Community Care, Inc. 2021 Annual Report Hope Springs Eternal

CCI Employee Excellence Award

Good leaders instill a sense of trust in the people they lead, by providing them with encouragement and support. The mark of a great leader is the ability to help others live up to their highest potential while maintaining a high standard for themselves.

Michele Ellenbecker demonstrates an excellent attitude, work ethic, member service skills along with excellent supervisory skills. She is always there for her employees and is their best cheerleader.

Michele will step in at any given time to help anyone out, regardless of how busy she is. She is always available to consult on cases and gives her honest feedback. She has so much experience in this field that she is able to think outside the box and come up with solutions that many would not think of that lead to member’s needs being met in the most effective and cost-effective ways.

Michele always has a positive attitude and a smile to greet her staff and members alike. As a company, we are very fortunate to have such a hardworking and compassionate supervisor who supports everyone she encounters.

Kathy Kaiser is an outstanding nurse who embodies the team spirit. She has been strong and supportive colleague since starting with Community Care seven years ago, becoming an integral part of the Racine Kenosha Partnership Team.

Kathy offers constructive and valuable feedback, supports her peers, and provided stellar service to her members and she has provided invaluable support throughout the challenges of staffing shortages.

Not only has Kathy maintained a higher workload, but she also takes on additional duties like being a Flu Champ, a Nurse Champion, as well as participating in the Infection Control workgroup.

Leadership seeks her input for program development/changes as Kathy provides professional, comprehensive, and constructive feedback. Kathy has developed strong working relationships both within and outside the organization. Her members, member supports, and providers know they can rely on her to get the work done.

Dmitri Mayer (Clinical and Plan Services Pharmacy Manager)

While Dimitri Mayer might not be new to Community Care, but he is new to the position of clinical and plan services pharmacy manager. He has done an outstanding job of transitioning into this role and keeping the pharmacy services running smoothly, especially after the departure of the pharmacy director.

Dimitri stepped into his role in the middle of budget season, during a CMS audit, and a pharmacy rebate audit. He managed all these projects professionally, with timeliness and efficiency. Dimitri responded to audit requests with remarkable speed, thereby making other team members’ jobs much easier.

Dimitri models excellent customer service when interacting with all internal customers such as members of the finance department, as well as external customers including CMS auditors and our pharmacy benefit manager.

Most importantly, Dimitri is always a pleasure to work with.

The past 18 months have been extremely challenging for Community Care’s IT department. At the beginning of the pandemic, the department confronted many challenges, the most significant of which was equipping employees with the tools that would allow them to work remotely. This was of particular importance for those employees without a home PC.

As a result, over a 3-day period Eric took on the task of imaging more than 100 devices for employees and, with the support of our helpdesk, arranged to get these devices to the employees.

Eric is truly a team player. He has a great amount of respect for the organization and the services we provide to our members. He understands the stress that our staff is under to deliver quality services to our members. As a result, he makes every effort to provide support to our users. He listens to their concerns and makes every attempt to assist and, if necessary, escalate their concerns to management. Eric thinks of creative ways to resolve issues.

Leaders make list of notable minority executives

In 2021, Community Care learned that two members of our executive team – Chief Administrative Officer Sherrice Harrell and Program Officer Kelly Carter – made BizTimes Milwaukee’s list of Notable Minority Executives.

Among the criteria for selection, executives had to hold a senior level role within their organization; show accomplishment in their field, including the ability to effect change; contribute to advancing equality within the workplace; and serve as a role model or mentor.

As part of Community Care’s executive team, Sherrice directs the human resources, marketing and communications, business development, and facilities departments. She joined Community Care in 2008 as an employee relations manager. Sherrice has more than two decades of experience in the field of human resources management, in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Read Sherrice’s story here.

Kelly has been with Community Care since 1999, when she joined the organization as a group home manager. Kelly, a registered nurse, has held roles in both direct care and administration, including positions as a site administrator and public health nurse in the City of Milwaukee Health Department. In her role as program officer, she oversees both our Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and our Partnership program. Read Kelly’s story here.

We are thankful for the work both Sherrice and Kelly have done for Community Care and happy to see that they both received this well-deserved recognition.

community care welcomes new board chair

In 2021, Community Care’s Board of Directors elected a new slate of executive officers, including new Board Chair Lori Stortz. She replaced Mark Thomas who led the board since 2019. Lori joined the Community Care board in 2015. She is currently the Chief Audit Executive for the University of Wisconsin System.

“I am honored to provide my time and talents to such an important and impactful organization. We are blessed with a talented and diverse board and outstanding leadership and staff who are very committed to our mission,” Lori said.

Lori has extensive experience in governance, auditing, accounting, finance, strategy, relationship management and business development. In addition to the Community Care board, Stortz has served on the boards of Commerce State Bank, Children’s Hospital and Health System of Wisconsin, Sojourner Family Peace Center, Tempo Milwaukee and the Public Policy Forum, among others.

“Lori has been a dedicated board member. As board chair, her depth of knowledge and experience will serve the organization and our members well,” CEO Kenneth Munson said. “I know I speak for the entire board when I say that we are extremely grateful for Mark Thomas’ commitment and leadership over the past two years.”

When asked what she hopes to accomplish in her new leadership role, Lori said she would like to work with management to understand how Community Care continues to thrive in its mission, particularly in a post-COVID world. She also plans to continue to engage the board to provide the oversight, strategy and leadership needed and to encourage and support staff to allow them to serve members with compassion and quality care.

“It is a privilege to serve as the board chair. I am proud to continue the great work of the past chairs in leading Community Care forward,” Lori said. “Mark Thomas was a committed and impactful board chair and it has been a seamless transition.”

The other new board officers are Rick Gebhardt, Vice-Chair; Daniel Brophey, CPA, Secretary/Treasurer; and Immediate Past-Chair, Mark Thomas.

Remembering Robert Goldstein

You might not know the name Robert Goldstein, but for more than 20 years he was an important member of the Community Care family. Bob passed away in 2021.

He dedicated his life to serving the nonprofit community, including serving for more than two decades as a member of the Community Care Board of Directors.

Bob joined the board in 1999, serving on several committees, in addition to serving as both Treasurer and Board Chair. He retired from the board in May.

We are extremely grateful for Bob’s valued legal counsel and for his many contributions through the years to the entire Community Care organization. You only had to work with Bob to know that he was a man of intelligence, integrity, and kindness.

“I was put in position both personally and professionally to be able to maintain and improve the quality of life of some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Bob wrote. “For the most part I think I rose to the occasion.”

There is no doubt Bob rose to the occasion. We are better off for having experienced his commitment to serving others.

To honor Bob and recognize his commitment to Community Care, the Board of Directors chose to name the Board Room at our Bishop’s Woods office the “Robert P. Goldstein Room.”

We are all fortunate for having had the chance to serve with him. Community Care has benefitted greatly from his years of service.