Reflections of a Health Policy Fellow: Time, Intention, and Professional Development
The following is an article written by Tiffany J. Netters, MPA, PMP, Executive Director at 504HealthNet.
When I first heard about the Geiger Gibson Health Policy Fellows Program, something inside of me lit up and I knew I had to get in. The program was designed by George Washington University’s (GW) School of Public Health to enable health center, Primary Care Association, and Health Center Controlled Network staff to develop a deeper understanding of health policy and acquire key skills to continue to fuel the community health center movement.
For those unfamiliar, community health centers have grown into the largest and most successful primary care system in the country. For the last 50 years, partnerships across reformed-minded physicians, community leaders, and government have formed to deliver primary and preventive medicine upstream among the underserved, in ways that go beyond the four walls of traditional care.
This long standing movement was built upon continuous policy efforts aimed to address the health care needs of low-resourced Americans. Although there is no “silver bullet” for the burdens that plague our society, I believe that we can make positive differences through policy interventions that address the enacted systems that — intentionally or not — have created these problems.
The idea of spending focused time with a group of like-minded professionals to dive deeper into health policy compelled me to spend a lot of time and energy pouring my heart into the application narrative. Through that process of submitting the application and waiting for a response, I realized that I was getting a little obsessed with getting in to this program. I have NO idea why (but now I know — will get to that part here in a bit)!
When I received the acceptance email, I knew that it was aligned with my intention and this was going to be awesome. I became very excited to get accepted into the program’s first cohort to connect with other trail-blazers on new ideas in health policy. Then, the day in September before I was scheduled to fly into Washington, DC from New Orleans there was a hurricane threatening the East Coast (not us — the usual target). A State of Emergency was called, and the program was postponed.
Timing is everything.
Within the 3 months of waiting to hear when my cohort would be rescheduled, I had started a new job — Executive Director of 504HealthNet (504HN). Luckily, health policy was still very important for my role as and I was welcomed during the rescheduled training program in April 2019.
504HealthNet was established in 2008 to serve as the unifying voice for community-based primary care and behavioral health care service providers that were established after Hurricane Katrina. For over ten years now, 504HealthNet has been helping underserved communities in New Orleans navigate the safety net health care system in order to establish their medical home. Today, the collaborative consists of 24 independent member organizations with over 70 community health center locations, serving approximately 183,000 patients each year. 504HealthNet’s efforts have been crucial in promoting transformational, community-based care as well as working towards health equity in New Orleans. 71% of the patients served in the 504HN collaborative are in a racial or ethnic minority. Additionally, 51% of the patients served are on Medicaid or CHIP, 23% are uninsured, 17% have a third-party payer, and 9% are on Medicare. 97% of the patients served at the clinics are at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and 67% are at or below 100% of the FPL.
After finally arriving at the Milken Institute School of Public Health on that cold and windy first morning, the 15 other fellows and I shared the awareness/acknowledgment of finally making it to DC (which felt triumphant after the weather delays that day as well) with our spirited program director. As those of us who made it looked around at each other sitting in the room, it felt like we all silently acknowledged that our time together must be destined, and we were here at this time for a reason.
The intentional experience.
Everything about this program felt different and intentional — from the location to the focused case-study. The program aimed to provide:
- a foundation in health policy and advocacy, geared to health centers and the communities they serve;
- skills related to developing and presenting policy advocacy positions; and
- interactions with experts and leaders in health policy and politics.
The program was facilitated and instructed by faculty at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, senior staff from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Geiger Gibson Distinguished Visitors, and Federal and Congressional health policy experts. This faculty was special, having their presence in both worlds of federal policy leaders on the Hill and academia. Our challenge over the next three days was to develop an impressive and perfect “leave behind” for legislative visits and included a mock visit with NACHC staff acting as Members of Congress. The “leave behind” is a one-pager that clearly defines the issues and the “ask” that you leave with legislative staffers to use for follow-up with the legislator for further action.
The cohort of fellows was carefully selected and intentional. We are a diverse, cross-geographic group of CEOs, CEO-Nurses, Chief Medical Officers, fiscal experts, operations managers, and state health policy directors. While the intended aims were clear, the bonds created through our discussions and the “DC-insider” information shared by faculty surpassed my expectations. I’ll share those later…
I, along with my fellow participants, felt that the information shared and skills practiced were critical in our work and could be implemented immediately once back home. On the third and final day, we presented our work to each other and to mock Members of Congress and practiced what we had learned. After only 72 hours together, we felt like a “group” that wanted to stay together after learning and practicing with each other. The intentionality behind the curriculum design, logistical planning and fellow selection had all worked.
To be a professional, professional development is critical.
This was clearly a true fellowship geared for learning, professional development and technical skill building. But as I referred to earlier, this opportunity gave us face-time with practitioners working at the highest policy level of our field. The ability to hear about their experiences in health care and their thoughts and insights on where health care is going for our country was the most valuable. Accessing these “DC-insiders” gave us the opportunity to hear and share their information with our networks at home, creating a critical trickle-down effort that got this information to community providers who would ultimately be impacted. Here is a brief synopsis of what I learned:
- The “LEAVE BEHIND” one-pager is extremely important as a document to leave with legislative staffers when you meet with them. t continues to make the policy “ask” after you leave DC.
- When speaking with legislators, never underestimate the knowledge you have on the GROUND… But you have to treat legislative staff and policy makers with RESPECT regardless of whether you agree or disagree with their views.
- Use ADVOCACY as a TOOL to open doors.
- DATA and STORYTELLING are so important. Framing your issue correctly is an ART and critical.
- HIV will definitely be the next national program priority for community health centers. See Report: Community Health Centers and the President’s HIV Initiative. More resources will be given to Community Health Centers (CHCs) for HIV regarding their community-based solutions.
- We need to increase everyone’s data capacity to do PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS.
- WORKFORCE within our community health centers is another priority. We need to train up the next generation of community health leaders. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be developing a “workforce satisfaction survey” to collect data on how to invest in staff.
I NOW know why I was so obsessed with participating in this fellowship. Somehow, I knew that this experience could be critical in my professional development as a new Executive Director. While I feel more skilled in creating a comprehensive “leave behind” and talking with legislators, I’ve gained so much more from the interaction with the other fellows and working with the GW faculty. The team of visionaries and program implementers for this fellowship are true INNOVATORS in how they designed and executed a professional development experience that can have a lasting impact on health policy professionals across the nation. By bringing these cohorts to GW, they are authentically cultivating the future workforce of the leaders needed to sustain the community health center movement, ignited by the Civil Rights Activist of the 1960’s seeking to improve the lives and healthcare of all Americans, especially those of color and in poverty.
Let’s keep building.
-Tiffany
