Advocate for elder care, smart business practices

GENERATIONAL ADVOCATE: Joan L. Kwiatkowski is the CEO of two nonprofits that support care for elders in institutional and home environments, and in both cases she continues to expand the offerings being provided. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON
GENERATIONAL ADVOCATE: Joan L. Kwiatkowski is the CEO of two nonprofits that support care for elders in institutional and home environments, and in both cases she continues to expand the offerings being provided. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON

Today, nursing home residents in Rhode Island are getting their teeth cleaned and cavities filled without ever leaving the facility, and they have Joan L. Kwiatkowski to thank.
Kwiatkowski is CEO of CareLink Inc., a Rhode Island nonprofit that develops and manages health care programs for nursing homes, assisted-living centers and home health care agencies. A few years ago, she learned some nursing home residents skipped seeing dentists even sometimes while suffering toothaches because they found it too difficult to get to a clinic. In response, Kwiatkowski teamed up with Delta Dental to launch a mobile dental clinic that travels the state. Patients need not even leave their beds; the equipment is wheeled into their rooms.
Last year the mobile clinic dubbed WisdomTooth provided services to more than 6,000 elders at 52 different Ocean State facilities.
“Joan understood firsthand the prolific unmet need for adequate dental care among low-income seniors and worked diligently to create a new mobile dental team,” said Beth Ann Marootian, director of business development at Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. “The WisdomTooth program not only delivers comprehensive dental care, but creates for seniors improved quality of life, enhanced nutritional status and overall wellness.”
WisdomTooth is typical of the innovative programs developed by CareLink. Since 1997, the nonprofit has helped its members now numbering 38 facilities with everything from low-cost group purchasing to at-home physical-therapy programs. Kwiatkowski has been the chief executive for the past 15 years.
“My mother died of cancer when I was about 12, and our experience with health care then was not positive,” she said when asked to explain her career choice. “I chose to work in human services because I wanted to help people, and then I gravitated toward health care. Later I realized I made the choice because of the experience with my mother … I want to know that somehow I have made a small difference.”
Kwiatkowski was born in Rhode Island, but left the state when she was young and only returned 15 years ago. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston College and a master’s degree in social work from Boston University. She also earned a certificate for advanced graduate studies in nonprofit administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business
She began her career as a health care administrator working at psychiatric facilities in Massachusetts and Virginia. In 1988, she took a job as administrator of geriatric services with Northeast Health Systems in Beverly, Mass., a first step toward what she does today. Then came two years of employment at Lifespan, the Rhode Island health system, where she was senior executive in charge of geriatrics. By 1999 she was at CareLink.
Along the way she also has lectured at Tufts University School of Medicine and Boston University School of Social Work. In addition, she has been a consultant to a half dozen hospitals around New England.
While serving as CareLink CEO, Kwiatkowski helped launch a second nonprofit, Rhode Island’s PACE, an acronym that stands for Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly.
The program provides medical care, physical rehabilitation therapy, nutritional counseling, transportation, day care support and other services to elderly persons living in their own homes or with relatives. Some clients go to a center most days; others receive their services at home. “Our work allows these people to stay in the community as long as they choose or as long as it’s safe,” said Kwiatkowski, who is CEO of the new nonprofit as well.
The PACE program was first developed in San Francisco in the 1970s, and is now used in 31 states.Today 285 elderly Rhode Islanders participate. The state now has two PACE sites – a third is expected to open in northern Rhode Island in 2015.
Elena Nicolella, director of policy and innovation at the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, calls the success of PACE in Rhode Island “a testament to Joan’s clear vision of a truly person-centered health care system and her ability to implement that vision.”
Kwiatkowski’s achievements with CareLink have been equally impressive. The organization saves its members a collective $1 million a year through smart purchasing, sharing resources and volume contracting. And since she took over as CEO, membership has increased fivefold.
Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency, partnered with CareLink to set up the community-based Care Transitions Program, which tests innovative methods for helping hospital patients return to their homes, assisted-living centers, or nursing home facilities.
“CareLink is all about new ideas.” Kwiatkowski said. “It’s a pilot program we’ll participate in for three years. The goal is to help people leaving the hospital understand their plan of care, to encourage them to be able to manage their own health care.”
“The fact that CMS chose CareLink as its only Rhode Island partner to participate in this program is a testament to Joan’s leadership and commitment to improving the care of our state’s more frail seniors,” added Phillip G. Clark, professor and director of the program on gerontology at the University of Rhode Island.
Executives at CareLink praise Kwiatkowski’s performance. “Joan is both a visionary and an implementer,” said Steven Horowitz, president of St. Elizabeth Community, a long-term care agency in East Greenwich. “I know it’s a cliché to say someone does the work of five, but in her case, it’s true. She has built CareLink into what it is today.”
The CEO herself credits her colleagues for making the nonprofit’s initiatives succeed. “We have a very large staff I have the pleasure of overseeing,” she said. Even with her busy work schedule, Kwiatkowski finds time for volunteer service as well. She’s active with several professional organizations, serving on the board of the Alliance for Better Long Term Care and as chair of the National PACE Association.
She is also passionate about helping young people enter the social service field. For the past three years she has been part of the Rhode Island Foundation’s mentoring program, which matches executives with young people who are planning careers with nonprofit groups. And she serves on the board of Young Voices, a Rhode Island organization that teaches high school students to become advocates. Back in her own office, she hires two summer interns each year.
She lives in Barrington with her husband, Michael Tauber, an attorney with Hinckley Allen. They have two children: son Ben, 17, and daughter Rachel, 22. The family circle also includes her mother-in-law. “We’re living the long-term care experience,” Kwiatkowski said.

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