Clinical Project Manager
Iowa Chronic Care Consortium
Kathy.kunath@iowaccc.com
Phone: 515-971-3234
Kathy has a personal mission of building healthier communities by serving as a catalyst for growth in both individuals and organizations. Using her skills in education, leadership, project development, team-building, project management and coaching, Kathy has lead or supported numerous projects and programs that have positively impacted the communities, organizations, and individuals that she works with.
Kathy is a registered nurse, and focused her early professional years on the care of critically ill patients. As she witnessed the stress of her patients and their families who “if only they had known” would have lead healthier lives, she became interested in paddling “upstream” toward improving health.
Her journey lead her to managing a cardiac rehabilitation program for 13 years, developing creative community health outreach programs, leading a community health coalition to change tobacco policy, and coordinating local television shows highlighting innovative treatment options and lifestyle management programs for chronic diseases. She chaired a community-based committee of the American Heart Association that published several local resource guides for healthy living.
Kathy created or supported many professional development programs that built capacity in others to improve the health of patients and communities. Activities included:
- Leading the creation of a focused curriculum in the development of Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs in Iowa
- Participating as a team member of the Iowa Affiliate of the American Heart Association in writing a national program on treating Women and Heart Disease
- Coordinating numerous continuing education programs for physicians and nurses on the management and support of patients with cardiovascular disease
As an Iowan with strong US Senate leadership, Kathy was called upon numerous times to advocate for the American Heart Association’s Federal priorities. She frequently visited Senator Tom Harkin’s and Charles Grassley’s offices to request increased funding for NIH and for WISEWOMAN programs. She was the lead grant writer in securing CDC funding support for Iowa’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program.
In 1999, Kathy was one of 35 applicants chosen to participate in the Cardiovascular Health Leadership Fellowship, a national program through the Health Forum, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. The 18 month leadership curriculum taught her invaluable lessons in group facilitation, project management, organizational vision/mission development, and building community assets. Her education journey continued with intensive training in project management (2004) and a certification in administering the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory (2010).
Kathy joined the Iowa Chronic Care Consortium in 2004 to assist the Consortium in applying for national grants and to support their innovative demonstration programs in population-based chronic disease management. In 2008, she served as the lead project facilitator of the innovative “Physician Office Health Coach Training Program.” She currently operates as the Training and Partner Relations Coordinator for the nationally recognized “Clinical Health Coach Training Program.” In her personal time, Kathy volunteers for a local Free Medical Clinic, providing health coaching services to underserved individuals in the region.
