We make a concerted effort to hire staff from the communities where we are located. They are part of the health solution for the entire community and they provide a voice in insuring that our services are attuned to the needs of our patients.
Our staff are dedicated, passionate people who believe above all in our mission of bringing health care to all. From Denver to New London to Middletown to California, our team works together for a common goal.
Their principles enable us to navigate the complexities of modern healthcare delivery without ever losing sight of the reason for our existence: To make healthcare a fundamental right available to all.
Since 1972, our leaders have been dedicated to bringing our communities the services that they lack. From one dental chair in Middletown to over 200 locations across the state, their passion for service remains strong and is critical to our success.
Mark Masselli is president, CEO, and founder of Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticuts largest provider of medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare for the underserved. A Middletown, Conn. native, Masselli founded CHC in 1972 with a group of community activists. CHC currently provides team-based primary care services to more than 150,000 patients at 200 sites across Connecticut and is an innovator in the delivery of primary care to special populations. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, CHC was called upon by Connecticuts executive branch to build and operate the states largest drive-through mass vaccination sites. Masselli led this historic effort, during which CHC administered more than 500,000 vaccines. In addition, CHC organized hundreds of mobile vaccination clinics, bringing vaccines directly into the most vulnerable communities. Masselli serves as board chair of the National Institute for Medical Assistant Advancement and of the national e-Consult provider ConferMED, is Vice President of the Goodspeed Opera House Board of Trustees, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the national School-based Health Alliance. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Wesleyan University in 2009 for his work in the healthcare field.
Margaret Flinter is Senior Vice President and Clinical Director of the Community Health Center, Inc. and is a family nurse practitioner by profession. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Nursing from the University of Connecticut, her Masters Degree from Yale University, and her doctoral degree at the University of Connecticut. She was the recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship from 2002-2005. In 2021, she was honored with a Yale-Jefferson Award for her steadfast dedication to providing healthcare services for those in need.
Following her graduate training at Yale University, Margaret joined the Community Health Center in 1980 as a National Health Service Corps Scholar and CHCs first nurse practitioner. Since 1987 she has held both clinical and administrative leadership roles in the organization and established the Weitzman Center for Innovation in Community Health and Primary Care as the research and development arm of CHC. She serves as the Director Emeritus of the Weitzman Institute. Margaret is also the founder of Americas first nurse practitioner residency program that operates out of the Community Health Center. It is a national model for nurse practitioner preparation for service in primary care environments. She is the Chair of the Board for the National Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Training Consortium.
Dr. Daren Anderson is a general internist and has worked in safety net practices for his entire career. He is VP/Chief Quality Officer of Community Health Center, Inc., a large, multisite community health center providing primary care to over 145,000 medically underserved patients across Connecticut. Dr. Anderson is also President of the Board of Community eConsult Network (CeCN).
Dr. Anderson was Director of CHCs Weitzman Institute, a research and innovations center dedicated to improving primary care for underserved populations, for eight years. The Weitzman Institute leads a range of initiatives focused on practice transformation and workforce development and has created an eConsult process that is now being used across Connecticut and in ten additional states. In addition, Weitzman researchers are engaged in a range of research projects focused on health disparities, telehealth, and pain and opioid abuse treatment in primary care.
Dr. Anderson obtained his undergraduate degree at Harvard College and his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Dr. Tichianaa Armah, a Bronx, NY native, graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in psychology and received her Medical Degree from the University of Rochester, the home of the Biopsychosocial model of health care. In her final year of residency at the Yale School of Medicine, she was the American Psychiatric Association Minority Fellow while serving as the chief resident of the Hispanic Clinic at the Community Mental Health Center.Dr. Armah isthe Chief Psychiatry Officer at Community Health Center Inc. Sheisdriven to increase accesstoquality mental health care for our most vulnerable populations.To achieve these goalsDr. Armah's mission is twofold: community engagement and training the next generationin the mental health field withan integrated approach in primary care settings. Wellness and mental health in all communities has been an important element of her work since the early years of her training. Concern for particularly disadvantaged communities bearing the greater burden of disease, including African Americans and Latino populations, led her to be one of the early organizers of the Yale School of Medicine Departmentof Psychiatry's Social Justice and Health Equity curriculum.She remains an Assistant Clinical Professor in the department. Beginning inmedical school, she facilitated workshops incorporating physical and mental well-being through approaching lifestyle change, with lectures, exercise, and cooking lessons at a local church for the members.She continues to approach her local communities and patients with herfundamental value of overall well-being as key to mental health,believing strongly that medication alone is rarely the solution. She can frequently be found in schools and churches talking about the mental health field to encourage more underrepresented minorities to enter the field.Her most recent efforts also includesincreasing access to psychiatry through tele-psychiatryservices from experienced mental health professionals.
As Director of Education for the Weitzman Institute, Dr. Ashley is responsible for providing leadership and supporting the growth and development of the Weitzman Institutes diverse educational programs. Dr. Ashley has focused her career on adult education in health and health care, whether in academic or non-profit settings. Her areas of expertise include curriculum design and development, accreditation, faculty development, instructional design, and evaluation. Prior to joining CHC, Dr. Ashley was the Associate Director of Education at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice at Dartmouth College, where she oversaw its MPH, MS, and PhD programs. While at Dartmouth, Dr. Ashley was also the Principal Investigator for a CDC/PEPFAR project in partnership with Boston Universitys School of Public Health, and Muhimbili Universitys School of Public Health (in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) to redesign Muhimbilis public health curriculum and offer faculty development seminars. The goal of this nine-year project was to increase the number of public health workers in the field to address HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.
Prior to joining Dartmouth, Karen served as Director of Education for the Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care, providing continuing education for hospice and end-of-life care providers and volunteers for hospice agencies across North and South Carolina. Before that, she worked with the Northeast Tennessee Area Health Education Center through East Tennessee State University, coordinating continuing education for medical and other health care professionals in 13 counties in Tennessee. Karen completed her EdD in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix, MEd in Health Education from the University of Tennessee, and BS in Health and Sport Science from Wake Forest University.
Lisa Avellino is Chief Information and Technology Officer for CHC. She brings more than 18 years of leadership in the IT field, with 15 of those years at Yale New Haven Health System. At YNHHS, where she served as Director, IT & Communications Operations, she was known for being solution-oriented and building strong teams. Her responsibilities included business app management, informatics, security program development, and Epic production controls.
Lisa began her career on the healthcare side as an EMT and Surgical Technologist, and credits her roots in direct patient care for shaping her view on technology as always patient- and clinician-centric. She holds a Master's degree from Quinnipiac University in Organizational Leadership with a focus in Healthcare Informatics, and has taught graduate level classes on healthcare informatics at Sacred Heart University.
Joseph Blackburn serves as Vice President of Human Resources at Community Health Center, Inc. Joe has more than 15 years of diverse HR experience, most recently as a Human Resources Director at Ridgefields Boehringer Ingelheim. He previously held senior HR roles at Pepsico and General Electric. Joe received a BA in history and an MS in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University, where he played Division I hockey and was named a first team All-American.
Mary Blankson DNP, APRN, FNP-C, FAAN is the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Community Health Center, Inc., overseeing diverse nursing services across the CHC network, including primary care, health care for the homeless, and school based health services. As CNO she ensures the quality and expansion of nursing services, the development of nursing policy, and continuing nurse education. Mary also works collaboratively to ensure Joint Commission and Patient Centered Medical Home compliance throughout CHC.
Building upon her service in various mission organizations, Mary continued to develop her passion for meeting the needs of the underserved by earning her MSN at Yale University in 2005. Mary joined CHC as a family nurse practitioner shortly after graduation. While at CHC, Mary has served as the On-Site Medical Director of the New London County Sites, the Vice President of the Medical Staff, the Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and has served as a preceptor for CHCs Nurse Practitioner Residency Program. She completed her DNP education at Johns Hopkins University in 2015 with her capstone focusing on Increasing Identification and Treatment Referral of Individuals with Hepatitis C (HCV) in the Primary Care Setting Through Clinical Dashboards. Mary is certified and holds professional membership in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She continues to support various quality improvement projects throughout the agency to increase the visibility of nursings contribution to the Medical Home. In 2017, Dr. Blankson was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Quinnipiac University School of Nursing for her contribution to nursing and for helping meet the health care needs of the underserved.
Dr. Jermane Bond is Director of Research at the Weitzman Institute. Dr. Bond comes to the Weitzman Institute with 20 years of research experience as a social epidemiologlist. He is co-founder of Health Equity Analytics Lab (HEAL, LLC) and has recently served as Assistant Research Professor, Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He received his Doctorate in Medical Sociology from Howard University.
Dr. Bond, a public health leader and health equity strategist, has published widely in the areas of maternal and child health disparities, paternal involvement in pregnancy outcomes and mens health. He has served on numerous task forces, editorial and advisory boards, including the Leadership Committee of the Maternal and Child Health Section of the American Public Health Association, the Maternal and Child Health Journal, American Journal of Public Health and the Community Engagement in Genomics Working Group of the Advisory Council for Human Genome Research of the National Institutes of Healths National Human Genomics Research Institute.
Dr. Ho-Choong Chang is the Chief of Pediatrics of Community Health Center, Inc., the states largest Federally Qualified Health center providing care to over 145,000 medically underserved patients, of which approximately one third are children. In this role, Dr. Chang oversees the delivery of high quality, evidence-based health care to our pediatric population. With an emphasis on integrated, team-based care, Dr. Chang collaborates closely with the Chief Medical Officer and the chiefs of Behavioral Health, Dentistry, and Nursing to coordinate multi-disciplinary pediatric focused care. Dr. Chang also serves as the On Site Medical Director of Connecticut Pediatrics @ CHC in Hartford as well as a clinical preceptor in our pediatric APRN residency program.
Dr. Chang earned his undergraduate degree in psychobiology at Yale College. Prior to entering medical school, Dr. Chang served in the first Teach For America corps and taught science to eight graders in Brooklyn, NY, where he was awarded the schools Teacher of the Year Award in his first year. He received his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed his pediatrics residency at the University of Washington, Seattle Childrens Hospital. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Chang has cared for children in a number of roles including pediatric hospitalist, urgent care physician, and primary care provider. He was voted Philadelphia Magazines Top Doctors in Pediatrics in 2018 and 2019. He was also voted Inside New Jersey Magazines, Top Doctors for Childrens Health in 2015 to 2018.
Dr. Veena Channamsetty is the Chief Medical Officer of Community Health Center, Inc. In this role, she is responsible for the clinical leadership of a large staff of medical providers and caregivers for Connecticuts largest Federally Qualified Health Center. She is responsible for the delivery of evidence-based medical standards, the medical staff recruitment and retention, and provider affairs. Dr. Channamsetty oversees the clinical and non-clinical training, orientation, and onboarding for all new CHC medical providers. With the vision of a stable and solid medical staff, Dr. Channamsetty coordinates clinical care with provider professional interests, promoting provider well-being and work-life balance, overseeing clinical and non-clinical affairs of Physicians, APRNs, and Physician Assistants. Dr. Channamsetty is the President of the Medical Staff and the Chair of the Medical Quality Improvement Committee. She is a clinical preceptor for the APRN residency. Dr. Channamsetty works closely with the chiefs of Behavior Health, Dentistry, and Nursing to promote interprofessional and team based care. She is responsible for ensuring Joint Commission and Patient Centered Medical Home compliance throughout CHC.
Nicholas Ciaburri is the Director of Business Intelligence at Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC). He has been with CHC since 2011 and leads a team that has developed a business intelligence dashboard and reporting platform for the organization. The team delivers actionable data to CHCs providers and leadership so that they can efficiently provide the highest quality of care possible. He also provides data to support the organizations quality improvement and research initiatives. He holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Northeastern University.
Alyssa Cunningham is General Counsel for Community Health Center, Inc. In this role, Alyssa counsels CHC on compliance with state and federal health care laws as well as HIPAA information privacy compliance. Alyssa brings nearly 20 years of experience focused on health care, compliance and privacy. Since 2017, she served in several capacities at UConn Health/John Dempsey Hospital, most recently as Assistant Vice President, Healthcare Compliance and Privacy. In this capacity, she oversaw all aspects of UConn Healths HIPAA privacy and compliance programs, and was responsible for privacy and compliance training and education, policies and procedures, and incident management and response.Prior to that, she was an attorney in UConn Healths Office of the General Counsel.
Previously Alyssa was an adjunct professor at Goodwin College in legal and ethical issues in health care, and from 2003-2012 was an associate in the health care department of Wiggin and Dana. She graduated from Skidmore College and the Albany Law School of Union University and is admitted to the bar in New York and Connecticut.
Dr. Damian completed her PhD in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Master's in Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies, Highest Honors. She has worked with several reputable governing bodies, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Health Administration in Washington, DC, International Organization for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as local health departments, on policy and programs relating to improving healthcare access and quality for medically underserved communities. She is an inducted member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society, and has received numerous recognitions in honor of her role as a social change agent, including the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Community Well-Being Warrior Award, and an honorarium from the University of Delaware.
Mary Farnsworth is the Vice President of Corporate, Foundation, and Government Grants at Community Health Center, Inc. In this role, she helps secure funding for critical initiatives and expansions and oversees grant administration.
Mary has focused throughout her career on addressing the multifaceted drivers of racial inequity. She worked for the Furman Center research and policy center for land use, housing, and urban policy, during which time the organization received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. She also worked in former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs office to improve the regulatory environment for small business owners. She consulted for Connecticut Voices for Children, a research and public policy advocacy organization.
Mary earned her Master of Public Administration from New York Universitys Wagner School of Public Service and graduated from Pomona College with a degree in American Studies with a focus on critical race theory, earning the Ada May Fitts Prize for intellectual leadership.
Leslie Gianelli is Vice President of Communications, responsible for promoting CHCs message and brand to a variety of audiences, including media and the public. She manages a wide portfolio of internal and external communications, including messaging, thought leadership, social media, the website, and multi-media assets.
Leslie has deep experience in health care spanning nearly 20 years and several continents. Most recently, she served as Communications Director at AmeriCares, overseeing communications initiatives in the U.S. and globally. In this capacity she promoted the work of AmeriCares Free Clinics in Southern Connecticut and emergency response activities in the U.S., Japan, Haiti, India and several other countries. With the Connecticut Hospital Association, she led industry work groups focused on public relations, fundraising, and issues of concern to patients. Previous work with Jhpiego/Johns Hopkins University and the Global Health Council gave her the opportunity to travel to more than 40 countries and regularly engage with global health experts, advocating for programs addressing maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, cervical cancer, malaria, and other diseases and conditions endemic to the developing world.
Leslie holds a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and is a member of the Connecticut Bar. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College cum laude with a degree in American Studies and received the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Associations Medal of Honor. She is an active volunteer for U.S. Figure Skating as chair of the Domestic Officials Recruitment and Management Committee and as a National Judge and Referee and is a past board member of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
Moreover, Dr. Haddad has taught and lectured at state and national conferences on HIV, Hepatitis C, medication assisted treatment and substance use management, and integrated care. He has published research on the integration of medication assisted treatment such as buprenorphine in community health centers examining both substance use as well as primary care outcomes.
Ms. Harding began her career at CHC as the Director of the Ryan White Program. Since then, she has taken administrative and programmatic responsibility for Healthcare for the Homeless (WYA), Hepatitis C, and TEACHBMT Programs. She was responsible for the development & implementation of CHCs HIV prevention and PrEP programs, providing health care services for vulnerable populations.
Yvette is the Vice President of Community Health Center, Inc.s Eastern Region. Yvette has worked with CHCI for 28 years in a variety of capacities. In her current role, she oversees eight of the fourteen CHCI locations in New Britain, Enfield, Hartford, Middletown, Clinton, Old Saybrook, New London and Groton as well as the School Based Health services across the state.
Yvette has been instrumental in the openings of the CHCI locations in Enfield, Waterbury and Bristol. In the early phases of her career, Yvette worked directly with countless individuals and families providing support to address the social determinants of health and to improve the quality of life for those she worked with.
Committed to the elimination of racial/ethnic health care disparities; Yvette works diligently to ensure that the communitys most vulnerable residents continue to have access to quality medical, dental, mental health and school-based services and that those services are delivered with dignity and respect. Yvette is actively engaged in the communities she serves and is committed to public and civic service in her personal time as well. Yvette currently oversees Community Advisory committees and is the co-chair of the PCMH+ Oversight Committee.
Yvette was a Martin Luther King Scholar at Long Island University and received her Masters Degree in Management from Cambridge College. She has received recognition on the local, state and national level for her work with individuals living with HIV and AIDS. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work within CHCI and in the community at large.
Managing more than 170 programs statewide, Jane enjoys the opportunity this position offers to oversee programs and staff that deliver barrier-free, comprehensive primary, dental and behavioral health care to students in a variety of Connecticut communities.Hylan began her career in the human service field. For more than 20 years, she served as a member of the administrative team for an agency that supports people with developmental and physical disabilities. After completing her Masters degree, Jane served as residential director at a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed adolescents and taught middle school students at risk for failure.
Hylan earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Salem State College in Salem, Mass., and a Masters in public health from Southern Connecticut State University. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist.
Meredith Johnson is the Chief Operating Officer of Community Health Center, Inc. In this role, Meredith directs the overall, system-wide, day-to-day clinical delivery and support functions, leads cross-functional strategic initiatives, and participates in planning for long term growth and stability.
She graduated from Wartburg College summa cum laude with a degree in Business Administration. She completed subsequent masters programs in Business Administration (Iowa State University) and Health Administration (the University of Iowa), receiving five named scholarships for academic achievement. She is trained as a Practical Process Facilitator and achieved her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Dr. Kearney earned his BA with a combined major in Psychology and Spanish Literature at Yale University and pursued graduate work at Fuller Theological Seminary where he earned his MA (Theology) from the Graduate School of Theology and his Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) from the Graduate School of Psychology. He has also completed the post graduate Primary Care Behavioral Health training program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester. He is a licensed psychologist in Connecticut.
He joined the Community Health Center behavioral health staff in 1998. He is the author of Caring for Sexually Abused Children: A Handbook for Families and Churches (Intervarsity Press, 2001). In addition to administrative and clinical leadership of the Behavioral Health programs at CHC, Dr. Kearney supervises and trains postdoctoral psychology residents, co-leads psychotherapy groups with students and younger staff to train them in the provision of child group therapy, and provides direct client care with the clinical focus of providing care to children and adolescents and their families, especially those impacted by medical illness, trauma, and abuse.
Mark brings an exceptional range of experience to CHC. He served as a corporate officer and Big 4 Audit and Information Technology Consulting Partner, with nearly 15 years as a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He has extensive start-up and public company experience across a diverse group of industry sectors. Among his health care clients at PwC were Hartford Hospital, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, Baystate Health Systems, Masonic Home and Hospital, and Yale-New Haven Medical Center. He led PwC's Hartford area not-for-profit Best Practices Benchmarking Practice, where he focused on collecting and sharing efficient and effective policies and procedures over financial ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) configuration, logical security and computer operation.
Mark is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Finance MBA, and one of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA's) original Certified Information Technology Professionals (CITP).He has specialized in corporate transformation, transaction services, and corporate governance & regulation.
From a family spanning multiple generations in Hartford, Mark is an active community volunteer. He has been an avid coach and mentor for the Hartford-based Social Enterprise Trust (reSET), where he has helped promote the success of many historically underutilized businesses. He remains the long-standing Commodore and member of the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit Quonochontaug Yacht Club.
Karoline Oliveira, Ed.D, is the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Community Health Center, Inc. Prior to joining CHC, she served as Interim Executive Director, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Special Advisor to the President, at Life University in Georgia, where she successfully developed and advanced the universitys DEI strategic agenda. Previously, she was Interim Director of the Multicultural Center at the University of Rhode Island, from which she received her B.S. and M.S. Karoline received her Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Johnson & Wales University. She brings to CHC more than 15 years of experience in driving innovation and furthering the vision and mission of organizations through diversity enhancement initiatives.
Mike was Director of Facilities for Lawrence & Memorial Hospital and Westerly Hospital within the Yale-New Haven Health system. There he managed a staff of 48 and directed all aspects of facilities planning, operations and compliance and provided oversight of utilities, engineering and safety services. His YNHH colleagues noted that he is a goal-oriented team builder.
Mike has also worked as Director of Facilities and Engineering at St. Marys Hospital in Waterbury and held the same position at Johnson Memorial Medical Center in Stafford Springs. At Johnson Memorial he was promoted to director based on his leadership responding to a generator failure and patient evacuation during Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Michael Rohde joined the Community Health Center, Inc. in 2011 after serving 40 years in Executive Management positions in non-profit agencies serving children and families. Mikes role with CHC is to engage with community providers to improve health care access to community resources, assist with CHC events and activities, help to develop robust site Advisory Councils, and assist with service expansion.
Mike Rohdes leadership in the field of child welfare included tenures as President of the Connecticut Child Caring Association; Chairman of the Connecticut Association of Non-Profits; Chairman of the Connecticut Association of Human Services, and Vice Chair of the Connecticut Commission on Children. As a community leader, Rohde provided leadership for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life; Meriden Puerto Rican Festival; Dr. Martin Luther King Scholarship Breakfast, Meriden Black Expo; Project Graduation, and the Meriden Farmers Market.
In 1989, Rohde was elected to the Meriden City Council serving 18 years before being elected for three terms as Mayor of Meriden. Mike played a key role in the Flood Control Project, the downtown redevelopment effort, and the establishment of the Linear Trails.
Most recently, Mr. Shaplen served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Skid Row Housing Trust, one of the nations largest developers of housing and providers of services to the homeless. Prior to Skid Row Housing Trust, Mr. Shaplen was Chief Executive Officer of Inspirica, Inc., one of New Englands largest providers of housing and wrap-around services for the homeless, including families and disengaged children. Prior to Inspirica, Mr. Shaplen was a senior executive at Project Renewal, a leading developer and provider of services to the homeless in New York City, where he led the organizations employment and workforce development programs.
In addition to the above, from 1995 to 1999, Mr. Shaplen served in an appointed diplomatic role as an international negotiator, working to freeze North Koreas nuclear program. In this capacity he negotiated international agreements with North Korea and participated in more than 30 rounds of international negotiations in North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and China. He also served as press spokesman for the diplomatic initiative and its liaison to the U.S. Congress.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Mr. Shaplen was born and raised in Asia and returned there to live/work twice as an adult. He has also lived in Israel. His commitment to social justice, equity and inclusion to which he has devoted much of his career is the result of this experience and his extensive travel (75+ countries). He was a Thomas J. Watson Fellow in Malaysia and Israel and a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines. His work has appeared in various publications, including Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Newsweek, and on foreignaffairs.org (partial list). He serves or has served on several not-for-profit Boards and Advisory Councils, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mette Smith is the Vice President of Practice Administration at Community Health Center. In this role, she is responsible for all aspects of practice operations in support of the strategic mission, including excellence in service delivery, patient experience and access. Mette leads cross-functional teams to improve practice performance across all of CHCs health center locations.
Mette has years of experience in healthcare system operations, process improvement, project management, training, employer services, quality and acquisitions. Prior to joining CHC, Mette was Director of Process Improvement and Operations at PhysicianOne Urgent Care, where she was responsible for the integration and management of PhysicianOnes partnerships with Yale New Haven Health System and Tufts Medical Center. She also led the acquisition of 7 new locations. Prior to joining PhysicianOne, Mette was the Process Improvement Coach at ProHealth Physicians where she created and delivered workflows that resulted in high quality, efficient, patient and family-centered care.
Mette earned her Master of Management, Strategy and Leadership from Michigan State University and graduated from Albertus Magnus College summa cum laude with a degree in Business Management. She is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Amy Taylor is the Vice President of the Community Health Center, Inc.s Western Region, which includes mobile, school based and fixed sites in Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury, Meriden, Bristol and Waterbury. Amy joined CHC in 2011 because of her belief in promoting the health and wellness of all people, including those typically marginalized and disenfranchised from health care. At CHC, Amy has been actively involved in the daily operations of the practices, with a focus on making improvements in workflows and processes to enhance patient experience and improve health outcomes. Amy also serves as PI on the All of Us Research Program, which is a National Institutes for Health initiative that seeks to accelerate health research by collecting multiple data points from one million people living in the United States, creating the largest health data resource ever.
Amy is the Director of Client Relations for CeCN, the Community eConsult Network, a fully owned subsidiary of CHCI. In this capacity, Amy works with partners across the country to implement and sustain their utilization of asynchronous electronic consult services, eConsults. eConsults provide a link between specialty medicine and primary care, which allows for the transfer of knowledge from a specialist to the PCP and results in increased patient satisfaction, improved clinical outcomes, and lower cost of care.
Recognizing that the social determinants of health play a significant role in the wellness of a community, Amy is engaged with many local and regional associations that aim to improve the social and economic conditions of the cities within the Western Region. She leads Community Advisory Councils in each site in the region and is the co-chairperson for the Oversight Committee for the PCMH+ Initiative at CHCI. Amy graduated from Bowdoin College as a James Bowdoin Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa and earned her master's degree in organizational leadership from the University of Denver. She is a George Washington University Geiger Gibson Capstone Fellow and a Dartmouth-trained Microsystems coach.
Thomas Faulkner is the CEO of NIMAA. She brings a strong record of organizational leadership, management and development to the role, along with a deep commitment to and passion for working alongside underserved communities. Thomas Faulkner was previously the Chief Strategy Officer for Denver's La Clinica Tepeyac, Inc. Prior to her work at La Clinica Tepeyac, Thomas Faulkner spent more than a decade with John Snow International (JSI), where she developed projects related to the health care safety net, access to care and capacity building. Previous to JSI, she held leadership positions with the Colorado Community Health Network and has worked extensively within and on issues of importance to the Latino community. She holds an MA in International Development from American University and a BA from the University of Colorado.
Sheela Tummala, DDS, MPH is the Chief Dental Officer for the Community Health Center, Inc.Prior to joining CHC in 2006,Dr. Tummala worked as a general dentist at Meri Care Dental in Meriden and also served as an onsite dental director since 2006. Dr. Tummala also worked in her own private practice in Woodbury until 2015.
In her role at CHC, Dr. Tummala treats patients, supervises staff, and maintains the goals and needs of the staff. Dr. Tummala also serves as the Dental Quality Improvement Chairman for CHC, where she is responsible for conducting meetings, writing policies, maintaining quality improvement, and assessing the needs for quality improvement from the patient and staff perspective.
Dr. Tummala has served on a number of committees such as the Electronic Dental Records Committee where she was responsible for the creation of templates in open dental and consent forms. Dr. Tummala, who has a passion for research, was involved in the research studySide effects of Triazolam in Children published in American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry 21:1, 1999. She is also involved in organizing many events such as the Mission of Mercy events at CHC.
Matt Vinikas is a seasoned health care executive and current Chief Operating Officer for ConferMED.He has been a leader of innovative health initiatives since his graduation from Wesleyan University.In the early 1970s, he was an organizer of the Community Health Center, Inc., now one of the largest FQHCs in the country.After leaving CHCI in 1977, Mr. Vinikas moved to West Virginia to organize rural health delivery and financing systems, including serving as Executive Director of the Associated Clinics of Appalachia, a 7-state coalition of non-profit primary care organizations and managed care entities.
He moved to Boston in 1986, helping to organize the Neighborhood Health Plan as its second employee and Chief Operating Officer.NHP was a non-profit collaborative effort of the Community Health Centers in Massachusetts, and one of the countrys first Medicaid managed care plans.He led the effort to replicate the model, working with the primary care association of Rhode Island to organize the Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island.
Mr. Vinikas is a co-founder of Core Health, Inc. which provided technical and executive support to non-profit and government entities in multiple states in support of primary care centers and efforts to bring managed care services to Medicaid populations.Along with other Core Health principles, Mr. Vinikas was co-founder of Senior Whole Health, Inc., one of the first managed care plans to provide care solely to the dually eligible population.Senior Whole Health was recognized in 2008 by Inc. Magazine as the countrys fastest growing company.
Before returning full time to CHCI and ConferMED in 2017, he served as an FQHC site director, worked to organize development of a non-profit dual eligible plan in Illinois and consulted on Medicaid ACO development with both managed care and provider entities.Mr. Vinikas currently resides in Boulder, CO and works primarily from the Denver, CO Weitzman Institute office.
Gary Wallace is Director of Community Engagement and Relations at Community Health Center, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for leading CHCs statewide strategic plan for building healthier communities and addressing health equity through strong and responsive local, regional and statewide partnerships.
Gary has deep roots in the community.His civic involvement extends to many state and national organizations, including service on the boards of directors of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Middlesex Health, the North End Action Team, Gilead Community Services, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. He has served on advisory committees at CHC, Wesleyan, and Middlesex Community College. He mentors youth through the Middlesex Chamber, is active in the Middletown PBA Pipes and Drums, and is a member of American Legion Post 75. Gary has been recognized for outstanding community service by numerous organizations, including the Mayors office, Middletown Public Schools, the CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence, CT Sexual Assault Crisis Services, and 100 Men of Color.
Dr. Welt is the CEO & Clinical Director of the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut (CGC) and joined Community Health Center Inc.s leadership team when CGC became an affiliate in January 2020. She continues to provide administrative and clinical leadership to CGCs programs that provide mental and behavioral health services to children, adolescents and families in Lower Fairfield County. Dr. Welt is also a clinical supervisor in the APA Accredited pre-doctoral psychology internship program, specializing in training interns and staff in risk assessment and crisis management, grief, trauma-informed care and group psychotherapy.
For over 15 years, Dr. Welts career has focused on crisis intervention and the treatment of trauma, beginning as FEMA Crisis Counselor in New Jersey providing in-home therapy for children and families impacted by the events at the World Trade Center on 9/11. She has since been trained in several trauma specific evidenced based models of treatment, including Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC). Prior to her work with CGC, Dr. Welt worked as a staff psychologist in a variety of clinical settings, including hospitals, school based mental health and college counseling centers, and in private practice, conducting diagnostic assessments and providing psychotherapy to children, adolescents and adults with a wide range of mental health problems and families experiencing significant challenges.
Dr. Welt graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. in Child Development and earned her doctoral degree from The Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She is a licensed psychologist in Connecticut and New York.
The majority of our Board of Directors have been CHC patients, so their leadership reflects the interests, issues and concerns of the people in the counties, cities, towns and communities they represent. Direct experience with our programs is a founding principle of the Health Center.
We believe your health is about more than fixing a problem. A lot of times, people only go see a doctor when theyre sick or hurt. But if you only see a doctor at the urgent care center or the emergency room, you are missing a huge part of your health needs.
Primary care providers are health care providers who provide care for you when you are well and when you are sick, managing most chronic illnesses and preventing illness.They take care of your health care needs over time and coordinate your care when you need additional services beyond primary care. Primary care providers at CHC are physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. But there is a whole team here to help: behavioral health, nursing, dental, pharmacy, medical assistants and a whole lot of other people. Were here to help!
Primary care focuses on prevention. We want to keep you healthy and out of the emergency room. We want to help you manage chronic illnesses, make good nutrition choices, and lead a healthy lifestyle. This is accomplished through routine check-ups and additional visits/referrals to specialists when necessary.
Family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, and womens health are at the core of primary care. But many of our sites also offer HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, podiatry, nutrition counseling, addiction management, prenatal services, breastfeeding support, diabetes education, case management, and more.
Our clinical facilities are designed to make that happen. Our teams sit in pods, that typically include a PCP, medical assistant, nurse, and behavioral health specialist. This enables better communication among all members of the team, making it easier for them to take care of you!