The ConnextCare board of directors presented the ConnextCare’s President and CEO Tricia Peter-Clark with a leadership award for her guidance, vision and advocacy for the organization. The event took place in at the organization’s headquarters in Pulaski, March 20.
Peter-Clark started with ConnextCare, formerly NOCSHI, in 2013 as the chief operating officer and later became executive vice president under former President and CEO Dan Dey. Upon Dey’s retirement in June 2021, Peter-Clark was appointed president and CEO by the board of directors.
Since Peter-Clark’s succession in 2021, ConnextCare has rapidly expanded its footprint, according a news release issued by the organization.
Peter-Clark has led ConnextCare in the opening of a brand-new health center in Central Square, two new school-based health centers in the Mexico and Oswego school districts and a dental services office to the Manor at Seneca Hill.
“The new landscape in the healthcare environment requires a dynamic leader at the head of an organization and Tricia possesses this unique quality,” said Ken Martin, director of information services at ConnextCare. “Her ability to evaluate and then apply the appropriate style of management to achieve the best possible result is what sets Tricia apart from her peers. ConnextCare’s success can be attributed to her being a coach, a visionary, a trendsetter, magisterial and a servant as each situation dictates.”
Last summer, ConnextCare held the grand opening for the external respiratory center at the Pulaski office, an idea that Peter-Clark was inspired to achieve at the onset of the pandemic. The ERC exclusively provides respiratory services to patients that would not be available anywhere else in Oswego County.
Later in 2023, Peter-Clark spearheaded a mission to bring acute care walk-in services back into the Pulaski office, which had been stalled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In September, ConnextCare was able to unveil a brand-new acute care suite which serves walk-in services to anyone in the community, regardless of whether or not they are a ConnextCare patient.
Peter-Clark has also been an advocate for mental health access across Oswego County. She has rapidly expanded the ConnextCare psychiatry department as well as making mental health services available at seven school-based health centers in Oswego County.
With the extraordinary growth of the ConnextCare footprint, the organization is now the eighth largest private employer in Oswego County, employing over 300 individuals when fully staffed.
“Tricia is unlike any other president or CEO of a company that I have worked for,” said Karli Byrd, corporate relations manager at ConnextCare. “She is involved in every aspect of the company and jumps in whenever and wherever is needed. She is the best advocate we could have for providing comprehensive, affordable and premier health care and support services to this community.”
