Board of Directors

Toni Baruti has over 20 years’ experience in healthcare spanning Hospital Systems, Critical Care, Skilled Nursing, Provider Groups, Community Behavioral Health Centers, Commercial and Government Payors with an expertise in Finance and Advanced Analytics. As a Healthcare Consultant, Toni partners with healthcare systems and payors to help transform care and payment models using data and action driven strategies. Toni graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. She lives in Aurora, CO with her husband Abasi and daughter Imani.

Michelle Atlas-Quinn is an attorney at AdvisorLaw, LLC. Michelle works primarily in administrative law, specifically in financial services defense. While she enjoys her work and the challenges and opportunities it affords, she also strives to be involved in local politics and community organizations. Michelle has her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in Philosophy and her J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Michelle enjoys gardening, is a beekeeper, and loves to hike in Colorado with her two Akitas.

Dennard Ellison joined the ENT Clinic at San Luis Valley Health in 2010. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. He later graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1986, followed by an internship in general surgery at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, Fl., and in 1993 completed a residency in otolaryngology at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital/Charles Drew University in Los Angeles, Ca. He did 2 years of research in olfaction &nasal dysfunction as a post-doctoral fellow at University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University. He had dual clinical academic appointments serving as a staff otolaryngologist at the University of California San Diego Medical Center and San Diego VA Medical Center. He began employment for Health Management Associates in 1997 as an otolaryngologist serving their West Virginia affiliate hospital. In 2003 Dr. Ellison was employed by Presbyterian Health System in Albuquerque, NM as a staff otolaryngologist during which he served as both Chief of Otolaryngology (Presbyterian Medical Group) and Chief of Otolaryngology (Presbyterian Hospital). Dr. Ellison has been employed at San Luis Valley Health system in Alamosa, Colorado since 2010 staffing the Department of ENT. He currently serves on the Board of trustees for San Luis Valley Health. He resides in both Alamosa, CO and Monument, CO with wife Paula and three daughters Lauren, Tamia and Alexis. Dr. Ellison has committed 35 years to primarily serving medically underserved communities throughout the nation as a champion in improving accessible quality healthcare in brown communities.

Patrece Hairston Peetz, PsyD Clinical Psychologist & Maternal Wellness Consultant –- is passionate about providing support, clinical tools, and increasing access to emotional wellness services to mothers. Increasing awareness about perinatal mood disorders and the struggles associated with the transition to motherhood is the driving force behind The Authentic Mamas Project. Dr. Hairston Peetz works with women, their partners, support systems, and healthcare providers to ensure that emotional wellness is being prioritized and is an area of focus throughout the perinatal period. Dr. Hairston Peetz is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 10 years of combined clinical and academic experience, public policy experience, and qualitative and quantitative research training. She obtained her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and completed her predoctoral internship at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado – working with families and young children. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus and has obtained certificate training from Postpartum Support International (PSI) in the treatment of Perinatal Mood Disorders. Dr. Hairston Peetz has also held leadership positions in the non-profit and public policy sectors.

Toni Rodgers has been a McDonald’s Owner/Operator since 2004 beginning in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Toni purchased the three Denver Airport Stores in 2015 and currently runs the first and second highest volume McDonald’s airport restaurant in the world. Ms. Rodgers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University in Social Work, an MBA from the University of Detroit in Marketing and Economics and was a University of Detroit Entrepreneurial Institute Fellow. She has worked in various corporations including Comerica Bank and General Motors before pursuing her dream of becoming an entrepreneur. As an operator, she is most proud of being able to increase all store sales that she has owned to record volumes, better-operating stores with much lower than average staff turnover. She is happily married to Benjamin Rodgers with wonderful children (Andre, Nicole, Serena, Kay, Andie, and Damone) and grandchildren to fulfill her life. Toni enjoys traveling, reading poetry, shopping, event planning, decorating, and exercising.

Tara Cleare is a seasoned healthcare attorney with more than two decades of experience both as in-house legal counsel and law firm attorney, serving a wide variety of clients including hospitals, medical groups, and physicians. Tara currently leads the Corporate & Service Line Operations Lane of the Envision Healthcare Legal Team which oversees both facility and vendor contracting for the enterprise.

Before joining Envision, Tara worked for the University of Colorado Health system (“UCHealth”) as one of the senior attorneys for University of Colorado Hospital (“UCH”), part of the academic medical center. Tara served as the legal liaison for the Metro Denver region of UCHealth where she handled a variety of legal matters for multiple hospitals including the opening and legal operations of UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital. Before UCHealth, Tara served as Corporate Counsel at Catholic Health Initiatives with responsibility for CHI’s Tennessee, and Ohio hospital systems, and previously for their Pennsylvania and New Jersey hospital systems. Prior to that, she was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings law firm in Nashville, Tennessee where she started her career as an associate on the health care team in 2001.

Tara received both her law degree and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Tara lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and sons. In non-pandemic years, she enjoys traveling, especially to The Bahamas where she grew up and where her family still resides.