ABOUT US
On-The-Ground Experience. Tools To Break Through.
As a training and policy center at RUSH University Medical Center since 2008, we know firsthand how health and social care can work together for a much better patient experience. Hands-on training with CHaSCI is a path to fewer barriers and better care for more people.
Robyn Golden, MA, LCSW, ACSW
Associate Vice President of Social Work and Community Health
Chair of the Department of Social Work at Rush University Medical Center
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Robyn Golden
For over 35 years, Robyn has been actively involved in service provision, program development, interprofessional education, research and public policy aimed at developing innovative initiatives and systems integration to improve health and well-being. Robyn serves on the RRF Foundation for Aging and the Health and Medicine Boards of Directors. She was the John Heinz Senate Fellow for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and she is a Past Chair of the American Society on Aging. Robyn has received the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers Foundation, the Gerontological Society of America’s Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging, and the American Public Health Association’s Insley-Evans Public Health Social Worker of the year award. She founded and chairs the Coalition for Social Work and Health and served as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee studying the integration of social needs care into the delivery of health care.
She is a National Association of Social Workers—Social Work Pioneer and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Robyn holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Miami University.
Walter Rosenberg, MSW, MHSM, LCSW
Director of Social Work and Community Health at Rush University Medical Center
Associate Professor in the Rush University College of Health Sciences
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Walter Rosenberg
Walter is the past president of the Illinois Chapter of the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care and serves on the advisory boards of the Dominican University Graduate School of Social Work and the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care. He served on the 2021 EHR Care Coordination Committee of the National Quality Forum, was the 2018 Social Work Leader of the Year in Illinois, and a 2017 Hartford Foundation Practice Change Leader. He enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, drumming, and walks on the beach of moderate length.
Bonnie Ewald, MA
Managing Director of CHaSCI
Manager of Strategic Development and Policy
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Bonnie Ewald
Bonnie has her master’s degree in public policy studies from the University of Chicago (2018), a post-graduate certificate in Sustainable Urban Design from Archeworks (2013), and a bachelor’s in mathematics and geography from the University of Wisconsin (2011).
Lizzi Chandler, MSW, LCSW
Manager of Clinical Excellence and Training
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Lizzi Chandler
Lizzi serves as an Instructor in Rush University’s Department of Social Work and teaches an Issues in Counseling course to fellow healthcare providers in speech-language pathology and audiology. Lizzi holds a Master of Social Work from DePaul University in Chicago, IL and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
Teresa Moro, PhD, AM, LSW
Health Services Researcher at CHaSCI
Assistant Professor
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Teresa Moro
Dr. Moro has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and op-eds as well as presented at both national and international conferences in social work, nursing, medicine, and public health. She is also a board member of the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices working on research and educational development.
Alyssa McFadden, MSW, LSW, MT-BC
Research and Policy Associate at CHaSCI
Program Coordinator
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Alyssa McFadden
Alyssa has her master’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago at Urbana-Champaign (2022) and her bachelors in music education with an emphasis in music therapy from the University of Kansas (2017). In addition to her current work, Alyssa holds volunteer positions with the Illinois Association for Music Therapy and the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders.
Teresa Berumen
Senior CHW Trainer for CHaSCI
CHW Supervisor in the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement (CHEE)
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Teresa Berumen
Teresa Berumen (she/her/ella) is a Senior CHW Trainer for CHaSCI and a CHW Supervisor in the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement (CHEE) at RUSH University Medical Center. Teresa was instrumental in developing and implementing a community health worker program and serves as the day-to-day lead for the team. Teresa and her team conduct social determinants of health screenings primarily in the emergency department as well as provide assistance in applying for public benefits and connection to community resources. In her role, Teresa has also trained Community Health Advocates for Blue Cross of California and serves as an advisor to Rush University students working to assist community members with social needs. Teresa is proud to serve as Chair of the Illinois Community Health Workers Association.
Teresa formally began her career as a Community Health Worker in 2014 at Enlace Chicago. While at Enlace, she served as the ACA Enrollment Assister and developed a robust team of community health workers. She also served as community resource educator at Saint Anthony Hospital. Additionally, Teresa previously served as a member of the Illinois Community Health Worker Advisory Board in 2014. This Board, commissioned by the Illinois Department of Public Health, was tasked with defining the needs of the CHW workforce for the State of Illinois. Proud of her Durango, Mexico heritage, Teresa immigrated to the United States with her family when she was a teenager. Teresa has completed coursework at Loyola University Chicago in Communications and resides in Chicago with her family.
Ebony Henderson
Lead Community Health Worker
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Ebony Henderson
Ebony Henderson (she/her) is a Lead Community Health Worker within the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement at Rush University Medical Center. In this position, she supervises a team of Community Health Workers who lend their expertise in various areas of community outreach, coordinates community events and foster partnerships with local Community-based organizations. Ebony is also a trainer for internal and external partners for Community health Workers, Mental Health First Aid, and facilitates workshops for the Chronic Disease Prevention programs.
Ebony has an Associates of Applied Science which she used as a Medical Assistant previously at St Vincent’s Hospital system in Indianapolis. Ebony has also completed course work through Malcolm X College receiving her certificate as a Community Health Worker.
Yessenia Hafeezah Cervantes
Lead Community Health Worker
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Yessenia Cervantes-Vázquez
Yessenia Cervantes-Vázquez is a bilingual Lead Community Health Worker in the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention team (Rush Generations) within the Social Work and Community Health Department at Rush University Medical Center. In this role Yessenia provides direct patient and community member chronic disease self-management health education and social support resource connection. Yessenia also collaborates with various community partners to implement evidence-based programs (EBP) in their community and train other CHWs to become workshop facilitators. Yessenia is a Master Trainer of SMRC evidence-based programs and a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. She also plays a role with the Medicaid Breast Cancer Quality Improvement Initiative through Equal Hope. She is also a trainer with Center for Health and Social Care Integration (CHaSCI) at Rush and a member of the Rush Immigrant Health Working Group.
Lin Mei
Program Coordinator
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Prior to joining RUSH, Lin worked in community engagement, project management, and program coordinating. She has experience supporting social impact initiatives at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, philanthropic and grantmaking efforts at The Chicago Community Trust, and community outreach for the statewide Get Covered Illinois campaign.
Lin is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a concentration in Strategic Leadership and Management and holds a bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Eve Escalante, MSW, LCSW
Manager of Program Innovation
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Eve Escalante
Eve Escalante, LCSW is a clinical social worker and manager of Program Innovation with Social Work and Community Health at RUSH University Medical Center. Escalante has experience in providing care to adults, older adults and caregivers with chronic disease, disability and/or terminal illness. Escalante has provided oversight of expansion of evidence-based care models into both primary and specialty care, as well as communities with significant social needs/history of marginalization. Escalante participates in trauma-informed transformation efforts, including leading vicarious trauma processing sessions with healthcare workers and training them in trauma-informed care.
Escalante has special interest and experience in development of curricula regarding older adults and caregivers, as well as curricula training social workers to enter a healthcare setting. She provides clinical supervision in individual and group formats. She received her BSW from Loyola University Chicago in 2005 and her MSW from Loyola University Chicago in 2007. She has lived experience with disability/chronic illness that has shaped her interests/practice.
Our History
2008
Robyn Golden serves as a key leader in launching the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C), originally housed at the New York Academy of Medicine in collaboration with the American Society on Aging
2008-2009
CHaSCI develops and tests the Bridge Model of Transitional Care
CHaSCI conducts a randomized control trial about the Enhanced Discharge Planning Program, ultimately co-developed into the Bridge Model of transitional care with Rush and 5 organizational partners across Illinois via the Illinois Transitional Care Consortium
2010
CHaSCI launches a training and evaluation partnership with Illinois Health & Hospital Association, Telligen Quality Improvement Organization, and Illinois Department on Aging
2012
CHaSCI develops and tests the Ambulatory Integration of Medical and Social (AIMS) Model
CHaSCI applies social work process to primary care integration, tested at RUSH patient-centered medical homes as the Ambulatory Integration of Medical and Social (AIMS) Model
2013
The Health Affairs publication with N3C partners calls attention to impact of social service interventions on cost and health outcomes.
CHaSCI begins focused advocacy for social workers to be recognized by Medicare as independent providers of Health Behavior Assessment & Intervention (HBAI) services
2014
CHaSCI begins to establish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation – Community-based Care Transitions program, which supports the Bridge Model of transitional care at six federally-funded demonstration sites
CHaSCI co-organizes and speaks at national event “Social Work & the Affordable Care Act: Maximizing the Profession’s Role in Health Reform”
N3C hosts an event and releases a report on the role that community-based organizations can play in improving health outcomes if effectively engaged and invested in
2015-2019
The Bridge and AIMS Models evolve to work with more populations and disciplines
2015
CHaSCI begins providing Bridge longitudinally to frequently-hospitalized individuals
2016
CHaSCI organizes social workers and others to design, fundraise, and obtain approval for the NASEM study, Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation’s Health
2017
CHaSCI trains housing coordinators in wrap-around services through HUD IWISH program
2019
CHaSCI runs dissemination campaign for the NASEM study released September 2019 and organizes around recommendations in the report
2019
Rush community health workers (CHWs) and AmeriCorps service members begin screening patients for unmet social needs, escalating to social workers where necessary using our care model
2020
CHaSCI begins to train CHWs and interdisciplinary teams
CHaSCI provides our first virtual training in response to the COVID lockdown
CHaSCI begins to refer to our model as the CHaSCI Care Model, combining concepts from Bridge and AIMS Models
2022
The Coalition for Social Work and Health launches the Campaign for Social Work’s Value in Improving our Nation’s Health
2022
CHaSCI Care Model implementation is evaluated at RUSH and partner sites across the nation
2023
Via the Coalition for Social Work and Health, CHaSCI spearheads the introduction of federal legislation (Integrating Social Workers Across Health Care Settings Act) and secures expanded Medicare recognition of Social Work role
2023
Launch of the Social Work in Healthcare Training Program Pilot, designed to provide specialized healthcare training, support and mentorship for 10 underrepresented social workers/social work students.
2024
CSWH receives continued funding for the Campaign for Social Work’s Value in Improving our Nation’s Health
2024
The Bridge and AIMS Models are formally integrated with our CHW + SW collaboration into the CHaSCI Care Model
2025
Via the Coalition for Social Work and Health, CHaSCI spearheads the re-introduction the Integrating Social Workers Across Health Care Settings Act into the119th Congress.
OUR ESTEEMED PAST & PRESENT FUNDERS
