PBN 2021 Leaders & Achievers Awards
Joan Kwiatkowski | CEO, PACE Organization of Rhode Island
Joan Kwiatkowski’s story is one of resilience. She lost her father to a heart attack when she was 8, and her mother, who died alone in a hospital with cancer, when she was 12. With those experiences, Kwiatkowski developed a feeling that something should change in the approach to health care.
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After taking a transformational philosophy class in college, she began to reflect on her mother’s experience. “It was very clear that things should have been done differently; she should have been cared for in her home,” she said.
After working at hospitals and other health care settings for several years, as well as earning an undergraduate degree from Boston College and a master’s degree from Boston University, she began work with CareLink Inc., a nonprofit working in long-term care that wanted to be innovative in its work. Through that, Kwiatkowski sought to bring the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly model to Rhode Island. She did by founding the PACE Organization of Rhode Island in East Providence. The nonprofit has been in operation for 16 years, and Kwiatkowski continues to serve as CEO.
“My purpose, my resilience is based on my dedication to my mom, and that no one goes through that,” said Kwiatkowski, who lives in Barrington with her husband, and they have two adult children.
She said work at PACE-RI continues to be transformational, explaining that for many years, she was one of the only women in a male-dominated field. “I doubted myself, [but] I had something to contribute,” she said.
This feeling has led her to encourage her staff to keep learning, to keep challenging themselves, and even take time to reflect on areas in which they may struggle, since they are all contributing and actively changing the lives of those that PACE-RI serves.
“It isn’t about me; my purpose on this Earth, right now, is to try to leave this world and other people better than they are right now,” Kwiatkowski said.
