LANSING–The Michigan Primary Care Association has published the 2022 July newsletter to approximately 2,500 subscriber inboxes.
Please check out the July 2022 edition which includes the following highlights: National Health Center Week 2022; MPCA 2022 Annual Conference; a message from MPCA chief executive officer Phillip Bergquist; Workforce Updates; Meet the MPCA VirtuALLY team; and much more.
LANSING–The Michigan Primary Care Association has published the 2022 June newsletter to more than 2,500 subscribers’ inboxes.
Please check out the June 2022 edition which includes the following highlights: Integrated Clinical Health Conference programming updates: Pride Month; member health center CEOs retiring; BridgeMichigan.com story Michigan’s Medicaid ballooned during COVID; MPCA earns Rural Health Professional of the Year award; MPCA honors first AmeriCorps (HealthCorps graduates; annual compensation and benefits survey coming soon; and much more.
InterCare Community Health Network President and CEO Velma Hendershott has been honored with the 2022 Lifetime Achievement in Migrant Health Award by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The award was given at the Conference for Agricultural Worker Health on May 2, in Denver, Colo.
Velma has long been a leader in migrant and community health. As a child of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, she worked in the fields and learned about the difficulty farmworkers had trying to get health care for themselves and their families. Her parents settled in southwest Michigan and volunteered in clinics to provide services to farmworkers. In 1977, Velma joined what became InterCare, and in 1986 she was named CEO. Over the years, as well as running InterCare, she has been a passionate advocate for community health centers from the local level to state capitols, the U.S. Congress and the White House, including leadership roles with NACHC and the Michigan Primary Care Association.
At the presentation, Velma thanked many people and dedicated the award to her parents. “I think of my parents,” she said, “who instilled in all of us the value of service, compassion, a strong work ethic, the importance of education and a passion for helping others.”
Today InterCare Community Health Network serves over 50,000 patients in rural, urban and migrant communities. In 2022 it is celebrating its 50th year and is the largest provider of healthcare to Michigan’s agricultural workers. As well as medical care, InterCare provides dental care, behavioral health care, and WIC services in Bangor, Benton Harbor, Eau Claire, Holland and Pullman.
“We take pride in recognizing colleagues who have done so much on behalf of our migrant and seasonal agricultural workers,” said Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, interim President and CEO of the NACHC. “Each in their own way has shown what it takes to make health care meaningful and responsive for this vital part of the nation’s workforce under extraordinary challenges. These honorees have lifted barriers to care and advanced equity during an unprecedented global pandemic. We celebrate their service, courage, and contributions to the Community Health Center Movement.”
Community and Migrant Heath Centers serve approximately 22 percent (nearly one million) of agricultural workers and their families currently living in the U.S. Throughout the pandemic, health centers have responded to the health needs of the nation’s essential agricultural workers who harvest the food on our table and who have suffered disproportionately higher rates of infection and death from the COVID-19 virus.
–David Burgess, InterCare Communications and Marketing Specialist; and NACHC news release
(Photo credit: NACHC; Hendershott is flanked by Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, NACHC interim President and CEO, to the left, and Mike Holmes, NACHC Board Chair.)
The Michigan Primary Care Association is proud to have a talented, experienced staff to advocate for and support our member health centers which provide their communities with excellent care and services. We are excited to introduce each of our teams so that you can get to know them a little better, so next up is the data services team.
Clinical Data Manager Cheryl Gildner started at the MPCA in April 2017. Cheryl has almost exclusively worked with centers to implement and use Azara and data in general. The data team educates health center staff on how to use and maintain their population health tool as well as how to create data views, tell stories through data and understand what the data is telling them about their patient populations and overall operations.
Just prior to coming to the MPCA, she worked in a health center for nine years doing operations, quality improvement and compliance.
A two-time graduate of Central Michigan University, Cheryl used to race motorcycles on the ice and ridden motocross and proclaims to have “driven just about everything out there with an engine in it.
Beth Holtz, BSN, RN, has been with the MPCA since May 2020, working as a clinical dataspecialist.
Beth owns a bachelor’s degree in nursing and earned her master’s in healthcare administration.
Previously, Beth was employed at Bronson Hospital in the pediatric unit and in the quality and risk department at the West Michigan Cancer Center in Kalamazoo.
Beth started playing pickle ball last spring and really enjoys the sport.
Rob Pazdan, MBA, is the Chief Information Officer and started at the MPCA in September 2000–the longest-tenured employee at the Association.
Rob graduated from Michigan State University and earned a master’s in business administration from Wayne State University almost 15 years later. Then seven years after that, he received a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certificate.
Rob, who is a fan of the Detroit sports scene, has played ice hockey since he was 7 years old and still competes two to three times a week. He tended goal for the last 30 years before recently returning to forward again for the first time since a 9-year-old.
Ashley Wozniak, BSN, RN-BC, has been a clinical data specialist at MCPA since July 2018. She is tasked with Uniform Data System (UDS), an annual reporting system that provides standardized information about the performance and operation of health centers delivering health care services to underserved communities and vulnerable populations. She also focuses on hypertension and diabetes grants, and Substance Use Disorder awards.
Ashley graduated from the University of Michigan School of Nursing, worked at U of M Hospital, Rush University Hospital and Sparrow before coming to the MPCA.
LANSING–The Michigan Primary Care Association has sent the 2022 May newsletter to more than 2,500 subscribers’ inboxes this week.
Please check out the May 2022 edition which includes the following highlights: Integrated Clinical Health Conference programming updates; Meet the Data Services Team; AmeriCorps Site Supervisor of the Month award winner, Packard Health’s Rebecca Fleming; Health Center Board Member Training programming updates; oral health and emergency preparedness updates; 2022 NACHC Lifetime Achievement in Migrant Health Award recipient, InterCare CEO Velma Hendershott; Endorsed Business Partner Spotlight: Medline; and much more.
The MPCA HealthCorps AmeriCorps program focuses on connecting low income and medically underserved populations to primary health care through patient engagement activities. MPCA HealthCorps AmeriCorps members strive to increase access to primary health care services through preventive care and chronic disease management, assisting Medicaid members in maximizing their health plan benefits, and addressing social determinants of health by eliminating barriers to care.
Madison is taking a gap year before starting medical school where she plans to pursue a specialty in pediatrics. During her gap year, she is dedicating her time and energy to making a positive impact in the lives of medically vulnerable populations. In the clinic, if a provider notices someone has food or housing insecurity, lacks health insurance, or has other barriers affecting their health, Madison will help connect the patient to available resources. She helps coordinate healthcare appointments, provides reminders and transportation assistance, and assists patients with completing necessary paperwork.
When the weather was warmer, Madison also provided health and medical outreach to the migrant community. Madison would visit the local migrant camps and Latino grocery stores to distribute information about COVID testing and vaccination. She also helped migrant women access free breast and cervical screenings through the Breast & Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP).
Madison’s service in the community extends into her free time as well. “On my own time, I’m volunteering with hospice right now where I visit an older hospice patient each week and read to her,” she notes. “Additionally, I’m helping with COVID 19 testing for Safe Harbor which is one of our main homeless shelters here. The Traverse City Street Medicine team, which I’m somewhat a part of, helps provide weekly and sometimes daily testing and I’ve been helping with this to ensure our homeless community (who is already very at risk) is protected from COVID.”
Karen VanSchoick, the MPCA HealthCorps Program Director, said “I knew from our first time meeting that Madison was a great fit for our program. She is always generous with her time and wanting to help others any way she can. Madison always looks for opportunities to serve her community and often is the driving force to get things done.”
The Michigan Primary Care Association is proud to have a talented, diverse staff to advocate for and support our member health centers which provide their communities with excellent care and services. We are excited to introduce each of our teams so that you can get to know them a little better, so next up is the clinical services and quality team:
Amy Alward (BSN, RN, PCMH CCE) is population health consultant who has been with MPCA since November 2020. Among her many duties, Amy provides direct support and technical assistance to community health centers for participation in Michigan Quality Improvement Network-supported clinical projects and grants, one-on-one technical assistance, and implementation and use of population health technology to achieve clinical outcomes. As a Patient Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert, she also gives technical assistance to MPCA’S network of community health centers in meeting and retaining Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designation.
Amy received her bachelor’s degree in 2002 from the Michigan State University College of Nursing.
Amy is a wife and a mother to four beautiful children. Outside of work, she loves to camp with family and friends. In the spring, summer and fall you can find her at the lacrosse field cheering for her two youngest boys.
Laurie Dahl has been the clinical program coordinator since November 2021. Before she officially joined the MPCA, she worked for four years as an executive assistant and office coordinator to the CEO and Executive Director at our clinically integrated health network, Michigan Community Health Network.
Her current duties include successfully fulfilling the mission, vision, strategic goals and contractual obligations of MPCA; providing programmatic and grant support to the clinical team to enhance and aid in the implementation of training and technical assistance to all of our Michigan health centers; and assist the MPCA Chief Medical Officer with clinical services and MQIN Leadership Committees.
Laurie earned her bachelor of arts degree in interdisciplinary studies in social science, with a concentration in community governance and advocacy, from Michigan State University. During her undergraduate studies, she interned at the Lansing City Clerk’s office and worked many of the local elections.
An interesting fact about Laurie is that she was a world-ranked swimmer at the age of 17, but her Olympic dreams were crushed by the United States boycott of the Moscow Summer Games. She later competed for Michigan State University and then started coaching the sport that included a highlight of taking a group on a trip to London, Denmark and Sweden for a swimmer exchange program.
Shelly Hathaway is a nurse care consultant who has been with the MPCA since March 2020. In her role, Shelly works with care management teams throughout MPCA’s member health centers to provide them with support and resources while also assisting in the support to other grant initiatives.
Shelly has a nursing background before arriving at MPCA, and she graduated with a bachelor of science degree with a concentration in community health development from Central Michigan University.
While not at work, Shelly enjoys spending time with her family (especially her grand-children!), riding her motorcycle, and just relaxing at her cabin near Harrison.
Health Information Technology Specialist Debra Kristy is the lead on MPCA’s patient and outreach engagement tool, (Luma Health) and responsible for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) user group meeting, promoting interoperability, health information exchange, and various other duties regarding using clinical tools to achieve interoperability.
Prior to MPCA, Debra has many years of experience in the health care arena. She worked for Ascension Health, St. Johns/Providence Hospital as a clinical transformation specialist, working with ambulatory providers to implement their EHR and achieve meaningful use. She started out as a medical biller for a large hospital to implementation consultants and project manager, implementing EHR and/or practice management systems in small and large practices. She is quite familiar with all types of specialties, staff and their workflow.
Debra is a self-proclaimed Yooper, moving from Sault Sainte Marie when she was five years old to Brighton.
Marji Nichols is a registered nurse of nine years, joining the MPCA in October 2021 as the immunization program manager. She oversees and assists with federal and state vaccine program requirements with our health centers and provides technical assistance, training and education on all things vaccines.
Marji received an associate degree in nursing from Baker College-Owosso and then her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Michigan-Flint. Prior to MPCA, she spent the last six years working as the immunization coordinator at a local health department and prior to that a medical/surgical nurse in a hospital.
Marji is an avid aquarium hobbyist. She currently has three tank set ups ranging from blue velvet shrimp, ghost shrimp, mystery snails, plecos, to guppies and now recently aquatic plants. Her favorite store is Preuss Pets in Lansing, where she says they have the best aquatics department because it’s like visiting an aquarium every time her family goes. The kids love it, too, she says.
Dr. Faiyaz Syed is the Chief Medical Officer. In his MPCA role, Dr. Syed utilizes the requisite clinical experience and public health education to rely on, plan and accomplish the programmatic goals of the MPCA while leading the clinical services and quality team . He also directs Michigan Quality Improvement Network (MQIN)–the Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) for Michigan, a program assisting the health centers to achieve quality improvement enabled by health information technology.
Before joining MPCA, Dr. Syed gained multiple years of experience as a practicing physician. He is a strong advocate for public health policies and procedures in the fight against chronic diseases. He is the current vice-chair of the NACHC HCCN Taskforce Committee and is an active member of multiple boards.
Dr. Syed received his medical degree from Donetsk State Medical University, master’s in public health from Michigan State University School of Human Medicine and Fellowship in Community Health Policy and Leadership from George Washington University.
Dr. Syed knows multiple languages. He is fluent in reading writing and speaking Russian language. He is an avid MSU Spartans sports fan and enjoys following international, college and professional league sports.
Candy Vertalka is the Director of Value Transformation. She started at MPCA in February 2018 as a nurse care consultant prior to moving into her current role two years later. She is responsible for providing quality improvement support through the QI Directors Network. She also is leading efforts related to value transformation and supporting organizational change.
Candy is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in practice management, PCMH implementation, care management and performance improvement programs within both primary care and specialty practices. She has a strong interest in the development of practice transformation models that support a shift into value-based care. In addition to her many years of practice leadership, she has also obtained her Lean in Healthcare Certification and lead LEAN initiatives within the primary care setting.
Candy is a hearty football fan – primarily at the high school level as her sons all played prep football and her husband has been a high school football coach for over 25 years. Another fun fact is that she raises chickens (layers only – she could never eat them after raising them, she says with a laugh).
Amy Zarr background is in clinical quality improvement at the MPCA after obtaining her master’s degree in public health at George Washington University. Amy works with our members to help them meet our network’s value-based contracting goals, facilitating one-on-one training and technical assistance, and through learning collaboratives that improve access to care and clinical quality measures. She started here in September 2020.
She wants you to know that she took French and not Spanish because she can’t roll her “R’s.”
LANSING–The Michigan Primary Care Association has sent the 2022 April newsletter to more than 2,600 subscribers’ inboxes this week.
Please check out the April 2022 edition which includes the following highlights: Integrated Clinical Health Conference “Save the Date”; Meet the Clinical Services and Quality Team; AmeriCorps (HealthCorps) Member of the Month Madison Smith; oral health and emergency preparedness updates; “I Vaccinate” toolkit information; and much more.
BETHESDA, Md–Community Health Centers recently marked the one year milestone of vaccinating and protecting populations from COVID. With now 21 million vaccines administered, and a documented success of fewer deaths and infections in places where there is a health center, another challenge looms: financial uncertainty. With pandemic federal funding winding down, NACHC is tracking how health centers can continue to serve their mission by providing care to uninsured and underinsured Americans as additional COVID-19 variants emerge.
To continue reading “NACHC Raises Concerns About Funding Uncertainty in Pandemic Fight” by Amy Simmons Farber, please click here.
LANSING–Michigan Primary Care Association chief medical officer Dr. Faiyaz Syed recently wrote an opinion piece for the BridgeMichigan website titled “Oral medications are a huge step forward in Michigan’s COVID fight.”
Dr. Syed writes “The past two years have been trying for us all, particularly those of us that work in health care. As the chief medical officer for the Michigan Primary Care Association, I’ve seen Community Health Center patients of all ages struggle with COVID-19. Some of our patients have been hospitalized because they were so ill. Some have lost their lives to this virus.”…
Clinical Data Manager 
specialist.
with Uniform Data System (UDS), an annual reporting system that provides standardized information about the performance and operation of health centers delivering health care services to underserved communities and vulnerable populations. She also focuses on hypertension and diabetes grants, and Substance Use Disorder awards.
Amy Alward (BSN, RN, PCMH CCE) is population health consultant who has been with MPCA since November 2020. Among her many duties, Amy provides direct support and technical assistance to community health centers for participation in Michigan Quality Improvement Network-supported clinical projects and grants, one-on-one technical assistance, and implementation and use of population health technology to achieve clinical outcomes. As a Patient Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert, she also gives technical assistance to MPCA’S network of community health centers in meeting and retaining Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designation.
Shelly Hathaway is a nurse care consultant who has been with the MPCA since March 2020. In her role, Shelly works with care management teams throughout MPCA’s member health centers to provide them with support and resources while also assisting in the support to other grant initiatives.
tool, (Luma Health) and responsible for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) user group meeting, promoting interoperability, health information exchange, and various other duties regarding using clinical tools to achieve interoperability.
Marji Nichols is a registered nurse of nine years, joining the MPCA in October 2021 as the immunization program manager. She oversees and assists with federal and state vaccine program requirements with our health centers and provides technical assistance, training and education on all things vaccines.
and public health education to rely on, plan and accomplish the programmatic goals of the MPCA while leading the clinical services and quality team . He also directs Michigan Quality Improvement Network (MQIN)–the Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) for Michigan, a program assisting the health centers to achieve quality improvement enabled by health information technology.
Candy Vertalka is the Director of Value Transformation. She started at MPCA in February 2018 as a nurse care consultant prior to moving into her current role two years later. She is responsible for providing quality improvement support through the QI Directors Network. She also is leading efforts related to value transformation and supporting organizational change.
health at George Washington University. Amy works with our members to help them meet our network’s value-based contracting goals, facilitating one-on-one training and technical assistance, and through learning collaboratives that improve access to care and clinical quality measures. She started here in September 2020.