VITL is pleased to announce the appointments of Nicole “Nikki” Ball as Chief Operating Officer and Sarah Thompson as Director of Client Services & Communications. These leadership additions reflect the organization’s ongoing commitment to building a strong team that supports VITL’s critical role in Vermont’s health care system.
Thompson officially joins the leadership team on June 15, 2026, while Ball will transition into the COO role on July 1, 2026 following the completion of her work as a contractor on VITL’s client experience initiative.
Nicole “Nikki” Ball — Chief Operating Officer
Ball is a seasoned executive with a career built on driving growth, building high-performing teams, and creating exceptional client experiences. She has held senior leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Capital One, SVB Private, and Osaic. She has most recently been consulting in the health care and wealth management industry, helping her clients implement growth marketing and client experience programs. Across all of her roles she developed deep expertise in building high client satisfaction, organizational design, and marketing strategies that met or exceeded goals.
Ball has been working with VITL as a contractor leading the organization’s client experience project. Her transition to the full-time COO role is a natural next step and a clear signal of VITL’s confidence in the direction she’s helping set.
“Having worked with Nikki over the last few months, it was clear what a great fit she is for our leadership team full-time,” said VITL CEO and President Randy Farmer. “She has an amazing ability to bring people together and keep everyone focused on the right goals. Delivering health data services across the state is a complex challenge, and Nikki’s focus on the client experience and operational excellence is going to make our services even more valuable for the doctors, nurses, and patients who rely on us every day.”
Sarah Thompson — Director of Client Services & Communications
Thompson’s career spans leadership roles at iconic Vermont companies including Seventh Generation, Concept2, and Danforth Pewter, where she consistently turned customer-facing functions into strategic assets. Thompson is known for her systems-thinking approach, her data-driven instincts, and her ability to build the kind of trust that elevates relationships into genuine, lasting partnerships.
Most recently, she has been serving as VITL’s Interim Director of Product & Client Engagement, where she has already made a measurable impact — doubling webinar attendance, increasing active portal users, and leading the design of a new client relationship management program.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to VITL’s leadership team,” says Farmer. “What really stands out about Sarah is her ability to understand a client’s priorities, find solutions and execute. She doesn’t just manage relationships; she turns them into true collaborations. That collaborative mindset is essential to this role and our leadership team, and for generating meaningful results for our clients and the people of Vermont.”
About VITL
VITL is the independent nonprofit designated by the State of Vermont to develop, operate, and maintain the Vermont Health Information Exchange (VHIE). It provides secure, trusted data that helps improve the healthcare experience for Vermonters every day.
VITL integrates clinical, demographic, and encounter data from hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, federally qualified health centers, long-term care facilities, home health agencies, laboratories, pharmacies, payers, and public health entities to create a longitudinal health record for every Vermonter.
This aggregated data is the foundation for VITL’s services that support improved care coordination, reduction of duplicative testing, and improved transitions of care throughout the Vermont healthcare ecosystem.
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