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

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 

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 

The post Healthcare on Wheels: Our Mobile Medical Unit’s Journey appeared first on Swope Health.

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.

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

Josette Mitchell named Executive Vice President of Behavioral Health
Josette Mitchell, who has served as Chief Operating Officer for Swope Health since 2021, was named Executive Vice President of Behavioral Health, effective January 8.

Mitchell joined Swope Health in 2002, working in various capacities within the Behavioral Health department, most recently serving as the Deputy Director of Behavioral Health before taking the role as COO. In her new role, Mitchell will return to her Behavioral Health roots, leading all functions, including outreach, community support, substance use treatment, and residential services.

Mitchell received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northwest Missouri State University; is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, having earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Kansas; and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration from Avila University.

Edward Murphy joins Swope Health as Chief Administrative Officer
Edward Murphy has joined Swope Health’s Senior Leadership Team, effective January 8.

As Chief Administrative Officer for Swope Health, Murphy will assume Chief Operating Officer duties. He will have oversight over the operations of the health center, including outreach and enrollment, transportation, pharmacy, and the call center.

Murphy has nearly two decades of senior leadership experience in community health systems across the country, and joins Swope Health from Thresholds Health, a full-service community health center located in Chicago, where he served as Chief Executive Officer and Compliance Officer. While there, Murphy led strategic direction, HRSA compliance efforts, community engagement initiatives, government relations, and much more.

Murphy earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Psychology from the University of Rochester; a Master of Business Administration in Business and Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business; and a Master of Public Health in Health Administration from Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

Brandi Finocchario joins Swope Health as Chief Strategy Officer

Brandi Finocchario has joined Swope Health’s Senior Leadership Team, effective January 8.

As Chief Strategy Officer for Swope Health, Finocchario will work closely with Jeron Ravin, J.D., President and CEO of Swope Health, to oversee company strategy and related initiatives.

A seasoned leader with more than 12 years of experience in healthcare and nonprofit organizations, Finocchario most recently served as Vice President of Strategic Projects for Vibrant Health. She brings an array of knowledge in the areas of quality improvement, strategic planning, business operations, project management, and data analysis to Swope Health.

Her expertise also extends to academia. Finocchario currently serves as an adjunct instructor at William Jewell College, Metropolitan Community College, and as an associate faculty member at University of Phoenix, teaching Nonprofit Law and Risk Management, Intro to Healthcare Administration, and Healthcare Sustainability courses.

Finocchario earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Hampton University, a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University.

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In the Kansas City Business Journal, Dr. Naiomi Jamal was listed as one of the “20 to Know: These healthcare professionals keep ​KC hale and hearty.” 

In the Ingram’s Magazine, Rachel Melson, DNP, was listed as one of the “2022 Heroes in Healthcare.” 

Here’s what they said:

Excerpted from the Business Journal:

Dr. Naiomi Jamal

Chief quality officer, Swope Health

Practicing as a primary care physician these days is challenge enough. But that’s just the start of Jamal’s job. As chief quality officer, she leads Swope Health’s quality and improvement efforts, as well as the organization’s work in population health that looks

both at the patient and resource-allocation sides of the equation.

Jamal received a medical degree in Pakistan, then did residencies in family medicine and general preventive medicine and public health at the University of Texas Medical Branch. She also has a master’s in health from UTMB.

Excerpted from Ingram’s:

Rachel Melson, Swope Health 

Call it the Melson Mission Statement: “In nursing, you learn to treat others with compassion and as an equal. And you approach every interaction with a patient in your care with your whole heart, every time.” So says ​nurse practitioner Rachel Melson of Swope Health.

She’s a native of Raytown who flirted with the idea of a law degree—right up to her first day at Rockhurst University. “I started wondering about a career that would allow me to help others in a more hands-on way,” she says. “The day of registration, I surprised my parents with a change to nursing. It was the best decision I have ever made.”

She worked for years in the ICU ward at Research Medical Center, but when her final clinical rotation for nurse practitioner took her to Swope Health, “I finally saw where Iwas called to be,” she says. “My critical-thinking skills that I developed from years in the ICU armed me with the tools to help an underserved community in ways I didn’t know were possible.”

Medicine, Melson says, can be very algorithmic: You have X disease, you get X workup, and then you get X medicine /treatment/ education. “But there is not a perfect algorithm for a person who is living in a tent, has several significant medical conditions, no access to clean water, and no way to store their medicine,” she says. “You have to think outside the box, know your community and its resources, and want to go the extra mile for your patients.”

The real appeal of nursing, she says, wasn’t apparent until she was already in nursing school. “Being a nurse is about truly wanting to care for others without any bias for their circumstance and a desire to help from a position of a peer, rather than the perceived superordinate position of other professions,” she says.

A self-described lifelong learner, she pursued the highest degree possible to achieve the most significant impact: “Every day I am given the opportunity to make meaningful changes to the health of others in the exam room, in the community, and even in the classroom.​”

CONGRATULATIONS!

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

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Dr. Haluck is part of the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Asthma program, which won the American Board of Medical Specialties “Outstanding Achievement in Quality Improvement Award.” The award recognizes a focused program that successfully decreased the rate of uncontrolled asthma in urban areas.

“We are working to lower the rates of asthma and the number of kids with uncontrolled asthma,” she said. “The approach was first to teach primary care providers the asthma care guidelines and then make it a standard part of our practice at Swope Health.”

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs that causes wheezing and difficulty breathing. It is a common long-term disease in children, affecting nearly 30,000 kids in the Kansas City area. Asthma can be controlled by limiting environmental triggers and with medications.

The guidelines Dr. Haluck teaches include simple steps to help kids better control their asthma. It starts with a questionnaire, based on standards from the National Institutes of Health, to identify problems. The clinical exam includes a check of lung function and gathering objective data on allergies or triggers for asthma. There’s also a step to verify the right kind of asthma medicine is provided – both long-term and quick-relief medications are available, and not all patients receive the same medications.

“Then, we spend time teaching parents and kids about asthma,” she said. “We coach kids on how to use their inhaler and make sure they understand how important it is to take their medication. We want them to get their asthma under control.”

Having asthma “under control” means no visits to an emergency room or urgent care center, and regular visits to a doctor twice a year. Students also get an “asthma plan” for school, assuring medication at hand at the school.

In the program at Swope Health, Dr. Haluck showed a 31 percent improvement in quality of care of asthma control from 2018 to 2019. More than 75 percent of the 200-plus kids were able to control their asthma.

Dr. Haluck’s efforts are part of the Asthma Care Accelerator in the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (or ECHO) program. Dr. Haluck has presented her program research and outcomes at a national ECHO conference in 2019, and since then has been named co-lead of the 2020 Asthma Care Accelerator ECHO program. Her current efforts, in light of COVID-19, are in asthma telehealth best practices.

Now, Dr. Haluck is engaged in training an even broader community of healthcare providers through the University of Missouri Telehealth Network. In April, Dr. Haluck participated in a national ECHO conference on “Asthma Telehealth and Asthma Day.” The program teaches the same proven guidelines for asthma care, through use of telemedicine.

She noted that some of the steps – like checking lung function – may still require an in-person visit, but much of the standard can still be accomplished in a video visit. “I will ask the child to show me how they use the inhaler,” she said, “and I can coach them if I see them using it improperly.”

Dr. Haluck also keeps an emphasis on the Kansas City community, serving on the executive committee of BreatheUP, a consortium of local stakeholders dedicated to improving asthma control. The consortium’s  goal is to reduce the rate of uncontrolled asthma by 25 percent in the next five years.

In all her efforts, Dr. Haluck’s real focus is on taking care of children with asthma.

“All children coming to Swope Health are getting the same care as if going to a specialty asthma clinic,” she said. “We are helping kids stay out of the emergency room. We are providing preventive care and helping our patients get the prescriptions and care they need. That’s what we stand for.”

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He couldn’t have predicted the journey that followed.

In April, he sought dental care but learned he had high blood pressure that needed treatment first. While receiving care for high blood pressure, his provider did a routine screening for Hepatitis C based on his age. Baby boomers (born between 1945 – 1965) make up about 75 percent of those positive for the virus. Larry learned he also had Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage and long-term health problems including liver cancer. There are an estimated 2.4 million people living with Hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many people may have Hep C and not know they are infected, as they may not have symptoms.

Enter Rachel Melson, DNP, Nurse Practitioner and Director of Outreach Clinic at Swope Health. When Larry was referred to Dr. Melson, she determined he would benefit from a new Hep C treatment. The only barrier was the cost – roughly $74,000 for a 12-week course of treatment.

Dr. Melson went to bat for him. She petitioned the drug manufacturer and secured the treatment for him at no cost.

“Thank God,” Larry said. “This helps me live a little longer.”

Swope’s Pilot Program for Treatment of Hep C

Larry was part of Swope Health’s Pilot Program for treatment of Hep C. Traditionally, patients required a referral to a specialist outside of Swope Health to receive treatment. For most, this created additional obstacles to their treatment, such as transportation, and the financial requirements of the outside agency. The Hep C Treatment Program was launched in Spring 2019 to provide treatment for hundreds of identified patients, many who have been referred but still had not gone to receive treatment for various reasons.

Dr. Melson led Swope Health efforts to establish an effective primary-care Hep C treatment program. Swope Health is committed to developing specialized services for patients and delivering these services on site – no need for additional transportation or financial considerations. Now patients can be screened, tested and treated for Hep C all on-site at Swope Health. Dr. Melson performs an evaluation including blood test to determine whether a patient requires treatment by a specialist. Unless a patient is too sick for treatment by a primary care provider – for example, if cirrhosis is present or if the patient has had an organ transplant – Dr. Melson will manage their treatment.

Since March, Dr. Melson’s Hep C Clinic at Swope Health has seen more than 100 patients. She leads a team that works closely with patients as a champion to help them get the medication they need and follow their treatment plan.

What Does “Cured” Mean?

“I am already able to say that we’ve cured patients, and we rarely get to use the word ‘cure’ in medicine,” she said. “But this is such an effective treatment that we have actually been able to cure Hepatitis C.”

In this case, “cured” means the patient has no active Hep C virus in the body three months after finishing the medication.

“This service gives us another way to connect with and help take care our patients,” she said. “I love being able to develop that trust and a stronger rapport with patients through education about their health including Hep C. The more we build that relationship, the more we can care for them in the way that they need.”

Larry said he appreciates what Dr. Melson has done for him.

“Rachel is a very good doctor and a very sweet person,” he said. “There are a lot of doctors who could learn a lot from her. Not just her smarts, but her mannerisms, her way of being people to people. She’s very caring.”

Now Larry is completing his last few weeks on the antiviral drug and looking forward to the end-of-treatment blood test.

“I’m feeling pretty good now,” Larry said. “I’d recommend Swope Health to anyone. And I have.”

Do you have questions about Hepatitis C? We encourage you to talk with your provider. Call 816-923-5800 to schedule an appointment at Swope Health.

About Hepatitis C

• About 75 percent of people with Hep C were born between 1945 and 1965, commonly known as the Baby Boomer generation. Most boomers are believed to have become infected in the 1970s and 1980s when rates of Hepatitis C were the highest, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Hep C is rapidly increasing, it’s growth tied to the opioid epidemic. The virus is now found in all ages, with sharp increases especially in younger Americans age 18 to 39. There is no vaccine to prevent Hep C.
• The Hep C virus spreads when infected blood enters the body of an uninfected person. It can spread with shared use of needles, spoons, even razors or nail clippers. The virus stays alive and active on surfaces, making it easier to transmit. And once you have been infected, even if you have cleared the virus, you can be re-infected.
• The current treatment for Hep C is an antiviral drug that is taken as one pill a day for 12 weeks. There are several types of antiviral drugs available, and these drugs cure more than 90 percent of people who use them.
• The drugs, however, come with steep price tags. There is high demand, and the cost to bring drugs to market is expensive – up to $900 million to develop, test and market. Prices may come down as generic versions come to market and if more companies enter the market.
• At the end of treatment, a blood screen determines if the medication has cleared the virus from the body. In most cases, there is a dramatic reduction in the active virus. Patients are tested again after three months to verify that the virus is still inactive – what is called a “sustained virologic response.”

The post Offering Hope – A Cure for Hepatitis C appeared first on Swope Health.

Here are some early questions we had for Jeron:

What attracted you to the position?

Without question, it was the chance to work at Swope Health. I have always found FQHCs at the intersection of mission-driven work and the fight for health equity. Swope Health embodies that.

What attracted you to Kansas City?

I’ve never lived in the Midwest. More importantly, it’s an exciting time to be in KC.  The city’s population has grown year over year. New development is sprouting up throughout the city, and KC has a rich history of music, great food, technology, and civil rights – things I have an ardent interest in.

Why do you think you are the right person for this job at this time?

I believe in leadership that is centered in integrity and collaboration. My career has demonstrated that this approach builds effective teams. Swope Health is at an interesting precipice. As the best, we now get to decide what our next level of care looks like. To me, this is continuously pushing the envelope to give our patients the very best–and changing lives in the process. Not only am I passionate about this approach but I have a history of achieving it.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role and as a new resident of Kansas City?

Working with the team here at Swope Health. I’ve been in community health for some time and instantly realized that Swope Health is special. This was clear to me after meeting the Board of Directors and numerous Swope Health associates. As far as KC is concerned, I’m looking forward to sampling the BBQ, art, music, festivals, snow, college basketball and Arrowhead Stadium.

What is your management style or philosophy?

Lead honestly, collaboratively, and unselfishly, with purpose and vision. Surround yourself with smart people and work with them to make a difference.

What are some of your hobbies? What do you like to do in your spare time?

Traveling. It’s a big world. I like to experience as much as possible. Live music and concerts are also something I really enjoy. I also read often and workout.

Swope Health is celebrating 50 years and many have said it is the perfect time for this change. What do you see for Swope Health in the next 50 years?

I see growth, and an opportunity to forge genuine connections with the communities we serve. I truly want Swope Health to become the healthcare provider of choice for all of the Midwest. Keep watching –I have a few things up my sleeve. J

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