Our Staff at BrightStar Care® Barrington & McHenry County

Karen Pinderski, President and Owner of BrightStar Care® of Barrington and McHenry County, has extensive healthcare experience at Abbott Laboratories, PharMEDium Healthcare, and Pfizer. Home care services and medical staffing services align with her prior work and passion for improving patient safety in medical settings such as Intensive Care Units. Karen holds patents for intravenous infusion labeling and packaging innovations to help reduce medication errors. In her free time, Karen is a soccer enthusiast and the happy care giver of her mom, Avelina. Karen has a BA and MA from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and MBA from Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Management.  

Gina Maki is our Director of Nursing. With over 30 years of healthcare experience, Gina understands the continuum of care, including the many situations where a health diagnosis doesn’t need to take you from your home or community. In her leadership role, Gina meets with clients, advocates with a personal touch when needed, and provides clinical oversight of every case. She heads our expert care team of RNs, Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs), and others, strongly believing training and mentoring are key to clinical success. Gina is known for demonstrating a great deal of compassion, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, particularly in the most traumatic situations when strong emotional stability from an expert RN is a must. Gina is a leader of maintaining the unmatched care standards of our organization validated by The Joint Commission accreditation. Our accreditation is to the same high quality standards as the best hospitals in the country.

Prior to joining our team, Gina distinguished herself in leadership roles specializing in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), mentoring nursing students, and as a Director of Nursing in a 92 bed facility. Gina is an active member of the Infusion Nursing Society and is on the advisory board of Clearbrook Choice Program serving individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities. Gina earned her BSN from Northern Michigan University.

Stephanie has worked in the medical field for the past 17 years and is a life-long McHenry County resident.  She earned her Medical Assistant certification and previously worked as a Clinical Manager in a pain management practice.  Currently working as our Sr. Customer Care Manager for the past 2+ years, she has earned high praise from many clients and employees due to her laser-focus on positive customer and employee experiences.  She collaborates with clients to be sure the schedule developed fits their specific needs.  In her free time, Stephanie enjoys the outdoors, gardening, animals and music.  

Rachel began her career with BrightStar in 2022 as a Customer Care Manager.  Her primary focus was on Veteran and National Accounts clients and also skilled and non-skilled resources that we provide to McHenry Co. school districts.  Prior to working at BrightStar, she earned her Associates in Science degree and also completed a Certified Nursing Assistant program at McHenry County College.  She provided care in a facility where she also functioned as an Activities Assistant and mentor.  She then proceeded to Midwestern Career College where she earned her specialization in Sonography and performed Ultrasound exams.   While working at BrightStar Care, Rachel has been highly successful in building strong relationships with our Veteran, National Accounts, School clients & business partners.  Based on her success, Rachel has been promoted to Community Relations Manager where she will focus on VA, National Accounts and other communities.   She is family-oriented and enjoys spending time with her family during her free time.

With over 40 years of business and human resource experience, Cindy is responsible for overseeing HR management to adhere to organizational policies and procedures. In addition, she is responsible for recruiting and hiring the nursing and caregiver staff and joined the BrightStar Care team 5 years ago. Prior to joining the team, Cindy focused on recruiting and hiring internal and external employees at a major financial services company. She was also responsible for employee and customer experience for multiple business lines there which allows her to bring valuable perspective to the team in building strong employee relationships. 

In her free time, Cindy is a Chicago sports team enthusiast and likes to garden and scrapbook. She has a BA in Business Management and MS in Organizational Leadership from National Louis University.

We are thrilled to announce our Caregiver of the Year Ruth Gill! Ruth has been in Healthcare for over 30 years. She is a certified Nursing Assistant that shines with professionalism on her assignments. She has been with BrightStar Care of Barrington, IL & McHenry County, IL for 12 years this year! We value her dedication and work ethic she consistently delivers on each assignment. She strives to help each of her clients achieve their level of optimal health. Her clients praise her work performance. Our clients praise her work performance. Our clients trust her and feel comfort that she can provide the best care and support to themselves or a loved one. Ruth is a caregiver that has impacted many lives positively! Congratulations Ruth!