2011-2012 Board Members

President and Membership/Web Page Chair 

Stephanie Franszczak, MEd holds the position of Human Resources Recruitment Generalist at National Jewish Health. She has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare field – specifically in Human Resources, full-cycle recruitment and organizational development.  Stephanie graduated with a Masters Degree in Education from Colorado State University - Denver Center.  Stephanie has worked in both the not for profit and profit arenas where she has developed center-wide training programs, provided full-cycle recruitment and worked with physicians and leaders on their Human Resources needs. 

Stephanie is a native and grew up in Littleton, Colorado.  She and her husband have one dog and three cats.  She enjoys cooking, reading, gardening and spending time with her family.

Vice President

Dorien Rawlinson, B.S.  is a healthcare executive with over 25 years of experience in various aspects of health administration.  Dorien has worked extensively in the life and health insurance field in administration, provider contracting, sales, compliance and product development.  She also served as the Health Policy Analyst to the State of Colorado Commissioner of Insurance where her responsibilities included facilitation of health policy decisions, recommending actions to improve the access and affordability of health care, active participation in the legislative process, development of rules, bulletins and position documents representing the Commissioner. Currently Dorien works at University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she is the Grants and Finance Manager for the Department of Orthopaedics and is responsible for Research Grant applications and award management, Clinical Trial administration, financial management, and human resources.  

Dorien holds a Bachelor's degree in Health Administration/Business Management and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health with an emphasis on Health Policy administration. She and her husband Mark enjoy their surroundings in Perry Park, Colorado, where they share their space with much of Colorado's wildlife. They have two grown sons; one still in college, the other seeking fame and fortune in Vancouver, B.C., after completing a degree in Film Production from the Colorado Film School.

Treasurer

Cynthia Batchelder 

Strategic Planning and Sponsorship

Karen Swiat has led a variety of new business initiatives throughout her career. Currently, she holds the position of Director of Medicare Sales at Rocky Mountain Health Plans. She has been with RMHP since 2002, when she was charged to create a new sales division for a new Medicare product line. She has worked in the Medicare health plan space for 12 years, with her responsibilities spanning sales, marketing and communications, product development, compliance, operations, and government liaison.  Karen has also worked in marketing consulting to Fortune 100 firms for a Virginia-based consulting firm, and has directed the business development and operations of several health care staffing firms. She holds an MBA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. She has also been involved with the Colorado Gerontological Society for nearly 20 years. Karen is pleased to serve CWFHA by working with the Board and our members to increase membership and sponsorship for our vital organization.

Karen enjoys traveling with her husband, tap dancing, theatre and live performance. She also has an energetic Weimaraner who keeps her hiking.  

Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator

Kay Girodo

Newsletter Chair

Lorri Kohle , Manager of Strategic Alliances is a member of Delta Dental of Colorado's sales and marketing department.  She is responsible for creating, leading and managing alliances with Delta Dental's strategic partners.  On day-to-day business, Lorri is responsible for cultivating Delta Dental's alliances and partnerships and developing association strategies.  Prior to joining Delta Dental, Lorri spent nearly 20 years working with the SEGAL company.  She spent the last four years overseeing the health benefits analyst department, handling RFP, renewals, annual projections and reporting.  Lorri lives in Elizabeth with her husband of 24 years.  The couple has two children and enjoys spending time with her family and animals reading and listening to music.  Each winter she heads to the high country for a snowmobiling holiday.  

Program Chair 

Laurie Burnside is the Clinical Research Manager for the Department of Psychiatry  & Behavioral Sciences at The Children’s Hospital.  Her love of research began at the University of Colorado at  Boulder in 1988 and has continued to the present day. She has a Master’s of Science degree in Organization Leadership and is a certified clinical research coordinator. Laurie has been employed at The Children’s Hospital For 12 years and she has 8 years experience in the world of clinical research trials. She developed the research program for the Department of Psychiatry starting in 2002 and has grown this endeavor to include a Summer Research Practicum for undergraduate students interested in continuing on to graduate school. She is the President of the Board of Directors for the Front Range Chapter of Clinical Research Professionals and is proud to serve on the Board for CWFHA.

Laurie was a therapeutic horseback riding instructor for 10 years. She is an avid hockey fan and enjoys traveling, hiking, the performing arts and sushi.

Program Chair

Gerri Morris is a healthcare leader with over twenty years in the healthcare industry.

She currently serves as the Practice Director for Children’s Medical Center where she provides strategic planning and practice management leadership for a busy pediatric practice in the Capital Hill area of Denver. This for-profit practice is a unique medical home to 5000 patients with 20% of the patient population uninsured or on Medicaid; unusual for a “for-profit” organization.

Her history of success includes serving as Chief of Staff at Great-West Healthcare where she worked collaboratively with the division’s most senior executives. Prior to this, Gerri was the VP of Operations and Chief Operating Officer at New West Physicians where she was responsible for the success of 13 primary care physician practices as well as HR and all business office operations.

Gerri seeks out challenges which require exceptional communication skills, the ability to motivate diverse workgroups and the need for her ability to drive ideas to implementation that produce goal-surpassing results.

She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration/Healthcare Administration from California State University – Hayward and Bachelors in Medical Social Work from CSU – Fort Collins, Colorado.

Gerri’s passions include hiking Colorado’s 14ers and traveling abroad. She is an Army “brat” who has lived throughout the United States and graduated from high school in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her travels include excursions to England, France, Italy, Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Iceland. But, time with her husband and two children as well as close friends gives her the greatest enjoyment of all.

Arah Dauer, RHIA is currently with HCA/HealthONE as the Support Services Manager for the corporate record center in Denver. She has worked in health information management for 5 years, and is currently managing an electronic medical record implementation project for surgical patients. She was recently named the Colorado Health Information Management Association’s Rising Star for 2011. She holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Wyoming and a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently studying Information Technology and Health Informatics in her graduate program at Regis University.

Arah has a zeal for volunteerism and is a trained victim’s advocate. She enjoys extreme couponing, spending time with her husband and dogs, travel, museums and mixed-media art.

Student Liasion

Lori Claussen

Past President

Kathy Ryan Morgan, BSBA

Business Manager of the Pediatric Pulmonary Section at The Children's Hospital