Russel Hicks
President

Russel Hicks is president and co-founder of Martin, Fletcher. He oversees company operations, corporate strategy and new business development. With the addition of a Locum Tenens division in 2008, he has added direct oversight for the growth and viability of the new service line.

In 1999 Hicks and his partner, John Buffa, Martin, Fletcher's CEO, saw a market need for a streamlined and technologically advanced approach to healthcare recruiting. Pulling from the combined knowledge of more than 24 years experience in healthcare recruiting, the two college classmates have succeeded in re-engineering the process and culture of the typical healthcare staffing firm through the founding and sustained growth of Martin, Fletcher.

Over the past nine years, the company has grown from five employees to more than 180. Hicks' leadership and vision has resulted in Martin, Fletcher's recognition as: the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year; a top 25 company in The Dallas 100; a finalist in the Dallas Financial Association's Business Ethics Award; and a Best Company to Work for in Texas.

Prior to Martin, Fletcher, Hicks served in various roles from recruiter to vice president at one of the largest medical staffing companies in the nation. While there, he was named one of the youngest vice presidents in the history of the company.

Hicks is credited with the development of the Physician Compensation Survey, published in Modern Healthcare, recognized as an industry gauge of healthcare salaries and trends in the market. He continues to provide his insight as an industry leader through his appointment as a DNP Advisory Council Member for Texas Woman's University College of Nursing, a leading educator for the nursing profession. He is also a member of the Dallas Business Journal's 40 under 40, class of 2006 and a member of the American Staffing Association.

Recognized for his leadership and innovation, Hicks provides expert insight on a variety of topics from entrepreneurial endeavors and executive level management to healthcare industry trends. Specifically, corporate culture design and implementation, business development, physician compensation and staffing, locum tenens trends and C-suite issues are among key topics.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University and lives in Flower Mound, Texas with his wife and three children.

John Buffa
Chief Executive Officer

As CEO and co-founder of Martin, Fletcher, John Buffa has helped establish the company as one of the premier healthcare staffing firms in the nation. He oversees company operations, including the finance department and the marketing and recruiting divisions. He is responsible for new business development and corporate strategy and vision including the development of strategic recruiting and marketing methodologies for the company.

Buffa is an industry expert on multiple facets of healthcare and business development. He lead the development of the Nursing and Allied Healthcare Compensation Survey that is now widely published and has become a valued resource for a number of industry associations, organization and media outlets.

He is frequently called on as a resource for issues ranging from medical staffing to leadership and staff development. Many leading news organization and trade publications have relied on his insight for: the optimal utilization of nurse practitioners and physician assistants; recruiting and retaining top healthcare talent; compensation and benefits.

His innovative approach to coaching and mentoring the next generation of business leaders is also an area he has addressed in peer leadership forums. He attributes the sustained success of Martin, Fletcher to the ability to cultivate young employees into the role of company leaders.

In 1999 Buffa and his partner, Russel Hicks, Martin, Fletcher's president, saw a need in the market for a higher quality and more comprehensive approach to healthcare recruiting. Pulling from the combined knowledge of more than 24 years experience in the healthcare recruiting industry, the two college classmates have succeeded in re-engineering the recruitment process and level of service seen in the typical healthcare staffing firm.

Prior to Martin, Fletcher, Buffa spent the majority of his career at one of the largest medical staffing companies in the nation serving as vice president of the Allied Heath Division. Before entering the healthcare recruiting industry, Buffa was a commodities trader for Mistral Trade (MTC), where he was promoted to vice president at the age of 22.

Buffa is a supporter of the American Diabetes Association and juvenile diabetes education and research. He lives in Flower Mound, Texas with his wife and three children.

Jody Talbert
Vice President, Marketing

Jody Talbert is the vice president of marketing at Martin, Fletcher. He is responsible for managing and directing client marketing efforts nationwide and providing consultation services to healthcare leaders to help meet their facility's recruitment and retention goals. This includes the development of territories to provide dedicated support for clients and implementing innovative and functional communication strategies.

Talbert has more than 10 years experience in the healthcare industry, which includes providing direct patient care, which gives him a unique perspective when working with healthcare facilities. Beginning his career as a healthcare provider working with a variety of orthopedic groups, he later shifted his focus to healthcare recruiting to help fill the staffing needs of healthcare facilities. He has served in a variety of roles including senior consultant, director of marketing and regional director of marketing. He has also received multiple awards for his leadership and accomplishments.

His experience and insight to the healthcare industry as well as recruitment and retention objectives of leading healthcare facilities has been instrumental in the development and sustained production of Martin, Fletcher's Annual Compensation and Benefit Reports. Information gathered through a real-time survey spanning a 12-month time period supports the calculation of salaries and benefits of physicians, nurses and allied professionals.

Talbert is an industry leader on topics such as the healthcare boom, healthcare demands as a result of an aging population and creative solutions to staffing challenges. He also evaluates the impact staffing levels have on the quality of care and patient-centric delivery model of care. He has been featured in AmNews, Modern Healthcare and syndicated articles that have appeared in the nation's top news outlets.

Leading a team of more than 35 staff, including two regional vice presidents and four directors, Talbert coaches and establishes training programs to ensure the continuity of service clients receive while grooming the next level of company leadership.

Talbert graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and biology. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.

Gabriel Heckt
Vice President, Recruiting

As the vice president of recruiting at Martin, Fletcher, Gabriel Heckt is responsible for internal operations of three recruiting divisions: nursing, allied health and physician. He also plays a vital role in the strategic direction of company recruitment efforts, leadership development, and sustaining team goals and success through training, personnel development and forecasting recruitment trends.

Heckt has been with Martin, Fletcher for seven years when he began as an account manager. He quickly moved into a senior and subsequently a director role in 2002. He was promoted to a divisional director in 2003 and to vice president in 2005.

He is a noted opinion leader on healthcare staffing trends and issues. His oversight and monitoring of three recruitment divisions, screening 875 to more than 1200 healthcare job seekers weekly, produces information and statistics that support the writing of two industry-recognized compensation and benefit reports. One report focusing on nursing and allied health professionals and a second focusing on physicians.

Heckt has been quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Modern Healthcare and MGMA Connexion discussing a variety of issues from the impact of natural disasters on communities' ability to hire healthcare professionals, to compensation and the impact work-life balance has on physician recruitment practices. He also identifies the effect legislation, such as Tort reforms and mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios, has on recruitment and retention patterns.

Heckt is a member of the National Association of Physician Recruiters and the Medical Group Management Association. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration and management from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Jeff Payne
Vice President, Locum Tenens Division

As vice president of Martin, Fletcher's Locum Tenens Division, Jeff Payne manages the daily operations of the division nationally. Payne helped launch the division and oversees all aspects of production, personnel development and training. He is also a leader in the Locum Tenens industry with the re-design of recruitment practices that introduces a truly physician-driven approach to locum placements. This includes a personal and complementary marketing plan for the physicians and utilizes a physician's core preferences as key factors in establishing their placement.

Payne has 14 years of experience in the Locum Tenens industry. Prior to Martin, Fletcher, Payne was named Producer of the Year in 1995, 1996, and 1997 and has held two previous vice president positions.

He has provided insight to LocumLife magazine and is an industry expert on many facets of the locums industry, including: cost/benefit analysis of utilizing locums services, physician centric modeling, personalized marketing plans, employment travel patterns, licensing, credentialing, and activity metrics/optimization.

Payne is a member of the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Baylor University, majoring in Management and Marketing. Payne enjoys time with his family, competing in poker tournaments, and water sports.

Richard M. Horst
Chief Financial Officer

Richard M. Horst, CPA, is the Chief Financial Officer for Martin, Fletcher. As CFO, he plays an integral role in directing the company's finances and financial reporting as well as overseeing the audit processes, corporate taxes and developing a finance team to meet organizational goals. He assists management decisions by providing timely data analysis and forecasting trends to the company's leadership team and board of directors.

As a member of the Martin, Fletcher team, Horst brings more than 27 years of accounting and financial management experience in the areas of strategic business planning, business expansion and acquisitions, cash management, designing financial reporting systems and regulatory reporting.

He has had financial oversight of companies in a diverse set of industries ranging from banking and finance, mortgage banking, deregulated natural gas distribution and health care. His specialty has been in SEC regulated industries where he has improved the procedures, content and timing of internal and external financial reporting information.

Horst's tenure with Martin, Fletcher, began in 2007 and has coincided with a time of expansion for the organization with the addition of a new division and continued financial and production growth.

He is a graduate of Michigan State University and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA).

Horst is an avid hockey player and is a member of two teams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He lives in Frisco, TX and has one adult daughter who currently attends medical school.