40 Years of Community Health
You could describe the last six months in multiple ways: exciting, chaotic, innovative... The response to the things taking place in the world and in our country today resonates differently with different people and in different places. If you find that this level of near constant change is disruptive and difficult to navigate, you are far from alone. One thing is true though. As leaders in healthcare today, we have a duty and a desire to calm the storm, so that we can provide care and attention to the people who seek our support and services. WACH has been on that journey with you for 40 years and we will continue to be here in the years ahead.
Our compass in times like these is our collective mission, which I am rapidly assimilating. I have learned that the overriding mission of all community health centers (CHCs) is to deliver high quality, compassionate primary care to populations with a lower ability to pay, while preserving and strengthening access to culturally appropriate, whole-person care for everyone. I don’t believe there is anything controversial in that. CHCs have a record of distinguished service to your communities and thousands of patient stories where lives are forever changed for the better. That body of work can and must continue!
But what do you do when you have dug as deep as you can and you can’t dig any further? Do you hand the shovel off to someone who is fresher or do you teach someone else how to dig? That is where WACH, your association partner, can help carry the load. We’re not afraid to help address difficult challenges on your behalf and in concert with you. We’re busy surveying and mapping this new landscape, so we can show you where all the pitfalls and opportunities may lie.
We look forward to your active engagement with us and I'm eager to hear more from you. So let us commiserate but not forget to celebrate and also contemplate what surviving this new terrain looks like while delivering on our mission to care for the people of Washington over the next decade.