News from Wheeler

Wheeler’s Sabrina Trocchi, PhD, MPA, president and chief executive officer, talked recently with MetroHartford Alliance about the components of innovative healthcare and Wheeler’s delivery of a broad array of person-centered programs and services to thousands of individuals and families across Connecticut annually.

Donors to Wheeler honored retired President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walkama, LCSW, by contributing more than $38,000 in her name, spurred on by the challenge of an anonymous $25,000 matching gift. The total raised to support the program, between the match and the contributions, exceeds $63,000.

The primary five-story building at Wheeler’s flagship community health center in Hartford will be renamed the Susan Walkama Family Health & Wellness Center this spring, the Board of Trustees announced on October 29.

A matching gift campaign from an anonymous former Wheeler trustee honors retired President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walkama, LCSW, and raises support for Wheeler’s nutrition programming, matching gifts 1:1, up to $25,000 in total.

Sabrina Trocchi, PhD, MPA, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Wheeler Clinic effective November 2, 2019, the Board of Trustees announced today.

Susan Walkama, LCSW, who transformed Wheeler Clinic into a leading statewide provider of integrated health care services, will retire on November 1, 2019, the Wheeler Board of Trustees announced today.

Heidi Joseph, DNP, RN, vice president, Health Center Operations, and other community health center providers, recently were featured in a Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) video highlighting the success of the Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative (TCPI).

Wheeler’s early childhood team recently contributed to CHDI’s June 2019 Impact Report, “Helping Young Children Exposed to Trauma: A Systems Approach to Implementing Trauma-Informed Care.”

Wheeler’s Dr. Michael P. Twist, psychiatric medical director, was featured was part of Access Health CT’s series on health and the LGBTQ community. The series features perspectives on the state of health for the LGBTQ population in Connecticut, available services, barriers to care, and strategies for effectiveness.

Dr. Rebecca Eleck-Bruce, primary care medical director, Wheeler, is among the Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty class this year.

Judith A. Stonger, MA, CPS, vice president of Prevention, Wellness and Recovery, Wheeler Clinic/Connecticut Clearinghouse, will discuss “Addiction and Mental Health Disorders: Why They Often Co-Exist” on July 11 at 6 p.m. in Eno Memorial Hall, 754 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury.

As part of a comprehensive effort to meet the mental health and primary care needs of its youngest patients, Wheeler is implementing HealthySteps, a program of ZERO TO THREE, designed to strengthen parent-child bonds through screening, referral, and treatment.

More than 150 golfers, supporters, volunteers, and friends took part in Wheeler’s 34th Annual Golf Classic presented by Mutual of America at the Country Club of Farmington on June 10—an event that raised nearly $60,000 and crossed the $1.2-million fundraising mark since its inception in 1986.

Keturah Kinch, MPA, director of Health Center Community Engagement for Wheeler Clinic's Family Health & Wellness community health centers in Hartford, Bristol and New Britain, is featured in an Access Health CT social media campaign running this month as part of Mental Health Month.

Yesterday, 12 organizations and individuals were recognized for their outstanding contributions to Wheeler at the organization’s 9th annual Hands & Hearts reception held at the Country Club of Farmington.