To oversee this growth in size and capability, Columbus appointed Lynda DeBenedet to the position of Director of Program Development.  Patti Rendon, recently appointed Executive Director for the State of Florida for Columbus, stated: “We set out to be the leading provider of support coordination in Florida.  We’ve already accomplished this goal by individuals covered, and now we’ve achieved true statewide ability to serve our population.  This is the underpinning to our overall goal of elevating the standards for support coordination, giving our individuals the most meaningful, productive, healthy, person-centered lives possible.  With Lynda as a dedicated resource for program development, we will continue to advance our mission.  I’m very excited about the potential and capabilities we will offer the state of Florida and the persons we serve.”

Carlos Hernandez, Senior Vice President of the Care Coordination business at The Columbus Organization, commented: “We set out to achieve a vision of being recognized as the #1 agency in terms of quality and families served.  While providing value to individuals through an improved quality of life, we are also providing value to the payor through enhanced health, well-being, and productivity.  These additional investments will secure our ability to accomplish this in an accelerated time frame.  As COVID-19 squeezes budgets, we believe this strategy becomes more critical now than ever.”