Leadership Team

Carol Burger PT, MPA, -  President  attended CSUS and is a Loma Linda University and University of San Francisco graduate. As a practicing physical therapist, Ms. Burger established Burger Rehabilitation in 1978.  She has been its sole owner and president throughout its history. Ms. Burger has led the company in its growth from a one and a half person office to a state wide organization serving thousands of clients and providing a complete range of therapy services across the continuum of care from Acute Hospitals to Skilled Nursing Facilities, Home Health Agencies and outpatient clinics throughout the state of California.   An active participant in the rehabilitation industry via membership in multiple professional organizations including the National Association in Support of Long Term Care, the APTA, and the California Association of Health Facilities, she shares her experience with her staff and clients.  She is on the advisory board of the School of Physical Therapy at Cal State University Sacramento as well as the Editorial Board for Comstock’s business magazine. Ms. Burger is also an active board member with the American Red Cross Capital Region Chapter.   In 2013, Ms. Burger received the Distinguished Service Award from CAHF and has been recognized previously for “Best in Business” by the Sacramento Business Journal.  In January 2014, Carol was recognized by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce as Sacramento’s Businesswoman of the Year. 

Babak Amali, OTR/L - V.P. Operations is a 1994 graduate of the Göteborg College of Health Sciences, department of Occupational Therapy, in Göteborg, Sweden. After practicing as the Occupational Therapy department leader at the country’s second largest acute care hospital, he moved to California and began working in in-patient, out-patient, acute, post-acute and skilled nursing facilities. His vast knowledge of the industry and leadership style awarded him the title of  Vice President of Operations for another larger company where he oversaw the entire operation of the Western United States. In addition to being a member of the “Advisory Board” for Sacramento City College school for OTA and PTA programs, Babak has served as the region 5 director for the “Occupational Therapy Association of California”, is a member of the “Service Excellence Committee” at Leading Age California and has published several articles in “Advanced for Occupational Therapy Practitioners”. 

Ja'nae Brown, PT,DPT, Neuro-IFRAH Cert - Southern California Regional Directorreceived her Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise & Sports Science in 1998 from the University of San Francisco and graduated in 2005 as a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Loma Linda University. She started her career in outpatient orthopedics, specializing in Pilates, Sports Medicine, amputee recovery and ergonomic/work hardening programs and then added neurologics to her care and obtained her Neuro-IFRAH Certification specializing in stroke and brain injury in her practice.  She joined the team in 2010 as a Rehab Program Manager after seeing the need to improve the quality of clinical care in the skilled nursing setting.  She quickly grew in her knowledge and leadership and over a short period of time was promoted into a Regional Director position.  She has a passion for exceptional clinical care, ethical delivery of services, and ongoing clinical mentoring of our clinicians.  She has implemented a student mentoring program in Southern California with local PT, OT, PTA and COTA educational programs and has been instrumental in driving continuing education for her teams. Dr. Brown has also been an adjunct lab instructor for the PT program at Loma Linda University and created the Neurologic Interventions curriculum for the PTA program at Stanbridge College in Irvine, in addition to holding a position as adjunct Professor for the program.

Jagdeep Garcha, MPT – Regional Directorgraduated with her physical therapy degree and worked for more than a year in India before she moved to the US.  She then obtained her Master’s degree in Physical therapy with a specialization in neurology from Oakland University, MI.  As part of her Master’s program she worked in Michigan school districts with disabled children. Additionally working as a staff therapist for spine injuries using various McKenzie techniques in which she achieved certification through various continued education programs.  She also has experience working with inpatient residents for post op care and rehab. Working with the geriatric population in skilled nursing facilities during this period. She achieved tremendous success as a clinic director with by introducing new processes in clinic functionality and improving overall patient experience.  As her skills grew she took up a position as an area director where she supervised multiple facilities in Central California and State of Nevada. She introduced various patient satisfaction measures, led a perfect visit audit program, coordinated student internships and helped develop nationwide programs.

Nancy Cooper - Director of Human Resources and Risk Management

Nancy comes to us with over 20 years of human resources experience. She has worked in retail, transportation leasing and healthcare industries. For the past 11 years she worked for US Acute Care Solutions (formerly known as Emergency Medicine Physicians) as Director of Human Resources. When her position moved to Ohio, Nancy, a native Californian, decided to remain in California where she continues to enjoy the beautiful weather, the beaches, the wine country, the mountains and her family. 

Michelle Wilkinson, LVN - QA/QI Specialistsof Burger Rehabilitation Systems, Inc comes with a strong background as a post-acute nurse and Medicare/HMO Rehab/Nursing Quality Assurance Specialists.  As a detailed, ethical QA Nurse, Michelle brings a skill set to our customers that is unparalleled.  Her intent is to be a catalyst in supporting compliance and fiscal responsibility with optimal clinical outcomes.  Her strengths lies in her ability to promote effective utilization of healthcare resources, provide support and on-going education to a multi-layer staff, while maintaining fiscal and regulatory compliance.

Eric Burger - VP Business Development  i s responsible for providing strategic recommendations for positioning the company in the health care market. Through a variety of personal and professional contacts, as well as monitoring the media, attending forums, seminars and other industry-related events.   He manages the day-to-day contractual and administrative duties necessary to implement new business.  Directs the Informational Technology (IT) development and vision for the company while helping to improve on existing departmental and company systems. Manages most marketing and public company outings and events as an ambassador for all departments.  Is responsible for prospecting for new clients and development of business resources and systems. In addition he maintains marketing efforts and facility support through customer relations. With an active relationship with many groups and organizations in order to keep up with the ever changing world of long-term care.

Uma Chinnaswamy, MS, OTR/L- Uma has been working with us as a Rehab Program Manager in Central Valley. She has demonstrated exceptional leadership and knowledge of the industry, in addition to program development at her facility. She is also currently enrolled in an MBA program to further educate herself in management and leadership skills. She will be overseeing the operations of the Central California facilities as the Assistant Regional Director.

Elizabeth Gomes, MS, OTR/L- Elizabeth comes to us with a wealth of knowledge in operations as well as clinical expertise. She has worked in various roles from rehab program manager to regional manager and recently as the Director of Clinical Services for a large organization where she developed many clinical programs such as; Fall and Balance program, Dementia training program, Urinary Incontinence training program and Driver Generalist’s program. She has also been involved in audits, denials and documentation training . Elizabeth will be overseeing the operations of the Northern California region for SNF locations.