VPQHC » Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, Inc.

Helen Riehle, Executive Director, is responsible for overall management of the organization. This includes financial management, planning, external relations, and support for the board of directors. While much of her time is spent on administrative matters, she attends most of our clinical study groups and provides guidance to all of our projects. Helen has been employed by VPQ since September 2000. Prior to joining VPQ, she served in the Vermont Legislature for 18 years. She received a BS in Education from the University of Vermont.

W. Cyrus Jordan, MD, MPH, Medical Director, is trained and board certified in pediatrics and family medicine. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College, his medical degree from the University of Connecticut, and a master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to joining VPQ, Dr. Jordan practiced pediatric and family medicine in VT for 10 years. Cy is involved in nearly all of our projects, providing clinical and analytic expertise and serves as an important primary liaison with physicians throughout Vermont and the Dartmouth Hitchcock physician community. He has worked at VPQ since 1992.

Timothy Stickle, PhD, Acting Director of Evaluative Sciences, received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona with a second concentration in Program Evaluation & Research Methodology. He completed his Clinical Psychology Residency at University of Washington School of Medicine. Tim joined VPQ part-time in 2008 and enhances VPQ’s analytic team. In addition to evaluation work with VPQ, Dr. Stickle is Associate Professor of Psychology, Acting Director of Clinical Training, Director of Biostatistics for the Anxiety and Health Research Laboratory, and Director, Developmental Psychopathology Laboratory at University of Vermont. Dr Stickle conducts research in the areas of adult and pediatric mental health, juvenile justice, health, health care, and research methodology. Tim has worked as an evaluator, clinician, and administrator for a variety of organizations including: Health Services Advisory Group; the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; Arizona Governor’s office; Seattle Children’s Home; Comprehensive Mental Health Center; and Louisiana Office of Mental Health.

Patricia Launer, BA, RN, CPHQ, Quality Improvement Advisor, works on numerous projects providing technical assistance, quality improvement coaching and support for external quality improvement efforts with Vermont hospitals, providers and communities. She earned a degree in Nursing from Castleton State College, and an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Vermont. Patty has ten years of nursing experience in acute care facilities centered on pediatric nursing and has worked at VPQ since 2000.

Monica Boyd, MS, Research Analyst, was the lead in producing the 2009 Quality Report, VPQ analytic efforts, and provides technical assistance. Monica joined the VPQ staff in 2005 as the first Research Analyst. Prior to joining VPQ, she worked in state government in the Department of Developmental and Mental Health Services as a senior research and statistics analyst as well as the Department of Aging and Independent Living. Monica earned an undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University in statistics and a master’s degree from the University of Vermont in biostatistics.

Lea Fournier, Business Manager, has provided financial management of the organization and human resource assistance to the staff since 1989. Lea has previously worked for the Arizona Health Sciences Center and the VT Dept. of Health.

Bill Marcinkowski, Information Systems Manager, has been working for VPQ since 2001 serving as network and PC support for staff and is involved with several projects, including the Quality Report. Bill attended the University of New Hampshire where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Communications. His first career was in the broadcast television field where he worked for New Hampshire Public Television in a technical capacity. His career shifted slightly with a position constructing control rooms and classrooms for instructional television. He worked as a site manager for the College for Life Long Learning now Granite State College. He was on-site support for the college computer lab as well as supporting faculty and staff and students in Lebanon. He also worked briefly for Norwich University as Help desk coordinator before coming to VPQ.

Dail Riley, Project Coordinator/Office Manager, provides administrative support and coordination for all of our projects, serves as point person for many of our Collaborative and Learning Forum activities, and maintains the VPQ contact database and office management. Dail previously worked at the Vermont Land Trust for thirteen years, joining VPQ in July 2001.

Linda Schlott, Administrative Assistant, is responsible for planning and scheduling of Board of Directors’ and committee meetings, provides administrative support to the staff as well as final editing for all our publications. She holds a B.A. in Spanish from SUNY Stony Brook. Prior to joining VPQ, Linda worked at McGraw-Hill, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and most recently at Community College of Vermont. She joined the VPQ staff in 2002.

Margaret Caudill-Slosberg, MD, PhD, MPH, Rural Hospital Quality Improvement Specialist, is a board-certified internist and a Diplomate of Pain Medicine. She was a Quality Scholar at the White River Junction VA from 2003-2005. Dr. Caudill-Slosberg joined VPQ part-time in 2007. She provides support and assistance to Critical Access Hospitals in developing a quality network and performing the required annual reviews for CMS conditions of participation. She is currently Instructor of Anesthesiology, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Pain Management Center, Lebanon, NH and Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical and Family Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. She also teaches in the Dartmouth Institute’s MPH program.

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