CommunityHealth hosted its first Volunteer Town Hall!
On Thursday, November 9th, the Volunteer Services team in collaboration with leaders across the clinic welcomed volunteers to our first Volunteer Town Hall.
Senior Manager of Business Development, Ava Zeligson, cheers that “this is an event we have wanted to do for quite a while as a way to increase engagement across our volunteer pool to both understand the interworkings of the clinic and external initiatives as we expand our reach beyond our four walls.”
As CommunityHealth continues to innovate even in our 30th year, “we hope for deeper engagement, greater investment, and more collaboration” with our staff, community partners, patients, and especially our cherished volunteers.
With over 100 volunteers registered for the event, the Volunteer Town Hall offered the opportunity to “broaden their view of what their role is here and what our role is in health care.”
“When you share the vision, people will build it with you.”
As CommunityHealth begins to fulfill our new three-year strategic plan for 2023 to 2025, the Volunteer Town Hall couldn’t have come at a better time as we shared updates from the health care safety net, new clinic opportunities, internal successes throughout our first year of the plan, and more.
Strategic Plan
Chief Executive Officer, Steph Willding, MPA, introduced our new and exciting three-year strategic plan that focuses upon goals relating to…
- Expanded Access of Care Delivery Model
- Community Engagement & Outreach
- Workforce Stewardship
- Funding the Mission
External Updates
Director of External Affairs, Laura Ciresi Starr, discussed evolving circumstances both locally and federally within the health care safety net. She elaborated upon our emergency response to the ongoing migrant crisis, eligibility adaptations to our business model with changes to Medicaid benefits for immigrants, and the growing representation that free and charitable clinics are gaining in advocacy spaces.
Internal Updates
Ava shifted the conversation to highlight successes throughout the clinic, all thanks to our devoted and passionate volunteers. She explained that CommunityHealth is a leader across the health care safety net as exemplified in our fulfillment of quality care measures, noting that our clinic received awards from the American Heart Association for cholesterol and type 2 diabetes treatment as well as from the American Medical Association for target blood pressure control.
Volunteer Experience
Volunteer Services Coordinator, Katie O’Connor, joined to emphasize CommunityHealth’s devotion to improving the quality of the volunteer experience, especially in their perceived use of time and connection to staff. Volunteers learned more about results from the satisfaction survey as well as about upcoming program growth such as the expansion of training partnerships.
Thank you to our volunteers who cultivate culturally competent care for our communities living uninsured, underserved, and sometimes undocumented.
Quality Health Care For All is more than a possibility but a reality thanks to more than 1,000 medical students, language interpreters, physician proctors, and more who devote their meaningful time to serve over 20 specialties in three languages to residents from every zip code in the Chicagoland area.
Join CommunityHealth for our Volunteer of the Year Awards on Thursday, December 14th, at 6:30pm on Zoom to commemorate the revolutionary leaders who are redefining the health care landscape.
