Toolkit Biographies

Ann Behrmann, MD, is a general pediatrician for Group Health Cooperative (GHC), a staff model non-profit HMO affiliated with the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, in Madison, Wisconsin. She volunteers in many community initiatives including Wisconsin Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Access Community Health Center. Currently, Dr. Behrmann’s practice is engaged in Medical Home quality improvements as they pilot an electronic emergency care and comprehensive care plan for children and youth with special health care needs, with input from parents, teens with special health care needs, school nurses and pediatric sub specialists at UW.

Amy Bohl, RN, is the mother of three great kids, in Bloomer, Wisconsin. She works full time and enjoys watching her children play sports, fight over who gets the front seat, anticipating which of her children will get the best of her husband, and spending time at home with her family and golden retrievers. She became involved with Medical Home when approached by her son’s pediatrician. Amy has enjoyed helping make changes to the lives of people involved in the complexities of children with special needs, and looks forward to the changes yet to come.

Amy’s son, Andrew, is a 12-year old boy with spina bifida (SB). He was diagnosed with SB at 19 weeks gestation and his parents were told he had a very small chance of survival. Andrew is Trach dependant and fed via g-tube because of the many complications of his birth defect. He has endured 30+ surgeries, and has an incredible knowledge of medicine. Against all odds, Andrew is in regular education, with a few modifications, and is a social butterfly. His personality is inviting and captivating. He has accepted his physical challenges whole-heartedly, and strives to be “just another kid” in the crowd. Andrew enjoys all sports, playing computer and has recently started learning how to play the bass guitar. His sense of humor is amazing, and he will always be ready to add a comical remark to a conversation, or tell a goofy joke to break the ice.

Wynne Cook, CSW, has been the Director of the Western Regional Children with Special Health Care Needs Center since its beginning in 2000. With 34 years of experience as a care coordinator assisting children and families with a comprehensive range of special health care needs, Wynne is committed to helping them identify the best resources to meet their individual needs, as close to home as possible. Helping families to access high quality health care is her mission, with health benefits counseling and advocacy, a core focus of that effort. Wynne has partnered with physicians and health care providers to promote and create a medical home for children in rural western Wisconsin. She is a consulting partner with the Marshfield Medical Home team.

Janice Cooney is a mother of two children from Verona, Wisconsin. Her son Rob, has cerebral palsy. Her daughter Kate is a 6th grader. Janice works as a physician assistant in family medicine and feels passionate about providing family-centered care and access to high quality health care for people with complex and chronic health conditions. Janice has been part of the Family Advisory Group assisting Dr. Behrmann’s team with the development of a Children with Special Health Care Needs Care Plan and Emergency Care Plan for its electronic record system.

Janice’s son Rob, is a junior attending Verona Area High School. He has cerebral palsy due to intracranial hemorrhage, following his premature birth. Rob is a very social teenager who enjoys going to the mall, playing with the family’s new Yellow Lab and going to Very Special Arts.

Patricia Erving is a single parent of four children, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Three of Pat’s children have special health care needs involving medical, educational, and mental health care. Pat is a parent representative on Wisconsin’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau Advisory Committee and the Medical Home Learning Collaborative. “My experience with the Medical Home was like a good book,” says Pat. “The title captures you and once you start to read it, you can’t put it down. The Medical Home is not what all children should have - it’s a must have. It’s the right thing for everyone involved in caring for children.” In addition to caring for her daughter Regina, she has started a parent support group for children and youth with special health care needs, focused on improving respite care in their community. “Our Journey has been long and sometimes hard. As I watch my life unfold, I have a better understanding of why God chose me to be the proud mother of a beautiful daughter without words. I hope I have shared something that can make a difference in the health care profession.”

Pat’s daughter, Regina, has a rare chromosome disorder called Hypomelanosis of Ito. She is transported in a wheelchair. Her cognitive developmental level is eight to ten months and her social skills are ten to fifteen months. She has seizures and this gets her down at times, but Pat uses this time to steal lots of hugs and kisses without resistance. Regina loves to watch Barney, Telly-Tubbies and play with toys that talk and light up with cause and effect. We can’t forget she loves to eat good food. Regina’s personality is like a Lily in the Valley, down through the years there is a pureness about her. She has developed a language with her eyes, smile, touch, body movements and her sensitivity to how other people are feeling. To know her is to love her.

Diane Fett completed undergraduate work at Concordia Teacher’s College, River Forest, IL, majoring in Elementary and Early Childhood Education and was a federal grantee at the University of Illinois at Chicago, completing a Master’s Degree, specializing in Early Intervention of At-Risk Infants. For the past 13 years, Diane has worked for Fond du Lac County as the Birth to Three Program Coordinator and currently serves as the Director of Services for Children with Disabilities. Diane’s responsibilities include oversight of Fond du Lac County’s Birth to Three Program, Family Support Program, Community Options Program, and Children’s Waiver Programs. She is a member of the State of Wisconsin’s Interagency Coordinating Council.

Sharon Fleischfresser, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a pediatrician and medical director of the Wisconsin Program for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) in the Department of Health and Family Services. Her previous experience includes working as the medical director of an inner city community health center that serves predominately Latino and Southeast Asian families and as Maternal Child Health Director of a large urban health department. She co-chairs the Wisconsin Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics (WIAAP) CYSHCN Committee and serves as a collaborator with the federal Maternal Child Health Bureau’s Medical Home State Leadership Initiative. She is a past recipient of the WIAAP Pediatrician of the Year Award for her work related to children with special needs.

Bob Rohloff, MD, is a general pediatrician at Children’s Medical Group,  Southwest Pediatrics, New Berlin, Wisconsin. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from Marquette University. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his internship and residency at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. He began practice in 1984, forming Southwest Pediatrics in partnership with Thomas Dunigan. The practice now consists of one part-time and five full-time pediatricians. Doctor Rohloff is the chief of the Department of Pediatrics at West Allis Memorial Hospital. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Medical Home Collaborative, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a community participant in the Transition Task Force at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and an assistant clinical professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Doctor Rohloff lives in New Berlin, is married to Ann, and has four children (Sean, Andy, Emily and Rob), the youngest of whom is a senior in high school.

Meg Steimle is an outreach specialist with the Southeastern Regional Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Center at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Meg brings 12 years of experience to the job and she is the parent of a child with special needs. Her son Adam has Opitz Trigonocephaly Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects all aspects of his development. With all of those challenges, Adam brings great joy to her life and gives her a great sense of connection with other families. Meg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Cardinal Stritch University and is also a Wisconsin certified massage therapist with nine years experience. Most recently she was a service coordinator with a local Birth to 3 provider. Meg has facilitated several support groups over the years and finds her greatest satisfaction in supporting and empowering families. Meg enjoys time spent with her family and friends, good food and good music.

Marcia Wirt, MD, attended medical school at Rush University in Chicago and completed her pediatric internship, residency and rheumatology fellowship at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. For 10 years in Glendale, California, she had a private practice, where local pediatricians were in abundance, children’s hospitals were close by and insurance and transportation were accessible. For the last 14 years Dr. Wirt has practiced at the Marshfield Clinic in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  In making the transition to a rural practice in northern Wisconsin, Dr. Wirt found the needs and obstacles facing families with children and youth with special health care is much greater. Her interest in care of CYSHCN has grown simply consequent to the needs of her patients in this particular geographic area. She reflects that her most valued teachers have been the patients, their parents and the long-distant sub-specialists through Marshfield Clinic and the three children’s hospitals in the Twin Cities. This has made her current practice both stimulating and rewarding. “I think of my practice not as something so special or different … but rather the kind of medicine we all probably set out to do in the first place,” says Dr. Wirt. “Now, with the recent addition of our pediatric care coordinator, our ability to comprehensively address our patients’ needs beyond what can be achieved by a single practitioner within today’s medical structures, is increasing in an exciting way.”