Carola Peterson-Gaines has worked for Unity Health Insurance and the UW Medical Foundation for 22 years, as the BadgerCare Outreach Coordinator. A nurse by training,  she currently serves 17,000 BadgerCare Plus (BC+) members as the Community Liaison and Advocate. Her goals are to coordinate and provide a heightened level of support to the BC+ providers and BC+ membership. Carola, actively develops and implements programs to improve access to care for BC+ members, coordinates patient care and inform them of new state programs and initiatives. She advocates for members with high-risk health care needs and works to educate BC+ members about preventive health measures such as early prenatal care.

Carola leads and serves on numerous community initiatives including, the Dane County Immunization Coalition, Safe Sleep Coalition, Dane County Asthma Coalition, Fetal Infant Mortality Review Board, Black Women Wellness Day Planning Team, and the African American Health Network to name a few.  She is the Wisconsin State Coordinator of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (DST), and Immediate Past Chapter President of the Madison Alumnae Chapter (DST).  She has received many awards, including the YWCA- 2010 Woman of Distinction, Dane County Walk of Honor Award, the South Madison Community Service Award, Charles Hamilton Houston Service Award, 2013 Madison Metropolitan Links Community Award, Wisconsin Women of Color Network Distinguished Service Award, 2015 Urban League of Greater Madison President’s Award, the 2016 Black Women’s Leadership Collaborator Award, and the 2018 Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness Legacy Award.

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