Beth Bortz, MPP | President & CEO
Beth was named the President and CEO of the Virginia Center for Health Innovation (VCHI) in March 2012. Prior to joining VCHI, she served for nine years as the Executive Director of the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) Foundation, where she developed and led programs in health care quality improvement, medication assistance, public health awareness, and physician leadership. Ms. Bortz also served as Senior Program Officer and Deputy Director of the Virginia Health Care Foundation for seven years and as a Senior Associate Legislative Analyst for the Virginia General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for three years. Ms. Bortz is a 2007 graduate of LEAD Virginia and recently completed service on its Board of Directors. She serves as a public member of the American Board of Medical Specialities Board of Directors, a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Primary Care, as a founding member of the National Task Force on Low Value Healthcare, and as a member of Virginia’s All Payer Claims Database advisory board. Previous commitments include serving as the public member on the American Board of Family Medicine Board of Directors, as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Virginia Health Information, and as a founding board member and chair of Rx Partnership. She has received several awards and recognition for her work, including: the 2014 Virginia Leader Award from LEAD Virginia, Influential Women of Virginia Award from Virginia Lawyer’s Media; Medallion Award for Community Partnership from Mutual of America; and Stettinius Award for Nonprofit Leadership from the Community Foundation representing Greater Richmond. Ms. Bortz earned her undergraduate degree in Economics and Government and her Masters in Public Policy from the College of William and Mary.
Zelda Hinkle | Director of Operations and Communications
Zelda Hinkle is the Director of Operations and Communications for the VCHI team. In this role, she provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management of VCHI’s internal operations and external communications. Zelda is a graduate of William & Mary's Mason School of Business. In her time at William & Mary, Zelda worked as a Marketing Specialist for the Dean of Students Office. She brings experience in recruitment and logistics from her time on Kappa Delta Sorority's Leadership Council. Zelda also completed a Project Management and Social Media Internship with Brandito, LLC. Zelda earned her BBA in Business Analytics from William & Mary in 2023, and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management at the University of Richmond.
Michelle Rockwell, PhD, RD | Research Consortium Executive Director
Michelle serves as Executive Director of the VCHI Research Consortium. Prior to joining VCHI, she was Director of Research for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Carilion Clinic, where she led interdisciplinary research and quality improvement initiatives across 46 primary care practices and numerous external partners. She has worked closely with VCHI, Virginia Health Information, and many statewide collaborators and stakeholders to advance healthcare policy and practice in Virginia. Michelle is a health services researcher whose data science and mixed methods research focuses on healthcare quality and value. Her scholarship has appeared in Health Affairs, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Health Forum, and other leading journals, and has been highlighted across multiple public and media platforms. Michelle was recognized with Clinical Pearl Awards from the North American Primary Care Research Group (2022, 2025) and as a Milton W Hamolsky Junior Faculty Award Finalist (Society of General Internal Medicine) in 2024. She is an Associate Professor of Family & Community Medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine where she teaches Health Systems Science & Interprofessional Practice to medical students. Michelle previously served as an intramural fellow with the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She has owned a private medical practice, directed healthcare practices, and has over 20 years of experience as a Registered Dietitian. A native of Baltimore, MD, Michelle is a triple-Hokie (BS, MS, PhD from Virginia Tech).
Meredith Young, MSNP | Senior Researcher
Meredith is the Senior Researcher for the Virginia Center for Health Innovation (VCHI). Prior to joining VCHI, she served as a Program Officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where her work focused on federal nutrition programs and policies, obesity prevention and treatment, national breastfeeding rates, and youth development. During her nine years at the Academies, Meredith led multi-million-dollar research projects, authored evidence-based reports for Congress and federal agencies, and collaborated with cross-sector partners to strengthen health outcomes at the state, local, and organizational level. She holds a Master of Nutrition Science and Policy from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Virginia Tech.