COBALT TEAM
Richard Fiske
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Fiske’s impressive healthcare career began at Johnson & Johnson, where he spent 6 years before leaving to serve in the Vietnam War. Upon returning home, he joined the Acquisition and Development department at American Medical International for 4 years, followed by 3 years with National Medical Enterprises, 10 years with Continental Medical Systems, and 9 years with Tenet Healthcare as VP of Acquisition and Development through 2003. As of January 2004, he became CEO and Co-Founder of Everest Health Partners, a healthcare marketing and consulting organization, and he joined Cobalt in 2012. Mr. Fiske has planned, developed, and opened over 70 freestanding, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals throughout his storied career.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Fiske obtained both his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Master’s degree in Marketing at Lewis and Clark College.
Mr. Fiske enjoys baseball, flying and mountain climbing, the latter of which lead him to summit Mount Everest in 1999 and Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010. Mr. Fiske presently resides in Dallas, Texas, traveling often as a registered speaker for Stonecroft Ministries and several Fortune 500 companies.
Erik de Vries
Co-Founder & Principal
As the real estate principal of Cobalt Medical Development, Mr. de Vries manages all strategy,
financing, investments, new business and operations. Recently, Mr. de Vries served as VP of
Business Development at Rainier Medical Investments, LLC, managing the company’s capital
platforms, fundraising strategies and new business real estate development.
Some of Mr. de Vries equity accomplishments at Rainier include the acquisition of Baylor Grapevine
medical office building and ambulatory surgery center, an 84,000 sq. ft. MOB physically attached to
THR Presbyterian Hospital of Flower Mound, Texas, a Reliant Healthcare 60 bed IRF in South
Austin, and the management of a $10MM fund exclusively for Physicians. Prior to Rainier, Mr. de
Vries managed a healthcare development team that created 50 -75 bed post-acute care inpatient
rehabilitation and skilled nursing hospitals throughout Texas averaging 65,000 square feet with real
estate transaction costs that totaled over $100MM.
Peter Cacciapaglia
SVP Design & Construction
With over 30 years of experience in architecture and project delivery, Mr. Cacciapaglia is
responsible for managing all aspects of project development, including planning, equipment,
design, construction, and opening of new healthcare facilities.
Previously, Mr. Cacciapaglia served as Director of Hospital Projects at MedCath Corporation, where
he managed the development of eight hospitals nationwide, totaling more than $350 million. In this
key project leadership role, he maintained project budgets and schedules and protected
stakeholders’ interests throughout the entire development process.
Mr. Cacciapaglia is a registered architect and received his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental
Design from the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.
M. Christian Cullum
Chief Operating Officer
Cobalt Medical Partners
Mr. Cullum is involved in all aspects of the real estate development (Cobalt Medical Development) and operations
(Cobalt Rehabilitation Hospitals) sides of Cobalt’s business, with a particular focus on all financial aspects (analysis,
reporting, etc), capital sourcing and structuring, investor relations, development management, operations oversight,
strategic partnerships, and overall corporate strategy.
Prior to Cobalt, Mr. Cullum worked for five years as VP & Director of Underwriting at EDGE Realty Capital Markets,
where he played a dual role leading the financial underwriting of all real estate assets for the capital markets team,
as well as helping to develop new business and working with clients and investors. Before EDGE, Mr. Cullum
worked at Rainier Capital Management, a $1.5BB boutique real estate investment bank, where he managed similar
responsibilities on the acquisitions and development side of the business. Mr. Cullum spent most of his time at
Rainier working with Rainier Medical Investments, which primarily acquired and developed high-end MOBs and
ASCs on the campus of major system hospitals.
Before returning home to Dallas to help manage his family’s fourth-generation construction company and complete
his MBA, Mr. Cullum worked for seven years in the political and national security arenas in Washington, DC. Mr.
Cullum received his Bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and
he received his MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. Mr.
Cullum is licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission.