Josh Leslie founded Ascend Healthcare to solve access to behavioral healthcare concerns in underserved communities.

He spent nearly a decade overseeing operations and clinical quality for the largest combined 24/7 psychiatric crisis center, inpatient, walk-in outpatient and opioid treatment center in Arizona. While there, he was awarded Top Physician Assistant in both Arizona and the United States for providing unprecedented quality and efficiency standards.   He took those experiences when creating Ascend Healthcare to collaborate with Community Health Centers to solve for any and all of their behavioral health and medication management needs.

Shane has over 20 years of experience working in Behavioral Health.  He has spent the last fifteen years
in leadership of Compliance, Risk Management, Quality Management, and Operations.  He has worked throughout the continuum of care from inpatient to outpatient, including crisis and residential.  He has created, developed, and lead his past companies through regulatory programs and surveys with AHCCCS, CMS, OIG, CARF, The Joint Commission, and DNV.

Summer Redmon, CPA has over 20 years of diverse experience spanning advertising, international
manufacturing, and healthcare. Her finance background is complemented by her prior experience as both a Quality Manager and Security Officer, rounding out her holistic understanding of finance, security, and quality control. She is passionate about how finance partners with an organization at all levels to drive improvement and support making critical decisions.

With over 21 years of professional experience, Dr. Tucker has served in a variety of healthcare capacities throughout her career. She is a licensed physician in Arizona and California, receiving her Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from Midwestern University in 2000. She began
her medical career with the National Health Service Corps as a Board-Certified Family Physician. Throughout her illustrious career, she has served as Associate Medical Director at Mountain Park Health Center, Mayo Medical School Preceptor/Clinical Lead, Quality Program Lead for Joint Commission, Chief Medical Officer for Gardner Family Health Centers, senior medical executive for the
Stanford Medical School/Gardner Family Health Network Partnership and most recently as the Chief Medical Officer at Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health. She joined Ascend Healthcare in 2023 as she feels passionate in providing integrated behavioral health and substance use disorder to the communities that need it the most without any stigma. A graduate of two executive leadership
programs (Harvard University in 2007; UCLA in 2014), Dr. Tucker brings to the medical profession both passion and analytics.

Melissa Jandt comes with more than 28 years of behavioral health experience working with General Mental Health, Substance Use Disorders, and Seriously Mentally Ill patients. Melissa has experience and passion working within community health and worked for 16 years for the DuPage County Health Department in IL.

After relocating to Arizona in 2016, Melissa assisted with the implementation and opening of an Opioid Treatment Program in Phoenix in 2018 as the Clinical Director of Operations. In 2019, Melissa transitioned to the VP of Operations to manage one of the largest psychiatric crisis centers in Arizona.

In 2021, Melissa joined the Ascend team and currently manages all therapeutic services provided in partnership with FQHC practices in Arizona, California, and New York.