Grace Health News - A Note From Our CEO

A Note From Our CEO

Improving access to quality health care and services while providing compassionate care for the whole person continues to be a pillar of success for Grace Health. As we further this goal, we strive to build a healthcare team focused on treating the whole person. Grace Health believes one key to this goal is access to oral health, an essential component of promoting and maintaining overall well-being. However, access to dental care is a critical problem in America with low-income populations of all ages experiencing the lowest access to oral health care. To help eliminate oral health disparities, Grace Health is thrilled to announce we have hired Kayla Fields, DMD as our new dental director. We feel blessed to have such a compassionate provider join us to help fulfill those needed dental health services.

Dr. Fields came on board this past quarter and we believe she will be a huge asset to our local communities. I encourage you to read Dr. Fields' introduction on page 3 and then turn to page 13 for the inspiring story of how she is carrying out her spiritual calling while serving the needs of southeastern Kentuckians.

In addition to Dr. Fields, Grace Health was blessed to add thirty-one new faces to our team this quarter (pages 3-5). As Grace Health grows, so does our ability to provide high-quality, primary health care. I am happy to announce that in 2021, Grace Health served almost 32,000 patients with 300+ community-based staff members. As our community grows, we are dedicated to growing in stride with them.

In February, I had the honor of traveling to Frankfort to provide supportive testimony for House Bill 525, the Community Health Worker Bill. This bill aims to provide financing and certification routes for community health workers (page 9). Our community health workers reach thousands of people every year (pages 6-7) and continually strive to improve services and access to quality health care for our local communities. Our outreach team, led by Michael Wynn, Director of Community Programs, is a huge part of what allows Grace Health to improve the lives of those in and around our communities.

I want to encourage you to read this quarter's newsletter to see some of the excellent things we have been doing here at Grace Health. Thank you all for a great first quarter in 2022!

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10

- Michael Stanley