For more information, contact:
Yolanda Raine
Senior Manager of Communications
Phone: 202-417-2075
Email: yraine@pcpcc.org
PCPCC Announces Recipients of the 2019 Barbara Starfield Awards President of Milbank Memorial Fund, Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), and providers from El Centro Family Health to receive awards on November 4, 2019
Washington, D.C. (October 15, 2019) – Today, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) announced the recipients of its 2019 Barbara Starfield Awards. The Barbara Starfield Awards consist of three awards, the Barbara Starfield Primary Care Leadership Award; the Primary Care Community Leadership/Research Award; and the Advanced Primary Care Practice Award, that are given to distinguished leaders and innovators of primary care who have helped shape the field.
This year’s recipients are as follows:
Barbara Starfield Primary Care Leadership Award
Christopher F. Koller
President
Milbank Memorial Fund
The Primary Care Community Leadership/Research Award
Matt Probst, PA-C, Chris Ruge, FNP, and Leslie Hayes, MD
The Advanced Primary Care Practice Award
Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC)
“This year’s award recipients are at the heart of our organization and paramount to the achievement of our mission to advancing an effective and efficient health system built on a strong foundation of primary care and the patient-centered medical home,” stated Ann Greiner, President and CEO, PCPCC. “We appreciate their efforts to re-orient our healthcare system towards primary care and to address the needs of our nation’s most vulnerable patients, including those who are struggling with addiction. This year’s awardees are truly deserving of the honors the PCPCC will bestow on them.”
Christopher F. Koller, President, Milbank Memorial Fund
Christopher F. Koller has a multi-decade record of promoting and supporting the value of primary care as essential to improving the quality and cost effectiveness of health care in the U.S., while maintaining an important focus on population health.
Both in Rhode Island, where he served as Health Insurance Commissioner, and now as President of the Milbank Memorial Fund, his leadership has been crucial in advancing national awareness and action on the need for a greater investment in primary care (as a component of total health care spending), as well as the need to measure this investment – positions that are consistent with the strategic direction of the PCPCC.
Koller has also demonstrated a strong commitment to the PCPCC over many years, with the Milbank Memorial Fund providing significant funding, editing, and dissemination support for the Collaborative's annual evidence report demonstrating the importance and value of advanced primary care models, including the patient-centered medical home.
Matt Probst, PA-C, Chris Ruge, FNP, and Leslie Hayes, MD
Featured in the award-winning PBS documentary "The Providers," Matt Probst, PA-C, Chris Ruge, FNP, and Leslie Hayes, MD, work tirelessly at El Centro Family Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that offers care to all who walk through the doors, regardless of ability to pay. They serve low-income, predominantly Latino communities, providing patient-focused primary care for people who are all too often left out of the healthcare system. No matter how many patients they see in a day, how complex their illnesses, or how personally challenging those patients may be, these three, diverse providers always interact with patients in a way that recognizes and honors their humanity.
Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC)
The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) is a national Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), chartered by the U.S. Treasury, and a non-profit organization that provides exemplary capacity building and capital investment services to primary care providers, particularly those serving the safety net, to address the spectrum of primary care needs and help achieve health equity.
With a mission focused on primary care investment, transformation, and advocacy, PCDC’s impact is shown in the numbers: $1.2 billion leveraged to increase primary care access in low-income communities, 1.8 million square feet transformed into state-of-the-art primary care practices, almost 500 primary care practices supported to achieve PCMH recognition, and over 32.2 million patients impacted nationally since its founding in 1993.
Members of the media are invited to the 2019 PCPCC Annual Conference and awards program. For questions, interviews or to confirm attendance, please contact Yolanda Raine, Senior Manager of Communications.
###
About the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Founded in 2006, the PCPCC is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to advancing an effective and efficient health care system built on a strong foundation of primary care and the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). The PCPCC achieves its mission through the work of its executive members, experts, thought leaders, and other stakeholders focused on key issues of delivery reform, payment reform, patient engagement, and benefit design to drive health system transformation. For more information or to become an executive member, visit www.pcpcc.org.
The Barbara Starfield Primary Care Leadership Award PCPCC established the Barbara Starfield Primary Care Leadership Award in 2012 to honor Dr. Starfield, recognizing her enduring commitment to the philosophy that all individuals should receive comprehensive, coordinated, and person-focused care. The award is presented annually to an individual that demonstrates exceptional work toward advancing the goals of primary care and, in particular, a strong commitment to person-focused care.
The Primary Care Community Leadership/Research Award This award is presented to an outstanding individual that has demonstrated remarkable leadership and/or research to ensure that primary care is foundational to community or state health care reform efforts.
The Advanced Primary Care Practice Award This award is presented to an organization that is an extraordinary primary care practice. This practice serves as a model for transformation through innovation as reflected in the 2017 Shared Principles, including patient and family centered, team-based care and high value. This award was established in 2017.
