It is my honor to serve, and I look forward to
leading efforts that continue contributing to the safety of the consumer and
supporting statewide access to healthcare in Colorado. Many of you know me, as
I joined the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in 2004 as
chief of the Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Section after nearly 30 years
as a practicing paramedic and college educator. I was appointed deputy director
of the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division in 2011, and I
bring more than 38 years of health care experience and policy development at
the local, regional and state level. I will use this experience to best lead
the division during my appointment as interim director.
As such, I am pleased to announce the recent
hire of Ms. Deann Conroy as deputy director of the Residential and Assisted
Living Residences programs. She joins the division from the Department of
Regulatory Agencies where she was the director of five allied health care
program boards. She has significant experience at the local government level as
the Chief Assistant District Attorney for the City and County of Denver, and
she will bring significant public policy development experience to the
division.
To fill the deputy director
role of the Acute, Community and EMTS programs of the division, I have
appointed Ms. Michelle Reese as interim deputy director. She has been with the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment since 2005 and has served
in the capacity of EMTS section chief since 2011. She is a former State
Assistant Attorney General, and she has spent her career involved in health
care policy development and implementation.
To fill the temporarily vacated role of EMTS
section chief, I appointed Ms. Grace Sandeno as interim section chief. She is a
long-time member of the department and, over the last eight years, she has distinguished
herself as Colorado's trauma program manager.
I know organizational changes
resulting in contemporary government support of the more than 2,000 licensed
health care facilities is a challenge, but will result in improved services and
efficiencies to Coloradans. I am committed to continuing and improving the
important work that this division accomplishes in conjunction with our many
health care partners across Colorado. It is truly an honor and privilege to be
a part of this work that helps ensure Colorado’s system of health care serves
as the most effective and efficient safety net as possible.
Thank you, and please contact me or any of our
staff members with questions or concerns. You can find our contact information
on the Internet at www.healthfacilities.info and www.coems.info.
D.
Randy Kuykendall
Interim Division Director
