Latest / Hart & Hustle Podcast / The Future of Healthcare: Technology, Empathy, and Breaking Barriers in Community Centers
Transcript
- Efrain: Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle Podcast, alongside Miss Allison. How you doing today, madam? Alison L Croke: I'm good. How are you doing? Efrain: Listen, it is Monday currently. Father's Day just passed. So I would say it was a really good weekend. ⁓ got to enjoy a little bit of I guess what Father's Day may be, but I was still barbecuing. I was still doing all the good stuff that dads do. how is your Monday going so far? ⁓ you know, the kids are still too young for the dad jokes, but definitely gonna be coming. They're two and five, so the dad jokes for sure would definitely happen. Right now they just think I'm funny. Alison L Croke: Telling some dad jokes for ya. ⁓ okay. There's there's a local ice cream place near us that we went to and they said they would give you a free ⁓ topping with every dad joke. Yeah, yeah. I thought that was clever. That's funny. Efrain: Really? ⁓ man. That's actually what a good way of just marketing, to be quite frank. Like I can imagine people really showed up wanting to take their dads there or dad wanted to take his kids there, made ⁓ make sense. Wow, that's actually really good. So let's let everybody know, Miss Allison, what organization you represent, what is your title with them? Alison L Croke: Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I'm ⁓ the president and CEO at Wood River Health and we are a federally qualified health center or community health center, ⁓ if you want to call us that, ⁓ in Rhode Island with a couple of locations ⁓ in the southwestern part of the state. Efrain: Love it. How long have you been the ⁓ the CO president? Alison L Croke: Be eight years in September. Efrain: You ever you ever thought that's where your life would bring you, Allison? CEO president Alison L Croke: Not exactly. ⁓ not exactly. I when I applied for the job in the summer of twenty eighteen I kinda looked at it as a dream job. ⁓ and, you know, they the board chose me. So ⁓ so yeah, I've been been ⁓ very happy to ⁓ to be here through some, you know, some good days, some tough times. It was COVID and coming out of COVID and you know, all the other things in between. So ⁓ Efrain: Here you are. Alison L Croke: It's definitely it can be ⁓ it's challenging but it's also really rewarding to be a community based organization. Efrain: I love it. And then where was young Alison? Like she always knew she wanted to be in this space or how did Alison even figure out this is the space she wanted to be in so young? Alison L Croke: Mm-hmm. So, ⁓ well I'm that not that young, but thank you for think saying that. ⁓ so I was raised in ⁓ and was educated by the Sissors of Mercy ⁓ at a local school here in Rhode Island called Bayview Academy and Efrain: Ha ha ha. Alison L Croke: The the Sisters of Mercy and the Mercy Education stresses and emphasizes ⁓ the mercy values and the mercy critical concerns. So the critical concerns ⁓ include things like access to health care, advancing the cause of women, immigration, equity, ⁓ you know the preserving the planet. ⁓ so my from the time I was in fifth grade to the time I graduated high school, you know, I was sort of immersed in this culture. ⁓ and really it was driven home that, you know, it's important too, whatever purpose you have in life, you know, whatever it is you choose to do. And of course it was highly encouraged for 'cause it was an all-girls school, for women to have a career and to seek ⁓ leadership roles, ⁓ as part of one of the Mercy values. ⁓ Efrain: Okay. Alison L Croke: that I was just really immersed in that and it really clicked for me. ⁓ and so, you know, I wanted to find a career and a purpose that ⁓ kind of I felt fulfilled and felt like I was giving back and somehow contributing to the good of society. So I'd always had a passion for ⁓ science and and healthcare in general and I f my belief is that healthcare is a right and not a privilege and that the quality of your healthcare should not depend on the zip code code that you live in or your gender or ⁓ the color of your skin or etc etc so ⁓ that helped me to hone what I did with my ⁓ with both my undergraduate and then my graduate degree ⁓ and led me on this path to to where I am today which is to lead this great organization that's focused on all those things right I mean health centers at our core at our mission ⁓ because we were founded during the civil rights movement we were Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: really created as organizations that brought health care into the local community and addressed the root cause of poor health. And the root causes of poor health isn't ⁓ is certainly access to quality health care, but it's also the social determinants we talk about, right? food access, housing insecurities, literacy, ⁓ you know, et cetera, et cetera. So ⁓ so it's been really a great, you know, this position has allowed me to both fulfill myself, you know, you know, kind of intellectually stimulating ⁓ and be challenged, but also to feel like, you know, I'm really contributing and the organization is helping the community in which we live. Efrain: Yeah. So did you graduate high school and then just kinda get into this line of work? Alison L Croke: So I after high school I went to college and thought I wanted to be a doctor. ⁓ kind of go more traditional route that way. ⁓ organic chemistry kind of did me in a little bit. ⁓ that was a tough one. ⁓ Efrain: Yeah, yeah. Ha ha ha. Alison L Croke: And you know, after college I so I did have a science degree and learned pretty quickly after I graduated college that I didn't really want to work ⁓ in the sort of the core science field like at a bench, at a lab bench, right? That was what I was doing right after college. ⁓ so I because at the time I was working for the university, I could take classes for free and I took this class that was about health policy and I just the something sparked, right? ⁓ and then I kind of adopted a mentor, the professor of that class, and he kinda talked me into pursuing the Master of Health administration and that's kinda how I ended up on this path and Efrain: I love it. Alison L Croke: Most of the folks in my I went to ⁓ graduate school in the nineties, most of the people in my ⁓ health administration course were focused on hospital administration. I wasn't really looking to go that route. I was really interested in working more on issues and policy for low income populations and people with disabilities. So ⁓ that's kind of what led me to be working at both a Medicaid managed care plan as well as the Med the State Medicaid agency. ⁓ and then Efrain: Always say one person, you know, it could be one moment one story that changes your life. There you go, Alison. You had a professor that really kinda changed the trajectory of how you end your career or start your career per se. you'll be happy to know that I actually went to the doctors. And I say that because as men we just don't go. But ⁓ what they Alison L Croke: Yes. Yes. Okay. No you don't. Every year. Efrain: Yeah, the doc the the ⁓ the doctor says, So what brings you in? I said, My wife actually. My wife is the reason I'm here. But it was really because she seen something and she's like, Hey, you gotta take care of it yourself. I am dad, two young kids, very important. But I tell you that I came home and I loved where I went, so I started to share the news to my neighbor. That was also because I told him I was going said, You know what, you're going and he's older than me, I'm thirty six, he's about to be fifty. But because I said something, he says, You know what, I'm gonna go as well. And then I told him about the ⁓ the the clinic I went to and he was like, Wow, just you talking about it, man, like I gotta go there. So important is the experience that we have when we go to these ⁓ or ⁓ you know places. It's important. I've been to also another space where I just felt almost rushed. I felt ⁓ almost unwelcome, you know, really because it was just a bigger establishment. But I feel like what you're doing is Alison L Croke: Yes. Efrain: That experience it is more of a a s is it a smaller, like how how how many patients are you guys seeing on a daily? Like what does that actually look like? Alison L Croke: So I it depends on your perspective. I mean where you are, you're in a much bigger city than than we are. So we probably seem pretty small. But ⁓ last year we saw about twelve thousand patients. ⁓ Efrain: Yeah, a hundred percent. Alison L Croke: And that translates into about thirty-five thousand primary care visits and another seven thousand dental visits and we also do some behavioral health, so another six thousand behavioral health visits. ⁓ you know, like you said, health care is personal, ⁓ and your relationship with your personal provider is ⁓ it's important and there needs to be there needs to be trust there and Our you know, one of our core values as an organization is to is respect. And we want to respect, of course, each other as people and colleagues, but also respect our patients. Our patients all come from different backgrounds, different experiences. You know, our job is not to judge them, ⁓ but to really help them give them accurate ⁓ information, right? Not misinformation like they might see out there, ⁓ to give them accurate information and and really work on a care plan. Efrain: Yep. Yep. Alison L Croke: plan together, not a one-way the doctor telling you what to do. It's got to be ⁓ we're a patient-centered medical home, and what that means is that the patient is at the center. So that when you're developing the okay, maybe you have a diagnosis like diabetes, okay, let's talk about what you're gonna do, right? How can you adjust your diet? How can you add exercise into your life? What works for you? And not coming from a place of judgment. ⁓ Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: So that's ⁓ that's I think the differentiator for us. ⁓ Efrain: Yeah, I love it. Really being able to educate them and also provide a good really good experience ⁓ around it all as well. I think is really important as well. And giving this someone a safe place to go, ⁓ that's more than anything. Because if you don't feel safe, you don't feel comfortable, everything you just kinda mentioned, right? I either I'm not going to go at all or I'm going to find somewhere else to go. And a lot of times it's just they don't go at all. ⁓ and I I think for me, the last summon that I actually went was like three years ago. And I would tell you that the experience that I had there, I was kind of ⁓ I don't know if I want to Alison L Croke: Yes. Yes. Right. ⁓ Yeah. Efrain: to go back right my wife ended up somewhere new so that's how I ended up there but ⁓ yeah it definitely does make a huge difference you know and how we took care of ourselves as well because we wanted we wanted to be trusted right ⁓ with the information that we have ⁓ but also know that someone really cares about our health as well and it's not just about another dollar ⁓ and and you guys offer so much really leading to you care about a lot is this purposeful because that way you can get everything done at Alison L Croke: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Well. Efrain: once is it is that the reason you guys kinda tapped into all these different markets? Alison L Croke: Yeah, so health centers, ⁓ all health there's fourteen hundred health centers across the United States, ⁓ with about twelve thousand different delivery locations. And each of us there's a core set of services that we all provide. So that includes the primary care, dental care, and then behavioral health. So then from there, community health centers can add on other specialties or ⁓ add on other service lines. So for us, ⁓ we ⁓ our behavioral health treatment is not just mental health but also substance use disorder treatment. We have a lab here on site, so when our providers order, you know, blood work, ⁓ you know, go get your blood work done, it's really important. The lab's just on the whole. Efrain: Yeah, it's good. Alison L Croke: Right. ⁓ we have a pharmacy on site, so it makes it easier for patients. If they come in for a sick visit, they need to go pick up a prescription. It's right there. They can go grab that. We have a physical therapy provider in our building. And then because transportation is a big barrier where we live, we don't really have public transportation in our part of the state. And as everybody knows, right now it's very expensive to own and maintain a car and put gas in that car. We don't want that to be a barrier to people coming to see us. Efrain: Yep. Alison L Croke: ⁓ or that to be a reason why they don't go. So we have ⁓ a couple of vehicles and we employ a driver through some grants and he picks folks up and brings them brings them to ⁓ to our facility for their appointments. So Efrain: I love it. Can't get any easier than that. Allison, eight years ago you said you started this journey w ⁓ as a CEO and president. Where were you guys then? Where where you did you want to be and where are you guys today? Alison L Croke: Yes. So we were ⁓ quite a bit smaller ⁓ in twenty eighteen. We had one location, and when our board one of the f you know, first things the board said to me was we need to expand and open a second location in a town not far from here. But Rhode Islanders are ⁓ we're kind of funny, we don't like to drive far. So anything further than twenty minutes is like, ⁓ no, that's too far, I can't go there. So ⁓ so we did open a second location in 2019, about twenty minutes away in another town, but it is the town. Efrain: Okay. Alison L Croke: where about thirty percent of our patients actually come from and live. So that met a huge community need. Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: So with the expansion of the space, we also added more clinicians, ⁓ you know, more PCPs, more RNs, ⁓ etc. you know, some of the services that I just mentioned, like the van, that we didn't have that in twenty eighteen. We weren't providing substance use treatment really in twenty eighteen, so we added that. ⁓ we became a ⁓ LGBTQ so safe zone. So to your point about feeling safe, ⁓ you know, that's a That's sort of a designation that ⁓ one of our local ⁓ Blue Cross plans provides to us. So we we we did that. so adding staff, adding locations, adding some services, and increasing the number of patients. When I started here in 2018, we saw about 6,700 patients that year. And like I just said last year we finished with about 12,000 patients. So we've definitely grown. ⁓ one of the other changes, and then COVID actually was stimulating. A lot of this, right? Is the move towards technology. ⁓ Telehealth isn't used as much as it used to be used, but it is still a really good option for people. ⁓ We get snow in our part of the country, not so much down where you are. ⁓ But this winter, I mean, we we had a blizzard, literally a blizzard. ⁓ And so one of the days we were able to still see patients, right? Patients can't get here. We couldn't get here. ⁓ But as long as the Wi Fi was working, we could do Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: some telehealth and ⁓ and see some patients. So that really removes a barrier ⁓ for a lot of folks and opened up, you know, some good options for people. ⁓ so that's a big difference, right? We weren't doing anything. Nobody was, not really, ⁓ doing telehealth before COVID. ⁓ it and like I said, it's not used as regularly as it as we did during COVID, but it's definitely a good a good option for us. Efrain: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, telehealth is ⁓ I remember exper I didn't experience it, but my wife when she was pregnant was experiencing it 'cause it's during COVID as well. You weren't always just able to go to the hospital, so there was a lot of, you know, virtual visits. ⁓ and even with the kids sometimes. When something's happening with a kid, you're not always having to go like, okay, doctor's going to call you at ten o'clock, just be prepared. And you're on video call with the doctor. Like what times have changed? And then now we have AI, right? I can imagine that there's also some innovation around there. But where are you guys Alison L Croke: Yeah. Yep. Yep. It's another big change. Yes. Yes. So we're ⁓ I wouldn't call us early adopters, maybe fast followers on certain certain things. ⁓ the first thing we do with AI, we're always looking to like you said, the patient experience is really important. The provider experience is equally important. We wanna make sure our providers ⁓ Efrain: Okay. Alison L Croke: are you know we want to retain them because if we don't have providers to see patients we can't fulfill our mission and meet the community need. So one of the first things we did with AI is use a sc ⁓ something called a AI scribe. So you might have seen this because a lot of pro practices are using this now. So instead of the the pro the doctor like staring at the computer typing right while they're talking to you, they can they the scribe that is got ambient listening happening in the background and will take the Efrain: Okay. Alison L Croke: whole conversation and create a note that the provider can just drop into the chart. QC it, you know, but it's pretty accurate from what the providers tell me and it helps them to have that more face to face as opposed to looking at the computer and typing ⁓ and saves them hours of charting every week. Efrain: Yep. Alison L Croke: Not an exaggeration. So that was sort of our first step into using AI. And so we're starting to look at what are some other ⁓ tools that we can use. some folks are using it for like phone room. Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: potentially we could start to think about that. Is there s AI steps, you know, to h help you an AI patient service rep before you get to the human. ⁓ so we're exploring some other things. Hm. Efrain: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. I think I actually I called the hospital the other day to set up my lab 'cause my place doesn't have a lab inside of the Mallison. You know what I mean? They're not as high tech as you guys. So I had to call get the lab and they ex exactly did that. It says if you want to speak to AI rep, press this button. If you want to continue, press this button. So now I'm actually experiencing some of that. But even to what you said back three years ago, before AI was really as what it is today, ⁓ the doctor that I seen was straight into the computer, just having a you know conversation to the computer. Alison L Croke: Yes. Efrain: not to me ⁓ per se and I'm I'm literally trying to conversate with her and sh she just kinda going through the just the list of things. ⁓ then to find out that that wasn't even the same doctor because I was like, hey, I think you see my my wife and she's like, yeah and she would just kinda like Alison L Croke: Yep. Yeah, yeah. Efrain: BSing me. My wife's like, ⁓ that's it wasn't my doctor. So I'm ⁓ she was just trying to get me in and out of building. But then this other doctor that I just seen, it was like we were homies, Allison. Like I truly and probably because she had the exact what you mentioned, that transcribe on back end, it completely becomes a different game because I feel like I'm actually talking to somebody. But I get it now, right? It was just so much work and I love that AI could be of of assistance, not to take somebody's job, but really allow them to do more of the things that they love. ⁓ and I think that's where people kind of forget. Alison L Croke: Right. Right. Exactly. That's great. Efrain: get that's what AI does. Of course there's wrong ways of using it and XYZ, things like that. But I love Allison that you guys are finding those really good ways that allows the workers to you know and the the staff to get back to the things that they went to school for, that they love, that they have a passion and purpose for. ⁓ but I kinda wanna take this away from from from just the healthcare a little bit 'cause I'm looking at all these action figures and I I kinda see there's football back there. It might be a little bit of soccer. What is what is back there? What what clear there's a reason they're there. Alison L Croke: Yes. Yes, exactly. Exactly. ⁓ sure. I miss ⁓ yes, so we're in New England Patriots territory up here. So I've got some Patriots figurines. I've got a little Tom Brady bobblehead. that's Tom Brady. And then ⁓ my favorite patriot f is ⁓ Teddy Brewski. He retired from the New England Patriots. Now he does some commentating. ⁓ so he's got he's the he's the guy with the Efrain: Okay, yeah. I was wondering who was a bobblehead. Okay. Got it. Alison L Croke: The motion there and then ⁓ let's see, also behind me I've got a little figurine of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ⁓ so So that's Ruth Ruth Bader Ginsburg, right from Supreme Court. and then the other guys are they're all they're all football guys. They're just little football figurines. Yeah. There's no s there's a lot of soccer happening around here right now, that's for sure. Yes. I have not been watching soccer, no. Efrain: And is that a judge? Is that what that's behind your head? A judge? ⁓ that's what it is. Okay, okay, okay. ⁓ okay. I didn't know if there was some soccer 'cause soccer was going on. Like are you watching soccer? Yeah, yeah. Do you watch soccer? Me either. Yeah, I either. So no worries. Alison L Croke: The way I look the way I look at sports is there's football season and then there's the in between football seasons. So, you know, we got so we got ⁓ camp happening, right? Football camp, so we can go Efrain: Ha ha ha. Yeah. So you're a big football fan. Are are you going to the games when you can or? Alison L Croke: So sometimes we go to the game we we we're very comfortable on our couch watching the game, but our ⁓ Sunday plans revolve around what time the Patriots are playing. Every week. Efrain: Wow. Hell yeah, I love it. Outside of of work, what is the thing that keeps you really grounded, keeps you leveled, ⁓ that brings you peace? What is that thing, Alison, that people may not know? Alison L Croke: so ⁓ you know, I try to we use don't use the word work life balance anymore. We use the phrase work life integration. and so my the role I have, which is pretty outward facing, public facing, ⁓ you know, brings me out into the community a fair amount, keeps me out of the house, sometimes evenings, weekends. So when I ⁓ when I have that time to just be home and just be with my family, with my dogs Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: Three dogs. ⁓ so I've got a golden doodle. He's the old man of the group. He's about almost thirteen. He's starting to slow down a little bit. Then we've got a rescue mix in the middle. She's about eleven. And then I've got a Wheaton Scottish Terrier who's five. Efrain: Yeah. Kinda dogs, kinda dogs, Allison. Okay. You gotta live with everything. Alison L Croke: Well a lot of variety. A lot of variety. The girls keep the old man young, I think. ⁓ keep him on his toes. ⁓ but yeah, I mean I think that just ⁓ I like to I like to meet new people. I like to new experiences. kind of a theater musical theater buff fan, so I like to like to do that. you know, other than football, which we talked about, so I was a theater nerd in high school. Efrain: Ha ha ha. Were you a theater kid? Yes, me too, me too. Alison L Croke: Yep, yep. Not so much the plays but the musicals, so Efrain: ⁓ listen, I I I did both actually. ⁓ recently I seen I'm not really sure what it is, but it is a Broadway Awards show that they just recently had. ⁓ Pink was hosting it or something. And she did a ⁓ Chicago segment. ⁓ All That Jazz ⁓ is what she was doing. And I remember being in chorus doing all that jazz and and just the dance and all that good stuff. I was in drama. So actually it was pandemic time, so I already out of high school. Alison L Croke: ⁓ it's a great channel. It's a great one. Right. Yeah, yeah. Efrain: But I got to do my first stage play as an adult. And ⁓ how nervous but exciting that was working with some young kids and even older people and me never thinking that I would be able to actually do this, but loving it. I truly love ⁓ being in front of the camera. I guess I do that now, but it it's it's cool. I would say theater really made me become a different person and be myself, you know, more more than anything. So I Alison L Croke: Yeah. the arts are important, you know, I mean and when we look at like we're sort of back to healthcare, when we look at what are some alternative ways that people can be healthy or to express themselves, you know, through mindfulness or, you know, approaches to mental well being, you know, art and expressing yourself through art is ⁓ can be very powerful and can be very healing. ⁓ so I think Efrain: Yeah, I love it. I I I enjoy it. ⁓ I was actually gonna take an improv class here this weekend but I ended up doing something else, but Really tapping into that. People don't realize actually like improv improvising. We use it every single day. I think we're all improvisers in some ways. And when you could really tap into some of those things, ⁓ it makes you just a better leader, right? A a better just individual. I would say Allison, what are some of the things you going from probably not knowing anything a president CEO is doing, then you get this role. What are some of the things that you had to do to make sure that you were also investing into yourself? Alison L Croke: Yeah. Yeah, I mean that boundary setting I think is important. I can't be everywhere all day, every day. There's things I have to say no to just because I get to have I get to have a personal life, I get to have downtime. ⁓ I learned that pretty quick 'cause you can burn yourself out. Right. You really can burn yourself out. you know, I learned ⁓ you know, I've learned a lot about leadership. ⁓ Efrain: Hundred percent. Yeah. Alison L Croke: what to do, what not to do. ⁓ that's I I see it as a I always when I talk to folks about leadership, it to me it's a journey. You're always learning. You're never quite there. You're always kind of on the road. ⁓ so I read a lot. ⁓ I like to read and I like to read fiction, ⁓ and historical fiction, but I also read books that help me to ⁓ just understand myself better, understand working with other people and how to lead them and ⁓ Efrain: Always, yeah. Alison L Croke: and be better at doing that. the psychology of people, the psychology of leadership. I mean this it's fascinating. I mean there's so much you could you could really dig into. ⁓ Efrain: Yeah. If we talk about leaders, is there a something that resonates like a leader told you that still is there always comes to mind? mine's would be like listen more, talk less. Well Alison, what is yours that comes up to mind? Alison L Croke: Yes. Yes. I a hundred percent agree with that one. Yeah. You've got two ears and one mouth. Listen more talk left. Efrain: Ha ha. Alison L Croke: I had a early on I had a mentor, boss leader tell me that ⁓ you know, when you're looking to make change or make decisions, you should always talk to and involve the people that are at the front line doing the job, right? 'Cause they're the ones who know best how to improve upon whatever it is they're doing, right? So I'll use our front desk as an example. I don't work at the front desk. I don't check patients in and out every day, all day. They do. So it's important to talk to the people doing the job before you start to say, Efrain: Yeah, I love it. Alison L Croke: ⁓ we should do it this way. We could do it better if we did this. You really have got to hear change, sometimes change has to move fast, like during COVID, we had to make some snap decisions and move quickly. But you've got to pace change in a way that brings people along with you and understand, you know, the rationale for the change, the need for the change, ⁓ and make sure people have a voice. Efrain: Yep. And what is that that leadership advice that you're giving people nowadays, being in the seat that you're in? Alison L Croke: It's that certainly that advice that I just that I just mentioned. ⁓ you know, I think that leadership positions can be somewhat isolating, right? You have to be careful and cautious that ⁓ Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: People are are watching you and paying attention to what you do and what you say and it's important to to really be equitable and fair. I mean you've gotta not play favorites. You've got to think about the whole organization, not just what's good for this one person or this one group, because we're an ecosystem, right? We all need each other. ⁓ and s and you also have we also ha it's important to build trust in a team and maintain that trust and keep working, you know, as a team, right? I Efrain: Yep. Alison L Croke: can't do this, I tell people all the time. I'm like, I I can't do this, whatever it is, by myself. I need the team. Efrain: Yeah. I jokingly ⁓ realize how much I pay my staff, right? I I have like a staff of four. And ⁓ you know, like I was like I can save money and I could just let them all go, right? Jokingly saying that. And then my neighbor says like, Yeah, just you're right. You like I would just save all that money. I said, But best believe if I was to let them go, the work doesn't get done. 'Cause there's no damn way that I'm able I'm not as good as them, to be quite frank, first of all. I wouldn't even have the time to think Alison L Croke: Yeah. Efrain: about some of the things that they do. It is so cool to be a leader, hire people that you know are really good at what they do and allow them to just own it. ⁓ authentically them, right? I think there's something cool about that. what is a stigma you think, Alison, that people may that you know people are having the c that conversation or believing out there that it's not true that you'd want to kind of set the set the record straight. Alison L Croke: That's right. That's right. ⁓ Sure. ⁓ so I'll address two specific things about community health centers, which is where I do this work every day. one ⁓ myth is that community health centers, although we were founded during the civil rights movement and initially initially created for ⁓ to provide access to people that didn't have health insurance or access health care, we serve everyone, right? Whether you have insurance, don't have insurance, ⁓ low income, wealthy, doesn't matter. And we have all kinds of patients. So I think there's There's a myth that ⁓ community health centers are only for low-income patients. That's that's not the case. Although that is the core at what at how why we were founded. And then the second myth that often goes along with that is that when you get care at a community health center, you're getting lower quality care. So I have this little slide that I show people ⁓ with all of our quality awards. When I do presentations, I call it our brag slide. That Efrain: Okay, that's a good one, yeah. Yeah. Alison L Croke: That is s that myth, ⁓ I always tell people that's really the farthest thing from the truth you can get because we submit so much data on our patients aggregate, right, to state agencies, to the federal government, et cetera, et cetera. And we are judged and ranked based on our performance. How well are we taking care of our patients, right? Are are you know, ⁓ thirty something year old men coming in for their physicals every year like they're supposed to? Are women getting mammograms? ⁓ Efrain: Yeah. Alison L Croke: you know, our kids getting vaccines, our et cetera, et cetera, access to prenatal care. And based on our performance, we've gotten the gold quality award for three years in a row, which is the highest quality award we get you can get from the federal government for for health care. And only ten percent of health centers in the United States get that award. We've got a three year row. So ⁓ so you can't get better quality. You you really you really can't. Efrain: Come on, Allison. That's so good. No, that's really good things, ⁓ to call out. 'Cause I Both of them I actually thought, right? ⁓ and not so much more of of not having quality there because I've actually had to learn that. Like that's not true when we talk about passion and purpose. People just want to do the things that they love at whatever level they do. Cause it's not about the money. We talked about that. ⁓ so yeah, that that's pretty cool. But the the one of of that you guys only take those that ⁓ may have Medicaid and or may not have insurance, all that. I appreciate you kinda clarifying that. Where can people find more information about what you guys are doing? Or is there socials? Alison L Croke: That's right. Right. That's right. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ we our re website is Wood River Health, all one word, woodriverhealth dot org dot org. And we're on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn. ⁓ so and curve people can find us there. Efrain: Are you active on LinkedIn? Are are you checking your messages so if people won't have questions? Alison L Croke: Yeah, yes. Efrain: All right, I love it. Well, Alison, I really do appreciate your time here. I want to you to get back to work. I can imagine you're busy person. So we thank you for all the insights and what you guys are actually doing at Wood River Health and all the amazing work that you've done and are still planning to do. I can imagine there's a lot more to come as well. But these are the conversations that we're having with leaders in your own backyard. So guys, if you guys want to make sure that you guys are ⁓ tapping in, go to the websites, go to the socials, but also just follow them on LinkedIn and kind of look at that journey. If have any questions, all these leaders are always willing to give insights. And I one thing I Realize about a leader is that people feel that they sh they that ⁓ they can ask questions or that maybe we're not personable or whatever that may look like. And I think Allison, I've heard something. It's like we always willing to have a conversation if you ask. And that goes even for our internal team. We're always willing to have that internal conversation if you ask. ⁓ because there's so much insights that we have, and as you mentioned, as entrepreneurs, as leaders, as ⁓ just professionals, sometimes it is a very lonely world, and we love to talk. Alison L Croke: Yeah. Efrain: to you we'll love to answer the whatever questions whatever myths you think is out there I can imagine Allison is ready to debunk them all but Alison we thank you for those that are watching make sure to share subscribe and also like I'm Efrain this is Alison we'll catch you in the next one latest