Our Story
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us more than ever before just how critical local health care and community partnerships are in America. Local leaders stepped up to meet their community’s needs from public health messaging, to mask policies, testing sites, field clinics, vaccine distribution, emergency response and social service coordination. Incredible learnings emerged as did the need for trusted data-led multistakeholder collaboration.
Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
HIEs provide technology for the secure digital exchange of data by medical, behavioral, and social service providers to improve the health of the communities they serve. HIEs can be statewide, regional, and community; government-run, for-profit, and nonprofit; large and small; and hybrids that involve collaborations among diverse organizations.
Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives (RHICs)
A RHIC provides a neutral, trusted mechanism through which the community can plan, facilitate, and coordinate the many different activities required for successful transformation of its health care system. A RHIC does not deliver health care services directly or pay for such services.
Our Team
Lisa Bari, MBA, MPH
Lisa Bari is Civitas Networks for Health’s Chief Executive Officer. Lisa previously served as the CEO of the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative and as the Health IT and Interoperability lead at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Innovation Center, where she led health IT policy for the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model and helped author the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access rule. She is a member of the Board of HealthCare Access Maryland.
Jolie Ritzo, MPH
Jolie Ritzo is Senior Director, Network Engagement at Civitas Networks for Health. Jolie previously served as the Director of Partnerships and Programs at the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) where she led partner relations, membership growth, member programming, and communications.
Jessica Little, MS, RD
Jessica Little is Senior Director, Business Development and Programs at Civitas Networks for Health. Jessica previously served as the Director of Grants and Programs at the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) where she led business development and oversight of multi-region initiatives.
Nadim Choudhury
Nadim Choudhury is the Member Services Associate for Civitas Network for Health. Nadim has over seven years of experience within the non-profit sector. He previously worked for the Space Foundation in various roles. His experience ranges from marketing, customer relations, technical support, data migration, and member services.
Heidi Penix
Heidi Penix has joined Civitas Networks for Health as Grants and Program Manager. Heidi will support multiple programs and projects within Civitas with a focus on grants and contract management.Heidi works closely with Civitas’ funders, members and partners nationwide. She has more than 20 years of experience designing and managing programs, projects and grants for universities and nonprofit organizations. Her experience base includes federal grants facilitation, funding proposal development, implementation design, grants and contract management, research, reporting and project management. Heidi is currently pursuing her MPH at Johns Hopkins University.
Niurka Lluveras-Hernandez
Niurka Lluveras-Hernandez (Nikki) is the Operations Manager for Civitas Network for Health. Nikki has seven years of Operations Management experience in various fields such as health care, local government and most recently non-profits.
Nikki supports the Civitas team in operations, human resources, streamlining and efficiency of processes and various other duties.
Jordan Rowe
Jordan Rowe is an independent communications strategist who serves as social media and content consultant for Civitas Networks for Health. Jordan is responsible for content strategy and amplification across Civitas-owned channels, as well as visual production and voice ownership. Most recently, she consulted with Networks for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) to elevate their pandemic response work across social and digital channels. Jordan’s decade of communications experience includes business-to-consumer public relations, nonprofit social media strategy, and health care communications project management.
Cora Bauman
Cora Bauman is Civitas Networks for Health’s Project Coordinator. Cora has over five years of experience supporting nonprofits and higher education departments in a variety of roles including administration, operational support, and membership liaison. She has worked with The Provision Team for over two years supporting three of the country’s leading health IT industry associations.
Malik Chambers
Malik Chambers is the Communications Specialist for Civitas Network for Health. With a background in historical research, Malik has four years of experience in the business development sector, and three years of experience in community storytelling. He will support the communications and marketing strategy initiatives for Civitas by curating, writing, and editing content through various channels.
Our Board
Melissa Kotrys
Melissa Kotrys is the Chief Executive Officer of Contexture, the umbrella organization of CORHIO and Health Current. Through her vision and leadership as CEO of Health Current, the Arizona health information exchange is recognized as a model for aligning the health care community with the possibilities of connected electronic health information to advance individual and community health and well-being.
Marc H. Bennett
Marc H. Bennett is president and chief executive officer at Comagine Health, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the hard problems in health and health care in communities across the country. As CEO, Marc is responsible for all Comagine Health contracts and activities. Comagine Health’s services include health care quality consulting, data and analytics, health information technology support, research, and care management services for a broad range of public and private sector clients across the U.S.
Ana English
Ana English has served as the CEO and President of the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) since August of 2014 and joined the organization with more than 25 years of health care experience in finance and business operations. Prior to CIVHC, Ana was on the executive management team for the American Medical Association (AMA) and served as the head of the AMA’s for-profit subsidiary, AMAGINE.
Todd Rogow
Leading Healthix as its President and CEO since 2019, Todd Rogow has grown Healthix to be one of the largest and highly regarded publicly funded HIEs in the nation, managing records of more than 20 million individuals, with data coming from 8,000-plus participating health care facilities across New York State.
Angie Bass
As the Executive Vice President of Velatura Health Information Exchange Corporation (VHIEC) and the President and CEO of Midwest Health Connection (MHC), Angie Bass leads the successful development and execution of health information exchanges where she oversees all aspects of strategic initiatives, business development, government relations, and service delivery. Under Angie’s leadership, VHIEC works on consolidation of health information exchanges, community-based organizations, and health information networks that have formally affiliated to achieve national economies of scale yet maintain localized stakeholder alignment.
John Kansky
John Kansky, MSE, MBA, is the President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. During his 12 years at IHIE, John has held roles in Strategy and Planning, Product Management, and Business Development. Prior to joining IHIE, John’s career included experience as a Healthcare IT Consultant with Health Evolutions, CIO of the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (Indiana), Director of Clinical Engineering at the Indiana University Medical Center, and biomedical engineering researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Wade Norwood
Rochester native Wade Norwood has held leadership positions in the community for more than three decades, including roles in public service, education, and health care. In management at Common Ground Health since 2006, Wade has been central to the nonprofit’s strategic planning process, pushing the organization to become a more effective change agent for all Finger Lakes region residents, especially those most at risk.
Cindy Munn
As Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, Cindy Munn oversees the organization’s strategic direction that supports an integrated approach to transforming health care in Louisiana. She has oversight responsibility for initiatives that include health information technology (IT), practice transformation, analytics support, clinical quality improvement, advance care planning, and education/outreach. Cindy directed the state’s regional extension center and the Louisiana Health Information Exchange’s development and implementation. In addition to serving on the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) board, Cindy is the Chair-Elect of the National POLST Plenary Assembly and a member of the National POLST Leadership Council. She is also an Advanced Care Transformation Index Coach for the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care national program.
Dan Paoletti
Dan Paoletti is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio Health Information Partnership. Because of his previous work serving as a Vice President with the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) and Chief Operating Officer of OHA Solutions, a strong partnership with the hospitals and health systems has been at the core of the Partnerships’ success. As one of the founding Executive Board members of the Partnership, Dan has helped shape the vision, mission, and policies of the Partnership since its inception.