Executive Bios

Dennis Cook
President and CEO for WES Health System

He is responsible for the general operations at WES. Mr. Cook provides supervision and support for the executive management team as they carry out the goals of the WES Strategic Business Plan.

Mr. Cook’s work experience spans over twenty five years of administrative, business planning, and finance experience.

He attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mr. Cook received his Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. His Master of Business Administration degree is from the University of Chicago, and his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance/Economics is from Roosevelt University.

George Agbugui
Chief Administrative Officer

George Agbugui is the chief administrative officer for WES Health System. He is responsible for the overall administrative operations at the organization. These operations include facilities, housekeeping, administrative support services, and security. George also provides professional mentoring for the Intellectual Disabilities programs at WES Health System.

George’s work experience spans more than 20 years of progressive clinical and administrative responsibilities in the health care field; he has been with WES Health System for more than ten years.

George Agbugui received both his Master of Science in health administration and his Bachelor of Science in biology from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Janice Bowmer
Director of Corporate and Business Relations

Janice Bowmer is the director of corporate and business relations at WES Health System. As such, Janice supports the fee–for–service process in select WES Health System programs and directs the Managed Care department. In conjunction with program directors, she oversees the program support specialists, thereby ensuring that billing is timely and efficient. Her responsibilities also include providing the program support specialists with professional, organizational, customer service, and time management skills training.

Janice has more than 35 years of administrative experience and has been with Wes Health System for almost ten years.

Janice Bowmer received her Bachelor of Arts in organizational management from Eastern University in St. David’s, Pennsylvania, in 2002.

LaJewel Harrison
Vice President of Program Operations

LaJewel Harrison is a Vice President at WES Health System. LaJewel has been working at WES for the past 8 years. She began with WES as a Targeted Case Manager, and has since held positions of increasing responsibility. LaJewel Harrison currently oversees and provides direction for the Targeted Case Management Department, the Child & Family Outpatient Clinics, the Adult Outpatient Clinics, the CRISIS/MATES unit, and the MIS Department.

LaJewel received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University and obtained her Master’s at Springfield College in Wilmington, DE

Lynne Hopper
Vice President of Program Operations

Lynne Hopper, a licensed social worker, is the Vice President of Program Operations. She attended New York University where she obtained her Masters of Social Work. Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Lynne worked in New York City primarily in the field of adolescent substance abuse. There, she supervised inpatient and outpatient programs, an alternative school, as well as developed Project 5–7–9 a collaborative prevention project between substance abuse providers and the 5th, 7th and 9th Police Districts in NYC. Her experiences in Philadelphia include management of a residential treatment facility and child and adolescent psychiatric hospital. Most recently Lynne has been a part of the initial implementation and continued growth of the school based behavioral health programs.

Abayomi Ige M.D.
Chief Medical Officer

Abayomi Ige M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer at WES Health System. Dr. Ige has the responsibility of ensuring the delivery of quality medical care and excellent mental health services to all WES patients.In this role, he serves as the chairperson of the medical staff office with direct supervisory relationship with the system’s psychiatrists. He also oversees the operations of the quality management division.

Previously Dr. Ige worked as a Staff Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Wordsworth Human Services and Northwestern Human Services.

Dr. Ige completed his basic medical education and holds a Bachelor of Medicine; Bachelor of Surgery (MB;BS) degree from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He also earned a Post–Graduate Diploma in Psychopharmacology from the University of Munich, Germany. Dr. Ige completed a General Psychiatry residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Philadelphia and a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Allegheny – Hahnemann University Hospital Philadelphia. He attended the John Hopkins University and received a Graduate Certificate in Business of Medicine Program.

Dr. Ige is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Ige serves on the Pennsylvania Leadership Council on Psychiatry, and is a Co–Chairman of the Community Mental Health Chapter of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Association.

Dave Kittka
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Kittka has over twenty–five years of professional experience in healthcare financial management and reporting; budget development; third party reimbursement; and financing. Mr. Kittka received his Masters of Business Administration from Widener University, a Bachelor of Science in Health Planning and Administration from the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), and completed a financial management program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Charlotte Wroton
Vice President of Program Operations

Charlotte Wroton is one of the vice presidents of program operations at WES Health System. As such, Charlotte is responsible for providing clinical and administrative direction and support to Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS), the Family-Based Program, and the Substance Abuse Division.

Working at WES Health System for the past 20 years, Charlotte has provided direction to the Intellectual Disabilities Division as the Vocational Habilitation program director, WESWorks director, and Intellectual Disabilities Division director. Prior to becoming a member of WES Health System’s executive team, she was the BHRS program director.

Charlotte Wroton earned both her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and her Master of Education from Lincoln University in Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. In addition to her responsibilities at WES Health System, she is an HIV health educator at the University of Pennsylvania and an LSAT sensitivity reviewer.

Chris von Zuben, Ph.D.
Senior Director

Dr. von Zuben is a Senior Director at WES Health System. He manages the Assessment and Evaluation (A&E) Center at WES as well as CRISIS/MATES (Mobile Assessment Treatment and Evaluation Services). The A&E Center provides mental health assessment and evaluation services for children, adolescents, and adults. CRISIS/MATES is a program that provides short–term intervention services to children, adolescents, and adults who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

As a Senior Director, Dr. von Zuben helps to develop and implement clinical and administrative policies to meet the mental health needs of the people served by WES. In addition, he is as a consultant to clinicians, conducts workshops for the clinical staff, and contributes to the WES Institute. He also conducts biopsychosocial evaluations in the A&E Center for children, adolescents, families, and adults. He has been an employee of WES since 2004.

Dr. Von Zuben is a member of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Temple University. He teaches in the Masters program in Counseling Psychology, which is part of Temple’s College of Education.

Prior to coming to WES, Dr. Von Zuben worked in a variety of settings. He completed his pre–doctoral internship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Counseling and Psychological Services (an APA-accredited site), where he conducted treatment outcome research and provided clinical services to a diverse population of undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, he has worked with delinquent adolescent males at St. Gabriel’s Hall in Audubon, Pennsylvania and through the DeLSTAR program, which is St. Gabriel’s outpatient program for juvenile sex offenders. He has also worked as a psychology professor at Bucks County Community College where he taught stress management and introduction to psychology.

Dr. Von Zuben received his Bachelors of Arts from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. He earned his Masters in Psychological Services from the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained his doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University.