James S. Ely, III
James S. Ely III has served on our Board of Directors since May 2009. Mr. Ely founded PriCap Advisors, LLC, an investment management firm, in 2009 and has served as its Chief Executive Officer since its inception. From 1995 to 2008, he was a Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he was responsible for structuring and arranging syndicated loans and high yield issues in the healthcare, aerospace, defense and other sectors. Mr. Ely’s service with JPMorgan’s predecessor institutions commenced in 1987. He serves on the board of directors of Select Medical Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed provider of long-term hospitalization services, and serves as chair of both its audit and compliance and nominating and corporate governance committees.
Mr. Ely’s educational background (MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago) and extensive (over twenty years) experience in the financing industry, and in the healthcare sector in particular, provide a needed area of expertise among our independent Board members. In addition, his years of prior service as the chair of our Board’s Audit and Compliance Committee provides valuable continuity to the Board’s financial, audit and compliance functions. Finally, he is able to assist our Board members and management in evaluating financing opportunities, as he has specific experience in financing the types of indebtedness reflected on our balance sheet.