where access to medical care continues to be a challenge for her family members. Being part of an organization that helps connect patients with quality medical care in their home communities, near their support systems, is both an honor and blessing.

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Abby Krone

Regional Program Director

Abby is a Regional Program Director at Rural Physicians Group. Abby has her Masters in Healthcare Administration with an undergrad in Psychology. Abby is also a certified life and health coach with four years of coaching experience in healthcare settings. Abby has experience working in project management, organizational change management, population health and chronic disease management. Abby has spent several years working in the mental health field and healthcare settings providing services for pediatric and adults patients. Abby has a passion for working with providers, care teams and patients to promote efficient coordination and continuity of care for quality healthcare. In Abby’s free time, she enjoys hiking, paddleboarding and spending time at the dog park with her two dogs.

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Zachary Sien

Regional Program Director

Zachary is a Regional Program Director at Rural Physicians Group. He holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Management and is a Registered Radiologic Technologist. Zachary holds a certification as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and has worked with hospital leaders implementing quality improvement projects throughout their organizations. As a Radiologic Technologist for over 10 years, he has worked with multiple departments, a variety of providers, and a multitude of hospital leaders. Zachary is excited to use his experience to improve healthcare in rural communities by helping our partner hospitals work toward operational excellence in quality and patient safety initiatives. When he’s not working, Zachary enjoys spending time with his wife and dogs, traveling, riding motorcycles, playing golf, and going to Kansas City Chiefs football games.

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Kerianne Wright

Director of Physician Recruiting

kwright@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1840

Kerianne is a Senior Physician Recruiter at Rural Physicians Group. She has six years of direct physician recruitment experience and has enjoyed utilizing her master’s studies in management practice to connect the dots between adequate staffing structure and performance management. Furthermore, the mission of Rural Physicians Group is a reality for Kerianne – she currently resides in a small Kentucky town of only 800 people, and understands firsthand the struggles of finding adequate healthcare in such a rural community. When she’s not working, Kerianne enjoys hiking with her pet boxers, riding her horses, gardening, and fixing up her and her husband’s small farm.

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Christopher Anderson

Physician Recruiter

canderson@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1803

Christopher is a Physician Recruiter at Rural Physicians Group with 5 years of recruitment and candidate sourcing experience. He enjoys the challenge of finding candidates uniquely suited to the mission of RPG and making a direct, positive impact in small communities that are often woefully underserved when it comes to local medical care options. Christopher currently resides in Nashville and loves to travel, spend time with family and friends, take in a good concert when not getting in a workout, or check out the newest restaurant opening in town.

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Courtney Hughes

Physician Recruiter

chughes@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1823

Courtney Hughes began her career in August 2013 as a Physician and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) recruiter, specializing in the LOCUM field until 2023. In April 2023, she joined Rural Physicians Group as a Physician Recruiter, where she leverages her extensive experience to connect talented healthcare professionals with opportunities in rural settings.

Outside of her professional life, Courtney is passionate about the outdoors and has a deep love for animals! Family is also incredibly important to her; she enjoys spending quality time with her growing family and three beloved dogs. One of their favorite pastimes is exploring new restaurants together, always on the lookout for their next culinary adventure!

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Kate Good

Physician Recruiter

kgood@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1818

Kate brings with her five years of Recruitment experience- She started Recruiting LPNs/RNs in homecare for 3 years before moving into a HR and Recruitment role where she partnered with 27 offices to hire entry level to director positions. She enjoys the challenge of finding the right candidate for each position that works well with the team already in place.

Living in Georgia, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids- daughter that is 8 months old and son that is 19 month old, that’s right Irish twins. If she isn’t chasing the babies around you will most likely find her on a boat, at the beach, or at a winery with friends!

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Taelore Meyers

Physician Recruiter

tmeyers@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1832

Taelore is a Physician Recruiter at Rural Physicians Group. Taelore initially set out to be a teacher after graduating from CSU Fort Collins but quickly moved into the Corporate World via Human Resources and eventually Recruiting. She hails from the agency world where she has learned to work with diligence and urgency as well as an appreciation for the art of the match!

Taelore is also a Gymnastics Coach for a High School Team, August – November. She and her newlywed husband are building a home which will be ready for them this coming May or June, in Littleton, CO. Taelore loves spending time with her family, especially her new niece, Karson.

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Kevin Nicholls

PHYSICIAN RECRUITER

knicholls@ruralphysiciansgroup.com303.390.1940 x 1835

Kevin is a Pennsylvania native with a wide-range of physician recruiting experience, having spent 20 years working with providers ranging in specialties from Internal Medicine to Radiology.

Kevin is a long-time resident of Florida and a self-proclaimed VERY high handicap golfer. Kevin states that when he is not frightening trees and other golfers, he enjoys time with his wife and kids and three dogs.

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Angie Peltz

Physician Recruiter

apeltz@ruralphysiciansgroup.com720-984-8999

Angie Pletz brings over 30 years of medical recruitment experience to Rural Physicians Group. The last 17 years have been strictly recruiting physicians in all specialties. Angie joined Rural Physicians Group over 10 years ago and has thoroughly enjoyed helping build Rural Physicians Group’s reach to serve rural medicine. When not recruiting, Angie enjoys swimming, gardening, and cooking.

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Cody Patten

Vice President of Business Development

cpatten@ruralphysiciansgrou.com303-889-9065

Cody is the Vice President of Business Development at Rural Physicians Group. He has over 7 years of sales experience, primarily focused in the healthcare industry. Cody’s career began in physician recruitment so he has a true understanding of the daily challenges of staffing a rural hospital. His passion for providing rural communities with access to great healthcare is what drives him to connect Rural Physicians Group with more facilities across the country. In his free time, Cody enjoys golfing, hiking with his golden retriever, and spending time with family.

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Fields of Care Magazine (Spring 2025)

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