Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

HEALTHCARE HEROES | 2026 AWARDS B4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. One of my biggest challenges was helping build a growing heart transplant and mechanical circula- tory support program while being relatively early in my career. I learned to earn trust through hard work, collaboration and results, while introducing new technologies and approaches that have expanded what we can offer our sickest patients. What's your next major goal and/or challenge? My next major goal is to help expand our transplant program beyond isolated heart transplantation by building lung and adult congen- ital heart transplant programs and developing multivisceral transplant capabilities, including heart-liver and heart-lung transplantation. We already perform heart-kidney transplants, and I hope to continue broadening the options available to complex patients. Winner Category | Innovation Dr. Dina Al Rameni Cardiac Surgeon; Surgical Director, Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support Hartford HealthCare Heart & Vascular Institute D r. Dina Al Rameni is a cardiac and heart transplant surgeon at Hartford Hospital specializing in heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. She serves as surgical director of temporary mechanical circulatory support, caring for critically ill patients requiring advanced forms of heart and lung support. What makes you a Healthcare Hero? Over the past year, I have helped grow Hartford Hospital's heart transplant and mechanical circula- tory support programs while caring for some of our sickest patients. Our team performed a record 41 heart transplants in 2025, and I personally performed more than 40 transplants in Hartford Hospital. I also helped expand our temporary mechanical circulatory support capa- bilities by introducing new devices and surgical strategies, and was recently appointed surgical director of tempo- rary mechanical circulatory support. I am also very invested in mentoring future clinicians and showing them what heart surgery is all about. Winner Category | Healthcare Staff Gent L. Daniels III Director of School Behavioral Health Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center G ent L. Daniels III is director of School Based Health Centers (Behavioral Health) at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, where he over- sees behavioral health services across multiple school-based health centers and leads clinical and operational initiatives that expand access to care for children, adolescents and families. He also main- tains a private behavioral health practice. What makes you a Healthcare Hero? Over the past year, I have led efforts to increase behavioral health service volume across our school-based health centers, expanding access to care for more students and families. rough strong clinical oversight, staff development and operational improve- ments, I helped our team provide more counseling sessions while maintaining high-quality care. I have also worked to reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health services by inte- grating behavioral health supports into the school environment, making care more accessible, visible and responsive to student needs. Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. As our behavioral health program expanded across multiple school districts, each with its own needs, culture and community dynamics, one challenge was creating consistency across sites while still remaining responsive to each school community. rough strong clinical oversight, staff support and standardized practices, I helped build a more unified model of care that enabled staff to work at a high level, improved access and helped reduce stigma around behavioral health services. What's your next major goal and/or challenge? My next goal is to expand behavioral health services into new schools and districts in a thoughtful, sustainable way. As we grow, my challenge will be main- taining high-quality, evidence-based care, strong clinical oversight and consistent outcomes so more students and families can access the support they need. deepen the patient-provider relationship. Continuity of care was improved through education in the areas of patient motiva- tion and destigmatization. Additionally, I was able to have inject- able monthly medications approved for use at community reintegration, to help create smooth transitions for patients challenged by transportation, safety or stigma issues. Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. e biggest challenge I have had to overcome is changing facility culture. Expanding program availability meant challenges to facility operations, spanning all departments. Many staff had a negative view of providing medication for addic- tion treatment. Overcoming the stigma and operational issues was accomplished by education campaigns and breaking down silos between areas of operation. Winner Category | Healthcare Staff Christine Bachmann Correctional Counselor Supervisor Connecticut Department of Correction Addiction Treatment Unit C hristine Bachmann is a program director for the York Correctional Institution Opioid Treatment Program. She has more than 25 years of experience in the addiction treat- ment field, including 20 years with the Connecticut Department of Correction. Over the last 14 years as a supervisor, she has overseen various addiction treat- ment programs within the CT DOC. What makes you a Healthcare Hero? I have advocated for an electronic dispensing system and improved utili- zation of current computer systems to improve safety, security and streamline record keeping necessary for efficient interaction with regulatory agencies. I have worked with the interdisciplinary team to improve treatment safety and patient satisfaction. One of my focuses has been on ensuring patients receive individualized treatment to reach their recovery goals and improve patient reten- tion in treatment. I implemented a patient satisfaction survey. e results were used to provide meaningful program changes and

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