WCN Visits California

Hello and Happy New Year! 2018 promises to be a very busy and productive year for us and for our clients. We started the year with a long trip to visit our California clients in preparation for upcoming site visits. Seven of our clients have a HRSA On-Site Visit this year and everyone is focused on putting their best foot forward.We started our visit with a trip to the newest members of The Write Choice Network, Anderson Valley Health Center (AVHC). This was the first time we met the wonderful staff of AVHC and we spent a full day working on their site visit and getting to know all about their extraordinary work.

The following day we were able to have lunch with Alex Armstrong, the CEO of Alliance Medical Center, and get a little face time checking in. We also stopped by to meet the amazing team at Price Waterman who we work with very closely as Judy Waterman is the CFO for all of our California clients. Meeting everyone in person was fun and they had fresh baked cookies for us because that is the kind of sweet team they are! Wednesday and Thursday we spent at Marin City Health and Wellness Center (MCHWC) where we did their Mock Site Visit and toured the construction of their San Francisco site. We met with their Board of Directors and provided a board training on the changes to the HRSA Compliance Manual and Site Visit Protocol.

Later that week Monica and JayVon Muhammad, CEO of MCHWC, spoke at the 2018 Smart Partners for New Growth Conference in San Francisco. Monica presented on anchoring FQHCs for place-based investment to build healthy communities. She highlighted the fact that FQHCs have health and social equity roots and showed how The Write Choice Network contributes to building a culture of health in communities across the nation. Monica discussed how our clients aren’t just addressing Healthcare, because they understand that health is holistic, and are also addressing other systems in their communities such as economic development, education, local food systems, infrastructure, outdoor recreation, and entrepreneurship to name a few. JayVon spoke about Gentrification as a Public Health issue emphasizing how the stress from being forced to relocate away from your home, family, community, and support systems results in poor health outcomes. Both Monica and JayVon spoke exquisitely and were very well received from the audience with lots of questions and accolades.

Our trip to California was a lot of work compressed into a short amount of time and we returned home exhausted but fulfilled. Getting to spend time with our clients and witnessing your good work is always inspiring!