The Partners Who Create The Rizzi Difference

Terese began her career at Stockton State University creating the nursing school’s psychiatric mental health nursing program. Terese has provided psychiatric care for over 40 years. Her understanding of the aging population allows her to guide and lead the team at Rizzi Psychiatric Associates in providing treatment and services focusing on the unique needs of older adults. 

Terese’s vast knowledge and experience enables her and the team to provide comprehensive psychopharmacological evaluations.  She has seen that quality of life improves dramatically when psychiatric intervention is made early in the caring process. Her main goal and focus is to maximize function and improve quality of life for each patient she and her team has the honor to care for.

Terese Rizzi is board certified and received her Baccalaureate in nursing from  Boston University and her Masters in Psychiatric Mental Health nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. After concluding her Master’s Degree, Terese completed a year of internship in the prestigious University of Pennsylvania program of “Structural Family Therapy”,  founded by one of psychiatry’s giants,  Dr. Salvador Minuchin.  Following two years at Stockton State College in which she set up their baccalaureate program in psychiatric nursing, Terese spent twenty years providing private psychotherapy to families and individuals.  For the three years prior to coming to Florida, she was the advanced practice nurse for psychiatric mental health for a 1000 resident continuum of care community in New Jersey.

Terese spent almost twenty years providing expert care to residents in Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing Facilities throughout Lee and Collier counties,  and she is well known and ultimately respected in her field.  With Terese’s  guidance, the providers at Rizzi Mental Health Associates practice the APA’s Collaborative Care Model, which means that Terese consults on every single patient in the practice, reviewing psychotropic medications on a monthly basis and when needed on a daily basis.

Dr. Gabriel Rizzi is a board-certified, general and vascular surgeon trained in New York City in the Columbia program. He was an instructor in surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and practiced at the Medical Center of Ocean County in New Jersey, where he held positions as Chief of Surgery and Chief of Vascular Surgery and was a member on the board of the hospital.

 

In addition to a thriving practice, he held chair positions in every committee in the hospital. Dr. Rizzi began practicing in assisted living facilities in Southwest Florida in 2006 and continues to be committed to their care.

 

Over the last three decades, Dr. Rizzi has been on medical mission trips throughout South and Central America, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean bringing medical supplies and care to those in need.

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Elizabeth was born and raised in Norwalk, CT. She earned her undergraduate degree at University of Washington in Seattle and her graduate degree from Maryville University in St. Louis. She is board certified in adult and geriatric primary care. Elizabeth knew from a young age that she wanted to work in geriatrics. As a child, Elizabeth and her family would visit residents living in nursing homes. She realized then how important it was to care for the elderly. She decided to dedicate her life to making sure seniors were seen, heard, and cared for with compassion and respect. Elizabeth started her career managing a physician practice when she was 18 years old while working her way through nursing school. When Elizabeth found there was a lack of professionals who were equipped to work with ostomy patients, she decided to further her education at Emory University where she graduated from their Wound, Ostomy and Continence program. Elizabeth has always been very passionate about helping ostomy patients. She also loves to see wounds heal and is fascinated by the healing process. Being a lifelong learner, Elizabeth continues to further her education. She completed the master class in psychopharmacology at Harvard University and is a Certified Physician Practice Manager through AAPC. Elizabeth is always happy to share her knowledge and research with her team. She also helps others continue their education as a CEU Credit provider in the State of Florida. Elizabeth has always had an interest in plant-based wellness to fight disease. She is currently learning more about Plant Based Nutrition through courses at Cornell University and in her free time, she enjoys creating gourmet vegan meals with her husband, Chris. Elizabeth joined Gabriel and Terese Rizzi in 2018 as a managing partner. She loves how the partners of Rizzi Geriatric and Rizzi Mental Health Associates all have their own strengths they bring together to work towards the same goals.

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