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Tom Most recently, Tom Loker served as the Chief Operating Officer of Ramsell Holding Corporation. Prior to joining Ramsell, Mr. Loker was the founder and senior partner of Wild Tiger Holding Company and Thomas Loker Consulting. Serving companies from incubators to iron lungs.

Tom is an active member of the Board of Directors of a number of companies ranging from health care to technology, from sanitary and wastewater to robotics. He is always ready to expand his board activities.

Tom is known as a perpetual problem solver, and continues to advise both start-up and established companies seeking experienced and integrated solutions.

"Tom is one of those people you go to to find out the things you don't know. An avid reader and perpetual student, he has either read about it or experienced it. And if he hasn't, he can rapidly either get you the answer or direct you to where to go to find it."
- Timothy Howell, Finance Director, Vistapoint Technologies

Tom Loker served as chief operating officer of Ramsell Holding Corporation since 2005, a company comprised of four health care business entities (that coordinate the management and care of health care benefits and related services), as well a nonprofit organization, the Flowers Heritage Foundation. He also was most recently the founder of the WE Movement, a philanthropic initiative of Ramsell that offers the use of its HELP4U online software program to help connect “those that have goods, products and services,” and who wish to offer them gratis, to “those who desperately need them.” Typically, the latter includes Ramsell’s basic constituency of the uninsured, the underserved and “those most fragile among us.” These goods, products and services not only include health care, but cover other areas, too, such as housing, legal assistance, accounting services, education and youth programs.

As a champion for those most in need of health care and related services, Loker has traveled to Washington D.C. extensively over the past several years where he met with legislators, helping them shape the recently passed health care bill. His fascination with the inner workings of the health care industry, and the evolution of health care over the past two hundred years, prompted him to write a book, entitled The History and Evolution of Health Care in America: The Untold Backstory of Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Why Health Care Needs More Reform. The book will be out in late 2011.

"Tom has been a true partner with the State of California. He has tirelessly offered solutions to our states health and fiscal problems, always putting the needs of others ahead of himself." - Don Perata, President Pro Tempore, California Senate

Speaking on a range of topics related to his areas of expertise, Loker has made many broadcast appearances discussing the intricacies of health care and its reform. A partial list includes broadcast outlets such as KABC 7, KFBK News Talk 1530, KDRT 95.7, KCRA 3 (NBC), WHKT AM 1650, KKGO 105.1 (“Tuned In with PJ Ochlan”), KGIL 1260 AM, KKJZ 88.1 FM, and WSVA 550 AM (“Late Afternoons with Mike Schikman”). Loker has also been quoted as a source by a number of print and online publications including The Christian Science Monitor, Physician’s Money Digest, Los Angeles Daily News, Healthcare Finance News, Processor,Menlo Park Patch, Sacramento Press, The North Sac News, PharmaWire.com, OCFamily.com, NewsBlaze.com, BioPharmInsight.com, and InsuranceQuotes.com. A prolific writer, Loker’s authored articles have been featured in Lead-Zine and several medical publications.

With over 30 years experience in sales, marketing, finance and operations, Loker’s background has not only included serving the needs of health care companies like Ramsell, Bioluminate/Biotelligent, Inc. and the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, he has also offered his expertise to other industries including technology, biotech, consumer retail, telecom services, and education.

Prior to joining Ramsell, Loker was the founder and senior partner of Wild Tiger Holding Company and Thomas Loker Consulting. Founded in March of 1995 and located in Danville, California, TLC gained recognition throughout Silicon Valley and the investor community for its superb leadership and packaging of startup companies. He also gained an impressive reputation for reviving those struggling companies that were close to shutting down. Wild Tiger specialized in providing "Tiger Teams" that consisted of an extensive group of experienced professionals that served as a temporary executive team. These teams managed the growth of start-ups and the revitalization of distressed companies.

In his pre-Ramsell days, Loker held several senior level executive management positions including that of president & CEO, vice president, and director for companies such as ICOMMM Corporation, Sybersay Communications, Mylinx Corporation, MGV International, Power UP Software, ComputerLand and Epson America.

Loker currently serves on the board of directors or as an adviser to the board of RedZone Robotics Corporation (the acquirer of ICOMMM Corporation), He has served on the boards of Safebridge Consultants, Inc., Sybersay Corporation, ICOMMM, Inc., The Oakland School for the Arts, Flowers Heritage Foundation, and Ramsell Corporation.

The launch of the WE Movement is not Tom Loker’s only philanthropic endeavor. He has been involved in other charitable activities and ventures as well. For instance, at the request of Governor Jerry Brown, Loker served as a member and later president of the board of directors for The Oakland School for the Arts, a grade six through 12 performing arts charter school. He also has been active in other philanthropic education and faith-based efforts, and is currently an active supporter of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland. One of Loker’s favorite charitable causes has been the Easter Seals program where one of his sons was named an ambassador for that organization.

Delusional Ravings from a Lunatic Mind - Just Released Available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and other fine booksellers

This book is a compilation of articles from Tom Loker's popular blog, "The History and Evolution of Health Care Reform in America." Since the current issues of what we perceive as our health care system have their roots in the history of America, our political decisions, our economic decisions and medical and health related decisions, Tom often reviews these prime subject areas in his entertaining and always informative writings. Inside these pages are his best articles from 2011. They run the gamut of politics, economics, healthcare and other things that struck his fancy during the year. We think you find the articles interesting and thought provoking. In Tom's blog he doesn't try to tell you what to think nor to ask you to think the way he does. He stimulates his readers to get more information so they can form their own opinions. He hopes his own journey of discovery helps his readers in some small way. In the end, Tom has determined that he is a MugWump. Don't know what a mugwump is? Then there is one more reason to buy this book! Tom's writings will help you find out what you really are!

Advance Praise for Delusional Ravings

Outstanding reasoning. I was surprised to find out you weren’t a lawyer in the middle of the text. It is chock full of interesting insights and observations.”
–Kyle Becker, Author and Publisher of Rogue Government Blog

Wow, You have too much common sense!.”
–James P. Finn, Author and Publisher of Thoughts of an Old Man Blog

Great read and on the nails Tom, thanks you have done an excellent job here.
–Jim Cambpell, Author and Publisher of Dancing Czars Blog

“I want to thank you for this post. It is principled and aware and it helps to trace the arc of interwoven tensions that we struggle to untangle, to get from intolerance to tolerance, from brutish inconsequence to useful collaboration, from tyranny to democracy... Thank you for standing for what makes democracy strong, for the informed and consequential civics that keeps the revolution of 1776 alive and breathing...
–J.E. Robertson, American

“Tom, very well written piece, even I could understand”
–Pam Mattingly-Greenwell, proud citizen of St. Mary’s County, Md

The History and Evolution of Health Care in America - coming soon

Book This book takes the reader on an intriguing journey as he/she walks along with Loker from the inception of this country to learn about the behind-the-scenes goings on with health conditions, health maladies, health remedies, and evolving health care reform. Beginning with the state of health when the Pilgrims first hit that "rock" to the current day when Congress locked horns, Loker stuns the reader with knowledge never shared before.

What makes the tome an interesting read is that Loker opens each chapter with a cinematic "Imagine..." scenario that aptly sets the scene of the period of time he's covering. He then segues into how that scene is relevant to the health conditions of the day and what the changes were that impacted and ultimately shaped the decades that followed up until what it is we have today in the way of health care "reform."

Does he share never-before-told stories? Yes.
Does he paint vivid pictures? Yes.
Does he educate the reader? Yes
Does he ask the reader to think about how health care could and should work? Yes?

This health care history and evolution chronicle--this backstory--is not only informational and educational, it's downright entertaining. The only thing missing is the popcorn! Think: Ken Burns. Think The History Channel.

What you will find in Tom's Book!

Inside its pages will find out what health care was like at the birth of our great nation
How the practice of providing health care has changed for both caregivers and receivers
Why the process has become so corrupted and expensive
What needs to happen to provide both choice and effective and efficient care for all
Where we need to most focus our efforts to get the biggest change
And, what we all need to do to finally get control over this out-of-control situation

Along the way, you will learn some interesting facts, hear some fascinating tales, and re-assess your expectation of what we should all expect from our healthcare system.

Read Some Excerpts

Photos Along with his son Aleck, Tom is an avid photographer and 3D computer generated image artist. He loves landscape, nature, and portraiture photography. When he is not otherwise occupied, with business matters, serving on a board of directors, or writing you may find him photographing his son's soccer team or capturing a nice sunset.

Tom and his son, Aleck, have published a book of images from one of their favorite vacation spots, "The Calistoga Ranch" in beautiful Napa Valley, California.

The images you are seeing on the main page represent some of Tom's work.

See more of Tom's Images

SOME EXCERPTS:

Imagine...

It is the early evening, the night of October 31, 1633. The night airs are settling around you as oil lamps and candles begin to cast faint flickering light through the salt glass windows. The cool dark fog envelops you in a disquieting silent shroud. On foot, you rapidly make your way down the dark cobblestone streets of Gravesend, in Northwest Kent England. Sticking to the shadows, you search for a specific tavern where you can take refuge. You have heard that the barkeep can assist you in finding safe haven. The early fog that is rolling in is cold and dank.

Your broadcloth clothing is damp, and the chill seeping into your bones is unbearable. You don’t feel well. You never really feel well! The nails in your hobnail boots click and clack, as you creep down the edges of the dark streets. As strangers approach, you slip into the side alleys. The shivers grip you, not just from the cold, but you also feel that the rumble of your belly will give you away. You pray this is not the first sign of consumption, dropsy, or the cholera that was gripping your homeland when you left. As you made your way from Belgium to England across Europe, you have left each and every town as disease and pestilence entered them, devastating the populations. Each time you found a home in a town and commenced to develop some skill, the plague, or fever began to rip the town apart, along with your hope to learn a trade and make a living. The only business that thrived was that of the undertaker. Having no aspiration for that line of work, and each time fearing you would succumb as well, you fled west-always farther west.

You are tired, cold, hungry and also scared as you come upon the sign above a doorway down the street. Marked by a tilting tombstone, the sign of “The Gravedigger’s Refuge” is a welcome sight: it is what you have spent the last cold and clammy hours searching for. As you enter the establishment you worry that though so close to salvation, your poor command of the English language and Belgian accent will betray you. Your simple goal is to escape this life for the promise of the new world, yet at this very moment your more pressing goal is to find a warm hearth, nutrition and a place to rest.

“Eay Yo” calls the portly man behind the bar, “what’s yer pleasure be?” You notice that his waistcoat is bursting and the few hairs on his head are askew. But despite the corpulent appearance, there is a dangerous air to this man. On your guard you respond, “A simple draught and some palaver ‘el do.” As you sit to make your drink you inquire as to how a man can find some “bed for the night and fair and safe work for the future.” “S’ yer trade mate?” asks the barman. “Carpenter” say’s you. The code you were told to use has worked out and the Barkeep comes from behind the bar - pulls up a stool and leans in. You pull back as his breath makes you nervous, for you have heard that vapors cause disease, and the vapors from his mouth are a foul stench for sure! “So, you’s a papist? I wouldn’t have reckoned that from yer accent but then again I ain’t been far” he begins. “I knows ya needs fast and complete passage, and yer lucks good mate as there is two ships leaving tomorrow morning. You reports to the Master of the ones called the Dove and tells him your name is Thomas Loker. Tells him you’s good with maul, trunnel and caulk and he will be sure to take you as carpenter’s mate.” He continues on while you listen. “Now yer bed and yer drink is 6 pence apiece, but the palaver is eight shilling. And mind you, you’ll need give me another eight for the Master if’n you expect to get the job. That’s all there is and get there early as I ain’t the only bookie in Gravesend.” Startled by the fees, but mindful of your need to leave, you dig in your purse and pay out 16 shillings 12 pence and wonder if you will need more for the master to secure the job. When you get to your bed you see that your bedmate is a frail man with a hacking cough. You find more comfort on the floor and make your bed there for the night...

New Medicines Selling the Cures

John Stith Pemberton was born in 1831 in Knoxville, Georgia. Like his uncle, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, the famous commander of the defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi, he too was a good son of the south, having enlisted in the Confederate army where he was wounded in the Battle of Columbus, Georgia in April, 1865. Like many wounded soldiers of the day, he rapidly became addicted to morphine. He tried various concoctions of coca, and coca wines to no satisfaction. Desperate to find a curative, he began to formulate his own version of one which contained alcohol, coca, kola nut and Damiana - a relatively small shrub native to Central America. The Damiana plant produces small, aromatic flowers coupled with a strong spicy aroma, one that had traditionally been used in tea for its “relaxing” effects. In April 1885, Pemberton’s French Wine Coca hit the market and became an immediate success.

Pemberton’s “potion,” contained a high percentage of alcohol, significant caffeine, 8.46 milligrams of cocaine per ounce of liquid, and a pleasing taste. He marketed his elixir to “scientists, scholars, poets, divines, lawyers, physicians, and others devoted to extreme mental exertion.” Like most “patent” medicines, the beverage was advertised as a cure for nerve trouble, dyspepsia, mental and physical exhaustion, gastric irritability, wasting diseases, constipation, headache, neurasthenia and impotence. It also was recommended as a cure for morphine addiction. In one of his more colorful advertisements, playing to the wide-spread public concern about drug addiction, depression, and alcoholism among veterans and “neurasthenia” among “highly-strung” Southern women, Pemberton said his medicinal concoction was “particularly beneficial for ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment caused nervous prostration, irregularities of the stomach, bowels and kidneys, and those who needed a nerve tonic and a pure, delightful diffusible stimulant.”

Unfortunately, later that year, Atlanta and Fulton County passed temperance laws which made the sales of his magical elixir – because its alcohol content - illegal. Pemberton responded by reformulating his “brew,” substituting carbonic acid (soda water) to replace the alcohol, and keep the other ingredients in solution. Having satisfied the chemical requirements of the laws, he then needed a new name. This moniker came from Frank Mason Robinson, the secretary and bookkeeper for the Pemberton Chemical Company. Renamed Coca-Cola, the new formula was introduced in May 1886, at the Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta. Delivered as syrup and mixed via a soda delivery system (the forerunner of the modern soda fountain), Jacobs sold 25 gallons its first year. The next year, sales topped 1049 gallons. In 1888, Asa G. Chandler, along with several other investors, bought the rights to Dr. Pemberton’s formula for $2,300. It was Chandler’s aggressive marketing that brought real success to Coca-Cola, making him and his investors many, many millions of dollars and allowing him to establish the Central Bank and Trust Company.

Although in 1894 Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time, it was the distribution of it through pharmacies that accounted for much of the early sales. It pioneered the development of the soda fountain and people enjoyed visiting these establishments and ordering the “fresh” drink. As concern of patent medicines grew over time, pharmacy soda fountains gradually transformed from providing therapeutic medicines to simple beverages then called “soft” drinks (meaning not habit forming). The transition to soda fountains was largely complete when Samuel Hopkins Adams ran his series of articles condemning patent medicines in Colliers Weekly in 1905. His articles were both stunning and highly influential.

These two samples will give you a flavor of the style and interesting facts in the book. Please keep checking in at the site to stay updated on the soming release.