1. Home
  2. About CVMC
  3. Leadership
  4. CVMC Board of Trustees

CVMC Board of Trustees

The CVMC Board of Trustees is made up of community members who are dedicated to helping our medical center achieve high quality compassionate health care services for our community.

The CVMC Board of Trustees is made up of community members who are nominated and elected to set direction for the organization, making sure that it runs in a financially and ethically responsible way with the focus always on continuous improvement to achieve high quality compassionate health care services for our community. These highly qualified and knowledgeable individuals volunteer their time for the betterment of this organization and the public it serves.

Central Vermont Medical Center is a participant in OneCareVermont, a state-wide accountable care organization (ACO). For more information about OneCareVermont, visit their website at www.onecarevt.org.

Board Meetings

The CVMC Board conducts business in an open, transparent and inclusive manner. Accordingly, our full board meetings, held four times a year, include a public session, in which the public is given an opportunity for comment. Other business that involves confidential or proprietary information is conducted in private session.

Regularly Scheduled 2023 CVMC Board Meetings

Time: 7:30 am - 10:30 am
Location: Virtual Meetings via Zoom (see contact information below for more information)

Wednesday, March 1
Wednesday, June 7
Wednesday, September 6
Wednesday, November 29 (Annual Meeting)

For more information:

For more information about CVMC board meetings, including Zoom links and agendas, please contact the board administrator:

Amelia Gulkis
Network Board Administrator, Executive Office
802-847-8779
Amelia.Gulkis@UVMHealth.org

Our Board Members

Connie Colman, RN, BSN, MEd

Connie Colman, RN, BSN, MEd

Secretary

(retired) Director of Quality Management, Central VT Home Health and Hospice
Town of Residence: Warren, VT

Connie has a strong background in quality analysis and improvement aimed at enhancing health care outcomes and care coordination. In addition to leading quality efforts at the agency and state level, Connie facilitated Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice’s clinical risk management program with focused initiatives in fall reduction, telemonitoring, infection control and regulatory compliance. She has many years of involvement with JCAHO accreditation, and with board and staff strategic planning focused on community needs assessment, resource allocation prioritization, community partnerships/care coordination promotion, and change management planning. Prior to her nursing career she worked at Fletcher Allen Health Care as a medical social worker. 

Ms. Colman serves on the Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice Board and also on the board of Spruce Mountain Inn, a residential and transitional living program for young adults with mental health issues. Ms. Colman chaired The Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, a non-regulatory health care peer review organization designated by the Vermont legislature. She also served on the Mad River Valley Health Center board and chaired The VNAs of Vermont Quality Committee. Connie is a past member of the Vermont Health Care innovation Project’s Performance Measures Work Group, and The Northeast Quality Foundation’s Central Vermont Transitions Work Group. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Creighton University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She and her husband have two grown sons and are longtime residents of Warren, Vermont. 

Sunil "Sunny" Eappen, MD, MBA

Sunil "Sunny" Eappen, MD, MBA

Chief Executive Officer, UVM Health Network
Town of Residence: South Burlington, Vermont

As chief executive officer of the UVM Health Network, Sunny Eappen oversees an integrated rural health network that includes an academic medical center, a children’s hospital, five community hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group, a home health and hospice agency and several skilled nursing facilities. The network serves more than 1 million residents of northern New York and Vermont, employs 15,000 people and has annual operating revenue of $3 billion.  

Dr. Eappen served previously as chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, where he led key initiatives in physician recruitment and retention, medical affairs, patient care and diversity, equity and inclusion. He also served previously as interim CEO of BWH. Dr. Eappen joined BWH in 2018 from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he served as the chief of anesthesiology and the chief medical officer and previously as the medical director of the operating rooms (ORs). In these roles, he managed the medical staff office and the pharmacy, in addition to leading the quality and patient experience programs. 

Sunny earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his doctorate from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and a master’s in business administration from the Yale University School of Management. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at BWH.  

Dr. Eappen is the author of numerous published articles and a national speaker on topics including optimizing OR efficiency, surgical checklist implementation and change management. He also was an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. He serves on the boards of the Matty Eappen Foundation, Controlled Risk Insurance Company Patient Safety Organization of Harvard Medical School and New England Donor Services/New England Organ Bank. 

Thomas J. Golonka, CFA, CFP®

Thomas J. Golonka, CFA, CFP®

Managing Partner, Silverlake Wealth Management
Town of Residence: Montpelier, VT

Thomas Golonka is a managing partner with the investment firm of Silverlake Wealth Management in Williston and Montpelier, Vermont. Prior to joining Silverlake in 2005, Mr. Golonka was with Wachovia Securities Private Client Group for 12 years. Earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, and his master’s of business of adminsitration from Union College, Tom specializes in portfolio management and advanced planning strategies for high net worth individuals and corporations. Tom is a CFA® charterholder as well as a certified financial planner practitioner. He is chair of the Vermont Pension Investment Committee and a past city councilor for Montpelier. Tom resides in Montpelier with his wife, Cyndy Bashara Golonka, and their five children: Chloe, Kelsey, Joshua, Gregory and Kenzie. 

Anna Hankins, MD

Anna Hankins, MD

Medical Director, CVMC Pediatrics; CVMC Medical Staff President-Elect, University of Vermont Health Network - Central Vermont Medical Center
Town of Residence: East Montpelier, VT

Anna Hankins, MD is a pediatrician and medical director at Central Vermont Medical Center Pediatrics in Berlin, VT. She earned her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and competed her internship and residency in pediatrics at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Hankins is board certified by The American Board of Pediatrics. She is president-elect of the Central Vermont Medical Center Medical Staff.

Erica Metzger Hare

Erica Metzger Hare

Chief Financial Officer, Aspire Living & Learning
Town of Residence: Berlin, VT

Erica is the chief financial officer of Aspire Living & Learning, a multi-state human services agency with more than 1,200 employees. A seasoned executive, Erica has broad experience across the healthcare, human services, nonprofit and higher education industries. She was the executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer of the Vermont College of Fine Arts from 2009 to 2019. Prior to that, she held progressive managerial and administrative roles with New York City hospitals, including Columbia University Medical Center, New York University Medical Center and The Mount Sinai Medical Center. She began her career as a management consultant with Accenture.  

Erica is commissioner of the Vermont Commission on Women, co-founder of ElevateHer VT, treasurer of Beth Jacob Synagogue, and she serves on the finance committee of Orchard Velley Waldorf School. She received bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and her master’s in business administration from New York University Stern School of Business.

Joyce Judy

Joyce Judy

Vice Chair

President, Community College of Vermont
Town of Residence: Waterbury, VT

Joyce Judy has been president of Community College of Vermont (CCV) since 2009. A special focus of her work is expanding access to higher education for all Vermonters, from high school students taking college courses to adult students seeking new career opportunities. She has overseen the development of a broad number of workforce education initiatives and has been a statewide leader in increasing the number of students who continue their education after high school. 

By expanding CCV’s relationships with the philanthropic community, Judy has achieved significant growth in private support for CCV initiatives, including several scholarship programs, the Introduction to College and Careers course to improve college-going rates of Vermont high school students, and enhanced services to veterans and military students. 

Judy serves on the New England Board of Higher Education Executive Board, the New England Commission of Higher Education, the Vermont Higher Education Council, the Vermont Business Roundtable, and the College Board Community College Advisory Group. She is a member of the Future of Vermont Action Team, convened to steer the Vermont Council on Rural Development’s Vermont Proposition, which seeks to advance resilience, justice, strong communities, and a sustainable economy.

Toni H. Kaeding

Toni H. Kaeding

(retired) Director – RN to BSN Program, University of Vermont
Town of Residence: Worcester, VT

Toni Kaeding is the retired director of the RN-to-BSN Program at the University of Vermont where she held both faculty and administrative appointments in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences and the UVM Larner School of Medicine. She was founding director of the Freeman Nurse Scholars Program and continued in that role for 11 years. In 2012, Toni received the Founder’s Award by the Vermont Medical Society. 

Toni currently serves as chair of Patient Choices Vermont, an organization working with end-of-life issues, and also chairs the Worcester Planning Commission. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in administration from St. Michael’s College and a master’s degree from the Dartmouth Institute. Toni enjoys cross-country skiing and running and lives at the end of the road with her family in Worcester, Vermont. 

Charles Martel, Jr.

Selectboard Member, Town of Fayston
Town of Residence: Fayston, Vermont

Charles Martel, Jr. is a selectboard member for the town of Fayston, Vermont. He spent nearly two decades on the Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice Board of Directors, serving as the board’s chairman for three years and in various roles across its Personnel, Nominating, Town Funding and Executive Search committees. This experience gave Charles unique insight into the operational challenges of healthcare organizations, from financial issues, staffing shortages, Medicare funding changes, Medicaid payment gaps, and the increase in the cost of doing business. Charles served previously as vice chair of Fayston’s Development Review Board, planning commissioner of the town of Fayston, and secretary and treasurer of the Mad River Valley Planning District. He has a professional background in telecommunications and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine.

Christopher Meriam, MD

Christopher M. Meriam, MD

Medical Director, Central Vermont Orthopedics – Sports, Spine and Podiatry; CVMC Medical Staff President, University of Vermont Health Network - Central Vermont Medical Center
Town of Residence: Barre Town, VT

Dr. Christopher Meriam has been a practicing orthopedic surgeon for 24 years and specializes in arthroscopic procedures of the ankle, elbow, hip, knee, and shoulder; partial, total and minimally invasive joint replacement of the hip; total and minimally invasive joint replacement of the knee; sports medicine; and general orthopedics. He started a private orthopedic practice in central Vermont in January 1999, which grew into the group practice, Green Mountain Orthopedic Surgery, where he functioned as president of corporation for 14 years. He joined Central Vermont Medical Center Orthopedics in 2016 and became medical director in 2017. 

Dr. Meriam received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Brooklyn College. He completed his general surgery residency at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont and orthopedic residency at Fletcher Allen Health Care, followed by fellowship training in orthopedic trauma at the University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine. He is board certified in general orthopedic surgery with a specialty in sports medicine 

Dr. Meriam supports many nonprofit organizations in the central Vermont region.

Joan Marie Misek

Joan Marie Misek

District Director, Vermont Department of Health – Barre
Town of Residence: Marshfield, VT

Joan Marie Misek is the district director for the Vermont Department of Health's Barre District Office. Prior to working in public health, Joan Marie spent two decades providing humanitarian assistance, education, and program management in Latin America, Africa, and rural and urban America, including managing a statewide AmeriCorps program that addressed affordable housing and land conservation issues in Vermont. Along the way, she volunteered and conducted research on fair trade coffee farms to promote increased economic, environmental, and health justice for producer communities within fair and alternative trade models. Ms. Misek received her bachelor’s degree from Norwich University and her master’s in food policy and applied nutrition with a focus on nutrition interventions in public health at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Mary Moulton, MPA

Mary Moulton, MPA

Executive Director, Washington County Mental Health Services
Town of Residence: Moretown, VT

Mary Moulton has served as the executive director of Washington County Mental Health Services since 2013. Ms. Moulton began her career at Washington County Mental Health in 1990 as an emergency services clinician on the mobile crisis team. She became director of intensive care services in 2005 and chief of operations in 2010 when she worked with multiple programs throughout the agency.  

Following the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, Mary was granted a leave by the Board of Directors to serve at the request of the State of Vermont as the deputy commissioner, and then commissioner of the Department of Mental Health. Her primary directive was to work with teams in all designated agencies to implement Act 79, also known as Vermont’s mental health reform act. As part of that reform, Mary was instrumental in developing law enforcement and crisis team training and remains actively involved in the continuing development of Team Two mental health response training today.  

She has also been the coordinator of Vermont’s Behavioral Health Disaster Response Team, training 500 responders and creating a system for behavioral health response in the event of disaster. Mary received her master’s degree in public administration from Norwich University in 2011 and currently resides in Moretown, Vermont.

Lisa Muller

Lisa Muller

Senior Counsel and Corporate Secretary, National Life Group & Sentinel Investments
Town of Residence: Waterbury, VT

Lisa Muller is senior counselor at National Life Group & Sentinel Investments and corporate secretary at National Life Group. She previously served as chief operating officer at Sentinel Investments.

Anna T. Noonan, CVMC President and Chief Operating Officer

Anna Tempesta Noonan

President and Chief Operating Officer, University of Vermont Health Network - Central Vermont Medical Center
Town of Residence: Richmond, VT

Anna Noonan is the president and chief operating officer of the University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center. 

Anna has over 35 years of experience in health care in a variety of administrative and clinical roles in academic and community health care delivery systems. Prior to her role at Central Vermont Medical Center, Anna served as the vice president of the Jeffords Institute for Quality at the University of Vermont Health Network - University of Vermont Medical Center. In that role she led their performance improvement efforts resulting in achieving Vizient-UHC’s “Top Twenty Performance” ranking for six consecutive years in quality, safety and efficiency among 110 academic centers in the U.S. In 2015, she received the “Humanitarian Award” from the National Patient Safety Movement Foundation for her efforts associated with advancing patient safety and reducing preventable patient harm. 

Sandy Rousse, CPA

Sandy Rousse, CPA

President and CEO, Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice (CVHHH)
Town of Residence: Barre, VT

Sandy Rousse has served as president and chief executive officer of Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice since 2012 and holds a lengthy affiliation with the organization through board and management leadership roles.  

She has extensive knowledge of the home health and hospice industries. She has participated in multiple health reform stakeholder workgroups in Vermont and has in-depth knowledge of delivery system and payment reform. She is passionate about community-based healthcare and its role in population health.  

Sandy is a member of the OneCare Vermont Finance and Population Health Strategy Committees and the University of Vermont Health Network Planning, Audit, and Population Health Committees. She is also a member of the Vermont Health Information Exchange Steering Committee and the Barre City Police Advisory Committee. She served on the Health Information Exchange Workgroup of the Vermont Health Innovation Project from 2013 to 2014.  

Sandy is an accountant by trade and is a corporator of Northfield Savings Bank, as well as a member of the Vermont Society of CPAs and the Barre Rotary Club. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Rhode Island and lives in Barre City with her husband and daughter.

Paulette Thabault, DNP, APRN, JD, FAANP

Paulette Thabault, DNP, APRN, JD, FAANP

Board Chair

Director and Professor, Norwich University School of Nursing
Town of Residence: South Burlington, VT

Paulette Thabault is a director and professor at Norwich University’s School of Nursing, and an adult nurse practitioner at Goodhealth, an internal medicine practice within the Community Health Center of Burlington, where she cares for patients with a focus on the treatment of obesity and related chronic diseases. She has lectured in healthcare leadership and policy at the University of Vermont and Northeastern University and has consulted on patient-centered and clinical excellence practice innovations.  

She holds several degrees in nursing, including an associate’s degree from the University of Vermont, a bachelor’s degree from University of Washington, a master’s degree from Simmons College, and a doctorate from Northeastern University; she is also an Integrated Health Coach, certified by Duke Health. She also holds a law degree from New England School of Law and is a Fellow with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.   

She previously practiced at Massachusetts General Hospital and held positions of commissioner and deputy commissioner under Governor Douglas in the State of Vermont, chief nurse practitioner officer for CVS Minute Clinics and director of Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Direct Entry Graduate online programs at Northeastern University. She was past president of Lund, an organization helping families thrive with programs aimed at breaking cycles of poverty, violence and addiction and was past vice president for the Vermont Nurse Practitioner Association and served on the policy and research committees.   

She currently serves on the Vermont Board of Nursing, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse sub-committee and serves on the Board of Directors for Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice. She also volunteers internationally leading nursing and nurse practitioner students on community health care brigades delivering care to refugees in Costa Rica and in the past impoverished villages in Nicaragua. She is a native Vermonter and loves everything outdoors – skiing, hiking, running, biking and also enjoys yoga and quilting.