Ossining's Open Door CEO Honored

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has honored Lindsay C. Farrell, President and CEO of Open Door Family Medical Centers in Ossining, NY with the Elizabeth K. Cooke Advocacy MVP Award.  The recognition honors the dedication and energetic efforts by advocates to generate public and political support for the strength and expansion of America’s Health Centers. Farrell was presented the Hall of Fame Award at the 37th Annual NACHC Policy and Issues Forum in Washington, D.C., an event attended by more than 2,000 health center leaders from around the country.

“Lindsay Farrell has been a passionate advocate on behalf of health centers and the movement would not be what it is today without her dedication, skilled leadership and tireless energy,” said Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of NACHC. “Lindsay has been on Capitol Hill many times carrying the health center message, and rallying public support and funding in her own state.  We’re deeply appreciative of Lindsay’s commitment, hard work and leadership in advocacy.”

Farrell has been very instrumental working on behalf of health centers for over 25 years. She was appointed President and CEO of Open Door Family Medical Centers in Westchester County, New York in 1998. Since that time, Open Door has grown significantly adding new sites, programs and technologies to more than double the number of low-income people served. Through her leadership Open Door has been recognized by the National Committee on Quality Assurance as a Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home and has won the prestigious Davies Award for community health from HIMSS, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society. She has dedicated her professional life to high quality community based care, efficient health center operations and population health management to assure a more equitable healthcare system for all.

Community Health Centers serve as the health care homes to over 20 million people in more than 8,000 communities.  Each year they save more than $1,200 per patient in total health care costs, and achieve $24 billion in annual savings from reduced emergency room visits, hospital stays and specialty care costs, including $6 billion in combined state/federal Medicaid savings With demand for health centers growing among the medically underserved and uninsured, local, state, and national support for initiatives that support and strengthen their mission is critical – now more than ever. The network of health center grassroots advocates, working in communities across the country to spread the message, help make this key support possible.

Founded in 1970, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance and expand access to quality, community-responsive health care for America’s medically underserved and uninsured.  NACHC represents the nation’s network of over 1,200 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) which serve over 20 million people through over 8,000 sites located in all of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.   

The preceeding news release was from The National Association of Community Health Centers.