Pete Grevelding was appointed Vice President, Clinical Operations in October 2018. He is responsible for the oversight of Gaylord Specialty Heathcare’s clinical areas, including leadership of the Admissions, Inpatient and Outpatient Therapy, Respiratory, and Care Management departments. His responsibilities include facilitating hospital-wide growth and volume targets as well as driving key business initiatives that enhance Gaylord Specialty Healthcare’s market share and profitability. Grevelding has a lead role in maximizing patient satisfaction and recovery by evaluating, coordinating, and implementing institutional programs, policies and strategy. He is responsible for implementing strategies that promote Gaylord’s core values and culture to maximize performance and service while increasing overall achievements.

Grevelding has spearheaded the growth of Gaylord’s existing research program as an opportunity to share Gaylord’s experience and expertise. He has championed several partnerships and currently oversees corporate research partnerships between Gaylord and ZeroG, a robotic bodyweight support system that enables dynamic gait and balance training, and Connecticut-based Hyperfine, the manufacturer of portable, low-dose radiation MRI. In 2020, Grevelding was named Executive Director of the Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Master’s of Science degree in Physical Therapy, Grevelding is a board certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist and a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and Neurologic Section of the APTA. His career with Gaylord began in March 2004 as a staff physical therapist. He has since held various positions of leadership at Gaylord such as the Director of Therapy Services & Business Development and the Manager of Therapy Services. Pete also has experience working in rehabilitation hospitals and outpatient settings. His professional interests include traumatic brain injury, stroke, research, and progressive clinical growth.

Henry “Hank” Hrdlicka, PhD, was hired as the Research Coordinator for Gaylord Specialty Healthcare’s Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation in September 2020. As the Institute’s Research Coordinator, he is responsible for supporting the interdisciplinary institutional research conducted at Gaylord. He does this by aiding and guiding project development and planning; supporting IRB application creation and submission; assisting with data collection, aggregation, analysis, and interpretation; coordinating conference abstract preparation and submission; and leading manuscript preparation and submission for peer review.

Through his efforts, Dr. Hrdlicka has supported the growth and capacity of Gaylord’s research department, increasing the number of studies being completed and considered by more than three-fold in the past two years. As a result of these efforts, the Milne Institute has been able to support the submission and publication of 4 peer-review manuscripts, and the submission and presentation of over 12 posters at national and or international conferences. With this growth, Dr. Hrdlicka is also leading an internal research education campaign and video series to ensure that the research being completed at Gaylord maintains the highest level of quality. This series is providing new and early-career Gaylord clinician-researchers with an understanding of research skills they may not have been exposed to otherwise.

Prior to Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, in July 2020, Dr. Hrdlicka completed his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Connecticut at UCONN Health in Farmington, CT. Supported in part by a competitive T90 training grant [NIDCR T90DE21989], Dr. Hrdlicka completed his PhD research under the mentorship of Dr. Anne Delany, where he investigated the role of the microRNA-29 family in osteoclast and osteoblast biology. Dr. Hrdlicka also completed his BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE in 2014. During this time, he completed 4 years of undergraduate research, supported in part by the Nebraska Institutional Developmental Award Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (NE-INBRE), a competitive and prestigious undergraduate research program sponsored by the University of Nebraska Medical Center. A summary of Dr. Hrdlicka’s past research is available at ORCiD 0000-0002-7014-7919.

Sonja LaBarbera was appointed Chief Executive Officer and President of Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in January 2019. She is the first woman and speech-language pathologist to hold the position in the organization’s 120-year history.

With more than 25 years in the healthcare industry, LaBarbera is a patient-focused leader who is experienced in clinical operations, strategic planning, business development, leadership development and philanthropy. She works with healthcare systems, academic and research institutions to foster collaborative efforts to support superior patient outcomes.

Under her leadership, Gaylord launched The Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation. a hub for accelerating world-class rehabilitative research, technology development and innovation. Her vision has also fostered the launch of the Gaylord Center for Education which promotes development and learning for healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers. The Center for Education includes Connecticut’s first and only residency program in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and a Certified Nursing Assistant Academy that offers participants a robust in-person active learning experience.

LaBarbera earned her Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from State University of New York at Fredonia. She serves on the Board of Directors of Gaylord Hospital/Gaylord Farm Association Inc., which oversees all services offered by the organization’s care continuum. She is an active member of the International Women’s Forum of Connecticut, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). LaBarbera was the 2019 Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year.

She was named to the Hartford Business Journal list of Power 25 in Healthcare in both 2020 and 2021. She is the 2020 recipient of the New Haven Biz Women Who Mean Business award and was named to the publication’s 2019 Power 50 list and to its 2021 and 2022 Power 25 in Healthcare lists. In 2021, she was identified as the Top Leader in the Large Employee Category by Hearst Media Connecticut. Under her leadership, Gaylord Specialty Healthcare was named a “Top Workplace” in 2021 and 2022 by Hearst Media Connecticut and was ranked among the nation’s “Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare, 2022” by Becker’s Healthcare.

Reza Amin, PhD, founded Bastion Health in 2018 with a vision to provide private, simple, accessible, and comprehensive at-home support for men’s care to bring men’s health to 21-century experience. Reza has more than ten years of experience in Medical Devices and Health Technologies. He has published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has founded two medical device companies. Bastion is the first specialty digital clinic for men’s reproductive and prostate health – helping men take control of their health from the comfort of their homes. Bastion Health offers programmatic personalized at-home testing, assessment, treatment and care navigation in CA, TX, FL, and CT.

Scott Phillips is CFO of Halda Therapeutics, a discovery stage biotech headquartered at Science Park in New Haven, and Normunity, a startup biotech with operations at Biolabs at Yale West campus.  He has led several venture-backed and clinical-stage biotechs in senior leadership and CFO roles, preparing these companies from startup financing through becoming public.   Prior to his work with venture-backed companies, Scott spent much of his biotech career at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he served over 10 years in senior financial leadership roles as the company expanded from a pre-commercial business to a global commercial organization.