VNA HEALTH CARE - Key Persons
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Vice President of Facilities & Office Operations
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- 1st Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
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- Chairman of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President of Clinical Services at the Bolingbrook Health Center
Claire Dobbins joined VNA in 2012 as Associate Vice President of Clinical Services at the Bolingbrook Health Center. In 2013, she was promoted to Vice President of Clinical Services/Chief Clinical Officer. Claire is responsible for all medical, nursing, and other direct health services, across the organization and at all locations.
Claire has more than 25 years of experience in health care management. Prior to joining VNA, Claire was Director of Disease Prevention at Kane County Health Department, responsible for the planning, directing, and performance management of all operations of the Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Sections, including all emergency response activities. Claire currently serves on the Northern Illinois University School of Nursing Advisory Board. She has served as adjunct faculty in the nursing program at Aurora University, University of Illinois Chicago, and Northern Illinois University.
Claire earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and a master's degree in nursing from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Claire is a board-certified Nurse Executive through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
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- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Medical Director ( Central & South Locations and Obstetrics )
Fadel Azer, MD, FACOG joined VNA in 2010 and is a Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist who also serves as VNA Medical Director of Central and Southern Locations and Obstetrics across all VNA Health Center locations. He was awarded the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Cairo School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt.
Dr. Azer reports to the Chief Clinical Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day supervision for family practice, OB/GYN, and pediatric physicians and nurse practitioners at VNA Health Center sites in Aurora, Bolingbrook, Romeoville and Joliet. In collaboration with the VP of Provider Relations, Dr. Azer is responsible for overseeing selection, training, orientation and disciplining of provider staff. Dr. Azer provides supervision and peer review for VNA Health Center providers including holding regular staff meetings, individual review/discussion of productivity reports on a monthly basis, new employee and annual written provider evaluations including clinical observation, individual coaching, and disciplinary action, if needed. Dr. Azer participates in Quality Improvement and Medical Risk Management and audits provider charts on a regular basis for accuracy and appropriate patient assessment and initiation of appropriate treatment and follow-up as indicated.
Dr. Azer holds his Master of General Surgery credential from the University of Cairo School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt. Dr. Azer's residencies were in Surgical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute, University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt; and Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Azer is a fluent Arabic speaker.
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Controller
- Director of Accounting Operations
- in 2009 As a Staff Accountant
Jill Stevens joined VNA in 2009 as a staff accountant. In 2012 Jill was promoted to Director of Accounting Operations and served over 8 years in this role before being promoted to Controller in November of 2020.
Jill is responsible for training and oversight of VNA's Finance Department which includes Federal, State and Foundation grant management, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll. Activities include monthly preparation and presentation of financial statement and balance sheets; grant budget preparation, management and reporting and compliance with general accounting principles.
Jill was a former board member of The Batavia Mother's Club Foundation. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from North Central College.
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- in 2015 As Vice President of Provider Relations
- Vice President of Administrative Operations
Jim Hojnacki joined VNA in 2015 as Vice President of Provider Relations. He is responsible for overseeing day to day operations for a staff of more than 60 physicians and nurse practitioners at VNA's ten clinics. In this role, Jim works to ensure patients have an excellent experience at the VNA while receiving outstanding quality of care. Additionally, Jim is responsible for the coordination and management of VNA's participation with CMS Meaningful Use. This program is designed to improve quality, safety, efficiency, privacy, security and care coordination through the use of electronic health record technology.
Jim has more than 18 years of experience in senior level management, with over ten years in the healthcare field. He has held leadership positions at Vanguard Medical Group, Northern Trust Company, and Hewitt Associates, LLC. Most recently, Jim held the positon of Regional Director of Occupational Health Services for both Presence Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and Presence Saint Joseph Hospital in Elgin. Additionally, Jim had administrative responsibility for the inpatient and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapies at Presence Mercy Medical Center. His accomplishments included working with some of the largest companies in the Fox Valley community to help keep their workforce healthy by providing both preventative and urgent care services. Companies included: City of Aurora, Caterpillar, Hollywood Casino, School District 131, Fox Valley Park District and School District U-46.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance with an accounting minor from DePaul University, Chicago, IL. He has been active the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Elgin Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Valley Industrial Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Associate Vice President of Quality Improvement, Risk Management & Corporate Compliance
- in 2012 As a Staff Nurse
Jordan Scofield joined VNA in 2012 as a Staff Nurse and later served as Director of Clinical Operations where she provided oversight of the Clinic Managers, Registered Nurses, and Certified Nursing Assistants. In 2020 she was promoted to her current role and serves on VNA's Senior Leadership team.
Jordan is responsible for the planning, development, implementation, direction and evaluation of quality management and education activities and processes that take place throughout the organization. Additionally, Jordan leads organizational risk management activities that assist in minimizing the risk of errors, accidents, fraud and other adverse incidents while maximizing patient care quality and employee safety. Jordan serves as VNA's Compliance Officer, Risk Manager, and Privacy Officer.
Working closely with the Quality Improvement team, Jordan chairs VNA's Quality Management Committee and Policy Committee. She also supervises and directs the activity of other staff performing quality management, compliance, risk, and education functions. Jordan also collaborates with legal counsel in an effort to understand and minimize general liability and risk to the organization. She oversees and facilitates proper claims management processes, compliance with FTCA requirements and leads the organization in the evaluation and adherence to State and federal regulations and accreditation requirements.
Jordan is a Mitchell Hamline School of Law J.D. candidate and is working towards earning both the Health Law Certificate, as well as the Health Law Compliance Certificate from the Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Northern Illinois University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Treasurer of the Board of Directors
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- Vice President of Marketing & Communications
- in 2022 As the Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Laura Peterson joined VNA in 2022 as the Vice President of Marketing & Communications. Laura has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and communications. Prior to joining VNA, Laura consulted on projects with well known healthcare institutions, including HIMSS, University of Chicago Medicine, and Mercy Hospital & Medical Center.
Laura's primary responsibility is to lead VNA's Marketing and Communications team. She oversees all areas of the organization's marketing operations, including the budget, strategy, design, and implementation. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism specializing in advertising with a creative writing minor from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Elgin Advisory Board
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- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President
Linnea Windel has served as VNA Health Care's President & CEO since 1999. She led the transformation of the organization into a diversified community health network serving suburban Chicago with comprehensive primary care, home-based nursing and medical services and a variety of wellness and public health programs.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Chairman of the Board of Directors
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- 2nd Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
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- Vice President of Development & Innovation
Sonny de Rama rejoined VNA Health Care in 2020 in the newly created position of Vice President of Development and Innovation. Sonny brings 24 years of leadership and strategic planning experience in the healthcare field, including earlier employment at VNA leading business development and home based services initiatives. He has held senior management positions at WeCare tlc, United HealthCare, PrimeSource Healthcare, Olympia Dental & Vision, and Delta Dental Plan of Illinois. Most recently, Sonny served as Vice President of Business Development at Alegis Care (A Cigna Company). He holds a bachelor of business administration with a focus on marketing from Loyola University.
Sonny is responsible for driving organizational growth, development of innovative services and approaches to care with oversight of programs, staff and strategies to improve the overall health of the vulnerable populations VNA serves. Sonny also manages relationships with health systems and health plans.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Revenue Cycle & Collection Management
Tammy Spooner joined VNA in 1989 from a prior position in banking. During her tenure, her responsibilities have evolved and expanded, including serving as Business Office Manager with responsibilities for the supervision of payroll, accounts payable and billing. Tammy was promoted to Director of Clinic Support Services and later served as Associate Vice President of Clinic Support Services where she provided leadership over VNA's registration and medical records functions.
In her role as Vice President of Revenue Cycle and Collection Management, Tammy continues to provide leadership to VNA's Billing and Medical Records Departments and, in addition supervises all activities associated with Provider Enrollment and the coordination of the Health Plans contracted with VNA.
Tammy is a life-long resident of Aurora and raised her family within this community. She has served as past Treasurer and President of the Parent Teacher Association at Hall Elementary School and as President of Herget Middle School. Tammy has also served on School District 129 Superintendent's Community Advisory Council.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President of Employee Services
Theresa Powell Williams has over two decades of experience working in Human Resource Management and joined VNA in 2011 as an Employee Services Generalist until her promotion to the role of Director of Employee Services. She was promoted to her current role as Associate Vice President of Employee Services in 2020.
Theresa is responsible for the training and oversight of VNA's Employee Services Department. Activities include Employee Relations; talent acquisition, orientation, recognition and retention; management of FMLA, ADA compliance and COBRA administration; Short and Long Term Disability and personnel Leaves of Absence; Worker's Compensation; development of policies and procedures, training modules and employee handbook; Payroll and Employee Benefits negotiation and management.
Prior to joining VNA, Theresa served as a Human Resources Lead Specialist for Hallmark Services Corporation (HCSC/Blue Cross Blue Shield). She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the American Society for Training and Development.