The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) is pleased to announce the addition of three new instructors to the Medical Transport Leadership Institute’s (MTLI) Council of Regents. MTLI, the organization’s flagship leadership training program, has awarded the Certified Medical Transport Executive (CMTE) designation to more than 1200 future industry leaders in air and critical care ground medicine since the program’s inception in 1998.

Jonathan Collier, CMTE, Chief Strategy Officer, Apollo MedFlight, LLC
Jonathan has 20 years of senior and executive leadership roles in the air medical industry with Apollo, Air Methods, PHI Air Medical, Summit Air Ambulance, and Rocky Mountain Helicopters. In each of his roles, Jonathan has focused on developing safe and quality operations, surrounding himself with incredible teams, developing strategy, building lasting relationships, and driving the culture. He has worked with healthcare systems and hospitals across the United States in establishing transport, building referral patterns, and improving communications.

Susan Rivers, EMT, BSN, MBA, CMTE, Director, Carilion Clinic
Susan earned her RN from Rappahannock Community College in 1993 in rural Virginia, a place where there still is no hospital or ER in the county and where, at the time, not even a helicopter could respond for scene responses. She began her career at the Carilion Clinic as a Trauma ICU and ER nurse prior to becoming a flight nurse with Carilion Clinic Life-Guard in 1996. Susan progressively developed her leadership skills with additional roles in critical care ground, fixed-wing, rotor-wing, and the communications center and transitioned into her current position as the program director of Carilion’s three-helicopter program and the Neonatal-Pediatric transport team in 2004.

Robert Tester, MBA (c), BS, NRP, FP-C, CMTE, Senior Director, Erlanger Health System
Robert joined Erlanger Health System in 1998 and worked his way through the ranks as a flight paramedic, Program Manager, and Administrator of the LIFE FORCE flight program. In 2015, Robert was named Vice President of Operations for Erlanger Health System, where he served three years. As Senior Director, he currently leads LIFE FORCE, a six-helicopter air medical program based in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Erlanger’s Regional Operations Center (EROC), Emergency Management, Pre-Hospital, and Disaster Medicine Programs and Teams.

“All three of our new instructors are recognized leaders in the medical transport industry, and each exuded a unique passion for the experienced mentorship needed to prepare future leaders for the industry challenges ahead,” said Tom Liebman, Chair of the MTLI Council of Regents. “I want to thank all those who applied as potential instructors this year. It was difficult task selecting those three from an extremely talented field of applicants.”