The Colorado Trust Names Two New Trustees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Julian Kesner, Director of Communications
303-539-3147; [email protected]

DENVER, COLO.—The Colorado Trust today announced the election to its Board of Trustees of Donald J. Mares, Esq., President and CEO, Mental Health America of Colorado and Warren T. Johnson, MD, Owl Creek Medical. Their five-year terms will begin on January 1, 2013.

Mares and Johnson will fill two vacancies on The Trust’s nine-person board created when the terms of Patricia Baca, EdD and Reginald L. Washington, MD conclude, following 10 years each of exceptional service. Baca is an educational consultant and Washington is Chief Medical Officer of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.

“Donald and Warren bring strong expertise and insightful perspectives on behavioral health, rural health, health systems and health policy, as well as advocacy and education,” said Baca, Chairwoman of the Board of The Colorado Trust. “Their expertise and passion for a healthier Colorado are crucial to achieving The Trust’s vision of achieving access to health for all people in our state. We couldn’t be more thrilled that they will help to lead our work.”

The Colorado Trust is a private grantmaking foundation. When the nonprofit PSL Health Care Corporation was sold to a for-profit organization in 1985, the proceeds of the sale were used to create the state’s first foundation dedicated exclusively to the health of the people of Colorado.

Donald J. Mares, Esq., is President and CEO of Mental Health America of Colorado where he leads statewide efforts to promote mental health and behavioral health services, mitigate the stigma around behavioral health and transform systems of health care. Previously, he was appointed by then-Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to serve as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment where Mares oversaw the divisions of Labor, Employment and Training, Workers’ Compensation, and Oil and Public Safety. Mares’ background also includes serving as special counsel with Fleishman & Shapiro, PC; as auditor for the City and County of Denver; and seven years as a Colorado state senator and representative. The Denver native serves on several boards and has received numerous awards for his work as an elected leader, including the Mental Health Corporation of Denver’s Outstanding Political Figure award and the Colorado Public Health Association’s Award for Legislative Excellence. Mares earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Warren T. Johnson, MD, practices family medicine at Owl Creek Medical in Brighton. Johnson serves infants, children, teens, adults and the elderly. Previously, in Fort Lupton, he served migrant farm workers, rural families and suburban patients at Park Avenue Medical and the Salud Family Health Centers, where he also performed some 100 obstetrical deliveries annually. Johnson’s board and commission involvements include the Migrant Advisory Council of the Colorado Departments for Public Health and Environment, the state and national Board of Medical Examiners and the Board of Directors of the Colorado Physician Health Program. Among his extensive volunteer activities, he has served patients at Denver’s Stout Street Clinic and 9Health Fair, and as medic for the Ride the Rockies bicycle tour. Educated at Wesleyan University and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Johnson completed the family medicine residency program at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut.

Current members of The Colorado Trust’s Board of Trustees are:

• Patricia Baca, EdD – Chairwoman
  Educational Consultant
• Reginald L. Washington, MD – Vice Chairman
  Chief Medical Officer, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children
•  Rev. R.J. Ross – Secretary
  Founder/President, Samaritan Institute
• Jennifer Paquette, CFA – Treasurer
  Chief Investment Officer, Public Employees’ Retirement Association of Colorado
• John P. Hopkins
  President & CEO (retired), Rocky Mountain Health Plans
• Gail S. Schoettler, PhD
  Businesswoman
• Colleen Schwarz, MBA
  Vice President-Sales, Community Reinvestment Fund, USA
• Alan Synn, MD
  President, Vascular Institute of the Rockies
• William Wright, MD
  Executive Medical Director and President, Colorado Permanente Medical Group

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