Management

Mary G. Runge, BSN, MBA

President

Mary Runge joined the Horizon as President in January, 2004. She has a strong background in both hospice nursing and business management and holds both a BSN and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. She came to Horizon from the Visiting Nurse Association of Wisconsin, Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, where she served as Multi-Regional Director of Hospice Services from 1996 to 2004. She has served as Vice President of Home Health Care and Hospice at her last organization, as well as President and Executive Director of the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA)/Community Hospice of the Fox Cities in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she facilitated the affiliation of the VNA with two hospital systems.

Since the late 1970's, Ms. Runge has helped develop community hospice programs, palliative care teams, and in-patient facilities. She was appointed to the Accreditation and Standards Committee of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and she has led local, national, and international efforts to improve quality and access to end-of-life care.

Ms. Runge was instrumental in developing the Center for Hospice Care, an 18-bed residential hospice for both adults and children in Milwaukee. The Center serves as a national model for end-of-life care because of its unique design and a special partnership with Marquette University's Institute for End-of-Life Care Education.

Ms. Runge has been instrumental in defining and expanding the Horizon Palliative Care program. She is also a co-founder of Someone To Trust—a Chicago area coalition working to help people have healthcare conversations with loved ones, and a co-founder of the Greater Illinois Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition.

Joanna L Martin, MD

Medical Director

Joanna L Martin, MD, became the Medical Director at Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care in 2007. Dr. Martin is on staff at St. Joseph Hospital and is board certified in Internal Medicine, Palliative Medicine and Geriatrics.

As Medical Director, Dr. Martin does home visits, supervises physician staff, and oversees the medical treatment of all patients. She also directs the Clinical Education Program, educating medical students, residents, fellows—as well as nursing students and social services interns—about end-of-life care.

After completing her undergraduate studies in history and psychology at Macalester College, Dr. Martin earned her MD at The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago, where she continued and finished a two-year fellowship in geriatrics in 2006.

Dr. Martin has a particular interest in dementia and end-of-life care and the management of pain in the elderly.   Dr. Martin was a guest lecturer at the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's Promoting Excellence Conference in 2006, where she presented on pain and dementia. She is dedicated to teaching health care professionals about hospice and palliative care, and is a certified EPEC (Education on Palliative and End-of-Life Care) trainer.

Licia Chiazim

Vice President of Development

Licia Chiazim became Vice President of Development at Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care in 2007. Previous to becoming Vice President, Ms. Chiazim had served as Development Director of the organization since 1994. Under her leadership, Horizon expanded its outreach and deepened its relationships with Chicago area foundations and major donors, developed program strategy, and developed more sophisticated methods of board member recruitment and retention.

Ms. Chiazim is responsible for securing major funding that has made community outreach to Hispanic and African American communities possible. She also secured funding for American Medical Student Association national training to take place at Horizon.

Before coming to Horizon, Ms. Chiazim served as Income Development Director and Regional Executive Director for the American Cancer Society, the Director of Development for the National Society to Prevent Blindness, and Regional Director of the of the US Committee for UNICEF, among other positions. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska.

Michael T. Kolbuk, CPA, MM

Chief Financial Officer

Michael T. Kolbuk became Chief Financial Officer of Horizon Hospice in 2007. Mr. Kolbuk is responsible for all financial operations, analysis and strategies at Horizon. He also oversees human resources, billing and accounts payable staff. Mr. Kolbuk also offers leadership in information systems at Horizon.

Mr. Kolbuk brings with him financial management experience in a variety of for-profit businesses. He served as Chief Financial Officer at Universal Footcare Products, and in a variety of other financial management capacities at QA Products, Inc., Outboard Marine Corporation, and Union Tank Car Co., among others.

Mr. Kolbuk holds a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois, a Masters in Management from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.

Maryellen McGreevey, MSW, LCSW, ACSW

Director of Patient and Family Services

Maryellen McGreevey has served as Director of Patient and Family Services at Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care since 1999. In addition to her patient care services management responsibilities for the entire organization, Ms. McGreevey is the Director of the newly acquired South Suburban Horizon location. She serves as Horizon's HIPAA Privacy Officer and the Corporate Compliance Officer, and is formerly the chair of the Horizon Ethics Committee. Ms. McGreevey has been instrumental in developing and enhancing Horizon's field work practicum opportunities for graduate students of social work in Metropolitan Chicago. Through this program, Horizon became one of the preferred training sites for graduate schools of social work.

Ms. McGreevey received her Master's in Social Work from Loyola University, Chicago. Before coming to Horizon, Ms. McGreevey worked as the Director of Social Work at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, as well as other Chicago area hospitals. During her career she has also worked in private practice, specializing in individuals, couples and the geriatric population. She has held offices at the state and local level in the Society for Social Work Administrators in Healthcare. She most recently served on the state program planning committee for the introduction of palliative care programs in hospital settings.

John Stys, RN, MS, MA

Director of Clinical Education and Quality Improvement

In his role as Director of Clinical Education and Quality Improvement, John Stys has developed and implemented the Horizon Quality Improvement program. He has served as project leader for the selection and implementation of Horizon's electronic medical records conversion. He is also the chair of the Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care Ethics Committee.

For over a decade Mr. Stys has pursued wide-ranging experiences in health care delivery, research, and analysis. After work as a neurosurgical nurse, he studied at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (formerly CECS) where he worked with other clinician-scholars to conduct research focused on measuring, organizing, and improving health care systems.

Mr. Stys has aided the coordination of both small and large-scale research projects for the VA National Center for PTSD and the New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center. He later attended Loyola University Chicago to study biomedical ethics. During this time he traveled extensively in developing nations to examine the ethical issues of poverty and health care. Mr. Stys' scholarship focuses on social justice, human rights, public health, and bioethics. Recent manuscripts include, "Re-imagining American Bioethics: A Proposal for Change Based on Justice for the Poor" and, "Social Analysis Formation for Nurse Educators."