Director of Sales
Hello Patient
Brief Biography:
I’m running and hope to serve on the UCA Board because I understand urgent care from both sides—vendor and operator. I’m committed to bridging those relationships so we can focus on what matters: clinically excellent, financially sustainable, patient-first care. At NERUCA, I’ve done this work, and I’m ready to bring it to the national level. I feel I could add real value to our conversations and strategy around urgent care moving forward.
Personal: Sarah is based in the Columbus, Ohio area and is married. She is a dog rescue advocate and channels her commitment to meaningful community impact.
Professional Philosophy: Sarah brings operational expertise and genuine care for the people she serves—vendors, operators, and patients alike. She’s a trusted advisor and partner who understands both the business realities and urgent care’s patient-first mission.
Organization Description:
Hello Patient is an AI-powered patient engagement platform that transforms healthcare communication through conversational AI technology. The company addresses a critical operational bottleneck in healthcare: up to 42% of patient calls and texts can go unanswered during busy hours due to staffing shortages and overwhelmed call centers Healthcare IT Today.
What We Do:
Hello Patient offers an AI-powered patient engagement solution that manages conversation workflows across voice, text, and chat. The AI assistant conducts real, full conversations with patients to book appointments, answer questions, send reminders, reschedule visits, and re-engage lapsed patients. All while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Impact & Scale:
In under a year, the company has powered more than 1M patient conversations—serving everything from PE-backed national provider groups to some of the largest digital health platforms. They work with diverse healthcare specialties including primary care, ENT, urgent care, mental health, and veterinary practices.
Leadership & Backing:
Founded by CEO Alex Cohen (former Carbon Health leader), Hello Patient recently raised a $22.5 million Series A led by Scale Venture Partners in September 2024, demonstrating strong investor confidence in their approach to solving healthcare access challenges.
Professional Experience:
Sarah has built an impressive 15+ year career in healthcare sales and leadership:
Previous Involvement with Boards:
Currently serves on the Northeast Regional Urgent Care Association Board of Directors and the chair of the Strategic Vendor Committee.
Education:
Sarah earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Ohio University, where she also completed a study abroad internship through the Business School, working on a full consulting project with her teammates.
Awards, Honors, Community Involvement:
Contributions to UCA and Urgent Care Industry:
Vision for the Future of Urgent Care and Core Purpose for UCA for the next 3-5 Years:
I think we’re at this incredible turning point in healthcare. Urgent care has proven it’s not going anywhere, patients love the convenience, the accessibility, the right now approach. But over the next few years, we need to stop being seen as just the “in-between” option and start being recognized as an essential part of how healthcare actually works in people’s lives.
Urgent care should be the trusted first stop for acute care needs. That means better integration with primary care and hospitals, real integration, where information flows and patients aren’t repeating their stories five times.
Urgent care is positioned perfectly to do more than just treat what walks through the door. We’re already filling gaps in the system. Let’s own that role. Preventive care, chronic disease check-ins, behavioral health access, community health initiatives.
Urgent care (and all of healthcare!) staff is exhausted. If we want to provide great care, we need to reduce the administrative nonsense, staff appropriately, and create environments where people actually want to work. Burnout isn’t sustainable for anyone.
The next 3-5 years and what UCA should focus on:
I’ve spent 15+ years in the healthcare space and the last 6 years working with urgent care centers, and I’ve seen it all. The 2am calls about supply shortages, the staffing crises, the insurance headaches, the very little margins. But I’ve also seen the magic, the way urgent cares were there during covid, the relief on a mom’s face when she doesn’t have to drag her sick kid to the ER at midnight, the elderly patient who avoids a completely unnecessary hospital admission.
I love this industry because it’s scrappy and mission-driven, but we’ve got to get more organized and more strategic if we want to keep delivering on that mission. As a vendor partner, I’ve had a front-row seat to both the operational challenges and the incredible potential of urgent care. I know what keeps administrators up at night because I’ve been in those conversations for years.
Disclosures:
none