David Cochran, MD
President and CEO
Before joining VITL in July 2009, Dr. Cochran was the senior vice president for strategic development at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of the leading health plans in the U.S. In that position, he led the company’s business planning and strategy development processes. From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Cochran was the associate medical director for clinical practice systems at Harvard Pilgrim, where he led the effort to select and implement a new clinical information system and electronic medical record. At Harvard Pilgrim, Dr. Cochran also led physician teams in the development and implementation of clinical guidelines, which included automating one of the first health screening guidelines in a health plan. He was directly responsible for the consumer health and provider support components of Harvard Pilgrim’s Internet strategy. From 1986 to 1993, he served as the director of several health centers in the health plan’s Boston-area network, providing 500,000 patient visits a year. Dr. Cochran received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979. He did his internship in Internal Medicine at UC San Francisco Affiliated Hospitals, and his residency in Medicine, Primary Care at UC San Francisco Affiliated Hospitals. He was an Internist at Harvard Community Health Plan in Boston from 1982 to 1997.
Steve Larose
Vice President, External Affairs
Steve joined VITL in Oct. 2006 after a 25-year career in journalism and communications. He has worked for several Vermont media outlets, including WCAX-TV and the Vermont Press Bureau. At Aspen Publishers in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Steve was the managing editor of a group of newsletters for health care professionals. Returning to Vermont in 2002, he was the communications director for the Vermont Medical Society and wrote a national newsletter covering health information technology. Steve earned his BA in mass communication and political science from the University of Vermont, and a MS in business management from the University of Maryland.
Paul Forlenza
Vice President, Policy and Special Projects
Before joining VITL, Paul was an independent consultant in public policy research and advocacy. He represented several Vermont nonprofit organizations on health care reform issues. From 1991 until 2002, Paul was IBM’s government relations director for Latin America, advocating public policy issues to the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Trade Office, and Latin American ministers of finance. He worked as IBM’s advisor to the National Institutes of Health from 1987 until 1991, managing a joint project to use image scanning technology to identify the DNA structure of the HIV virus. He also advised the National Institute of Cancer on the use of supercomputing to determine the DNA structure of proteins. Paul earned a master of science degree in computer science and a B.A. in political science from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.
Rebecca Bowen, MBA, MHA, FHFMA
Vice President, Finance
Before joining VITL in Sept. 2009, Rebecca was the executive director of the Central Vermont Physician-Hospital Organization, Inc., having served in that position since 2000. She was the director of finance for the Kaiser Permanente health plan in Vermont from 1997 to 1999, and the vice president of finance at the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems in Montpelier from 1990 to 1997. Rebecca is a fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and a diplomat in the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is a recipient of HFMA’s Muncie Gold Award, the Reeves Silver Award, and the Follmer Bronze Award. She is the former chair of the HFMA Managed Care Advisory Forum, and the past president of the NH/VT HFMA chapter. Rebecca earned masters degrees in healthcare administration and business administration from Georgia State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Samuel (Sandy) McDowell, Ph.D.
Vice President, Operations
Sandy joined VITL in December 2009. Previously, he was the director for infrastructure at Fletcher Allen Health Care. While at Fletcher Allen he was responsible for the development and implementation of a project management office, and was instrumental in development and implementation of the technical infrastructure for the Epic electronic medical record system. From 1990 to 2000, Sandy was an independent consultant, developing strategic business and technology plans for public and private sector organizations throughout the Northeast. His early career included design and testing of clinical laboratory equipment, and studies of clinical decision systems as well as differential diagnosis using laboratory results. In addition to his current responsibilities at VITL, Sandy teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Vermont in production and operations management. He is a graduate of Middlebury College (B.A. Sociology), the University of Vermont (M.A. Information Systems), and the Polytechnic Institute of New York (Ph.D. Operations Research).
Larry Gilbert
Director of Outreach and Business Development
Larry has owned several businesses including his most recent, Front Door Travel Marketing, a company serving pilots and flight attendants throughout the United States. He served as director of communications for the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, and as a public relations specialist with the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont. The author of a soon-to-be published book on coaching soccer, he also is the editor of a Viking Penguin collection of essays by Vermont writers called Vermont Odysseys. A certified personal fitness trainer, long time ski instructor and coach, Larry is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism.
Carol Kulczyk
Director of Program Implementation
Carol has extensive experience in project management and information technology, having previously worked for Fletcher Allen Health Care as an information technology project manager. She has also worked for General Dynamics as a senior information systems analyst, Ajilon Consulting as an information technology consultant, and Staples.com as an international project manager. Carol is certified by the Project Management Institute as a project management professional (PMP). She earned her BS in marketing and business management from Cornell University.