Our Story

 Vital Quality Healthcare Partners began long before the company had a name.

In January 2022, Jamie Thomas and Bill Martyak met while working for AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, the organization contracted to support three of six regions under the Pennsylvania Department of Health Long-Term Care RISE Grant. Jamie served as Senior Quality Improvement Manager, while Bill, a physician assistant, served as Chief Clinical Officer, together leading large-scale clinical, operational, and quality initiatives across the state.

Through this work, they supported more than 200 skilled nursing facilities and 300 personal care homes, helping organizations strengthen systems, develop teams, and improve the quality and safety of care.

From the outset, their partnership was a natural fit. Jamie brought deep clinical experience, informatics expertise, and advanced quality improvement leadership. Bill contributed extensive operational and clinical leadership experience. Together, they developed a data-driven, person-centered approach that resonated with both executive leadership and frontline staff.

Over the course of the statewide LTC RISE program, Jamie and Bill led several of its most impactful initiatives:

Led large-scale implementation of the 4Ms Framework, guiding facilities through Level 1 and Level 2 Age-Friendly Health Systems recognition.

Partnered with dozens of nursing homes and personal care homes to embed What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility into daily workflows, interdisciplinary practice, and quality improvement strategies.

This work was nationally recognized and featured by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the Age-Friendly Health Systems: State-Based Guide  (see page 9).

Supported multi-site implementation of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality SOPS 2.0 Nursing Home Survey, providing end-to-end support from education and survey deployment through action planning.

Drove measurable improvements in staff engagement, response rates, and safety culture maturity by translating survey data into targeted, sustainable improvement initiatives.

This work was highlighted in an AHRQ national webcast:
The New SOPS Nursing Home Survey Version 2.0: Updates, Insights, and Implementation (Webcast) | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Delivered large-scale TeamSTEPPS education focused on communication, teamwork, and psychological safety, directly addressing one of the lowest-performing safety culture domains: staff attitudes toward each other.

This work included collaboration with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority to provide anti-bullying and workforce culture training to frontline staff.

Partnered with facility leadership to strengthen regulatory readiness, clinical workflows, interdisciplinary processes, and leadership capacity across diverse long-term care settings.

As their statewide work expanded, so did the demand for support beyond the scope of the grant. Facilities sought ongoing coaching, advanced education, and innovative training approaches, particularly for frontline teams.

Recognizing this gap, Jamie and Bill began designing a solution: Escape2Age-Friendly™, an interactive, evidence-based learning experience that brings age-friendly care to life in a practical and engaging way.

By 2025, it was clear their collaboration had grown into something more.

Jamie and Bill formally launched Vital Quality Healthcare Partners (VQHP) in September 2025, building on years of proven impact and a shared vision for transforming healthcare quality.

VQHP was founded on a simple but powerful belief:
all healthcare organizations deserve access to practical, meaningful, and sustainable quality improvement support.

While age-friendly care remains a cornerstone of their work, VQHP’s services extend across the full continuum of care. Today, the organization provides:

• Quality improvement consulting 
• Safety culture assessment and transformation 
• Measurement and data strategy 
• Regulatory readiness support 
• Innovative workforce education and training solutions 

Vital Quality Healthcare Partners continues to build on the purpose that first brought Jamie and Bill together:
advancing quality, strengthening teams, and elevating healthcare systems. One facility, one team, and one improvement at a time.