Born in Jamaica, Dionne Blackwood-Proulx, MBA, came to the United States in 1989 and earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and management from Florida Atlantic University in 1998. She began her career as a data entry clerk for HCA Healthcare and Westside Regional Medical Center, now HCA Florida Westside Hospital, spending a decade with the medical center and eventually rising to the role of financial and reimbursement analyst. Concurrently, she joined the Jackson Health System as a budget analyst in 1999, where she spent the next 12 years. With Jackson Health, she excelled as the administrator for mental health and community services from 2008 to 2012 and also spent time as the administrator for the South Florida AIDS Network in Dade and Monroe Counties, and the interim chief financial officer for the Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital and the Ambulatory Care Center. Furthermore, Ms. Blackwood-Proulx achieved a Master of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in 2008.
In 2012, Ms. Blackwood-Proulx became the director of the operations and business office for the Memorial Healthcare System as well as vice chair of the board of directors for the Memorial Employees Federal Credit Union. Today, she is the administrative director of primary care and community services with the health system, a role she has held since 2015. With considerable expertise in primary care hospital-based practice management, value-based care risk contracts, and leadership, her responsibilities include overseeing 200 employees across 15 primary care centers. She was notably selected for the Memorial Healthcare System’s executive coaching program in 2019. Continuing to further her education throughout her career, Ms. Blackwood-Proulx also achieved Six Sigma green belt certification from Nova Southeastern University in 2019.
Alongside her primary responsibilities, Ms. Blackwood-Proulx was a member of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing from 2001 to 2011 and an adviser and provider for the advisory board of the Developing Center for AIDS Research from 2010 to 2012. Between 2012 to 2016, she served on the board of the Broward County HIV Prevention Planning Council, was a member of the joint priorities committee and was chair of the local pharmacy advisory committee. She is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Medical Group Management Association and the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. For her excellence, Ms. Blackwood-Proulx was named to Experience Leaders in Motion in 2016 and presented with a Thank You Award from the Leadership Development Mentor Program in 2014.
