Kristine Gonnella, Community Health Partners for Sustainability

Health professions student training programs that are woven into the fabric of the health center infrastructure can provide a high quality training experience for students, including but not limited to medical assistants, medical students, nurses, physician assistants (PAs), and social workers. A focused effort in building out a coordinated, collaborative training environment can result in a pipeline of professionals passionate and committed to service in health centers.

Lynn Gerlach, Tamarack Communication

Right on the eastern edge of the largest contiguous wilderness area in the lower 48 states is Challis, Idaho, population 1081.This is the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness - nearly three million acres of land and water. Challis Area Health Center has been around since 1975, when, according to local folklore, a well-to-do businessman was bitten by a rattlesnake and was incensed that he had to travel all the way to Salmon to see a doctor. He appealed to the Marmot Foundation, they donated $5000, and the rest is history. Now, the health center is “a cross between a frontier clinic and a wilderness clinic,” according to Executive Director Steve Rembelski.

Ann Hogan, Ann Hogan Consulting

Do your employees have the tools they need to succeed at providing your patients an Excellent Customer Service Experience? Often times we expect our employees to have the Customer Service skills needed to perform their jobs, but we forget we have the responsibility as a manager to give them the tools to ensure their success. As a consultant, I travel quite a bit for my job. Recently, I was able to observe the stark differences in the Customer Service Experience first hand.

This year’s Spring Primary Care conference was held in the beautiful Lilac City of Spokane. With over 250 attendees, 25+ sponsors, 75+ speakers, 30+ exhibitors, and 53 sessions across 4 days, we had a full house. We had a wide variety of speakers and sessions with valuable information that attendees can implement at their health centers. Community health center staff and board members had many opportunities to get to know each other over music, games, and outings. Read more about the conference and peruse photos.

Priscilla Tovar is the very definition of a “fantastic CHW” although we use the term Promotora de Salud at Quincy Community Health Center. Pris began as a volunteer at the clinic when she was just a Jr. in high school and when we got the chance to hire her we did! She has been an employee for 8 years. She has been involved in research, advocacy, reviewing tool-kits, CHW/Promotora trainings, as well as serving as a master training for a chronic disease self-management program. Priscilla enjoys outreach with the migrant farmworkers in our community. Every encounter with her patients is done with a” heart of service” and her work ethic and concern for her community is unprecedented.

-Mary Jo Ybarra-Vega, Quincy Community Health Center

Feature a fantastic Medical Assistant in next month's edition! Please send Alyssa Panning a short bio and photo by July 7.

Aaron Starr's last day at NWRPCA as CFO was June 9. Aaron has joined a newly approved Accountable Care Organization in Washington as the Director of Finance. We wish him all the best in his new position!

NWRPCA's intern, Joey Liao, is moving to China to spend time with her family and explore career options. Joey has been with NWRPCA since July 2016. Thank you for all your hard work, Joey!

Our annual Training Needs Survey was conducted with Community Health Association of Mountain/Plains States (CHAMPS).

239 people responded from Region X Health Centers, and listed these five challenges as top priorities:

• Access to care
• Recruitment
• Federal policy changes
• Retention
• Behavioral health

This information will be used to develop and refine NWRPCA's future trainings.

A play on a popular song, the Class of 2017 sport "Turn Down for Watts" t-shirts at their Graduation Gala celebration in Mesa, Arizona to show their appreciation for Regional Director of Medical Education, Dr. Lisa Watts. Dr. Watts served the ATSU- NWRPCA community campus for eight years before stepping down this spring.

July 17-18 in Tacoma, WA

The Federal Tort Claims Act University (FTCAU) is an innovative and collaborative training conference between the FTCA Division and Region X PCAs that is being offered to members of the health center community. It is a great opportunity for seasoned quality and risk professionals, and new professionals, to learn from experts, leaders, and government officials in the areas of FTCA and related subject matters. Over the course of two days, attendees will participate in interactive presentations, and exercises that are all specially geared toward health center grantees in HRSA federal Region X: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

October 21-24 in Seattle

Together Toward Tomorrow: Celebrating 20 Years of Region 18

NWRPCA and CHAMPS encourage you to share your success stories, best practices, and useful tools at our conference. Submissions focusing on the areas of quality, rural health, opioids, governance, operations, workforce, and other topic areas that relate to the multi-disciplinary nature of this conference are sought.

Deadline: June 26

November 2016 - September 2017

The next webinar, Financials, Audits, 990s, Oh My!, is June 21 at noon PT

This ten-part governance webinar series focuses on a variety of topics that relate directly to Community Health Center Boards of Directors.

Sign up for the remainder of all live webinars, and receive recordings of all previous webinars.

January 2017-December 2017

The next webinar, Brief Interventions: Sleep Concerns, is July 12, at noon PT

NWRPCA is offering a series of ten behavioral health webinars that serve as a platform each month for a blend of didactic trainings and interactive opportunities. Each month we examine a different topic via a 60-minute webinar.

Sign up for the remainder of all live webinars, and receive recordings of all previous webinars.

June 26-29 in Seattle, WA

This intensive program is a team-based course designed to improve the performance of clinical and administrative managers in community health centers who must work together effectively to optimally serve their communities.

This course addresses the following topic areas:

• Collaborative Management, Quality Improvement/Assurance, and Practice Transformation
• Strategic & Financial Planning
• Payment Reform
• Provider Recruitment, Retention, and Compensation
• Leadership Styles, Team-Building, and Managing Change