Leadership
Amanda Steventon, MD, FAAFP
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Amanda Steventon is a board-certified family physician with over a decade of experience caring for patients across all stages of life. She began her medical journey at the University of Kansas, earning a B.S. in Genetics in 2003 and later her medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 2012. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas in 2015.
Dr. Steventon practiced full-spectrum family medicine in rural Kansas, including operating her own clinic, before relocating to North Carolina in 2019. She currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Avance Care and continues to see patients in a semi-rural setting, where she combines clinical care with practice leadership. Her areas of emphasis include pediatrics, adolescent and women’s health, and chronic care management.
Deeply committed to health care advocacy, Dr. Steventon has held leadership positions with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians (NCAFP), where she serves on the Payor and System Advocacy Committee and Executive Board. In 2022, she achieved the distinction of Fellow of the AAFP and she is also a graduate of the AAFP’s inaugural Leading Physician Wellbeing Scholar program and is a faculty facilitator for ongoing wellbeing education initiatives.
Dr. Steventon is passionate about sustainable practice models, physician wellness, and reforms that support both high-quality patient care and physician longevity. She believes that the future of family medicine relies on our ability to foster wellbeing from medical training through every stage of practice.
Cathy O’Neill
Chief Operating Officer
Cathy O’Neill joined the Avance Care team in 2025 and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer. She brings over 30 years of experience in operations, finance, and healthcare administration, with a proven ability to lead growth strategy, coordinate complex initiatives, and drive clinical excellence. Her work is focused on improving patient care, strengthening financial performance, and driving excellence in care delivery across the organization.
Before joining Avance Care, Cathy was the Chief Departmental Administrator for the Department of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. In this role, she led strategic, financial, administrative, and operational activities, overseeing more than 300 faculty, 200 learners, and 200 staff members across 12 divisions and 5 centers. Prior to that, Cathy spent 17 years within the Duke University system, most recently serving as Director of Clinical Operations in the Department of Medicine, where she championed strategic priorities and led operational initiatives across all 13 medicine divisions.
A passionate and people-centered leader, Cathy is especially driven by building and developing strong, high-performing teams. She believes that organizational success is rooted in investing in people and fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous growth. Known for her collaborative leadership style, Cathy prioritizes mentorship, alignment, and empowerment—ensuring her teams are equipped to deliver exceptional results while growing as professionals and leaders.
Cathy is driven to improve processes and operational direction to positively impact clinical outcomes. She was drawn to Avance Care for its independent model and deep expertise in strengthening provider and patient relationships. Cathy currently serves as President of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Administrators. She earned a B.S. from Cornell University and holds an MBA from Elon University’s Love School of Business.
Lynn Gordon
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
Throughout Lynn’s 25+ year career in health care law, she has worked extensively in forming health care companies, handling M&A and providing corresponding compliance support. Lynn was drawn to the Alo|Avance Care mission based on her rewarding experiences in building and bolstering provider relationships focused on quality and value-based care. Lynn facilitates simpler provider navigation of a complex regulatory environment, so that physicians can focus on clinical care and patient relationships.
Prior to joining Alo|Avance Care, Lynn served as General Counsel for Novant Health Coastal Region and Chief Legal Officer and GC for its predecessor, New Hanover Regional. She also served in law firm legal/strategic advisor roles for 20 years, most recently as an Equity Partner and Health Care Department Chair, Chicago Office for Nixon Peabody, a Global/AmLaw 100 law firm.
Lynn has led over 75 formations, mergers and acquisitions of hospitals, health systems and physician practices—most recently New Hanover’s 7 hospital system restructuring and $2B sale to Novant Health, including New Hanover Medical Group (300+ providers).
Lynn also developed horizontally and vertically integrated delivery systems and supporting capitated and value-based care in the Chicago healthcare community for over two decades. This included providing legal/strategic guidance to Cook County Health and Hospitals System in developing/implementing its 1115 Medicaid Waiver Program—now an MCCN, CountyCare (with a $1.8B annual State contract).
Lynn holds a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, an M.A. from North Carolina State University and a B.A. from Michigan State University.
Rashaud Senior MD MMCi
Medical Director, Informatics
Rashaud Senior, MD, MMCi is the Avance Care Medical Director of Informatics and a Family Medicine Physician providing primary care services at Avance Care in the Research Triangle Park.
Dr. Senior earned his medical degree from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, with a specific focus on health policy. He then completed his family medicine residency at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. Before medical school, he worked as a healthcare data analyst, where he developed a strong interest in data systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning in healthcare. Building on this foundation, he pursued a Fellowship in Clinical Informatics at Duke University Health System, where he also earned a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics degree.
Prior to joining Avance Care, Dr. Senior gained valuable experience at Duke Primary Care, where he provided comprehensive care to a diverse patient population, including those in need of primary care, urgent/same-day visits, as well as pediatric and geriatric patients. He finds great satisfaction in delivering care within his expertise, which involves attending to patients with various requirements and conducting office-based procedures when necessary. Dr. Senior believes in empowering his patients by thoroughly explaining his clinical reasoning and thought process, helping them make well-informed choices about their health.
Ashwin A. Patkar, MD, MRCPsych, DFASAM, DFAPA
Chief of Avance Psychiatry
Dr. Ashwin A. Patkar is Chief of Avance Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. He was formerly Professor of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, NC.
Dr. Ashwin A. Patkar has over 25 years of clinical and scientific experience in psychopharmacology, addiction, dual diagnoses, and integration of medical care for psychiatric disorders. Dr Patkar is certified in psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, addiction medicine, and pain medicine. He has published over 250 scientific articles, 6 book chapters, and has given over 400 presentations and invited lectures at national and international meetings. He is a distinguished fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association (APA), president of North Carolina Chapter of ASAM, the past president of the Indo-American Psychiatric Association, and member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Academy of Pain Medicine, Indian Psychiatric Society, Royal College of Psychiatrists, and World Psychiatric Association.