PUTNAM— Renee M. Smith, RN, MSN and executive director of In-Home Care at Day Kimball Healthcare, has been elected to the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home (CAHCH) Board of Directors. CAHCH represents all in-home care providers in Connecticut, including skilled home healthcare, hospice, and private-duty agencies.

The Board oversees the many committees and activities of CAHCH that work to shape the future of in-home healthcare services in the state of Connecticut. These committees develop best practices for providers of skilled and un-skilled home care agencies by developing policies, providing education, and providing legislative and regulatory advocacy for in-home care providers. Smith will join the Board and begin her two-year term in January 2017.

There are currently 17 members on the Board, including home health agency leaders and industry financial and quality experts, including Qualidigm, Connecticut’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization. 

Openings on the Board are announced to all CAHCH members, and nominations are received and voted on by Board members. Smith was nominated by Jennifer LeDuc, Quality & Reimbursement Manager at Day Kimball HomeCare and Hospice, and will serve as the only member elected for the upcoming term representing Windham County.

“I felt compelled to nominate Renee because I know she is such a strong advocate for in-home healthcare services here at Day Kimball. She has worked incredibly hard and helped our agency accomplish monumental changes over the past two years. I felt that she would be just as passionate about making sure the voices of in-home care patients and providers here in our Northeast Corner are heard. There is so much change, happening at lightning speed, in home health and hospice care. I know Renee has the knowledge and the passion to keep us moving forward,” LeDuc said.

When asked about having been selected as a Board member, Smith said, “I believe I was chosen for the Board of Directors because of the strong commitment and enthusiasm I have for home care as an integral part of our current healthcare system. My ongoing passion and sense of excitement is at the heart of the decision I have made to remain in home care for nearly my entire professional career. I am very excited and truly honored to have been nominated and selected by my peers for this Board. I will actively contribute and provide guidance to CAHCH, advocate for the value of homecare, and represent Day Kimball Healthcare and northeastern Connecticut at the federal and state level. I am looking forward to being a loud voice for the value of the work that we at do at Day Kimball In-Home Care,” said Smith.

In her role as Executive Director of In-Home Care at Day Kimball Healthcare, Smith oversees the non-profit health system’s HomeCare, HomeMakers and Hospice and Palliative Care divisions, which provide both medically and non-medically based home care services for the residents of northeastern Connecticut.