Our Community Archives - Swope Health

Healthcare on Wheels: Our Mobile Medical Unit’s Journey

Tanner Cobb — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:40:12 +0000

Since 1987, Swope Health has provided services to unhoused individuals through the Outreach, Healthcare for the Homeless, program. In the early 2000s, the program

expanded with the addition of a mobile medical unit (MMU) – which brings medical services directly to the underserved members of the community.

The MMU offers a variety of services by visiting local shelters, transitional living facilities, and other community organizations in the Kansas City metropolitan area every week, along with participation in community events. Swope Health Outreach Clinic Director Rachel Melson, DNP, FNP-C has been heavily involved with the MMU since joining our health center in 2015.

“We have the opportunity to go out in the community and directly to local shelters to provide care to patients instead of having them come into a clinic,” Melson said. “This is a way to break down that final barrier to care, which is access to services and transportation.”

Swope Health has used multiple units over the years – including three total in Melson’s tenure – due to the high mileage it travels. The MMU is out in the community at least twice a week.

“In the past, we were out in the community three days a week, but COVID disrupted some things. As we continue to rebuild the program, the goal is to be in the community three to four days a week,” she said.

On days when the MMU is out in the community, it travels to a location in the morning and in the afternoon. Thanks to

community partnerships, Swope Health now sees more unhoused individuals than ever before.

“Our partners trust us because we’re visible and consistent in the community,” Melson said. “Patients trust that we will be there when we say we’re going to be there. That is important because individuals who are experiencing homelessness don’t have consistency in a lot of things.”

Swope Health’s community partners include locations across the KC metro such as the Salvation Army, Hope Faith Homeless Assistance Campus, the City Union Mission, and Heartland Center for Behavioral Change.

“We go to some partners once a month; others, we go to each week. For example, we go to the same two spots – Hope Faith and Heartland Center for Behavioral Change – every Thursday because they consistently have a higher volume of people needing care,” she said. “Where we go depends on what their needs are, and we try to meet with our community partners to determine what’s going to work best for them.”

Along with the mobile units, Swope Health also offers free transportation to clinics for patients in select zip codes – including locations that the MMU travels to. Swope Health’s community partners receive the schedule for the shuttle and the MMU monthly as some patients utilize both services.

“We have a shuttle that goes to the shelters to pick patients up, brings them to a clinic, and take them back,” Melson said. “If they need to come in to pick up their medicine, get lab work done, or meet with a caseworker, they have a quick and reliable way to get to a clinic.”

The MMU team has a rotation of staff members who take turns going out in the community. The team consists of a driver, a case worker, a medical assistant, and a medical provider.

“Our team works together to meet the needs of our patients,” she said. “Our case workers help enroll patients in our services and connect them to resources at Swope Health and in the community. I’m one of the medical providers and my role is to provide medical care but also to be a listening ear.”

When a patient gets onto the unit, they check in with the case worker to register

and see if they have any immediate medical needs. Additionally, every patient on the unit has access to medical screenings.

“Our treatment model is standardized for each patient. If you come onto the unit, you’re going to meet with a case worker, have your vital signs run, and receive a medical history evaluation. Additionally, we offer point-of-care tests: Hep-C, HIV, and diabetes screening,” Melson said.

Swope Health’s MMU also serves at community events throughout the year. That includes Project Homeless Connect, an annual, one-day free event that gives unhoused individuals free access to difficult-to-obtain services. Swope Health has been the medical partner for the event since 2015, its inaugural year.

Interested in scheduling the Swope Health Mobile Medical Unit for a community event? To make the request, click here.

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Making Bright Smiles: Our Mobile Dental Unit’s Journey

Tanner Cobb — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:37:59 +0000

Swope Health’s mission has always been to deliver accessible, quality, comprehensive patient care to the community – and the health center has taken that a step further in recent years. With the acquisition of two Mobile Dental Units, Swope Health now goes directly to the underserved members of the community, primarily providing care to those in schools and homeless shelters.

Before the mobile program was created, Swope Health was making dental care visible in the community in other ways. Since becoming the Swope Health Director of Dental Outreach in 2020, Shawn Oprisiu has played a pivotal role in enhancing the dental care experience.

“When I got here, we had a pack-and-play process,” Oprisiu said. “We would go into schools and set up a clinic inside to serve the children. We had enough infrastructure to house a mobile unit, which was our main goal and why I was recruited here.”

After getting approval from senior leadership and the board of directors, Swope Health received a large grant from Delta Dental to help purchase the first MDU – which arrived in the fall of 2020. Swope Health needed to find and purchase a unit, install dental equipment inside, and paint it.

“I talked with people who were running mobile programs all over the country about what was good, what was bad, what they liked, and what they disliked,” she said. “We ultimately decided to partner with Farber Specialty Vehicles to provide the mobile unit to us. They built a beautiful unit, and then we delivered the rest of it.”

Resurrection Church was instrumental in Swope Health’s second MDU. Resurrection has an annual tradition of donating their entire Candlelight Christmas Eve Offering to fund Kansas City-based projects and assisted Swope Health in 2023. It took 15 months to complete the second MDU – which made its debut earlier this year.

“One day when we were out in the community, a couple of people from Resurrection saw the unit, toured it, and asked more about what we do,” she said. “The church was able to fund the second unit with their generous Christmas Eve offering.”

The MDU team has given a name to both Winnebago units, naming the original one Winnie and the newer one Willie. Now that there are two units, they have a new process to ensure patients get the most out of their experiences with Swope Health.

“Winnie has two dental hygienists, and a CSR, and a driver,” Swope Health Mobile Dental Unit Clinic Manager Martha Gutierrez said. “After we give cleanings and document the patients, Willie follows up with treatment a week or two later. Dr. Shea Durington goes out on the treatment days with her Dental assistant.”

Between September and May, the MDU serves children at schools in the Kansas City area. The MDU provides care to nearly 3,000 children annually and typically serves 20-30 children at each school.

“I act as an advocate for the children,” Gutierrez said. “They are registered before we get there, so I’m able to escort them onto the bus where they wait. I’m always going back and forth from the bus to get the kids on there to get seen.”

Swope Health will serve any school that reaches out about the services. There isn’t a limit to how far Swope Health’s MDU will travel. So far, it has traveled as far north as Excelsior Springs, Mo., and as far south as Olathe, Kan.

“I’m in contact with the schools and let them know what days are available for us to come on site,” Oprisiu said. “Once we book it, they start the process with the children by sending out registration to the entire school.”

There are no requirements for the children whom Swope Health’s MDU serves. Regardless of insurance status, anybody can be seen.

“If you’re uninsured, we have funding sources that offer financial assistance for dental services, such as the Kansas City Health Levy. We also have a program with MARC (Mid America Regional Council) that pays for uninsured kids to be seen,” she said.

While Swope Health’s MDU focuses primary on students during the school year, it also travels to homeless shelters during the summer. Willie and Winnie also travel to various community events throughout the year.

“We were out every weekend in August for back-to-school events and attended some major events for Juneteenth and Pride Month. It’s important for us to be out in the community and serve those who don’t have any other way to be seen,” Oprisiu said.

Interested in scheduling the Swope Health Mobile Medical Unit for a community event? To make the request, click here.

The post Making Bright Smiles: Our Mobile Dental Unit’s Journey appeared first on Swope Health.

Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Qiana Thomason

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 11:00:24 +0000

As President and CEO at Health Forward Foundation for more than five years, Qiana Thomason has continued to impact the community health of Kansas City – something she’s been doing for more than 20 years. While she was influencing the community and earning leadership expertise in other ways early in her career, the time Thomason spent serving Behavioral Health patients at Swope Health was crucial to her path.

Life-long connection

Thomason’s journey to Swope Health began long before she was employed at the health center. Along with her family, she was a patient at Swope Health from a young age.

“My family was rich in legacy but low on funds and assets, so I was a child of the safety net system,” Thomason said. “I was a Swope Health kid, so my journey to Swope Health started very young in life.”

After college, Thomason worked as a social worker then transitioned to a role in the United States Senate in the early 2000s. As Deputy Director/Health and Human Services Liaison for U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan, she became connected with Swope Health – which opened the door for her to work at the health center.

“I worked with the west side of the state with that role and engaged with health IT companies, hospitals, advocacy groups, and Federally Qualified Health Centers like Swope Health. I was introduced to members of the Swope Health leadership and when Senator Carnahan lost the election, I was asked to consider an opportunity at Swope Health,” Thomason said.

While she never imagined working at Swope Health, in 2003, Thomason was honored to get the opportunity to do so for eight years.

“Getting to work at Swope Health was a nothing short of a blessing, and it was a full circle moment. Leading at Swope Health felt like home because I spent so much time there as a kid,” she said. “I had a proximate affinity for the organization and the population it served in the community because I was among them.”

Her reign at Swope Health

In her first three years at Swope Health, Thomason was the program manager for mental health court diversion – a specialized court that assists individuals with mental health conditions who had misdemeanor charges. Kansas City was only the fifth city across the nation to implement this program at the time, and she led the initiative at Swope Health.

“While we weren’t the only place where mental health court patients went for mental health treatment, Swope Health was essentially the quarterback, if you will, that administered the program,” she said. “We would enroll individuals in the program, track their progress, and go to court with them.”

In addition to leading the program, Thomason also managed a case load.

“Nonprofit leaders and middle managers must walk and chew gum at the same time, so it was very capacity building. I liked that I could keep my clinical skills strong while also being an administrator and leader,” Thomason said. “After a few years of leading the program and scaling it to multiple circuit court jurisdictions throughout the Kansas City region, I was asked to consider the director of clinical operations opening in the Behavioral Health department.”

Thomason accepted the new role, becoming a senior leader for Behavioral Health. She held that position from 2006-2011.

“I led operations internally, which helped me grow as an administrator. I wrote grants, created the budget, and led the team focused on certification and reaccreditation,” she said. “It was a lot, but I enjoyed the time.”

Beyond Swope Health

After a successful eight-year run, Thomason decided to move on. She left to become Director of Clinical Operations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. She eventually worked her way up the ranks, becoming Vice President of population health solutions and community health.

“I wanted to learn how health care was financed and paid for, so I took a leap to the corporate side,” Thomason said. “I felt like a fish out of water at one point, but during that time, payers were trying to understand how to power population health. I had done that at Swope Health, so I understood things from an integrated community perspective that payers generally don’t.”

In 2019, Thomason learned about an opening for President and CEO at Health Forward Foundation, a community health philanthropic organization that provides funding, supports community-based solutions, and advocates for policies that address social determinants of health – such as housing, civic engagement, and employment. She applied for, was offered, and accepted the position, and is thriving in the role thanks to the collective experiences gained in her previous roles, her deep network throughout Kansas City, and new insights from the philanthropic perspective.

“It’s a wonderful blend of all the things I’ve done throughout my career. I have an aerial view of how health happens and how it’s shaped,” she said. “We may not understand it at the time while we’re living it, but we can look back in retrospect and say I see why I was planted where I was planted. Everything builds on the next opportunity.”

Health Forward Foundation and Swope Health are partner organizations.

“We’re proud to walk alongside Swope Health as a funder – but we don’t see our role as just a funder; we see ourselves as a partner of what Swope Health has achieved, is achieving, and will achieve,” Thomason said. “We know that our community members rely on Swope Health, so I’m grateful to see that it continues to stand tall and meet the moment for our communities with distinction and improve their health.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Phyllis Stevens

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 13:00:32 +0000

Growing up in the 1950s, Phyllis Stevens recognized the social inequalities that people of color faced and grew passionate about addressing those issues. Stevens started off as an educator before coming to Swope Health (called Swope Parkway Health Center at the time), where she used her talents and skills for special event fundraising. In 1993, she joined Bernstein-Rein Advertising (where she still works part-time) to impact the community in a different way.

How her career started

Stevens was raised in a modest neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, and witnessed how people of color were mistreated. She recalls how some individuals couldn’t ride certain buses and that the Kansas City Star would advertise homes in areas where Black families couldn’t live.

“My values came through my mother, but she never sat me down to say these things aren’t right; I just knew what was happening was wrong, and I wanted to do something about it,” Stevens said. “When I got married in 1962, my husband and I would attend meetings by black-led organizations. I’m still involved with several nonprofits that support the cause of equity.”

Going from a middle school teacher to a stay-at-home-mom, Stevens went back to work in 1974. She taught at Ozanam – a residential treatment facility for children with behavioral and emotional problems – then in the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City’s early childhood department. She eventually left education to work for a friend of hers, Brenda Pelofsky, who ended up serving as Swope Health’s Executive Vice President for 22 years.

“At a dinner party, I learned that Brenda was starting a new State of Missouri initiative integrating individuals with mental health diagnoses into the workforce, and she invited me to work with her,” she said. “Brenda subsequently led Swope Health’s mental health program and fundraising under E. Frank Ellis’ leadership. I joined her in the development department.”

Her time at Swope Health

Stevens became Swope Health’s Associate Director of Development in 1980 and was closely tied to the fundraising efforts for the health center. While there, she earned her Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She created “Trick-or-Treat Village,” which was a Halloween event that also advertised Swope Health inside the Ward Parkway Shopping Center.

“There were around 30 Victorian painted houses that were built by the Carpenters Union and filled with volunteers in costumes who gave out treats and information. That helped Swope Health draw some attention beyond Troost Avenue, which was a big accomplishment,” Stevens said.

Stevens also helped coordinate “roasts” of notable figures in Kansas City, where the public could attend and make playful jokes towards the “roastee” at the fundraising event. It started with a banking executive Gene Periera, and went on to include notable Kansas Citians, including Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II. The fundraising continued to grow in popularity over the years.

“I think my biggest accomplishments at Swope Health was having the good fortune at the Trick-or-Treat Village and the roasts. I got one of the radio stations to do public service announcements – which was a huge deal in the media climate at the time,” she said.

Her next chapter

Stevens’ main responsibility at Swope Health was to raise awareness of the health center to the Kansas City community. After successfully accomplishing that, she reconnected with two of her high school classmates. Herb Koahn and Bob Bernstein, who are successful businessman and Kansas City advocates, wanted her assistance at Bernstein-Rein Advertising as the director of corporate relations.

“Herb called me one day and told me that Bob wanted Bernstein-Rein to better organize their commitment to the community, which has always been a strong value at the agency. Through my 13 years working in urban Kansas City, I understood the nonprofits’ mindset and Bob wanted me to help professionalize what they do,” Stevens said. “I accepted the job and have learned a lot in 30 years.”

Through Bernstein-Rein, Stevens has worked with multiple departments including creative, media, and research to meet the needs of our pro-bono clients. She helped around 100 nonprofits to find ways to assist them. Some notable work that she’s done locally includes her assistance with branding the Kauffman Center’s front letterhead and the support of the Nelson Atkins Museum’s mini golf course. While her duties and hours have changed, she’s been doing special projects there since 2014.

“I semi-retired for a couple of years to help take care of my late husband when he had renal disease,” she said. “After he passed away, Bob called and asked me to come back. He wanted to keep the agency’s promise of reaching out to the community alive.”

Over the years, Stevens has served on several non-profit boards, such as Ronald McDonald House of Kansas City, the Heartland Men’s Chorus, and in the late 1990s, she joined Swope Health’s board of directors. She credits her time at Swope Health for laying the groundwork to allow her to make such an impact to the Kansas City community and other nonprofits.

“Being at Swope Health gave me 13 years of waking up every day, knowing that the work I was doing affected other people’s lives for the better. It was a great stepping stone for my career,” Stevens said.

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Kimiko Black Gilmore

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 16:52:16 +0000

Since her family relocated to Kansas City in the early 1980s, Kimiko Black Gilmore has fallen in love with the city. She’s dedicated her career to the Kansas City community, and currently holds the dual role of deputy city manager and executive director of convention and entertainment facilities in her third stint working for the City of Kansas City, MO. While Kansas City has made strides under her watch, it wouldn’t have been possible if not for her time serving through Imani House and Swope Community Builders.

Where it all began

One Sunday in 1993, Gilmore was speaking with Reverend Emanuel Cleaver II at St. James United Methodist Church and mentioned that she was pursuing new job opportunities. He connected her with his wife, Dianne Cleaver, who was a mental health director at Swope Health at the time. Thanks to the Cleaver’s, Gilmore became the first case manager at Imani House – Swope Health’s substance use disorder outpatient treatment center.

“When I look back at my career, I feel that Dianne and Reverend Cleaver were a huge part of it,” Gilmore said. “I had worked at a substance abuse organization in Kansas and at MOCSA (Metropolitan Organization Countering Sexual Assault), and I’m not sure if I would have continued in this field if not for them.”

With the official title of substance abuse case manager, Gilmore crafted the position and enjoyed the staff of counselors she worked alongside. The tight-knit group had a mixture of older and younger professionals, all of whom learned from one another. Gilmore stayed at Imani House for three years.

“At Imani House, I learned how important the community is to your health and wellbeing because when your community is broken, it leaves you at risk to be broken, as well,” she said. “I worked with individual patients and substance abuse groups, which included patients’ families. I loved how individuals would leave Imani House at their strongest because they were willing to come in and work through their issues.”

Exploring her options

Following her tenure at Imani House, Gilmore was looking for a change, so she joined the Navy Reserves for four years. That led to her working in cryptology, which is the study and practice of secure communication.

“I have fond memories of my time as a cryptologist in the Navy, but I didn’t make a career out of it,” Gilmore said. “I got married and initially moved to Jacksonville, Florida, then to New Orleans, Louisiana. When our parents were both ill, we moved back to Kansas City, and I started working for the Gore-Lieberman campaign.”

Gilmore’s first position for the City of Kansas City was in 2000 when she was an aide to Councilman Terry Riley. She served there for three years, then returned to a familiar area as the Community Relations Director for Swope Community Builders – now known as Community Builders of Kansas City.

“We were a one-stop shop that worked with the neighborhoods doing cleanups and trainings. We made sure that the community understood what we were trying to do, that we didn’t make promises we couldn’t keep, and that we advocated for the neighborhoods at City Hall,” she said.

The Shops on Blue Parkway, the Mt. Cleveland Townhomes, and the Twin Elms Apartments are a few of the developments that Gilmore helped establish. While she never technically worked for Swope Health, she always felt connected to the health center.

“E. Frank Ellis did a good job in making sure that each organization under that umbrella felt like they were a cohesive group,” Gilmore said. “Swope Health is a trusted partner in Kansas City, specifically on the east side, and it felt like family.”

Back to the City of Kansas City

Gilmore left Swope Community Builders in 2006 to be Senator Claire McCaskill’s Deputy Regional Director. Two years later, she returned to the City of Kansas City.

“I had an opportunity to return to the city as the assistant to the city manager under Wayne Cauthen. I wasn’t thinking about leaving the senator, but I knew what the new position would do for my career, and it was like the previous roles that I had at that point,” she said.

Eventually, Troy Shulte became the city manager and promoted Gilmore to assistant city manager. She held that role for nearly six-and-a-half years and left to be chief of staff at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2018.

“I was one of the UMKC alumni who brought In Dr. C. Mauli Agrawal as the new chancellor. We hadn’t really spoken before he got the offer, but he wanted me on his cabinet,” Gilmore said. “I told him that I hadn’t worked in academia before and I wouldn’t know where to start, but he’s a persuader; I accepted, and worked there for more than two years.”

Once again, Gilmore returned to the City of Kansas City in 2021. She began as deputy city manager and added executive director of convention and entertainment facilities in 2022 to her job duties.

“We’re thriving as a city right now, and we’re on a trajectory that nobody would have imagined 10 or 15 years ago,” she said. “I’m excited about that and can circle that back to when I was with Swope Health and truly understood what and who Kansas City is. Swope Health makes prosperity equitable through providing health and development. If we could clone that around the city, we would be in a great place.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Dianne Cleaver

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 30 May 2025 13:26:22 +0000

Dianne Cleaver dedicated nearly half of a century to working in the Kansas City community, with the longest tenure of her career at Swope Health. While here, she learned lots about the healthcare field and gained valuable experience that opened doors to many more prominent positions.

Roots at Swope Health
Cleaver began her Swope Health career in 1980, after a short stint as a case worker and six years as Jackson County’s Director of Special Recreation.

“I was interested in the behavioral health field and familiar with Swope Health from its Model Cities Corporation days,” Cleaver said. “Before I started, Swope Health had received a federal grant and designation as a Community Mental Health Center, which brought in significant expansion and job opportunities.”

In the early 1980s, Cleaver oversaw two behavioral health programs: the Partial Hospital Program, which was a day treatment program, and the Chronic Services Program – a persistent memory program. Eventually, she served as the mental health director for 12 years.

“I managed all the mental health programs that had expanded during my tenure and have continued to expand since I left,” she said. “I also provided outpatient counseling for individual adults with mental health issues.”

Cleaver left her mark at Swope Health by leading programmatic development of three residential treatment programs: Imani House for substance abuse treatment, along with Harris and Franklin Houses for the seriously mentally ill. Swope Community Builders provided physical development for these programs.

“I felt like I was making an impact in the community and addressing important needs where there had been a gap. It was a rewarding, meaningful role and I had an enjoyable experience,” Cleaver said.

The next chapter
After serving at Swope Health for nearly 18 years, Cleaver decided the time had come to pursue new opportunities. She joined Truman Medical Center (now University Health) as director of community development.

“I knew about Truman as a lifelong Kansas Citian and because Swope Health frequently interfaced with them for services. I served in a senior executive capacity for policy and program development. There, I provided leadership on legislative and governmental efforts at the local, state, and federal levels.”

Next, Cleaver worked for then-Governor of Missouri Bob Holden as a senior policy fellow and coordinator of Missouri’s Initiative for Children and Families. She later spent time in various roles at Kansas City Public Schools, including chief administrative officer. In 2005, Cleaver became President of Symmetry Consulting where she provided management consultation for a variety of educational and human service organizations.

“As an independent consultant, I worked with a national organization that focused on high school reform work,” Cleaver said. “That led to me leaving the district and doing my own work for about seven-and-a-half years.”

Career in leadership
In every role, Cleaver developed leadership expertise and eventually joined a community and civic leaders’ group focused on addressing poverty and disinvestment on the east side of Kansas City — two causes close to her heart. That group established the Urban Neighborhood Initiative with a goal of partnering with neighborhoods to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and historic racial inequities to build healthy neighborhoods.

“After a year around the table with these civic leaders,” Cleaver recalled, “it was decided that we needed to start a new organization dedicated to the east side and I was asked to become the first chief executive officer.”

She spent a decade at Urban Neighborhood Initiative including one year on the planning committee and nine years as the president and CEO.

“We worked with 10 neighborhoods, and we made some positive impact while realizing it’s a long-term process at the same time,” Cleaver said. “I think some of the neighborhoods got stronger. They accomplished some things with our support and their hard work.”

Life after retirement
In 2021, Cleaver decided it was time to retire. While she has more time to travel and spend time with her family, she still stays busy.

“Now, I’m doing more work with my church – I’m a co-leader of one of the organizations within the church. I’m also on a few boards, one of the which is in Washington, D.C.”

While reflecting on her career, Cleaver feels appreciative of her time at Swope Health. Not only did the people she worked with at the health center make her job more enjoyable; she also learned pivotal lessons that helped her throughout her career.

“My time at Swope Health absolutely helped me throughout the rest of my career,” Cleaver said. “That’s where I learned to be an administrator, a supervisor, and how organizations function in the non-profit sector.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Sonja Bachus

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 16 May 2025 13:16:52 +0000

Sonja Bachus has a passion for serving the community, and that’s exactly what she’s done over the last two-plus decades in the health care field. The newly appointed Chief Experience Officer of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has worked her way up in the industry, which includes being the CEO of two separate health organizations. This long, impactful journey started at Swope Health.

The start of her second career

Bachus didn’t always work in the healthcare field. She started off in banking, mortgage servicing, and mortgage financing with a position in Memphis, Tennessee. She eventually returned home to Kansas City for another mortgage company.

“As the mortgage business continued to change, and reached a boiling point, I thought it was a good time to make a change,” Bachus said. “I started off in healthcare with a staffing agency, then I took on a special project with Swope Health.”

Bachus came to Swope Health in 2003 in what she thought would be a short-term contractor position with Human Resources – but stayed eight years.

“It was the first time that I saw behavioral health, physical health, dental care, and optometry all in the same location,” she said. “The longer I stayed at Swope Health doing special projects, the more embedded my heart got into the work it did.”

Eventually, Bachus became the project coordinator for Jimmy Brown, who was Swope Health’s vice president of operations at the time.

“I learned about healthcare operations when I worked as a project coordinator. I was also responsible for service excellence, bringing the patient’s voice forward, handling complaints, and things like that,” she said.

In 2006, she was promoted to assistant administrator. Eventually, Bachus transitioned into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) implementation trainer, then service line administrator. She wore many hats.

“I’m inquisitive and willing to help anywhere. If we were stuck and didn’t have coverage at the front desk, I would jump in and handle it,” Bachus said. “It humbles you to see operations through a different lens and take the voice of those team members to the leadership table.”

Expanding her career

Bachus never intended to leave Swope Health. However, she felt the need to serve in different ways – particularly around EMR work.

“I thought I would retire from Swope Health but believe everyone has a call to serve in different ways in our lives. EMR implementation and optimization and how we bring people together piqued my interest, which is what took me to HCA Healthcare,” she said.

After two years at HCA, Bachus branched out to the West Coast. She accepted the role of assistant director at the Institute of Clinical Orthopedics and Neurosciences in Palm Springs, California. Soon after, Jimmy Brown – who was Bachus’ supervisor at Swope Health – had become the CEO at HealthNet in Indianapolis, Indiana, and told her about a Deputy Chief Operating Officer opening. She applied for and was offered the role, which she accepted.

“I wanted to be at the executive table when I came back to the Midwest, and this role checked all the boxes for me,” Bachus said. “I loved the two hospital systems, but I also have a passion for community health, and working in hospital systems solidified that for me.”

Becoming a CEO

In 2017, Bachus became Chief Operating Officer at HealthNet. Two years later, she heard about a Chief Executive Officer opening in Brandywine, Maryland, and took a leap.

“Every CEO has their first time as a CEO unless they start a company, so I decided to try,” she said. “Since I had varied experience and led a large portion of a mid-sized health center at HealthNet, I was in a good position to take over that role.”

Bachus became a first-time CEO for Greater Baden Medical Services, where she served for more than three years. Following a long absence from her home state, she returned to Kansas in 2022 when she accepted a CEO position at the Community Care Network of Kansas.

“In 2019, I moved to Maryland in April, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in September, and she passed away in December. There was this ache in my heart to return home to be closer to my family,” Bachus said.

Her impact at NACHC

Following five years of CEO experience, Bachus was recruited to NACHC – which advocates, trains, and funds health centers across the nation. She started as senior vice president last December before being promoted to CXO in April.

“Even though you’re not touching lives directly, you’re indirectly touching the lives of millions of people. It puts another level and layer of responsibility when you recognize that everything you do influences 1,496 health centers and 32.5 million patients,” she said.

Over the last 13 years, Bachus has made a large impact working at six different health organizations. Still, she watched Swope Health from afar throughout her career and considered it as the gold standard on how she judges health centers.

“Swope Health has always been a leader at meeting the needs of community. They do it differently and take ideas that are talked about and make them into a reality,” she said. “They’ve always had forward thinking about what’s next, how they can better serve the community, and set a standard.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Kim Riley

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 02 May 2025 13:27:46 +0000

Kim Riley is a visionary innovator who has a passion for helping people – especially those
with disabilities. She’s the founder and CEO of The Transition Academy and North Star Solutions, which are designed to help disabled students and their
families. Riley has an impressive resume with stops all around Kansas City, and it all started at Swope Health in the late 90s.

Her time at Swope Health

Initially, Riley was a
reporter after earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of
Missouri. However, she decided her passion was working for change, not reporting on community issues. She accepted her first full-time job in the planning and development department at Swope Health, which led grant writing and fundraising work. Her role at Swope Health encompassed public relations and media relations.

“At the end of my internship at United Way, I saw an ad for the public relations job at Swope Health,” Riley said. “I hadn’t heard of public relations, but it sounded fun and was up my alley. I got the job, and it changed my life.”

E. Frank Ellis, Swope Health founder and CEO at the time, wanted to spread the word about the health center, and Riley ran with it. She used her gift for storytelling to connect with media outlets and got plenty of local television coverage – including landing media coverage for the first-ever Treat Town, an annual trick-or-treating experience that still takes place at Swope Health Central every October.

“We wanted to bring in people who weren’t patients to connect them to our mission. The plan was to make them feel like they were a part of the health center,” she said. “It was all this fun stuff that I didn’t realize was a job. Swope Health let me spread my wings, fly, and have a blast.”

Her next chapter

After two eventful years at Swope Health, she took her talents elsewhere. From 1998-2004, Riley had similar roles at five different organizations: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Microsoft, Full Employment Council, Mazuma Credit Union, and Community Movement for Urban Progress. Eventually, she took time away to care for her family.

“When my son was diagnosed with autism, I stopped working full time for a while so I could focus on him and his therapeutic needs,” Riley said.

Riley worked part-time for Girl Scouts while taking care of her son. Once he reached kindergarten, she began an 11-year tenure at Metropolitan Community College.

“I spent the first three years at the Longview campus,” she said. “Then I went to Penn Valley, where I focused on community engagement, marketing, and connecting to the community that it served.”

Path to entrepreneurship

Riley eventually moved on and worked at WellCare Health Plans before becoming an admissions recruiter for Kansas City Public Schools. Once her son reached high school, she noticed there was an educational gap for students who need more help with their transition into the workforce.

“There were always bridge programs for special populations – such as Blacks in Engineering, women in STEM, and Latinos in Medicine – but we never did any overt outreach to students with disabilities. As my son got older, I wanted to make a difference, and my path led me to create the solution: The Transition Academy,” Riley said.

While at KCPS, Riley made strong connections with the school district as well as with district partners like SchoolSmartKC. The non-profit organization supports Kansas City schools with strategies and resources, and she joined their staff in 2019.

“I became a consultant to help them with their work in special education. While I worked with them in that capacity, I was also able to launch The Transition Academy.”

Two years later, Riley founded North Star, a web-based college and career navigation tool for high school students with disabilities. The tech platform is in development.

“I always envisioned some type of interactive tech product that would guide families through the different navigations of disabilities,” she said. “The goal of North Star is to support The Transition Academy youth, families, and teachers so they can navigate the landscape and be connected to the resources that they need.”

The Transition Academy is thriving, growing, and positively impacting so many disabled individuals and their families. Riley credits the success of her companies with what she learned and experienced at Swope Health.

“My entrepreneurship path aligned with what I learned when working at Swope Health. It laid the foundation for what can be done. It showed me what happens when you believe in the people you serve,” Riley said. “When you believe in them, you do whatever you can to make sure they’re successful.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Dr. James True

Tanner Cobb — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:42:05 +0000

From 1990 to 2015, Swope Health patients had the privilege of being served by Dr. James True. He started off as a psychiatrist for six years before holding the chief of psychiatry position until retirement, along with two short stints as interim medical officer when the role was vacant.

The early years

Dr. True kicked off his career with a residency at KU Medical Center for three years, which led to his training at the VA. He was a chief resident in psychiatry at the VA and at KU for six months each. After that, he worked at the Tri-County Mental Health Center – which was the precursor of Beacon Mental Health – as an inpatient psychiatrist.

North Kansas City Hospital had a behavioral health facility within the Tri-County Mental Health Center at the time.

“North Kansas City Hospital was a mental health center there for a while, and the people liked it,” Dr. True said. “Before that, they had to go somewhere south of the river, which was a big dividing point.”

While serving in the role, Dr. True worked with patients from Clay, Platte, and Ray counties. Eventually, he pursued other opportunities.

“At the time, all the mental health centers started off with federal money, but the funding amounts gradually lowered. Tri-County decided to leave,” he said. “I looked around, and my choices came down to the VA and Swope Health.”

His career at Swope Health

After considering the next steps of his career, Dr. True was intrigued by Swope Health, but was prepared to return to the VA. Asari Ratnam, M.D., Swope Health’s Chief Medical Officer at the time, talked him out of it.

“I called Dr. Ratnam to tell him I was returning to the VA, and he asked where I was and told me to wait. He drove right over to me and substantially increased the offer to come to Swope Health,” Dr. True said. “I accepted, and on my first day when I was walking though the parking lot, (Swope Health Founder and then CEO) E. Frank Ellis told me has he was glad I was there, which made me feel good.”

Upon his arrival at, Dr. True immediately noted something about the patients at Swope Health. They appreciated having someone who was concerned and would approach them about their problems on a mutual level.

“Patients were grateful to be seen at Swope Health. It wasn’t an act – they would thank you for listening to them,” he said. “They were grateful that they could come in, see somebody, sit down, and talk.”

In 1996, Dr. True was promoted to the Swope Health Chief of Psychiatry. While one of his main responsibilities was to talk to patients about their medication, Dr. True thought that if he became comfortable with his patients, they’d be comfortable with him. He built relationships with his patients by treating them like they were his friends.

“I would go to the residential houses and play frisbee with the patients, so it was a different feeling. I would talk to them and say, ‘Didn’t you feel better when you were taking that medicine?’ or ‘Are you having trouble with your medicine?’ You feel better when somebody takes concern, so that was what I tried to do. If the patient feels that you care, then they do better,” Dr. True said.

End of an era

Eventually, Dr. True’s 25-year career at Swope Health ended. He retired in April of 2015, but didn’t veer too far away.

“I would still come to see the staff, and I would occasionally run into some of my patients. I had time to read books, travel, and to reflect on my career and all that I learned,” he said. “I still call some of the newer people who work at Swope Health and get to know them.”

Following his retirement, Swope Health Central honored Dr. True by renaming the Behavioral Health Clinic the “Dr. James True Clinic.” Over the last decade, he’s also assisted Swope Health with various needs as a contractor and advisor. Dr. True appreciates his time at Swope Health, and everything that the health center stands for.

“I think of Swope Health as a leader in the field of bringing good health services to an underserved community,” Dr. True said. “The message is to help everybody you can, even the people who have trouble helping themselves.”

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Swope Health Alumni Series: Meet Kelvin Simmons

Tanner Cobb — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:16:53 +0000

Throughout his life, Kelvin Simmons has had ties to Swope Health in just about every way imaginable. From growing up down the road from Swope Health Central, to being a patient, to being employed by the organization, the co-founder and principal of the Nexus Group has spent both his youth and professional career affiliated with the health center.

The early days

Simmons’ childhood home was on 41^st and Montgall Avenue. He graduated from Paseo High School, which is located approximately two miles from where Swope Health Central is located today.

“I have memories before Swope Health even got there,” Kelvin Simmons said. “There’s an old picture of Swope Community Builders that used to be the Spartans Retail Center, and I knew of that place when I was growing up. The elders in the community who remember that are starting to die off and there aren’t many people who can give you a physical description of what it used to be before it was the Swope Health campus, but I can.”

Simmons kicked off his political career as a city councilman in 1997 and eventually relocated to Jefferson City. There, he was a Missouri Public Service Chairman and Commissioner before serving as the Director of Economic Development for the State of Missouri. Simmons eventually found his way back to Kansas City after accepting the role of Vice President of Development and Governmental Affairs at Swope Health.

“I came aboard in 2005 on the health side, and I did several things, from serving in governmental affairs, to being a part of development, to acting as the direct point of contact for media inquiries,” he said. “Ultimately, I rolled into Swope Community Builders, becoming the President and CEO.”

Transition from healthcare to development

Swope Community Builders – an urban core development company now known as Community Builders of Kansas City – was established in 1991 as a member of Swope Community Enterprises, another umbrella organization of Swope Health. After one year at Swope Health, Simons transitioned into the head leadership role at Swope Community Builders.

“Going to the Swope Community Builder side was really about community development” Simmons said. “That was a part of Swope Health’s overall mission, which was growing and ensuring that there was development in the area.”

From 2006 to 2008, Simmons made strides for Swope Community Builders. He considers his biggest accomplishment to be putting Swope Health on the map after opening The Shops on Blue Parkway, a major development includes a grocery store and retail operations. His passion for the community was shown by the work he did.

“I felt that I’m somewhat of a unicorn. being able to make that transition from the healthcare organization over to the Community Builders’ side, but it’s a continuation of who I am as a person,” he said. “Being someone from the community who utilized the services, it felt right at home to be a part of the high-level management of the organization.”

His career after Swope Health

Eventually, Simmons pursued another opportunity in 2009 when he was appointed by Governor Jay Nixon as one of his first cabinet members. He was also the State of Missouri Commissioner of Administration. In 2012, Simmons’ talents led him to become a Principal at Dentons – the largest international law firm in the world – which eventually led him to the Nexus Group, where he’s remained at since 2018.

“Conflicts can be developed at an international law firm, and conflicts can stifle one’s growth. At the time, we thought we needed to open our own firm, and our entire public policy group in Missouri formed the Nexus Group,” he said. “It minimized our conflicts and increased our ability to have greater revenues.”

Simmons’ time at Swope Health has influenced the last 17 years of his career, and he still has ties to the organization that means so much to him. Through the Nexus Group, Simmons works closely with Swope Health.

“The opportunity at Swope Community Builders allowed me to branch out and do private development, and I’m still doing that today. I group with Swope Health in Jefferson City and in Kansas City, so it’s been a full circle moment. For all practical purposes, I’m still working for Swope Health today,” Simmons said.

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