MEET THE FOUNDERS
Lois Shoemaker, Co-Founder
Lois Shoemaker brings decades of healthcare leadership experience spanning oncology, bone marrow transplant, patient education, care coordination, and nursing management. Throughout her career, she became known as a strong patient advocate, helping individuals and families navigate complex diagnoses, treatment plans, and healthcare systems.
Inspired by Medicare's recognition of patient navigation and community health integration services, Lois co-founded NAVASSIST to provide the personalized support patients often need between visits. Her vision is simple: help patients stay connected to their care, overcome barriers, and move forward with confidence.
Tom Shoemaker, Co-Founder
Tom Shoemaker is an entrepreneur, business leader, and advisor with decades of executive leadership experience spanning technology, government contracting, and small business. A graduate of Manhattan College, where he earned highest honors in Mathematics, Tom later completed a Master's degree in Computer Science at the University of Southern California and an Executive MBA at the University of Michigan.
After beginning his career at Bell Laboratories, Tom went on to lead organizations through periods of growth, transformation, and strategic change, ultimately serving as CEO of Phacil, Inc. His successful leadership of Phacil's transition to employee ownership and subsequent acquisition earned him a reputation for building enduring organizations while creating value for employees, customers, and stakeholders.
Today, Tom serves as co-founder of NAVASSIST and principal of The Shoemaker Group, where he continues to advise organizations on leadership, growth, and business strategy.
Why we Founded NAVASSIST:
NAVASSIST was created from a shared belief that patients deserve more support between healthcare visits.
Throughout our careers, we saw patients struggle to keep up with referrals, testing, follow-up appointments, and community resources—often because there simply wasn't enough support between visits.
As healthcare continues to recognize the importance of patient navigation and community health integration, we saw an opportunity to build a service dedicated to helping patients stay connected to their care while supporting physicians, caregivers, and community organizations. NAVASSIST was founded to bridge that gap—providing compassionate, personalized, non-clinical support that helps patients move forward with confidence.
Every patient deserves someone in their corner. We founded NAVASSIST to be that trusted guide when patients and families need it most.
Lois Shoemaker, Co-Founder & Lead Navigator
Tom Shoemaker, Co-Founder & COO