Benjamin W. Strong, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Ben Strong, MD is Chief Medical Officer of Virtual Radiologic. In 2014, Dr. Strong was chosen the winner of the “Top People to Watch in Radiology” by Diagnostic Imaging, a leading online community for medical imaging professionals.
With a focus on maintaining and finding new ways to enhance our practice environment, Dr. Strong plays a critical role in advancing vRad’s efforts, along with its radiologist and hospital partners, in expanding access, improving quality and reducing the total cost of care.
Dr. Strong joined vRad as a teleradiologist in July 2004, and served as a medical director within vRad’s practice from October 2005 to October 2012. Dr. Strong is board certified in both radiology and internal medicine. Prior to joining vRad, Dr. Strong worked as an emergency room physician for the IHS, as a private practice radiologist for Inland Imaging in Spokane, WA, and as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology for the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Strong earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, completed his residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, and completed both a radiology residency and a fellowship in musculoskeletal MRI at the University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson. Dr. Strong is licensed to practice in all 50 U.S. states and holds credentials in a number of foreign countries.
Gerry Fitterer
Chief Executive Officer
Gerry Fitterer is vRad’s Chief Executive Officer, responsible for overseeing all financial planning & analysis, accounting, payer services functions, growth and operations.
Prior to joining vRad, Gerry was Chief Financial Officer of Acuo Technologies where he was responsible for finance, accounting, legal and human resources. Gerry was instrumental in the sale and transition of Acuo Technologies to Lexmark’s Enterprise Software business unit when it was acquired in December, 2012. Gerry served as the Finance and Sales Operations leader for Lexmark’s healthcare, government and education sectors of the Enterprise Software business unit.
Before joining Acuo Technologies, Gerry held a number of key executive leadership positions with Jundt Associates including as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Chief Compliance Officer; and also served as Vice President of Finance at Zamba Corporation. Gerry began his career with KPMG, LLP where he served as an Audit Manager and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Minnesota.
Gerry holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of North Dakota and a Masters of Business Administration – Finance from the University of St Thomas—Opus College of Business. Gerry also served and is retired as an officer in the United States Navy.
Gerry enjoys running marathons, biking and fishing in his free time.
Wade Steigauf
Chief Information Officer
As Chief Information Officer, Wade provides strategic direction and development leadership for vRad’s information technology, radiology platform, internal applications, and artificial intelligence program. Since joining vRad in 2005, Wade has been central to our technological transformation, introducing a suite of radiology applications including the FDA-cleared vRad PACS, numerous AI models, and a highly efficient dictation and reporting platform.
Wade’s commitment extends beyond innovation; he is dedicated to creating a thriving work environment and ensuring vRad’s technology infrastructure is scalable, reliable, secure, and cost-effective. He has been instrumental in establishing key teams in product management, software development, technology quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and project management.
Wade balances his professional life with diverse interests. He is an enthusiastic reader, lover of the outdoors, and enjoys playing hockey and disc golf.
Ryan Check
General Counsel
Ryan Check, the General Counsel at vRad, joined the practice in July 2010. He is a distinguished legal professional who plays a pivotal role in vRad's operations and strategy.
Ryan earned his law degree with summa cum laude honors from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. His diverse skillset also includes a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Prior to his tenure at vRad, Ryan advised clients on corporate governance and M&A transactions in the Corporate Finance & Transactions group of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP in Minneapolis.
In his current role, Ryan is responsible for managing vRad's internal and external legal services and advising vRad’s executive leadership team.
Outside of his professional commitments, Ryan enjoys cooking, hiking, coaching baseball, and spending quality time with his wife and children.
Michelle Torkelson
Sr. Vice President, Human Resources & Medical Services
Michelle Torkelson joined vRad in July 2007 and serves as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Medical Services, responsible for the strategic and tactical aspects of Human Resources and Medical Services. She is responsible for all aspects of developing strategic initiatives to promote human capital, corporate culture, communication, organizational effectiveness, team member relations, compensation, leadership and professional development for our (500+ radiologists and 300+ team members).
Joe Schmugge
Chief Operating Officer
Joe Schmugge serves as vRad’s Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for the 24×7 Operations Center Team, Demand Forecasting, Physician Services, and the Radiologist Quality Assurance program.
Prior to being promoted to COO, Joe served as the Vice President of Operations and helped to coordinate the successful transition and integration of three separate practice acquisitions totaling over 1300 hospitals and over 50,000 active client-portal users.
Skilled in practice management, Joe and team enable more than 500 radiologists from initial contracting and onboarding to the real-time support of connecting them with referring physicians to deliver critical findings.
Joining vRad in 2004, Joe brings over a decade of healthcare and team leadership experience to the Operation. He is passionate about patient care and team member development.
With a focus on patient care, there is a constant collaboration and partnership between Operations and the Technology Team. In an effort to build an operation truly powered by next-gen software, the Operations Team is focused on making data-driven decisions and challenging the status quo to find ways to improve.
“Patient care drives every decision. We don’t view ourselves as a collection of employees. We are a team, and we are passionate about what we do.”
Evan Ebner
Sr. Vice President of National Development
Evan Ebner serves as Sr. Vice President of National Development, responsible for sales, marketing, and the customer experience for 2100+ client hospital, health system and radiology group facilities across the US.
Joining vRad in 2015, Evan brings over a decade of sales leadership within radiology & healthcare. She is passionate about exceptional results for both new and existing vRad customers as well setting the strategy for her team of professionals to deliver the most innovative and superior solutions to clients across the US.
Evan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting & Information Management from the University of Texas. Evan loves cooking, scuba diving, hiking, camping and anything else that is active and outdoors.
11995 Singletree Lane
Suite 500
Eden Prairie, MN 55344