New Hope Ranch - Our Team

Our Team

An Experienced Team of Compassionate Leaders

Khelsea Walker
Chief Executive Officer

Khelsea, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, is an accomplished speaker and mental health advocate. Khelsea graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology/business management. She also holds a Master of Science degree in professional clinical mental health counseling from Freed-Hardeman University and is currently enrolled in FHU’s MBA program. Khelsea brings over 7 years of successful experience in leadership and business administration. She continues to be a strong advocate and activist in the community for mental health and rehabilitation.

Layered by travel and adventure, she is a mother to one son, and younger sister of three siblings. Through her advocacy, Khelsea strives to share her vision of community as the new CEO for New Hope Ranch where she imagines a growing organization that provides opportunity for increased responsibility and continuous learning for all.

Nicholas Glines
Executive Director of Operations

Nicholas has been working with New Hope Ranch since September 2020. Before Nicholas sought out a career within healthcare, he attended the University of West Florida where he attained his bachelor’s degree in communication in May 2018 and a master’s degree in strategic communication and leadership in May 2020. His interest for this field started when he took an internship at another treatment center in California before he started his master’s degree. It was at this internship where he discovered his passion for helping others through evidence-based treatment. When Nicholas is not at New Hope Ranch, you can find him camping, hiking, playing video games or hanging out with his family.

Amy Parker, M.Ed,
LPC Clinical Director

Amy began her counseling career in the addiction treatment field where she developed a passion for people challenged by a history of trauma and life-threatening addiction. She completed her formal education at the University of North Texas with a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Over the last 10 years she gained valuable expertise in substance and process addictions, trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, family, and couples counseling. She has experience in a variety of settings including inpatient and outpatient treatment, hospitals, crisis, community education, military installations, and veteran programs.
Joining New Hope Ranch is both an exciting and challenging new chapter where she very much appreciates the innovative and client centered philosophy that drives addiction treatment here.
In her spare time, Amy loves to explore new places, spend time in nature (and fall in the water), and enjoy time with friends and family.

Pam Tumlinson, LCDC
Clinical Therapist

As an individual in long-term recovery, Pam has gone from struggling with substance abuse herself to creating a new life with a main goal of helping others. “I believe there is value in the connection that ties an individual in recovery with the individual struggling to recover.” Pam’s strengths are her compassion, experience, and being able to help an individual see their worth and provide guidance in finding a new way of life. Pam works as a licensed chemical dependency counselor and will complete her master’s program with the University of North Texas in the Spring of 2021.

Vanessa Cantu
Director of Referral Relations

Vanessa Cantu has been working with New Hope Ranch since May 2018. Vanessa started with the company as a lead BHT and became the BHT supervisor within a year. She is now the referral relations manager and alumni coordinator. Vanessa is originally from Germany, where she went to college to become an occupational therapist and discovered her love for this field. Vanessa graduated from Austin Community College in 2020 with a degree in addiction counseling and is currently waiting on her LCDC–CI. When Vanessa is not working, she spends her time with her kids. You can also find Vanessa on the basketball court, football field or in the gym watching her kids in competitive tumbling.

Manuel Sanchez
Maintenance Supervisor

Manuel has been in the Discovery Behavioral Health family since 2018 in the substance use division and is currently working at New Hope Ranch as the maintenance supervisor. He started in trades work as a helper and then moved to maintenance assistant in a long-term care facility where he was introduced to a caring and purposeful environment, taking care of the elderly. While working, he began studies in a trade school as a certified A/C technician, graduated and was promoted to supervisor.  Manuel enjoys spending time with his family camping, bike riding and going to the lake.

Matthew Ruble, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Matthew Ruble is the Chief Medical Officer of Discovery Behavioral Health. Dr. Ruble has a deep passion for advancing the behavioral health industry through training, publication, innovation, payer relations and collaboration. He spent 20 years of his career working with the Cambridge Health Alliance, a health system affiliated with Harvard Medical School, responsible for training clinicians, residents and medical staff in core evidence-based practices including:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Psychiatric curriculum development
• Research
• Publications
• Speaking nationally on evidence-based practices
• Integrated behavioral and physical health care delivery

As Lead Medical Director overseeing Clinical Behavioral Health Strategy and Operations for Humana, he was part of the team that reviewed and advised on all behavioral health technology innovations for investment and implementation. His expertise spans consistent delivery of innovative and value-based, industry-leading, and integrated behavioral health programs and services.
Dr. Ruble earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. From there, he attended the Carver School of Medicine at the University of Iowa, earning his Doctor of Medicine degree. He then attended Harvard Medical School in Boston to intern at the Department of Medicine and became a resident at the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Ruble became Chief Resident of the Psychopharmacology at Cambridge Health Alliance as well as a physician educator at the Academy at Harvard Medical School.

We're Here to Help

Call us at (512) 298-4379 or fill out the form below. A caring New Hope Ranch representative will get back to you soon. We work with most commercial insurances and TriWest. Sorry, we are not able to accept Medicaid or Medicare at this time.