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Cathy Romeo, Cultural Competency Program Manager
Cathy Romeo, Cultural Competency Program manager for VNA Care Network & Hospice, has extensive experience in community education and prevention programs and providing services to diverse communities. A certified cultural competency trainer, Cathy leads workshops based on the award-winning curriculum, Communicating Across Boundaries, recommended for replication by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Cathy has trained over 2,500 health care and human service providers, educators and community residents in this innovative approach to improving cross-cultural understanding and effectiveness.
Cathy's background includes national public speaking, program administration, education, and counseling. She won several national awards as director of the federally funded pilot Catch the Hope Program, providing perinatal health services, education, and case management to culturally diverse pregnant and postpartum inmates at the Massachusetts state prison for women. Recognition for Cathy’s contributions to maternal and infant health included the March of Dimes Outstanding Achievement and the National Association of Perinatal Addictions Research and Education Achievement awards. While serving as VNA Care Network's MetroWest regional coordinator for Women's Health, Cathy was honored by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 2001 with the SHERO Award for Women Leaders in Health Care. In 2009, she received the Community Health Leader award from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation for “outstanding leadership to advance the health of the community.”
Committed to improving culturally competent care across the life spectrum, Cathy serves on the MetroWest Commission on Healthy Aging, the MetroWest Health Disparities Workgroup, the MA Department of Public Health Maternal and Infant Mental Health Advisory Committee and New Parent Initiative, along with other wellness coalitions. Cathy is an honors graduate of Suffolk University’s Health and Human Services Management Certificate Program and the author of a book on childbearing loss and numerous journal articles. She chairs the VNA’s Cultural Diversity Council and Latino Hospice Advisory Board and works with members to eliminate health disparities across communities in Massachusetts.