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About CTEC eHealth Inventory |
Who We AreChristine Martin, MBA, PMPExecutive DirectorChristine Martin is the executive director of the California Telemedicine & eHealth Center (CTEC). Ms. Martin directs the efforts of CTEC, including working with a variety of organizations statewide toward the development and expansion of telemedicine networks and increased access to health care in rural and underserved areas of the state through the use of eHealth technology. CTEC is also a federally designated Telehealth Regional Resource Center, providing support and technical assistance to agencies developing telemedicine programs, as well as funding to a variety of telemedicine programs through grants from The California Endowment. Ms. Martin has extensive experience in telemedicine and eHealth. She is the founder of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) Telemedicine Services Program, which began providing services in 1997. Serving as the managing director for the program for the past 11 years, Ms. Martin directed the development and expansion of the program, which has become one of the country’s largest telemedicine programs providing more than 70,000 patient services since the program’s inception. She has significant experience in all aspects of planning, developing, operating and evaluating telemedicine programs. Ms. Martin has more than 30 years of experience in health care management and administration, including broad experience in health care policy and program development with CDCR and the then-California Department of Health Services (CDHS). She served as the deputy director for strategic development for the CDCR Health Care Services Division and, in her 15 years with CDCR, was responsible for a variety of critical program developments, including development of the annual inmate tuberculosis testing program. She also served as chief of policy planning for CDHS and the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program. She previously served as deputy director of program operations for the South Carolina Health and Human Services Finance Commission. Outside of government service, Ms. Martin has directed a number of health care research projects and served as the administrator of a local community clinic. Ms. Martin holds a Masters of Business Administration in health services management and a Bachelors of Science in clinical laboratory technology. She is also a certified Project Management Professional. Ms. Martin has prior affiliations with a variety of community organizations, including the Sacramento YWCA, serving on its Board of Directors for more than 10 years and the Board of La Familia Counseling Center for six years. Irene Alvarez, MPHProgram DirectorIrene joined CTEC in 2004 bringing a wealth of public health and health education experience. As the Program Director, Irene is responsible for expanding current CTEC resources, developing new programs to provide technical support, and improving CTEC’s outreach programs. Prior to her role as program director, Irene was the Project Manager for CTEC. As Project Manager, Irene managed the development and monitored the progress of CTEC Telemedicine/eHealth grantees throughout the state. Irene worked closely with each of the grantees to assure that contract deliverables were being met and to promote the overall success of each project by proactively reaching out to grantees with support as required by the uniqueness of each project. Prior to her work at CTEC, Irene served as a health educator for the National Network on Tobacco Prevention and Poverty, a program of the Health Education Council in West Sacramento. While with the Health Education Council Irene participated in engaging key organizations serving low socioeconomic status populations in tobacco control efforts and assisted them with resource developments and assessments, technical assistance, and capacity building. Irene was also responsible for the implementation and evaluation of several community health project initiatives. Prior to that position, Irene worked for two Northern California Kaiser Permanente locations. As a health educator at Kaiser she participated in the assessment, implementation, and evaluation of health education classes and services, including the specialty areas of tobacco cessation, adult and pediatric weight management, chronic conditions, prenatal care, and HIV counseling. Irene brings with her extensive experience and great interest in bridging the public health principals of program planning and evaluation, community organizing, and multicultural communication, with the delivery of health education through Telemedicine and eHealth in effort to better reach the rural and underserved communities. Irene received her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Community Health Education from San Jose State University and her Bachelor of Science in Health Science from California State University Sacramento Amy HamProgram SpecialistPrior to joining CTEC, Amy served as the Director of Women’s Health Programs for the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers. In this role, Amy directed one of eleven Rural/Frontier Women’s Health Coordinating Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Amy also developed the program plan and secured funding from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women for the Domestic Violence Medical Advocacy Program that serves five of Arizona’s rural counties. Amy served on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Rural Health Association and was the co-chair of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence Health Issues Committee. Amy brings with her extensive experience in program management and development, rural healthcare delivery and provider education. Amy is passionate about ensuring access to quality healthcare services for all and sees telemedicine as a critical component to accomplishing this goal. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Arizona University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation. Kelli AllenAdministrative AssistantKelli joined CTEC in 2005 as the Administrative Assistant, where she is primarily responsible for providing administrative support to the CTEC staff. Prior to working with CTEC, Kelli served as an Office Manager for Compass Rose, which is a non-profit organization that provides residential, therapeutic, and educational services to young boys who have suffered abuse and neglect. As the office manager, Kelli was responsible for managing the financial, clerical, and administrative services of the organization. This included overseeing and managing the company/school budget, preparing payroll records/employee paychecks bi-monthly, all human resources duties, and maintained all personnel (employee) records and ensured records met requirements of Community Care Licensing regulations. Kelli received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento. California Health Foundation and Trust The California Health Foundation and Trust (CHFT) is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation established in 1956 to sponsor and support health care scientific research, education, and projects in the field of health care delivery, financing and patient care. The general purposes and powers of the corporation are to encourage investigation, research and discovery and the direct application of that knowledge to the problems and issues of health care delivery and access to health care in California. CHFT currently houses several important endeavors, including CTEC. More information about CHFT can be found here. CHFT 2007 Board of Directors: Officers:
Members:
Ex-Officio Member:
CTEC Advisory Committee The Advisory Committee for the California Telemedicine & eHealth Center (CTEC) serves in an advisory role to provide input to the program direction and priorities of CTEC. Programs and activities under this partnership are meant to be reflective of the diverse population, geography, and other related perspectives and technical expertise of the committee members from all areas of the state. The CTEC Advisory Committee Members are:
Permanent Advisory Committee Members:
Biographies Bridget Cole is the Director of Information Technology and Special Projects for the
Comprehensive Community Health Centers, Inc. (CCHC) of Glendale, California.
CCHC is a group of 4 nonprofit community health centers serving the uninsured,
Medicaid and other community patients in northeast Los Angeles County. Ms. Cole is
leading the CCHC efforts toward implementation of electronic health record systems.
She has a unique combination of education and experience in both healthcare
engineering and public health administration that allows her to focus on improving
access to care through the use of technology. Ms. Cole has more than 17 years of healthcare technology planning and
implementation, regulatory review and project management experience. She has held
operations, consulting, and administrative positions with Blue Cross of California,
healthcare engineering firms, Kaiser Permanente Foundation Hospitals, national
independent service agencies, and divisions of the Hospital Council of Southern
California. Jorge Cuadros, OD is the Director of Informatics Research at the University of California, Berkeley. Starting in 1994, Dr. Cuadros has developed several programs for remote clinical diagnosis and distance learning, including programs in China and Latin America. EyePACS was developed as an open access system for clinical communication in eye care, and has been used for teleconsultations, retinopathy screening, home care, education, digital grand rounds, and research. Dr. Cuadros is a member of DICOM’s working group on data interchange for ophthalmic diagnostic information objects, the de facto international standards organization for eye care imaging. He is also a member of Health Level 7, the American Medical Informatics Association, and the American Telemedicine Association. As past co-chair of Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry’s informatics special interest group, Dr. Cuadros began the development of informatics standards for optometry schools. His doctoral thesis is entitled: “Low Complexity Adaptable Image-Capable Systems for Inter-Clinician Communication”. Current work is supported by CTEC and the California HealthCare Foundation for the development of a state-wide diabetic retinopathy screening program using telemedicine. He is also co-editor of an international collaborative book, “Teleophthalmology” that will be published in February, 2006. Margaret Felts is President of CalCom, which represents the interests of the incumbent local exchange carriers and communications supply companies serving California. Prior to joining CTA in 2002, Ms. Felts served for 20 years as a litigation consultant to private law firms and state agencies on energy and environmental matters. During that period, Ms. Felts served as an expert witness on numerous energy cases before the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on behalf of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates and most recently served as an investigative technical consultant and expert witness to the PUC Legal Office in the investigation into the California energy crisis. Ms. Felts also served as the Division Chief of Environmental Engineering for the Department of Defense and as Deputy Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, in charge of the State’s superfund and emergency response programs. Felts began her career as an engineer with Amoco Oil Company at the Yorktown refinery. Ms. Felts has a B.A. in Organizational Communications (Eckerd College), a. B.S. in Petroleum Engineering (Louisiana Tech University), a Masters in Energy Engineering (LaSalle University) and a JD from the McGeorge School of Law. Dean Germano is the CEO of Shasta Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) based in Redding, California serving 40,000 patients (about one in four residents of Shasta County). Over 90% of those served fall below federal poverty. SCHC is a multi-specialty practice that also includes oral health and mental health services. Mr. Germano came to SCHC in 1992 after having worked in the Canadian health system in the Toronto region working in various teaching and community hospitals. Mr. Germano is interested in how innovative technology and management practices can improve both operational efficiency and quality of care in the health care field. He is very involved in his organization’s process to move to an Electronic Health Record. He is also interested in how telemedicine can open up access to care, particularly for isolated rural communities. He is interested in policy changes to further the application of telemedicine to better serve medically underserved communities. Mr. Germano is a long standing member of the Board of the California Primary Care Association and is a former President of the Board of CPCA. Mr. Germano is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Mr. Germano has a Master’s in Health Sciences (Health Administration) from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Leonard Goldschmidt, MD is the Medical Director for Telemedicine and Medical Informatics at the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. He currently is the Ophthalmology lead for the VA National Teleretinal Diabetic Imaging Project, anticipated to screen 75,000 diabetic patients with digital imaging over the next two years. He has also developed innovative multimedia patient education health kiosks being used within the Department of Veterans Affairs, Kaiser Health System, the Indian Health Service, and community clinics in California. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Trinity College, Dr. Goldschmidt went on to complete his PhD at the University of California, San Diego, in 1981, and he received his medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1986. He returned to the University of California for his residency in the Department of Ophthalmology and was hired as Chief of the Eye Clinic at the Livermore Division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in 1990. He also became Medical Director of Telemedicine and Medical Informatics there in 1997. Paty Gonzalez has been with the California State Rural Health Association (CSRHA) since April of 2002. She is responsible for providing members with up-to-date educational resources and news through CSRHA's Member Updates, the electronic news publication, the Rural Health Advocate and the CSRHA web site. She manages rural health workforce programs and the CSRHA annual conference. Ms. Gonzalez received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. She also holds an Associate of Arts in Paralegal Studies and is a licensed Pharmacy Technician. Ms. Gonzalez was born and raised in rural El Dorado County where she has lived the majority of her life. She is bilingual in Spanish and English. Sunil Joshi is the Director of Product Development and Administration for the State Sponsored Business division of WellPoint, Inc., which has more than 2 million members in Medicaid, SCHIP and other publicly funded programs nationwide. Since 2004, Sunil has been responsible for Telemedicine Programs in California and Georgia, both of which have a focus of increasing access to specialty care in rural areas. Along with Telemedicine, Sunil has responsibility for supporting business development activities and corporate projects such as strategic planning, best practices, and trend management. Sunil is based in Camarillo, California and has more than 15 years of healthcare
industry experience in the areas of Operations, Finance, Network Development, and
Medical Management. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics from University
of California, Los Angeles and a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine
University. Michael Kirkpatrick has 35 years experience in health care administration, developing and directing community-based, not-for profit, primary care delivery systems serving the needs of uninsured and underinsured populations in urban and rural settings. He obtained a BA degree in Political Science followed by a year of graduate school in Business Administration at the University of Alabama before joining the Peace Corps to work in Agricultural Development in the highlands of Guatemala. After completing volunteer service, he directed Latin America Training Programs for incoming Peace Corps volunteers under a contract with the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce, PR, and San Diego State College Foundation. His career in health care began in 1971 in San Jose where he founded the Gardner Neighborhood Health Center. In 1978 he moved to Stockton and became the CEO for a small federally-funded Migrant and Community Health Center program. Under his leadership over the past 29 years, the organization has grown to serve over 36,000 persons annually in San Joaquin, Yolo, Solano and Calaveras Counties. He presently serves as a member of Congressman Cardoza’s District Health Advisory
Committee (San Joaquin Valley), President of Community Clinic Insurance Company,
President of Clinic Mutual Insurance Company, Member of the Executive Committee
and Board of the California Primary Care Association, and Primary Care Clinic
Representative to the State Healthy Families Advisory Board. James Kyle, MD. Dr. Kyle received his B.A. in Religion from Loma Linda University; M. Div. from Andrews Theological Seminary completed the pre-med program at California State University, Los Angeles and Dominguez Hills; and received his M.D. from University of California, Los Angeles. He currently serves as Vice President for Strategic Development, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Margaret Laws directs the Innovations for the Underserved program at the California HealthCare Foundation. In this role she oversees the Foundation’s work to reduce barriers to efficient, affordable care for the underserved. Specific objectives of the program include: encouraging, testing and promoting lower cost models of care, improving the availability of specialty and dental care underserved Californians, promoting policy and operational improvements to increase enrollment and retention in publicly-sponsored insurance programs, and increasing the efficiency of safety net institutions.
Thomas S. Nesbitt, MD, serves as the Executive Associate Dean for Administration and Clinical Outreach and has been with the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine for 17 years. Under the long-term leadership of Dr. Nesbitt, the University of California, Davis, Health System (UCDHS) has developed one of the nation’s leading eHealth programs. In 2000, UCDHS’ eHealth projects, including Telemedicine, Distance Learning, and Applied Medical Informatics, were consolidated into the Center for Health and Technology (CHT). The CHT collaborates with a range of professionals, including physicians, educators, information technology and communications specialists, and scientific engineers and researchers to develop and evaluate information and telecommunications technologies that improve access to high-quality patient care, information resources, and health and medical education opportunities. The Telemedicine Program was founded by Dr. Nesbitt and provides direct clinical care to patients at a distance and includes a variety of telemedicine applications, including video-based consultations, store-and-forward services, emergency room and intensive care unit monitoring, and radiology. The program provides over 80 clinic and hospital sites with access to more than 30 medical specialties. In addition to clinical services, UCDHS established the UCD Telemedicine Learning Center in 1999 and has provided an intensive Telemedicine training programs to over 800 health care professionals, including physicians, clinic coordinators, business executives, and technicians. In addition to his expertise in Telemedicine/eHealth, Dr. Nesbitt is a leading authority on rural health in the United States. As the principal investigator or co-author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on rural health-related issues, Dr. Nesbitt is a nationally recognized expert in these fields. Dr. Nesbitt received his medical degree from the University of California, Davis, completed his residency training through the Spokane Family of Medicine Residency Program, an affiliate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, and obtained his Masters of Public Health degree at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Dr. Nesbitt is currently a tenured Professor at UC Davis’ Department of Family and Community Medicine. Suzanne Ness is a Regional Vice President at the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California. She serves 30 hospitals in an area bounded by Colusa, Plumas and Lake Counties, Nevada, Oregon and the Pacific. Ms. Ness works in close collaboration with organizations which also serve California’s rural hospitals, including the Northern Sierra Rural Health Network, the California State Rural Health Association, and the California Community Colleges’ Regional Health Opportunities Resource Center (RHORC), among others. Most recently, Ms. Ness supported the 40 members of the UC Davis Foundation in their organizational and fundraising efforts, as well as the Vice Chancellor – University Relations in strategic planning and program development for five divisional units. Previously, she was CEO of the California Biomedical Research Association/California Society for Biomedical Research, senior project manager and director of business development for a major land use and environmental firm, director of government and public affairs for the California Postsecondary Education Commission and, prior to that, legislative director of the Washington State Council for Postsecondary Education. Ms. Ness has a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Minnesota, and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. Jose Rodriguez began his tenure as a volunteer with the Council for the Spanish Speaking (El Concilio) in 1988. He quickly proved to be a valuable asset to the organization and became the Executive Director in 1996. Under his direction, the agency has added twelve new programs and expanded services to include offices in Tracy, Manteca and Lodi and most recently in Stanislaus County. In doing so, he has increased the operating budget from $1.5 million to $6.4 million per year. Through Mr. Rodriguez’s efforts, El Concilio now offers services to disadvantaged residents at 10 sites throughout San Joaquin and Stanislaus County. To meet the increasing demands of a growing population, El Concilio has tripled its personnel to nearly 125 employees. Under Mr. Rodriguez’s leadership, the agency has undergone an impressive transformation to become the “New Concilio”. Mr. Rodriguez has been a community activist for the past 16 years. From his humble beginnings working in the agricultural fields in Olive Hurst to today as a reputable Attorney and CEO of a Non Profit organization, Mr. Rodriguez continues his life-long mission to improve opportunities not only for Hispanics, but also for everyone in San Joaquin and Stanislaus County. It is through his leadership that the Council for the Spanish Speaking (El Concilio) continues to make a positive impact. Mr. Rodriguez is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and Humphrey’s Law College. Deborah Schwab, R.N., is Director of Health and Technology at Blue Shield of California Foundation. In this role, Ms. Schwab leads the Foundation’s efforts to improve the quality of patient care through advances in health technology, as well as to experiment, document and propel changes in health care. In addition, she spearheads the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF), a panel of medical professionals that promotes evidence-based medicine by using strict criteria to assess the safety and effectiveness of new medical technologies. Ms. Schwab has worked to improve healthcare delivery, services and products in several different capacities since the 1970s. She has practiced as a nurse practitioner, hospital administrator, healthcare consultant and health plan program director. She worked for Blue Shield of California between 1998 and 2006 in several executive roles, most recently as Director of New Product Development. She also served in a consulting capacity for Tenpo Inc., William M. Mercer, Inc./National Medical Audit and Interpractice Systems. Ms. Schwab holds a BSN from the City University of New York and a Master’s in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. She is a nationally certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and a member of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. She volunteered extensively for the Girl Scouts of San Francisco Bay Area and has served as an elected school board trustee. Hermann Spetzler is the founder of the Northern Rural Roundtable and California State Rural Health Association and a co-founder and past President of the California Primary Care Association. He has served on numerous boards, commissions and healthcare advisory panels that have resulted in better access to primary care for residents of rural America. He is a past President of Humboldt Child Care Council, California Association of Free- Standing Birth Centers, and the Clinic Mutual Insurance Company. Mr. Spetzler is currently President of the CNNC; a network of community clinics
stretching from the Oregon border to the San Francisco Bay area, the President of the
North Coast Clinics Network, and advisory board member of CHIS (California Health
Interview Survey) at UCLA’s Center For Health Policy Research.
In 2002, Mr. Spetzler was recognized by the US House of Representatives, the California
Legislature, and The California Endowment for his outstanding contributions towards
improving the healthcare of all Californians. Herrmann Spetzler is a 30-year resident of Humboldt County. Herrmann began his career as a research engineer at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Throughout his professional life, Herrmann has dedicated himself to planning, empowering, and innovative strategies for increased access to primary healthcare in rural environments. He received his Bachelor of Science from California State University at Los Angeles and his Masters of Arts from Humboldt State University and MIS training from Stanford University. David Sprenger, MD is the Area Medical/ Psychiatric Consultant in the California Area Indian Health Service. He coordinates a number of health and behavioral health projects, including the California Area Indian Health Service Telemedicine Project. He has overseen the expansion of telemedicine services into eight California tribal health programs. Additionally, he is a provider of telepsychiatry services to these sites. Dr. Sprenger is a Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service assigned to the Indian Health Service. One of his areas of interest and expertise is the delivery of community and public health behavioral health services. Working in Indian County for over eight years, Dr. Sprenger has expertise in cross cultural psychiatry, especially with the American Indian population. Dr. Sprenger also has interest and expertise in the application of information technology to the healthcare setting. He is a member of a national IHS behavioral health software development group and is the Chairman of the national IHS Telementalhealth Special Interest Group. Dr. Sprenger has dual Board Certification in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He received an undergraduate degree from UC Davis, and earned his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He has applied his psychiatric training to the provision of specialty mental health services into Tribal communities via the telehealth modality. Peggy Broussard Wheeler serves as Vice President of the Rural Healthcare Center (RHC) at the California Hospital Association (CHA). RHC represents small and rural hospitals and other members of the sponsoring organizations who provide service to rural populations in the State of California and is acknowledged as the primary body for rural healthcare policy on behalf of its members. Ms. Wheeler is responsible for developing, advocating and executing public policies, legislation and regulations on behalf of rural hospitals at the state and national levels. Previously Ms. Wheeler served as the Health Policy Analyst for the California Legislative Rural Caucus. In this capacity, she staffed the 45 legislative-member Rural Caucus by conducting research and providing analyses of relevant issues that affect individuals, families, and communities in rural California. In the course of a diverse 23-year career, Ms. Wheeler has gained a wealth of experience in the implementation and management of health care programs and offers specific expertise in program development and consultation, project and fiscal oversight, research and policy analysis, and program evaluation with demonstrated experience in the legislative arena. Ms. Wheeler holds an MPH degree in Program/Clinic Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis. |