Staff Spotlight: Eva E. K. Leonetti, MS, BS, CPCO

Compliance and Privacy Officer

United Counseling Service’s (UCS) Compliance and Privacy Officer, Eva E. K. Leonetti, began her healthcare career in 1996 as a Licensed Nurse Assistant at the Weston Hadden Convalescent Center (now the Center for Living and Rehabilitation) and on the West Wing at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC). She went on to serve her community for ten years as an Emergency Medical Technician with Bennington Rescue Squad while working for six years as a pharmacy technician at Walmart.

During her time at SVMC, Eva also served on the Medical Reserve Corps, a specialized group trained to respond on short notice to large-scale emergencies, including mass casualty events. Years later, she returned to SVMC as the Coordinator for Case Management and Social Services. In this role, she supported social workers and nurse case managers by producing monthly statistics, assisting with discharge planning, coordinating with insurance companies to secure approvals for assistive devices such as wound vacs, and reporting key hospital metrics.

One of Eva’s most impactful contributions during this time was leading the transition of nurse case manager documentation from the Meditech electronic health record to the Midas system. This change significantly improved reporting, streamlined documentation, and ensured compliance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements. In 2015, Eva transitioned to the Quality, Safety, and Value Department as the Database Administrator for the Midas+ Care Management system. The system supported incident reporting and served as a data warehouse used to generate required data for the hospital’s nursing Magnet designation, as well as dashboards and performance indicators for physicians.

With several generations of family members in healthcare, it was a natural path for Eva to enter—and remain in—the field. While her time working directly with patients has passed, she continues to support clients in a different but equally impactful way. “I like to support our community without being on the front lines,” Eva says. “I still provide quality patient care by supporting those who are on the front lines.”

As UCS’s Compliance and Privacy Officer, Eva describes her role as “healthcare police.” She is responsible for maintaining the agency’s Compliance and Privacy Programs; ensuring adherence to state and federal regulations; protecting and upholding client rights; creating and maintaining policies; providing training on compliance, ethics, and quality care; and investigating compliance-related and privacy concerns or violations. One of her favorite aspects of the role is answering staff questions and developing and delivering trainings. Her work is a vital part of ensuring UCS consistently provides high-quality, ethical care to clients.

Eva stays current on the ever-evolving laws, regulations, and policies that affect UCS—and she enjoys the challenge. “I love my work,” she says. “I love being a resource. I love answering questions—and if I don’t know the answer, I love doing the research to learn.”

Eva’s educational journey began at the Community College of Vermont, where she studied massage therapy. She later earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Forensics and Digital Investigation from Champlain College, a program she describes as particularly exciting. Her coursework included blood spatter analysis, computer forensics, and even monitoring a simulated decomposition study in her backyard to examine wound patterns and the decaying process. Eva humorously notes that “Chet the chicken” died from eight stab wounds inflicted by a screwdriver approximately four weeks before “the body was discovered.”

In 2014, Eva earned her master’s degree in Health and Clinical Informatics from Brandeis University. This program deepened her expertise in records management, electronic health record optimization, healthcare laws and regulations, and data mining from data warehouses. In 2023, she earned her Certified Professional Compliance Officer (CPCO) credential through the AAPC. She frequently considers returning to school to pursue a second master’s degree in Healthcare Law.

Eva joined UCS in 2017 to lead the Health Information Management team, then known as the Records Department, and to serve as the agency’s Privacy Officer. Among her notable achievements was restructuring the department and creating systems that ensured continuity of knowledge when staff retired or otherwise left the agency. She led the team until 2024, when she transitioned into her current role as Compliance and Privacy Officer.

Eva’s commitment to quality is evident throughout her career—from hands-on patient care to behind-the-scenes support for client-facing staff. She remains dedicated to lifelong learning while serving as a trusted knowledge resource for others.

Outside of work, Eva enjoys crocheting, needlepoint (especially when it’s too hot to crochet), and spending time with her family and four dogs. She married her wife in 2020 and looks forward to starting a garden at their new home in Colrain, MA, this spring. Eva also treasures time spent with her three children.

Wherever Eva finds herself—at home or at work—she remains deeply committed to learning and growth. “Every interaction I have, I take a piece of that to reshape who I am as a person,” she says. “I take every conversation as a reflective moment to better myself.”