Connie is also the President/Founder of Partners for Care, http://partnersforcare.org/ an Atlanta-based nonprofit with operations and staff in Kenya. Partners for Care is dedicated to reducing the number of child deaths due to HIV/AIDS, malaria, waterborne illnesses, and malnutrition. Partners for Care is incorporated by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization in Georgia and as a registered non-government organization (NGO) in Kenya.Since it’s founding in… Show more Connie is also the President/Founder of Partners for Care, http://partnersforcare.org/ an Atlanta-based nonprofit with operations and staff in Kenya. Partners for Care is dedicated to reducing the number of child deaths due to HIV/AIDS, malaria, waterborne illnesses, and malnutrition. Partners for Care is incorporated by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization in Georgia and as a registered non-government organization (NGO) in Kenya.Since it’s founding in 2008, Partners for Care Kenya staff have reached over 400,000 people with the message of HIV/AIDS preventions, distributed 20,000 water backpacks, and treated nearly 30,000 people in the Partners for Care clinic and medical camps. Show less

Founded this consulting firm, which has helped hundreds of long term care facilities and thousands of long term care professionals, nationwide, to understand and successfully meet state and federal standards. Using experience gained in developing and implementing innovative regulatory systems for Illinois and Florida, developed new facility assessment protocols and procedures and materials to teach improved care planning and restorative care. Also developed a variety of advanced approaches for… Show more Founded this consulting firm, which has helped hundreds of long term care facilities and thousands of long term care professionals, nationwide, to understand and successfully meet state and federal standards. Using experience gained in developing and implementing innovative regulatory systems for Illinois and Florida, developed new facility assessment protocols and procedures and materials to teach improved care planning and restorative care. Also developed a variety of advanced approaches for streamlining facility management, clinical care practice, quality assurance/continuous quality improvement, and risk management, while enhancing regulatory compliance. Widely recognized as a leader in the effort to make restorative and rehabilitative care a “theory in use” and for contributions to improve the quality of long term care. Show less

Responsible for licensing and certifying twenty-six different types of health care facilities including nursing homes, hospitals, ambulatory care centers, home health agencies, etc. Managed a 12 million dollar budget and a survey staff of over 500. Created a more responsive field operation and improved relationships between the state agency and providers by moving from four offices to 11 more geographically dispersed offices without increasing staff. Conducted, in collaboration with both… Show more Responsible for licensing and certifying twenty-six different types of health care facilities including nursing homes, hospitals, ambulatory care centers, home health agencies, etc. Managed a 12 million dollar budget and a survey staff of over 500. Created a more responsive field operation and improved relationships between the state agency and providers by moving from four offices to 11 more geographically dispersed offices without increasing staff. Conducted, in collaboration with both proprietary and non-profit associations, seminars throughout the state for both providers and surveyors on OBRA regulations, care planning, restorative care, and restraint reduction. During this period, Florida providers reduced restraint use from 47% to 17.5%. Show less

Responsible for inspection of care programs, Medicaid reimbursement and Medicaid certification for 850 nursing homes. Managed a budget of 650 million dollars and a staff of 150 nurses and social workers. Developed one of the country's only case management programs for nursing homes designed to assist facilities in their efforts to improve care and services. Played a major role in the revision of the Quality Incentive Program (QUIP) and successfully secured increased funding for providers from… Show more Responsible for inspection of care programs, Medicaid reimbursement and Medicaid certification for 850 nursing homes. Managed a budget of 650 million dollars and a staff of 150 nurses and social workers. Developed one of the country's only case management programs for nursing homes designed to assist facilities in their efforts to improve care and services. Played a major role in the revision of the Quality Incentive Program (QUIP) and successfully secured increased funding for providers from 1.2 million to 22 million dollars for this program. This program, well- known as the 6-Star Program, won national recognition from other states and also won the Harvard Innovation in Local and State Government Award. Recently, HCFA encouraged other states to implement a quality incentive program like Illinois' QUIP program. Also, redesigned the nursing component of Medicaid reimbursement to pay the provider for implementing effective restorative programs in contrast to other case-mix systems that increase the level of reimbursement as the resident gets "sicker." Show less