The team at CVHHH has grown over the past year in some exciting and strategic ways. Last month, we shared that Dr. Alyson Emmons-Abbruzzi was named Medical Director of the Home Health and Hospice programs. Now, we’d like to introduce Linda Hamilton and Tracey Zimmer, two new key members of our hospice and quality teams. We sat down with Linda and Tracey to learn more about what led them to CVHHH and their vision for their new roles.
Linda H.
Hospice Clinical Director
Linda Hamilton, RN, is CVHHH’s Hospice Clinical Director. Initially hired in an interim capacity, Linda took on a permanent position at CVHHH late last year. Linda brings more than 45 years of specialized experience to her role.
What does a typical week look like?
I am responsible for customer service, managing our referral service, supporting patient families, coordinating care, supporting visiting staff with regulatory guidance and education, and working with our interdisciplinary team to provide excellent care.
You oversee staff working in every part of hospice – RNs, social workers, the volunteer coordinator – why do you think an interdisciplinary approach makes sense for hospice care?
Because when you’re dealing with death, there’s the medical component, but there’s also a lot of social dynamics and education about end-of-life. There are patients in spiritual pain who want to resolve family dynamics. A lot of people aren’t aware that it puts a lot of patients at ease to know their loved ones will be looked over after they’re gone.
What are some formative professional experiences that brought you to this point in your career? What led you to CVHHH specifically?
Healthcare wasn’t my first choice, but I always knew that I wanted to help people. This naturally evolved into nursing; I was a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) for 20 years before becoming a nurse 26 years ago.
I came to CVHHH as a traveler and really liked the overall goals and seeing the mission statement at work. Every organization has a mission statement, but not every organization lives it.
What are your hopes for the hospice program?
To build a culture of hard work, positivity, and support for one another, while providing excellent care.
What should people know about hospice?
People believe that hospice is giving up, but hospice is hope. We are helping people meet a goal by doing this one last thing. It’s giving people the quality of life that they deserve.
Tracey Z.
Quality Nurse Educator
Tracey joined CVHHH in 2025. She and her family traded in the Rocky Mountains for the Greens when they relocated from Colorado to Vermont. Tracey has spent most of her healthcare career working in hospice across a variety of settings and capacities.
What do you do in your role?
I create education for the clinical team based on quality standards and I am creating an onboarding program to train mentors on how to train others. I’m finding out how people learn and tailoring education for them. I am also helping to organize programming to make connections with local colleges and universities.
What is your professional background? What brought you to this point in your career?
I’m an RN and spent ten years working in hospice – on-call, as a managing clinical leader, and a clinical educator for leadership processes, protocol, and education. Hospice is my passion and I love education.
Why CVHHH specifically?
I believe in community nursing, and when I met with Lori, Sarah, and Charlotte (members of CVHHH’s Quality team), I knew there was so much I could learn from these women.
What are your hopes for quality education at CVHHH?
I hope to create a really robust training program. I want people doing training to feel prepared, that they’re doing a good job, and contributing to the longevity of the organization.
