Archive for category: Our Team

We are so proud of two members of our team who were featured prominently recently in the news in Kansas City. In case you missed it, here’s what has the Swope Health family beaming:

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

Swope Health, Kansas City’s leading provider of healthcare services for the medically underserved, today announced appointment of Sheilahn Davis-Wyatt as Chief Operations Officer.

Ms. Davis-Wyatt previously was COO at Unity Health Care, the largest network of community health centers in the Washington, D.C., area. In this role, she managed the operations of more than 20 traditional and non-traditional health sites, which serve more than 104,000 patients through 500,000 visits annually.

Prior to joining Unity, Ms. Davis-Wyatt was the COO for KC Care Health Center, where she had a long history of supporting the Health Center, serving as a member of the board for more than a decade, also as treasurer and chair of the board.

“We are delighted to bring Sheilahn’s expertise back to the Kansas City area,” said Jeron Ravin, J.D., President and Chief Executive of Swope Health. “Sheilahn understands the complexity of the healthcare environment and needs of our community. She has the tools and the passion to help Swope Health achieve our goals – improving access to healthcare, expanding our presence and services, and driving change in our community.”

Earlier, Ms. Davis-Wyatt was a senior administrative/operations executive with Children’s Mercy Kansas City, where she oversaw the ambulatory clinics and services. She also served as the COO and Ethics & Compliance Officer with HCA Menorah Medical Center after leading in other capacities with Health Midwest at Menorah, Overland Park Regional, Research and Baptist Medical Centers on the senior executive teams and across the system.

Ms. Davis-Wyatt is active in the Kansas City community and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Kansas City University and is a member of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Links, Inc. Her community involvement has included work with the Council for Court Excellence in Washington, D.C., Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care/North Care Hospice, Black Community Fund, Rose Brooks Shelter and Jack and Jill.

She is a former board member of the Healthcare Foundation of Greater Kansas City (now Health Forward Foundation) where she served as Chair of the Finance and Investments and Administration Committees. She has also held board positions with Cancer Action, Kansas City Clinical Oncology and Newhouse Shelter for Battered Women.

Ms. Davis-Wyatt has a Master’s degree in Health/Healthcare Administration and Management from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts from William Jewell College. She also is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Swope Health, Kansas City’s leading provider of healthcare services for the medically underserved, today announced Dr. Thurston Smith as Chief Information Officer.

Dr. Smith is an IT professional with experience in health information systems management, project management of complex systems, and operational leadership. He comes to Swope Health from Cerner Corp., one of the nation’s leading health information systems firm, where he served as senior engineer manager, leading an engineering team in code design and development.

Dr. Smith also has experience working in a federally qualified health center, having previously served as CIO at the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City. Here he led all aspects of IT systems including development and implementation of new electronic medical records, pharmacy, imaging and laboratory services.

“We welcome Dr. Smith’s passion for coaching, mentoring and continuous learning, as well as the deep technical expertise he brings,” said Jeron Ravin, JD., President and Chief Executive of Swope Health. “Dr. Smith understands our commitment to serve our whole community and will help us improve access to healthcare, build new efficiencies and enhance our services through technology.”

Dr. Smith brings expertise from roles at Truman Medical Centers; Datafile Technologies; and DST Systems Inc., all in Kansas City; and at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City, Iowa. A veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, Smith has also held positions as an adjunct professor with Johnson County Community College and DeVry University, where he received the highest student evaluation rate of his peers for two years.

He holds a Doctorate of Health Administration, emphasis in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, from Capella University in Minneapolis; and a Master of Business Administration from DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management, in Naperville, Ill. He received a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Associate degree in Applied Science in Information Technology from Hamilton Business College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Computer Science from Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Miss. He also holds several professional certifications.

Dr. Smith has received accolades in his field of study, including the Black Family Technology Awareness Association of Kansas City Award in February 2011, which recognizes an exceptional technology professional with the African American Community.

In the Kansas City community, Dr. Smith is active in his church and fraternity. He also serves on the boards of Jackson County CASA, a court advocacy group for children, and his non-profit organization, Iron Men Ministry, which mentors young men in positive development and empowerment.

Dr. Smith lives in Kansas City. He and his wife have four children and three grandchildren.