Senior Leadership, Providers, & Boards

Tim Bowen brings nearly 30 years of hospice experience to his position as President and CEO of Care Synergy, an organization formed in 2014 by three premiere Front Range not-for-profit hospice providers to create a care delivery model that is better and more efficient than any single provider could build. Under Tim’s leadership, the Care Synergy operating model will enable its members—Pathways Hospice in Fort Collins, The Denver Hospice, and Halcyon Hospice and Palliative Care in Mead—to grow to meet the community needs for quality, compassionate end-of-life care.

Tim is responsible for ensuring that Care Synergy fulfills its mission to provide care, comfort, and compassion to the individuals, families, and communities the member organizations are honored and privileged to serve, achieving that goal by living 6 Core Values: Innovation, Positivity, Excellence, Collaboration, Openness, and Growth.

Tim came to Care Synergy in February 2015 after 15 years as President of Haven Hospice, a large community-based hospice and palliative care provider serving 18 urban and rural counties across much of North Florida. Haven Hospice expanded significantly during Tim’s tenure, broadening its clinical services to include five freestanding hospice care centers, a palliative care service and in-house home medical equipment business while growing to care for more than 750 hospice patients and families each day. Haven Hospice won the prestigious Circle of Life Award presented annually by the American Hospital Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) to healthcare providers that demonstrate excellence and innovation in end-of-life and palliative care.

Tim began his career as a medical social worker and progressed in management and leadership positions with both not-for-profit and for-profit hospice providers at the local, regional, and national levels. He was Director of Patient Care for Hope Hospice in Fort Myers, Florida; National Director of Hospice Development for Olsten Kimberly Quality Care; National Hospice Director for Staff Builders Healthcare Services; and Hospice Director for Mid-Peninsula/Pathways Hospice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tim has been an active leader and advocates for hospice throughout his career. He co-founded the National Hospice Executive Roundtable, a group of chief executives of leading not-for-profit hospices from around the country who share best practices and benchmarking data with the goal of improving patient care while positioning members to provide referral sources and payors with differentiating qualitative and quantitative measures. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the NHPCO’s Hospice Action Network and he has served on a number of other NHPCO groups, including the Council of States, Standards and Accreditation Committee, and Managed Care Advisory Committee. While at Haven Hospice, Tim served two terms as President of the Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association and chaired a number of committees over the years.

Tim earned a Master’s degree in Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of San Diego.

Tricia Ford is an accomplished healthcare leader with more than 26 years of healthcare experience covering operations, sales, business development, and management. Tricia serves as Care Synergy’s Chief Operating Officer. Care Synergy is the region’s largest end-of-life care network and provides mission support services for not-for-profit, community-based hospice, home health and palliative care organizations along Colorado’s Front Range. Prior to joining Care Synergy, Tricia worked nationally as the Chief Operating Officer for UnitedHealth Group’s hospice division. Throughout her career, she has held executive leadership roles in a variety of hospice, home health, and post-acute providers specializing in supportive services for the aging population. Tricia has been actively involved in for profit and not-for-profit organizations serving the communities in which she lived and worked. In previous roles, Tricia represented her employer on the Hospice Advisory Board of the Dream Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the National Hospice Foundation of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Tricia earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies specializing in Geriatrics from Colorado State University.

Dawn Darvalics is a healthcare executive with 20 years of experience in hospice and palliative care. Dawn’s career includes working for national hospice and palliative care providers, non-profit community-based hospices, and international consulting firms including KPMG and Arthur Anderson.

In the role of President at Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Dawn is responsible for advancing the organization’s mission to care for all in need of expert hospice and palliative care services in the Colorado Springs area. Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care is an affiliate member of Care Synergy’s network of non-profit home health, palliative care, and hospice organizations across Colorado’s Front Range. Prior to being named President of Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Dawn worked at Care Synergy and The Denver Hospice, leading quality, compliance, and education initiatives.

Dawn began her career in end-of-life care at VITAS Healthcare where she served for 10 years. At VITAS, Dawn was the national general manager of palliative care. In this role, Dawn launched the palliative medicine division. She was responsible for standing up palliative medicine practices across the company and overseeing operations including centralized practice support. Prior to that Dawn served as Interim General Manager of VITAS’ Chicago Central Program, led the implementation of VITAS’ electronic medical record system across the company, and was Associate General Manager of the South Florida region.

Prior to joining VITAS, Dawn worked for Arthur Andersen and KPMG Business Consulting’s change management and performance improvement divisions. She focused on large-scale change management initiatives, such as enterprise resource planning software and shared services center implementations.

Prior to arriving in Colorado, Dawn worked at Aspire Health based in Nashville as Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Aspire Institute, the company’s internal learning and development department. Dawn also served as an executive management consultant for Ohio’s Hospice Incorporated, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and Caring Foundations where she focused on improving the quality of care through optimizing operations.

Dawn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration and a Master of Science degree in Instructional Systems, both from Florida State University. She is a certified Project Management Professional and a certified PROSCI Change Practitioner.

Dr. Miller is board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Miller also serves at Encompass Health as Medical Director of Inpatient Rehabilitation. Dr. Miller brings more than 15 years of experience as a physician to our organization.

In his role as Medical Director for Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Dr. Miller provides medical oversight and direction for our hospice and palliative care patients. He leads our hospice and palliative medicine providers and interdisciplinary team members including Nurses, Social Workers, Spiritual Counselors and Certified Nurse Aides, all of whom are experts in the care of patients with advanced and terminal illness.

Danielle Smeed joined Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care (PPHPC) as the Director of Business Development in 2024. Danielle has a strong background in healthcare and sales, with experience in relationship management, patient access and admissions, and customer service.

Prior to this role, Danielle played an integral part in PPHPC’s Patient Access team, where she was promoted from Admissions Coordinator to Patient Access Manager. During her time in those roles, Danielle significantly improved timely access to care and experience of care ratings. Her efforts to educate patients, families, and community partners on hospice care were crucial in expanding PPHPC’s impact in the community.

Danielle initially began her journey with PPHPC as a volunteer, and her passion for the mission continues today. She still finds time to volunteer outside of her working hours, demonstrating her ongoing commitment to support the organization and the community. In her current Director role, Danielle’s team of community and clinical liaisons strengthen relationships with physicians, hospitals, and other community partners.

Ashley Brown was a member of the Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care clinical team for more than four years and then promoted to the role of Clinical Manager.

Ashley has provided care for patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings serving as an RN case manager, inpatient nurse, and inpatient charge nurse.

Ashley holds a BSN degree in nursing from Adams State University, and in 2019 she earned certification as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse (CHPN).

Being a Colorado native, Ashley loves to kayak in the summer and ski in the winter. If Ashley is not on the water or on the mountain, she is spending time with family and friends.

Susan Edmondson joined Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation as executive director in 2025, bringing more than two decades of experience in nonprofit management and community engagement. She served 11 years as President & CEO of Colorado Springs Downtown Partnership and a decade as director of the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, where she continues to serve on its board of trustees. She has served on many nonprofit boards and is a co-founder of the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, a co-founder of PikeRide bike share and a founding partner of MeadowGrass Music Festival. A former journalist, she has worked at newspapers in Colorado, Nevada and California.

In her role as executive director, Susan helms foundation strategic planning, guides donor stewardship and grows resources to support the vital programs and services of Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care.

Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master’s degree in public administration from UCCS.