Connecticut Community Care, Inc. welcomes its new board members and corporators at annual meeting

Online, December 4, 2009 (Newswire.com) - BRISTOL -- Connecticut Community Care, Inc. (CCCI) welcomed new officers and members of its board of directors, and a new class of corporators before an audience of 400 at its annual meeting on October 22 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.

• Maggie Rathier, MD, of Windsor, medical director for Home Based Primary Care for the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Health Care Systems, and assistant professor with the Center on Aging at the UConn Health Center, was elected board of directors chairwoman. Rathier has been a board member since 2002 and has served as its secretary since 2007.

• Dennis E. Keenan of West Hartford, retired executive director of Wheeler Clinic, will continue as board of directors vice chairman.

• Teresa Torrey of Avon, retired vice president of Citigroup Global Investments, was elected as board treasurer.

• Ann McGunnigle of Burlington, senior trust officer and senior vice president of U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, was elected as board secretary.

Heather Gillette of Canton, principal of Gillette Communications; Mary Hess of Canton, formerly with Wheeler Clinic; and Edgar Miranda of Simsbury, vice president of Dental & Vision/Sales & Distribution for CIGNA, joined the board of directors.

In welcoming Dr. Rathier as the new chairwoman, CCCI President Molly Rees Gavin said, "This synergistic relationship between CCCI and the VA bodes well for future collaboration on behalf of Connecticut veterans and their families.

"It has been a difficult and challenging year," Rees Gavin said. "Connecticut's proportion of budget-in-deficit ranks fifth worst of the 50 states, with an anticipated 15 percent co-pay for elders on the state-funded Connecticut Home Care Program (CHCP). This co-pay is likely to affect more than 3,000 CCCI clients, posing a daunting challenge."

Rees Gavin paid tribute to:
• CCCI's staff of 226 for its dedication, hard work and generosity,
• direct service organizations providing home care services to CCCI's 9,300 clients, and
• many other agencies with whom CCCI collaborates.

Outgoing board chairman Steven Wetherell of Middletown, president of Global Help Desk Services, Inc., and outgoing treasurer and chairman of Finance Committee Martin Stauffer of West Hartford were recognized for their strategic thinking, determination, advocacy and inspiration for CCCI to be the best financially and clinically.

Connecticut Community Care, Inc. (CCCI) identifies choices and provides services to help people of all ages, abilities and incomes to live at home. The organization is an access agency to the CT Home Care Program in 124 towns located in the north central, northwest and eastern regions of the state. CCCI's private division, Care Management Associates, serves those who do not qualify for home care programs. Each year, more that 12,000 elders and younger individuals with disabilities and their families are served through CCCI's regional offices located in Wethersfield, Watertown, Franklin, with its administrative office in Bristol.