About | Vertex

Our mission is to provide innovations to bridge the gaps between medicine and the communities we serve to promote more trauma-informed, community-focused, equitable healthcare.

Core Values

Adaptability

Adaptability is not just a value; it's our promise to continually evolve and pivot, ensuring that we remain agile in responding to the evolving needs of our patient population. We are committed to maintaining our lasting impact on their healthcare journey

Connectedness

We hold the core value of connectedness close to our mission. We believe that connectedness is not only essential for fostering innovation through enhanced collaboration but also for amplifying the impact we aim to provide in the communities we serve.

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Impact

Trust

Integrity

Our unwavering dedication to impact means that every action we take, every connection we make, and every resource we provide is driven by our mission to better serve the patient populations in need of our services.

Trust is not only essential in building strong relationships with our patients but also in becoming a trusted partner in the broader healthcare ecosystem. We are dedicated to establishing ourselves as a reliable and valued presence within the healthcare industry, dedicated to serving the needs of vulnerable patients with trauma-informed care.

Integrity is the guiding light that ensures we stay true to our other core values. We pledge to uphold these principles in every decision we make, unwavering in our commitment to creating positive change and improving the lives of those we serve.

Meet the Team

Maurice Hicks Jr.

Founder & CEO

After graduating from Carleton College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Maurice gained valuable, hands-on experience working on child & adolescent psychiatric units. The inequitable, traumatizing care he observed drove him to pursue a career in medicine with the hopes of promoting more equitable, trauma-informed, patient-centered care on a systemic level. As an MD-MBA student, Maurice has pursued this dream by starting and leading two nonprofits committed to mentorship and trauma-informed care of vulnerable populations while also conducting quality improvement research to further his knowledge of the system he hopes to influence. Through the establishment of Vertex Medical Solutions Inc., Maurice hopes to provide innovative solutions to address the complex disparities in medicine with a focus on addressing psychosocial risk factors.

Contact

Board of Advisors

Derek Rucker

Derek Rucker is a successful tech entrepreneur, angel investor, pilot, and data geek. He had a successful exit from his startup Carrot Health, which was acquired by UniteUS in August 2021. His current venture is StoryForge, which he started with his daughter Sabrina in 2022. He is an active angel investor with a focus on Minnesota startups. He loves big data, AI, machine learning, and Dungeons & Dragons.

Board of Advisors

David Nguyen

David comes from the startup world by way of corporate research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). In the innovation space, he has numerous publications on novel technologies and interactions. An avid inventor, he has 40+ patents issued or filled. In the startup space, he has founded multiple startups and will gladly share his learnings with other entrepreneurs and soon-to-be entrepreneurs.

Board of Advisors

Mark Sanders

Mark’s passion is working with curious people to become inspired and courageous agents of change. He previously served as the Deputy Director of the Austin Technology Incubator at UT Austin, the longest-running technology incubator in the US. A successful entrepreneur, he founded a technology-led environmental remediation company that was acquired by a national firm. Following the sale of his company, he spent time at Berkeley Lab in Silicon Valley commercializing technologies while also supporting UC Berkeley’s Lab to Market program.