Highly Experienced Primary Care Leader Joins Leading Federally Qualified Health Center in Sacramento

ONE COMMUNITY HEALTH ANNOUNCES NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MICHELLE MONROE

Highly Experienced Primary Care Leader Joins Leading Federally Qualified Health Center in Sacramento

(SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA) – One Community Health, a nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Sacramento, today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Michelle Monroe as Chief Executive Officer after the conclusion of a nationwide CEO search. Her first day at One Community Health will be Monday, January 20, 2020.

Michelle comes to One Community Health with more than fifteen years of progressively responsible operations, organizational strategy, and financial revenue cycle leadership in community health care clinics. Since 2015, she has served as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Vista Community Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Diego County with more than 68,000 patients today. Michelle also served as Revenue Cycle Director at Vista Community Clinic from 2011 to 2015. Previously, she worked for Mountains Community Hospital in Southern California as the Director of Rural Clinics and Revenue Cycle Manager.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am thrilled to welcome Michelle to One Community Health and am confident that she will help bring us through a new era of strategic growth, quality care, and increased performance at One Community Health as an FQHC providing comprehensive health care and quality services to all who come through our doors,” said Michael Martinez, Board Vice Chair. “Michelle has the vision, passion, and collaborative spirit to lead our clinic and continue to expand our presence here in Sacramento,” he added.

Support of special patient populations has been a particular key motivator for Michelle. “To be able to help our community members facing immigration challenges, who are uninsured, or who are homeless, identify as transgender, or have a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS is why I come to work every day,” said Michelle. “To be able to dedicate my work to an organization such as One Community Health who cares so deeply about these patients is an honor. My job at One Community Health is to bring my experience, ideas, and resources to continue this great work,” she added.

During her tenure at Vista Community Clinic, Michelle has led the opening of several school-based behavioral health sites, full service mobile dental van, two clinic acquisitions, clinic merger, and a new clinic site. She also led the implementation and expansion of numerous clinical services to several clinic locations, including Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, telehealth, a Medication Assisted Treatment Program, virtual dental home, optometry, podiatry, chiropractic care, and acupuncture, among other patient-centered services and those services that support special patient populations.

“I am excited to have Michelle join One Community Health as our CEO,” said Gaylene Huntsman, Board Secretary. “Her experience in dealing with special patient populations will help preserve our legacy of providing quality health care to our patients with HIV/AIDS while we continue to expand our services and access to the underserved in our community,” she added.

Michelle helped expand services as the COO of Vista Community Clinic that resulted in 22% overall unduplicated patient growth from 2015 to 2019 as well as a budget that grew from $42 million in 2016 to over $66 million today. She was also instrumental in helping Vista Community Clinic be named a 2017 UDS Health Center Quality Leader and a 2018 UDS National Quality Leader for improvement to patient clinical outcome scores. Vista Community Clinic has maintained Patient Centered Medical Home Accreditation Level 3 during Michelle’s tenure as its COO. Michelle earned her Bachelor of Science degree Magna Cum Laude from North Dakota State University, majoring in Human Development and Education with a minor in Business Administration.

When asked about her management philosophy, Michelle stated, “The staff is One Community Health’s greatest asset, and I will be promoting a respectful, honest, transparent, and accountable environment of continuous quality improvement across the organization. I look forward to meeting the staff and working with them in the time ahead.”

The Board of Directors also expresses its sincere gratitude to Dona Weissenfels, current Chief Operating Officer, for her tremendous assistance and stewardship to our organization in also serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer during this time of transition.

One Community Health has a long history of public health service in the Sacramento community. Its roots were first established in 1989 as the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services (CARES) to serve people living with HIV/AIDS. The four health systems–University of California, Davis, Medical Center; Sutter Health; Dignity Health, and, Kaiser Permanente–along with Sacramento County collaborated to form and support the clinic during its early years in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2014, One Community Health launched the Equally Well Initiative with goals to strive to end new cases of HIV, reduce disparities experienced by the mentally ill, and help those without insurance obtain it to live healthier lives. More at onecommunityhealth.com.

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FOR RELEASE: December 10, 2019

CONTACT: Janet Parker

+1 (916) 914-6250