Past Board Members

 

Kaytura Felix Aaron Rockville, MD kfelix-aaron@hrsa.gov	Kaytura Felix Aaron, MD is a physician and researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) where she works on quality of care for vulnerable populations and community-based participatory research. She works to promote community-based participatory research (CBPR) at the Agency and within the federal Department of Heath and Human Services. She led efforts to organize a national policy meeting on CBPR. Kay is the co-editor for a Journal of General Internal Medicine special issue on CBPR. Prior to coming to HRSA, she was a researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) where she worked on quality of care for vulnerable populations and community-based participatory research. She worked to promote community-based participatory research (CBPR) at the Agency and within the federal Department of Heath and Human Services. She led efforts to organize a national policy meeting on CBPR. Kay is the co-editor for a Journal of General Internal Medicine special issue on CBPR. Prior to her positions in the federal government, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and W.K. Kellogg Community Health Scholar at Johns Hopkins University. Her work then included the participatory development an instrument for clients to evaluate community-based outreach services to manage cardiovascular diseases. She also worked with several community groups to increase their representation in the policy-making process. In collaboration with the Community Health Workers of Maryland, she advocated for managed care legislation that increased outreach services to Medicaid beneficiaries. She is a Salzburg fellow and a US Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Fellow. She maintains a small primary care practice serving uninsured and immigrant patients in her county.
Deborah Archer Fort Collins, CO Deborah_Archer@alumni.brown.edu	Deborah Archer, MD practices primary care medicine at the Salud Family Health Centers along with 3 other pediatricans. She served as a founding CCPH board member when she was a student at the Brown University Program in Medicine. She served as a National Health Service Corps Scholar and completed her residency at Howard University.
Christopher G. Atchison Iowa City, IA chris-atchison@uiowa.edu	Christopher G. Atchison, is Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and a Clinical Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health. Mr. Atchison also serves as Director of the Institute for Public Health Practice, teaches the College's introduction to public health class and is course director for the MPH practicum required of all MPH candidates. Mr. Atchison is currently the principle investigator on three federal grants; the CDC funded Public Health Preparedness Center, the HRSA funded Upper Midwest Public Health Training Center and the Academic Health Department program also funded by CDC through the Association of Schools of Public Health. Previously, Mr. Atchison served for eight years as Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health (1991-1999). During his tenure, Mr. Atchison chaired the Iowa Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Board, the Iowa Health Data Commission and the Governor's Task Force on Regulatory Reform. He was vice-chair of Healthy Iowans 2010, the Long Term Care Coordinating Council and was a member of the Governor's Health Care Reform Task Force and the Iowa Empowerment Board. At the national level, Mr. Atchison served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) during the years 1994 and 1995 and was chair of the Joint Council of Official Health Agencies. In 1998 he received ASTHO's Arthur T. McCormack Award for his contributions to public health practice. He has been on the board of the Public Health Foundation and was a member of the New York Academy of Medicine's Committee on Medicine and Public Health. He currently serves on the Steering Committee for the National Academy of State Health Policy based in Portland Maine, and the Iowa Prevention of Disabilities Policy Council.
Elmer Freeman Boston, MA e.freeman@neu.edu	Elmer is Executive Director of the Center for Community Health, Education, Research and Service (also CCHERS known as "Cheers"). CCHERS started in 1991 and is a partnership between Northeastern University Bouve College of Health Sciences and fifteen community health centers serving the diverse racial and ethnic populations of the City of Boston. Prior to joining CCHERS, for sixteen years, Elmer was Executive Director of the Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury, MA. Elmer is pursuing his doctoral degree in law and policy at Northeastern University.
Paul Freyder Pittsburgh, PA Paul_Freyder@use.salvationarmy.org	Paul J. Freyder is the Executive Director for The Salvation Army's Public Inebriate Program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Paul holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Social Work from St. Louis University and is presently involved in "competency " stage in the Doctoral Program, School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. A licensed Social Worker, national and state certified addictions counselor and national certified criminal justice specialist, Paul is responsible for a licensed non-hospital detoxification, outpatient counseling, HIV/AIDS outreach, drop-in center, and bridge housing programs. In his current capacity, Paul has been employed with The Salvation Army since 1986 providing services to homeless men and women with addiction disease. He also works with the Program for Health Care for Underserved Populations at the University of Pittsburgh, which provides a primary health care clinic on site three days a week.
Lawrence W. Green San Francisco, CA lwgreen@comcast.net	Larry Green recently retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he oversaw a grant program for investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed, community-based participatory research projects. Before going to CDC as a Distinguished Fellow/Visiting Scientist in 1999, Larry was Director of the Institute of Health Promotion Research in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Professor of Health Care and Epidemiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia where he also headed the Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion. He has also served as the Kaiser Family Foundation's Vice President and Director of its national Health Promotion Program. Larry is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Director of Social and Behavioral Research Program of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at San Francisco and a visiting professor at the University of Maryland and at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
Hilda Heady Morgantown, WV hheady@wvu.edu	Hilda R. Heady is Associate Vice-President for Rural Health at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University. She is jointly appointed to the University System of West Virginia and works with the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and WVU in implementing an interdisciplinary, rural health-training network covering 47 of West Virginia's most underserved counties. She serves as the Executive Director of this program, the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Rural Health Association and various national and state task forces and committees addressing rural health and rural economic development issues. She has been involved in rural health issues and rural community development for 25 years. She has served in a leadership role in rural health care reform, policy development, technical assistance, and coordination of statewide resources for rural health. She was an invited participant to the "Health Care Reform in Rural Areas" conference held in Little Rock in March 1993 and a regional finalist for the 1997 White House Fellows program. Ms. Heady served as the CEO of a small 58 bed rural hospital, Preston Memorial Hospital, and provided the needed leadership to turn around this near bankrupt rural hospital by working with the community and leaders to restructure its mission and the debt of the hospital. She also established an alternative birth center and improved obstetric services in this county prior to her role as CEO. Ms. Heady is active in rural networking activities in West Virginia around issues of managed care, community health information networks, health professions recruitment, and delivery systems. Ms. Heady holds a Masters degree in Social Work from West Virginia University. She is the recipient of numerous awards including: the Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Health in 1996, the 1992 Exemplar Award by the West Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Award of Achievement by the West Virginia Hospital Association in 1991, and the American College of Healthcare Executives Regents Award in 1991. She also received the Susan B. Anthony Award for the state chapter of NOW in 1990, was selected as "Woman of the Year" by the Preston County News and "Woman of the Year" by the Dominion-Post in 1983. Ms. Heady's highest award is being the mother of two sons, Eli and Jesse.
Gretchen Kinder Worcester, MA	Gretchen Kinder is the Chair of the CCPH Board of Directors. She works as the Project Manager for Education and Training Initiatives at the MassHealth Access Program, a program of the Office of Community Programs at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her professional work focuses on community-based health planning and research to improve access to quality health care for underserved populations in Massachusetts. Gretchen received graduate degrees from Boston University, earning both her Master of Social Work in 1996 and her Master of Public Health in 1997. Active in the development of healthy communities, Gretchen is a mentor to, and serves on, the Advisory Committee for the Healthy Communities Massachusetts Institute and is a founding member of the Anti-Racism Group at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard Square. She has served on the Board of CCPH since April 1998.
Terese Kluzik San Francisco, CA tkluzik@thecenter.ucsf.edu	Terri Kluzik is the director of the National Fund for Medical Education, and associate director for program management and operations at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California San Francisco. In addition, Terri manages the Primary Care Achievement and Journalism Awards program at the Center. Prior to joining the Center, Terri was the Assistant Executive Director of the Health Care Foundation of San Francisco; a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) sponsored by the San Francisco Medical Society. Terri was responsible for directing all aspects of the Foundation, initiating and coordinating efforts for creation of a new Individual Practice Association (IPA), and serving as a Board member of the Health Care Foundations of the California Coast, a consortium of Foundations in Northern California. Terri received her Masters of Social Work degree, with a concentration in administration, from San Francisco State University. Her social work experience was predominantly with the homeless population in San Francisco and included managing a shelter for women. Furthermore, Terri provided direct services to the developmentally disabled, taught a job search course to residents of a treatment center, and performed Medicaid eligibility for a county social service agency.
JoEllen Koerner Sioux Falls, SD	JoEllen Koerner is President of the Global Nursing Academy of E-Vitro. She has served in executive level management and leadership roles in health care administration, education, regulation, and e-commerce. She has extensive experience in the development of clinical systems and health management processes sensitive to cost and quality. She is founder of the Healing Web, a collaborative education-service model that facilitates service learning in the community, and she is a partner in MAKOCE: Whole Earth Health; a transdisciplinary, transcultural healing center committed to self-responsible health by integrating body, mind, spirit and environment. Her professional positions include practicing as a staff nurse and nurse manager, directing a college department of nursing, serving as executive secretary of the South Dakota Board of Nursing, and senior vice president of patient services for Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System. JoEllen is past president of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and President of the South Dakota State University Foundation. She has also served on numerous advisory bodies, including the nursing panel of the Pew Health Professions Commission, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Colleagues in Caring National Advisory Committee, and the Partners in Caring and Community: Service-Learning in Nursing Education National Advisory Committee. JoEllen has authored more than 60 articles, chapters & editorials. She co-edited two books, Implementing Differentiated Practice: Transformation by Design, and Caring and Community: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Nursing and serves on the editorial boards of: Executive Nurse Update, Nursing Administration Quarterly, Nursing Outlook, Journal of Nursing Administration, and Journal of Professional Nursing. JoEllen holds a BSN in nursing from Mount Mary College, an MS in nursing from South Dakota State University and a PhD in Human and Organizational Development from the Fielding Institute.
Cheryl Maurana Milwaukee, WI maurana@post.its.mcw.edu	Cheryl A. Maurana recently joined the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin as Vice Chair and Chief of the Division of Community Health. She is also the Director of the Wisconsin Area Health Education Center (AHEC) state system. Previously, Cheryl was Associate Dean for Community Health Development and Founding Director of the Center Health Communities at Wright State University School of Medicine. Cheryl holds a BA in Mathematics and Sociology from Seton Hill College, and Ph.D. in Health Services Research from Purdue University. Cheryl is committed to developing community-academic partnerships that serve as a force for change in health care and health professions education. She has extensive experience in multidisciplinary education, consensus building and developing working partnerships with formal and informal community, government and business leaders. Cheryl has received a number of grants from foundation, state, federal and corporate sources for partnership building based upon the philosophy of "doing with" rather than "doing for" or "doing to". While at Wright State University, she received the School of Medicine Award for Innovative Medical Education and the first annual President's Award for Outstanding Collaboration.
Mindy Nierenberg Boston, MA	Mindy Nierenberg is the Associate Dean of Students and the Director of Service Learning and Community Outreach at the Massachusetts College of Art. MassArt is the only public independent college of art and design in the United States and is located in the medical district of Boston. Mindy has developed numerous programs for students, faculty and alumni that integrate the visual arts into healthcare settings through partnerships with medical institutions. Programs such as "Healing Ceilings", a mural-ceiling tile replacement program developed with Mass. General Hospital and "The Journal Project", in which handmade blank journals were created for use by patients at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute involve campus-wide collaborations with the community. Mindy works with faculty to integrate service into the curriculum through the pedagogy of service learning. MassArt courses involved in healthcare partnerships include: 1) an illustration course, where teams of students create murals for pediatric treatment rooms; 2) a glass course, where students create a glass installation in a hospital setting utilizing the healing effects of light and color; and 3) a computer animation class, where students create a collaborative video animation with cystic fibrosis patients. Mindy has given presentations on service learning in the visual arts at many national and international conferences. She has worked in the feild of higher education for eighteen years. Mindy was selected as a member of the first Massachusetts Think Tank on Service Learning, founded by the New England Research Center on Higher Education and Massachusetts Campus Compact. She promotes the model of the "citizen/artist", whereby artists utilize their talents and visions to collaborate with the community, and make a positive contribution in finding creative solutions to issues facing a global society. Mindy is also interested in the effects of childhood/adolescent chronic illnesses on patients and their families, as well as alternative healing and integrative medicine.
Monte Roulier Columbia, MO roulier@centurytel.net	Monte Roulier is a Co-Founder and Principal of Community Initiatives (CI), a network of individuals dedicated to helping organizations and community collaborations shape change and accelerate results. Monte is a process and change strategist, consultant and facilitator. His work in the areas of team development, collaborative leadership, performance measurement and organizational learning includes a unique mixture of assistance to hundreds of community and organizational change initiatives. Prior to Community Initiatives, Monte served as the Senior Community Advisor at the National Civic League (NCL), a non-profit organization dedicated to participative governance and civic engagement. While at NCL Monte led its nationally recognized Healthy Communities Program. Monte also served for five years as President of Service Adventures, Inc, a business that produced educational programs, and sustainable development and natural resource protection projects in Russia and Central Asia. Monte lives in Columbia, Missouri with his wife and three kids. www.communityinitiatives.com.
Tom O'Toole Baltimore, MD tpo6@georgetown.edu	Tom O'Toole is an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he directs a program for homeless, drug-addicted persons seeking recovery. He is also a program officer for the Open Society Institute Program on Medicine as a Profession service initiative, which is developing a national community-based service-learning program for medical students and residents. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, he was at the University of Pittsburgh for eight years where he founded and directed the Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations. This Program, which was recognized as an honorable mention awardee in the U.S. Health and Human Services Models that Work initiative, sponsors service learning partnerships with several community organizations and health professional schools at the University of Pittsburgh. He was one of the original grantees in the Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program (HPSISN), and a recent grantee by the Corporation for National Service to develop four-year para-curricula in community service-learning at the University of Pittsburgh. He was recognized in 1999 with the Ernest A. Lynton Award for Faculty Professional Service and Academic Outreach honorable mention and with the NBI Healthcare Foundation Humanism in Medicine Faculty Award.
Carmen Patrick Atlanta, GA carmen@hstatweb.org	Carmen Patrick is an MD candidate at Emory University who has been mobilizing students around access to healthcare and gender and racial equality for eight years. Along those lines, Carmen serves on the boards of the Third Wave Foundation, where she works specifically for reproductive health and justice, and of Health Students Taking Action Together (HealthSTAT). Her interdisciplinary efforts have included coordination of clinical trials of preventive HIV vaccines, internship with the national pilot of the Friendly Access Maternal and Child Health Program, and tissue-engineering research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As past Chairman of the Board of HealthSTAT, Carmen led the organization’s effort to strengthen its infrastructure, including board development, hiring its first full-time Executive Director, and developing its summer internship program. She also co-founded Context – The Journal of HealthSTAT in partnership with the Student Health Alliance, which is the first online journal to focus explicitly on health professional students’ service, advocacy, and research in communities. Carmen received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Resource Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park where she was a Banneker-Key Scholar. After leaving Maryland, she was selected in national competition as one of six Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellows at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. Carmen has received various recognitions for her work including the Robert E. Steward Engineering and Humanities Award from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, the John Portz Award for students committed to service from the University of Maryland, and the Paul Ambrose Leadership Award from the American Teachers of Preventive Medicine.
April L. Vestal Rainelle, WV avestal@wvrhep.org	April L. Vestal is the Associate Director of the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships Program, a statewide initiative that trains health profession students from West Virginia University, Marshall University and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. This program places health profession students in rural underserved communities for a portion of their training and serves 47 of 55 counties in West Virginia. April has served as a site coordinator in the program for over 8 years and currently holds the Associate Director position. April holds a BS degree in Organizational Management and Development from Bluefield College. She is currently completing the Master of Public Health Program at West Virginia University. April has extensive experience in public relations and media, working for eight years in sales, announcing and management of a small radio station. April has served on many community boards such as the Health Sciences and Technology Local Board, the Greenbrier Planned Approach to Community Health and Fayette Family Resource Network. April has developed several successful community grants and enjoys the role of community supporter, facilitator and mediator as well as her role as a wife and mother of two wonderful children.
Vickie Ybarra	Vickie Ybarra, RN, MPH, is Director of Planning and Development for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, one of the largest community/migrant health care systems in the country, with clinics in Washington and Oregon. She has extensive experience in development, oversight, and evaluation of community programs targeting Hispanic and Spanish-speaking populations. She earned her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Washington School of Nursing, and in 1996 completed her Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington. In her role as a member of the Washington State Board of Health she has provided leadership for the Board's Health Disparities efforts, and in May 2001 co-authored the Board's report on Health Disparities focusing on diversifying the state healthcare workforce. Ms. Ybarra has been active in efforts to connect local communities to institutions of higher education. She has conducted research related to the presence and service needs of local undocumented women and children. She also served as a member of the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health board of directors from 1997-2000. Ms. Ybarra is active in her community in Hispanic academic achievement. She works with a local group to distribute scholarship dollars and provide community-wide recognition for academic success of local outstanding Hispanic high school graduates. She has conducted research with the local school district demonstrating the wide gap in college preparedness between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students. Ms. Ybarra is also a recently elected member of the local School Board, with a particular focus on closing the achievement gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students.