Meet the team

Earl Ongman, Co-founder & Managing Partner – Earl’s career in the medical billing industry started in 1981 where he was a director of operations for Spring Anesthesia Group in California. Because of his successful leadership, expertise, and knowledge of the region, he was promoted to Director of Operations and Marketing, where he was responsible for the billing, compliance, and marketing for approximately 3,000 Anesthesia providers. During these years, he became a Certified Procedural Coder from the American Academy of Professional Coders and continues to hold his certification today.

In 2000, Earl founded Sierra Health Services. His 38+ years’ experience has allowed Sierra to grow from a single office in Stockton, California specializing in Anesthesia, to over 350 employees located in 6 offices throughout California, New Jersey, Texas, and Arizona, serving 750+ clients across 17 states. As the managing partner of Sierra, Earl is involved in all aspects of Sierra operations.

Candice Almonte, Vice President of Operations, West Coast – Candice serves as our VP of Operations for Sierra’s west coast office. Candice joined Sierra in 2007 and has been instrumental in the growth Sierra has experienced over that time period. She has worked closely with each department, manager, supervisor and employee to build efficient and knowledgeable teams. She has also set the framework for Sierra’s Quality Assurance standards that currently exceed industry standards.

Candice’s in depth knowledge of the entire Revenue Cycle Management process for physician practices has been a key factor in providing outstanding practice management services to our clients. Candice plays a crucial role to ensure a smooth onboarding process for our new clients to Sierra. She has led and advised numerous physician practices through EMR transitions and implementations. Candice currently is a member of the MGMA and AAPC.

Leslie Digges, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development – Leslie has 30+ years’ experience in anesthesia billing and practice management. Leslie began her career as an anesthesia scheduler for Spring Anesthesia Group in California and soon became a Practice Management Consultant for a group of 80 physicians. Later, Leslie went on to work as a practice and office manager for a large anesthesiologist group, where she managed the credentialing team and handled group contracts and negotiations. Leslie moved into overseeing operations for billing departments and has now brought her wide-ranging experience to Sierra Health Services where she leads Marketing and Business Development for Sierra nationwide.

Alison Klein, Director of Operations – Alison has 29+ years’ experience in the healthcare industry, including revenue cycle management, practice management, credentialing, contracting, and billing software management and development. Alison oversees operations of Sierra’s office in Scottsdale Arizona.