The Center for Patient Partnerships

Founders and Affiliated Staff

Barbara Bowers

Barbara Bowers is a professor of nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For 15 years she has been involved in research designed to understand the experience of being ill, seeking treatment, and interacting with health care providers and systems from the perspective of the patient and family.

Martha "Meg" Gaines

Martha "Meg" Gaines, founder and director of the Center, was called to advocacy work after her own experience with illness. In 1994, Meg was diagnosed with ovarian cancer which ultimately spread to her liver. In early 1995, a doctor told her to "go home and think about the quality, not the quantity" of her remaining days. Her children were toddlers at the time. But Meg did not go home and die. She went on an odyssey around the United States and found the surgeon who would save her life.

Once she was in remission, Meg returned to her job at the law school and, in 1998, was named Assistant Dean for Student and Academic Affairs. But Meg soon felt called to a new career. Mindful of the role her education and resources played in her survival, Meg decided to commit her professional energies to helping other patients facing life threatening and serious chronic illnesses get the care they need. In September 2000, she and several colleagues founded the Center.

Meg received her undergraduate degree in religion from Vassar College in 1977 and graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1983. Following her graduation, she served as a law clerk in Arizona and as a trial attorney for the Milwaukee office of the State Public Defender. In 1987, she returned to the Remington Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School to teach. She earned her post-graduate Master of Laws degree in 1993 from the University of Wisconsin.

Timothy Harrington

Dr. Harrington is a rheumatologist and a clinical faculty member at UW Medical School. He has administrative and research interests in health care process improvement for arthritis, osteoporosis, and back pain patients. He is an advocate for strengthening patient participation in health care decisions. His clinical improvement work has included leadership positions in the American College of Rheumatology. He has received the Paulding Phelps Award from the College for outstanding contributions to his specialty.

Helene Nelson

In 2003, Governor Jim Doyle appointed Helene Nelson to lead the Department of Health and Family Services. The Department promotes the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin with an array of public health, health care, and social services. Secretary Nelson implements the KidsFirst initiative, oversees the state's health care safety net, and develops ways to make health care more affordable.

Helene Nelson is a seasoned public sector executive. She has served for five governors in various leadership capacities, including Deputy Secretary of the department she now leads.

In addition, she worked for nine years in Dane County government, of which four years was as Director of Human Services. Secretary Nelson constantly draws on her county experience to foster improved working relationships between the state and local government.

Secretary Nelson is a graduate of Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. She and her husband, Jim Arts, reside in Madison.

Linda Reivitz

Linda Reivitz has been involved in health policy for over 30 years. She has served as congressional staff and in a series of state executive positions, including Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services. From 1990-97, she served as Deputy Director of the interdisciplinary Programs in Health Management, a program for graduate students earning degrees in Business, Industrial Engineering, Administrative Medicine, and Public Policy (LaFollette). She currently teaches health policy in the UW Schools of Nursing and Medicine.

Julian C. Schink

Dr. Schink was formerly the Director of Gynecologic Oncology and Professor and Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Schink is the Director of Gynecologic Oncology at at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at North Western University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Schink has recieved of numerous academic awards, and has been twice named one of the Best Doctors in America (Woodward/White) and one of the Best Doctors for Women (1997) by Good Housekeeping Magazine.

Academic Coordinating Committee

Barbara Bowers PhD, Professor of Nursing and Nursing Research

Pascale Carayon PhD, Professor, Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Director of the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement

Betty Chewning PhD, Professor of Pharmacy, Director, Sonderegger Research Center

Walter Dickey JD, Professor of Law

Meg Gaines JD, LLM, Clinical Professor of Law, Director

Diane Lauver PhD, RN, Professor of Nursing

Nadine Nehls PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing

Pilar Ossorio PhD, JD, Assistant Professor of Law and Medical Ethics, appointments in both Law School and the Medical School

Suzanne Pingree PhD, Professor, Agricultural Journalism

Roberta Riportella-Muller PhD, Professor, Consumer Science

Stephanie Robert PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Susan Skochelak MD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Family Medicine

Bruce Wampold PhD, Counseling, Psychology/Education

David Zimmerman PhD, Senior Scientist, Director of the Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis

Want to Help?

As the Center for Patient Partnerships grows, you can help educate, advocate and innovate to make health systems more consumer-centered. Though we do not charge for our advocacy services, we welcome contributions to the Center. Please join the mission by contributing!

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