Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Welcomes New Members to Board of Directors
September 26, 2024: Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC) announced the appointment of 4 new members to its board of directors:
- Mindy Dame, MS RN (Southwestern Vermont Medical Center)
- Carlie Felion, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, BC-ADM (North Star Health)
- Laura Lober, APRN, FNP-BC (Mountain Valley Health Center)
- Heddy Pomazi, MHCM (Brattleboro Memorial Hospital)
“Southern Vermont AHEC is thrilled to have such a high caliber of health professionals join our board,” said Jennifer Scott, PsyD, ABPP. “Many have deep connections to AHEC and will be instrumental in helping us move our vision and mission forward.”
Meet Our New Board Members:
Mindy Dame, MS, RN, is the Director of Intensive Care and Women’s and Children’s Services at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) in Bennington, Vermont, responsible for the operations and management of a 10 bed ICU that provides critical care to patients with varying diagnoses, and to pediatric, obstetric, and gynecological patients. Her accomplishments include establishing the first Baby Café at SVMC-a free, drop-in, informal breastfeeding support group offering ongoing professional lactation care and intervention. Mindy’s Women’s and Children team, and ICU team, were recipients of the Daisy Award for outstanding clinical excellence and compassionate care delivered by nurses. Mindy is an instructor with Vermont State University and currently enrolled in a doctoral nursing program.
Carlie Felion, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, BC-ADM, is the Community Health Team Lead with North Star Health in Springfield, Vermont and triple-board certified as a family nurse practitioner, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and in advanced diabetes management. Carlie’s impressive academic credentials include a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona, majoring in precision science and minoring in nursing education. Her area of clinical and research interest is healthcare-related psychological trauma. Carlie was the recipient of the prestigious University Fellows Program award, and the Alumni Council Award, and member of the 2020-2022 Arizonia AHEC Scholars Program. Carlie holds a Post-Masters Certificate (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in 2020 from Duke University School of Nursing, an MSN (Family Nurse Practitioner) from Duke University School of Nursing in 2013, BSN in Nursing from Chamberlain College in St. Louis, MO in 2010, where she earned to President’s Honor, and ADN from Vermont Technical College in 2009 graduating Summa Cum Laude. Carlie is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, an international honor society of nurses, and 2014 Vermont Educational Loan Repayment recipient.
Laura Lober, APRN, FNP-BC is a Nurse Practitioner at Mountain Valley Health in Londonderry, Vermont with 25 years of nursing experience. As a board-certified nurse practitioner for the past nine years specializing in family medicine, Laura’s primary focus is to deliver high-quality, patient-centered healthcare. Her philosophy of care is to deliver a comprehensive approach encompassing one’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. A lifelong Vermonter, Laura enjoys hiking, kayaking, gardening, and spending time with her family and friends. Her daughter Emma, a Bellows Falls Union High School graduate, participated in Southern Vermont AHEC’s MedQuest Program in 2018, and is currently pursuing an RN credential. Laura was a Vermont Educational Loan Repayment recipient in 2020 and 2022.
Heddy Pomazi, MHCM, is the Information Services Project Manager at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) in Brattleboro, Vermont. She brings over 10 years’ experience into the realm of hospital and medical practice IT project management. Heddy has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in healthcare management. She also has a radiology clinical background and educated and trained at the Radiology Technical College in Budapest, Hungary as an advanced radiologic technologist. Heddy worked as a staff Radiologic Technologist and PACS Administrator at BMH for many years before joining their Information Technology Department as Radiology Systems Administrator and then took on the role of EMR Clinical Analyst and later became IT Projects Manager. Heddy’s son Oliver participated in both Southern Vermont AHEC’s MedQuest and CSHIP Programs. Her daughter Eve, a dental student at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, is also an alum of the MedQuest and CSHIP Programs. Eve even created a series of children’s oral health videos that are featured during National Dental Health Month in February.
For more information on Southern Vermont AHEC visit www.svtahec.org