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community advisory
board
clinical consultation services |
345 24TH AVENUE NORTH . SUITE 103 . NASHVILLE TN 37203 PHONE 615.321.9556 . FAX 615.321.9544 |
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Monday - Friday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Phone: 615-321-9556 |
LEADERSHIP
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Drema Mace, MS Chief Executive Officer (Since October 2004)
(From the Dec/Jan Issue of CCC Community Advisory Board Newsletter)
Drema is a native of West Virginia as was Anne Maier, the first ED of the CCC. Drema brings to the clinic nearly 25 years of public health experience. She began her career at the WV Bureau for Public Health working in the pediatric program. She eventually left pediatrics and became the Assistant Director of Statewide Family Planning. In 1994, she gave up her HIV/AIDS community advocacy role in West Virginia to become the WV State AIDS Program Director. It was then that she discovered her ability to make positive changes for individuals living with HIV/AIDS through policy and program development.
Fortunately for Tennessee, Drema decided in 1997 to join the Bureau of Public Health in our state to work with AIDS Support Services where she became actively involved in the state and local Consortium and development of the AIDS Centers of Excellence Project. She later became the Section Chief of the HIV/AIDS/STD Section of the Tennessee Department of Health.
In 2001, Drema made the hard decision to resign her much loved position with the State Department of Health and return to West Virginia to care for her ailing father. During her time in WV, she took a position as the Director of the WV Division of Rural Health. After her father passed away, Drema decided to return to Tennessee and the AIDS Centers of Excellence programming that she was so instrumental in implementing during her tenure with the Department of Health.
As the CEO of the Comprehensive Care Center, Drema brings not only the excitement and energy that is part of her personality, along with the knowledge and skills of her collective experience, but also a deep caring for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Drema became involved in HIV/AIDS work in 1982 on a community level when CDC was still referring to the mystery disease as Gay Related Immune Deficiency (GRID). Her interest was born of her love for her closest friend, Dan, who subsequently died from complications of AIDS in 1986 (before there were tests and treatments available).
When asked what her plans were for moving forward with the Comprehensive Care Center, she said, “I believe in the power of one person to make a difference. I may now be the Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest free standing AIDS clinics in the nation; but I am still one person--just like everyone who reads this article. Individually, we can make a difference; collectively we can make an IMPACT.”
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Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH Chief Medical Officer (Since February 1994)
Stephen Raffanti has devoted his professional career to the study of HIV related issues and the care of HIV infected persons. Dr. Raffanti’s clinical experience in the field of HIV-related medicine dates back to his training in New Jersey where he designed and reported the results of a study evaluating cardiac function in HIV-infected patients (CHEST, 1988). His fellowship in Miami allowed him to evaluate a clinical cohort of patients with the diagnosis of HIV/HTLV infection. In 1991, he reported, along with Dr. Joseph Berger and associates, the first case of HTLV II related neurologic disease in an HIV infected individual (Neurology 1991).
In 1990, Dr. Raffanti was recruited by Vanderbilt to organize healthcare efforts for HIV-infected individuals in middle Tennessee. Dr. Raffanti established the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Metropolitan General Hospital and expanded the HIV clinic at the Health Department. When it became obvious that the existing facilities would not be adequate to provide services to the rapidly growing population of HIV-infected individuals, Dr. Raffanti organized a community wide effort that resulted in the opening of the Comprehensive Care Center in February 1994.
He has also been closely involved in the establishment of the state-wide Centers of Excellence Program, a collaborative effort between the state of Tennessee, managed care organizations of the Tenncare program, HIV care providers and consumers. He has also developed the treatment guidelines for HIV infected individuals covered by Tenncare, Tennessee’s experimental managed care network for Medicaid eligible patients.
In addition, Dr. Raffanti serves as the Project Director for the Tennessee AIDS Education and Training Center--which teaches the specifics of HIV/AIDS patient care to more than 2000 healthcare providers from across the state. He is also a frequent collaborator with top HIV researchers from around the country as well as the Center for AIDS Research at Vanderbilt.
Steve still serves as one of the CCC’s Attending Physicians; and sees about 30 patients daily in the CCC's main clinic as well as satellite clinics in Cookeville and Springfield. Dr. Raffanti continues to be a devoted advocate for HIV patients—personally, professionally, and politically at state and national levels.
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