Board Members
Ocean Health Initiatives’ Board of Directors are members of the Ocean County Community serving in all parts of the region. They are dedicated individuals who seek to uphold the mission and policies of OHI and work to ensure the strategic planning and financial stability of the health center. We, the Administration and Staff, are grateful to the following for their dedication and commitment to OHI.
Jorge Rod
Jorge Rod
Jorge A Rod was born in Colombia, South America and was raised in Venezuela. Upon Graduating from St. Joseph’s High School he came to the United States at the age of 15.
His mother was from Cuba and his father from Mexico. Both of his parents are now deceased.
Jorge A. Rod has been a resident of Ocean County for 45 years. He lives in Jackson with his wife Betty. Jorge A Rod was honorably discharged from the United States Army after serving his country for three years, from 1965-1968 discharged with the rank of Sergeant.
Jorge A. Rod was elected to the Lacey Township Committee for three consecutive terms in which served as Mayor in 1981. Mr. Jorge Rod was elected and re-elected to the New Jersey State General Assembly. Mr. Rod was New Jersey’s first Hispanic Legislator.
Jorge Rod was former Publisher and owner of the Mail Bag Publication a weekly tabloid also a former Administrator to Lacey Township (Ocean County). Presently Mr. Rod is the CEO/owner of J A Rod Associates, LLC Publisher of Latinos Unidos de NJ which serves Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex County and The Ocean County Jewish Journal.
Tony Lombardino, MD, MMM
Tony Lombardino, MD, MMM
Dr. Lombardino is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of OHI.
He has been board certified in Adult Neurology since 1978, and received a Master of Medical Management degree from Tulane University in 2005.
Dr. Lombardino is currently employed as a part-time physician surveyor by The Joint Commission, and surveys the standards in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals.
Prior to joining The Joint Commission, Dr. Lombardino was Vice President of Medical Affairs at Kimball Medical Center, a 350-bed acute care hospital in New Jersey, and a member hospital of Barnabas Health System. Previously, Dr. Lombardino practiced Adult Neurology for 20 years.
Dr. Lombardino has held a number of leadership positions in health care, including past chairman of the Physician Executive Constituency Group of the NJ Hospital Association; past chairman and founding trustee of Ocean Health Initiatives; past Board member the Health, Education and Research Trust of NJ. He served as chairman of the Kimball Medical Center Bioethics Committee for over 25 years.
Cathy Ainora
Cathy Ainora
CATHERINE A. AINORA, MBA, FACHE
Senior Vice President, System Development / Planning
Barnabas Health
West Orange, NJ
Catherine A. Ainora is Senior Vice President, Catherine A. Ainora is Senior Vice President, System Development / Planning and a member of the Executive Leadership Committee of Barnabas Health. She was appointed to her present position in 1996 after serving as Corporate Vice President of Planning for Community / Kimball Health Care System (1994 – 1996).
Her current position includes system-wide strategic planning, system development, business development, facility / space planning and managing process flow for certificates of need, business plans, data analyses and program development. She supervises staff in the Division to support facility, strategic and business planning.
Ms. Ainora received a M.B.A. degree in Health Care Administration from Bernard Baruch College – Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Ms. Ainora is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and maintains membership with the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, the Healthcare Planning and Marketing Society of New Jersey (past Board member, past president), the New Jersey State Health Planning Board (governor appointment) and Board Co-Chairperson of the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health, Board member of Ocean Health Initiatives, Inc. – FQHC, and a Board member of The Rehabilitation Hospital of Tinton Falls and a member of NJHA Policy Development Committee.
Debra Levinson
Debra Levinson
Debra A. Levinson is an energetic, professional health care planner with more than 25 years of professional experience in community, hospital and health care system settings. She has served as a planning consultant for a major health care system participating and supporting Board of Trustee Committees, Executive and Operational Councils.
Currently Ms. Levinson is the Regional Director for the Ocean Monmouth Health Alliance, a regional chronic disease coalition that is grant funded by the Office of Cancer Control and Prevention of the New Jersey Department of Health. Under her coordination and leadership, OMHA has regionalized, expanded membership and implements evidence-based interventions such as Choose Your Cover, melanoma, skin cancer education and screening at the beach, which was developed by Ms. Levinson. Debra has served as the evaluator for Ocean and Middlesex community capacity and needs assessment for cancer services. She is a hands-on practitioner who has helped organizations in their turn-around efforts, program feasibility assessments and development, physician development and facility planning. She has designed and implemented strategic planning processes, workshops and retreats for all levels of health care management and community organizations.
Debra was recently chosen to be the New Jersey representative to the 2013 CDC Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. In June 2010 she presented Choose Your Cover as an innovation project to the CDC Leadership Conference and several local and national organizations including the Centers for Disease Control, Comprehensive Cancer Leadership Conference.
Ms. Levinson has a master of public administration in healthcare from Rutgers University and a bachelor of science in marketing from New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and is the past Co-Chairperson of the External Affairs Committee, former Board member and Past President of the Healthcare Planning and Marketing Society of New Jersey. Ms. Levinson is a Board member and past vice president of Ocean Health Initiatives, Inc., a federally qualified health care center serving Ocean County residents. Presently Debra serves as the president of Soroptimist International of Toms River, a community organization that works to improve the lives of women and girls throughout Ocean County.
John Craddox
John Craddox
Mr. John Craddox has proudly served Lakewood School District for over thirty (30) years. During his career, he has been a teacher, a coach, Vice Principal of Oak Street School, and now, Athletic Director.
John began his love for sports while attending Freehold Boro High School. He played football and excelled at wrestling. During his high school career, John won two (2) District Titles as well as most outstanding wrestler award. He was also named First Team All Shore by the Asbury Park Press. John went on to become an NCAA All American Wrestler while attending Trenton State College, which is now known as The College of New Jersey.
John began his coaching career as an assistant at Trenton State, and then moved on the coach at Freehold Township High School. Later, John became the Head Wrestling Coach of the Lakewood Piners. John also serves as Senior Pastor of Praise Temple Ministries in Neptune New Jersey. In 2009, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Elbon Solutions College Ministries of California, for his many years of faithful stewardship and benevolence in the service of the Lord.
John is blessed with his beautiful wife of 32 years, Linda who is a teacher in the Asbury Park School District. They have 5 wonderful children and enjoy working together to enrich the lives of others.
Vincent Della Donna
Vincent Della Donna, AIA
Dr. LombaVincent Della Donna, AIA, is the director of Healthcare services for Gannett Fleming Architects and Engineers, an architectural and engineering firm with a regional office in South Plainfield, N.J., and corporate headquarters located in Harrisburg, Pa., with a global network of 60 offices.
Mr. Della Donna has the unique ability to understand Gannett Fleming’s healthcare clients’ needs, having spent the majority of his professional career as a client representative. In his leadership of healthcare services, and of specific projects, Mr. Della Donna continues to act as an advocate for professional services that are deeply responsive to client needs.
He has nearly three decades of experience, with a concentration in healthcare for more than twenty years. He maintains active membership with the American Institute of Architects, the Academy of Architecture for Health, and the American Hospital Association and speaks nationally on healthcare topics.
Donald A. Caruso
Donald A. Caruso
Donald A Caruso retired from his private practice of Internal medicine/geriatrics after 38 years. He then served as director of Barnabas Hospice in Ocean County for 10 years. He is currently employed as physician director for utilization management for a large insurance firm and also as Medical Director for Bayada Nursing for Ocean County to Cape May County.
Dr Caruso has an unwavering interest in helping to deliver health care to all people with less accessibility. He was the founder of the first public clinic for AIDS in Ocean County in 1991.
The goals and proposes of OHI are a perfect union with his vision and hopes for the future of health care delivery.
Mary Jo Grauso
Mary Jo Grauso, CSW
Ms. Grauso is a graduate of Rutgers University with a Major in Psychology. Currently she is the Executive Director of the Lakewood Housing Authority and has served in that position for the last 18 years.
Prior to coming to Ocean County, Ms. Grauso was the Executive Director of the Princeton Housing Authority and the Executive Director of the Hunterdon County Housing Authority. While working as a Social Worker at the Hunterdon County Board of Social Services she achieved her Certified Social Worker license.
Ms. Grauso has been involved in assisting victims of domestic violence by advocating on their behalf with the courts, social service organizations, employers, and schools. She was a counselor at the Women’s Crisis Center in Hunterdon County working in their domestic violence shelter. Ms. Grauso was also employed as a contract family case manager at Ocean Mental Health Services and investigated prospective foster care providers.
She is a member of St. Justin the Martyr’s Church in Toms Rivers and is on the Board of Directors of their St. Vincent de Paul Society, a service ministry that assists local families in need.
Joseph Casello
Mary Guarin
For over 14 years, Mary has served Ocean County From diverse socioeconomic, professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds through community-based, grassroots, nonprofit organizations in the areas of education, immigration, and health. Mary has served our New Jersey Public Schools in the capacity of Teacher, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Writer and Assistant Principal. As curriculum writer, Mary contributed to the work of aligning curriculum to the Common Core Standards and building the capacity of teachers in the instruction of Reading and Writing. As staff developer, she built learning communities around a deep understanding of cultural diversity going beyond race and ethnicity. Mary believes cultural sensitivity goes beyond learning about the culture of immigrant children and families, it requires an understanding of the process of acculturation.
Mary’s advocacy work in education and social justice includes collaboration with Latin American Legal Defense Fund (LALDEF) and New Jersey Dream Act Coalition to support New Jersey aspiring college students in obtaining in-state tuition fees at Ocean County College. In addition, Mary’s public service and leadership in bridging resources to communities extends to maintaining a collaborative relationship with Central and South American embassies. Between the years 2012-2015, Mary worked alongside the Philadelphia Mexican Consulate to establish a sustained relationship with Ocean County residents of Mexican decent. For the first time, in 2011 the Mexican Embassy became directly involved in social issues and education in the Lakewood community.
Maintaining a proactive approach in addressing concerns affecting the Latino community of Ocean County, Mary, together with her husband Juan, founded Community Ambassadors in 2017. Their work spearheads the work of increasing cultural competence within Ocean County business and organizations to bring improved equitable services to all. The non-profit organization is purposed to serve as the bridge that unites municipalities to the realities of life in Ocean County for the immigrant population. Collaborative work with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Sherriff’s Office, Police Departments, Mayors, Senators, Congressmen, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement representatives continues to spearhead the advocacy effort of responding to the immediate needs of the community.
Mary Guarin
Mary Guarin
For over 14 years, Mary has served Ocean County From diverse socioeconomic, professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds through community-based, grassroots, nonprofit organizations in the areas of education, immigration, and health. Mary has served our New Jersey Public Schools in the capacity of Teacher, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Writer and Assistant Principal. As curriculum writer, Mary contributed to the work of aligning curriculum to the Common Core Standards and building the capacity of teachers in the instruction of Reading and Writing. As staff developer, she built learning communities around a deep understanding of cultural diversity going beyond race and ethnicity. Mary believes cultural sensitivity goes beyond learning about the culture of immigrant children and families, it requires an understanding of the process of acculturation.
Mary’s advocacy work in education and social justice includes collaboration with Latin American Legal Defense Fund (LALDEF) and New Jersey Dream Act Coalition to support New Jersey aspiring college students in obtaining in-state tuition fees at Ocean County College. In addition, Mary’s public service and leadership in bridging resources to communities extends to maintaining a collaborative relationship with Central and South American embassies. Between the years 2012-2015, Mary worked alongside the Philadelphia Mexican Consulate to establish a sustained relationship with Ocean County residents of Mexican decent. For the first time, in 2011 the Mexican Embassy became directly involved in social issues and education in the Lakewood community.
Maintaining a proactive approach in addressing concerns affecting the Latino community of Ocean County, Mary, together with her husband Juan, founded Community Ambassadors in 2017. Their work spearheads the work of increasing cultural competence within Ocean County business and organizations to bring improved equitable services to all. The non-profit organization is purposed to serve as the bridge that unites municipalities to the realities of life in Ocean County for the immigrant population. Collaborative work with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Sherriff’s Office, Police Departments, Mayors, Senators, Congressmen, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement representatives continues to spearhead the advocacy effort of responding to the immediate needs of the community.