Sonja Bachus has a passion for serving the community, and that’s exactly what she’s done over the last two-plus decades in the health care field. The newly appointed Chief Experience Officer of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has worked her way up in the industry, which includes being the CEO of two separate health organizations. This long, impactful journey started at Swope Health.
The start of her second career
Bachus didn’t always work in the healthcare field. She started off in banking, mortgage servicing, and mortgage financing with a position in Memphis, Tennessee. She eventually returned home to Kansas City for another mortgage company.
“As the mortgage business continued to change, and reached a boiling point, I thought it was a good time to make a change,” Bachus said. “I started off in healthcare with a staffing agency, then I took on a special project with Swope Health.”
Bachus came to Swope Health in 2003 in what she thought would be a short-term contractor position with Human Resources – but stayed eight years.
“It was the first time that I saw behavioral health, physical health, dental care, and optometry all in the same location,” she said. “The longer I stayed at Swope Health doing special projects, the more embedded my heart got into the work it did.”
Eventually, Bachus became the project coordinator for Jimmy Brown, who was Swope Health’s vice president of operations at the time.
“I learned about healthcare operations when I worked as a project coordinator. I was also responsible for service excellence, bringing the patient’s voice forward, handling complaints, and things like that,” she said.
In 2006, she was promoted to assistant administrator. Eventually, Bachus transitioned into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) implementation trainer, then service line administrator. She wore many hats.
“I’m inquisitive and willing to help anywhere. If we were stuck and didn’t have coverage at the front desk, I would jump in and handle it,” Bachus said. “It humbles you to see operations through a different lens and take the voice of those team members to the leadership table.”
Expanding her career
Bachus never intended to leave Swope Health. However, she felt the need to serve in different ways – particularly around EMR work.
“I thought I would retire from Swope Health but believe everyone has a call to serve in different ways in our lives. EMR implementation and optimization and how we bring people together piqued my interest, which is what took me to HCA Healthcare,” she said.
After two years at HCA, Bachus branched out to the West Coast. She accepted the role of assistant director at the Institute of Clinical Orthopedics and Neurosciences in Palm Springs, California. Soon after, Jimmy Brown – who was Bachus’ supervisor at Swope Health – had become the CEO at HealthNet in Indianapolis, Indiana, and told her about a Deputy Chief Operating Officer opening. She applied for and was offered the role, which she accepted.
“I wanted to be at the executive table when I came back to the Midwest, and this role checked all the boxes for me,” Bachus said. “I loved the two hospital systems, but I also have a passion for community health, and working in hospital systems solidified that for me.”
Becoming a CEO
In 2017, Bachus became Chief Operating Officer at HealthNet. Two years later, she heard about a Chief Executive Officer opening in Brandywine, Maryland, and took a leap.
“Every CEO has their first time as a CEO unless they start a company, so I decided to try,” she said. “Since I had varied experience and led a large portion of a mid-sized health center at HealthNet, I was in a good position to take over that role.”
Bachus became a first-time CEO for Greater Baden Medical Services, where she served for more than three years. Following a long absence from her home state, she returned to Kansas in 2022 when she accepted a CEO position at the Community Care Network of Kansas.
“In 2019, I moved to Maryland in April, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in September, and she passed away in December. There was this ache in my heart to return home to be closer to my family,” Bachus said.
Her impact at NACHC
Following five years of CEO experience, Bachus was recruited to NACHC – which advocates, trains, and funds health centers across the nation. She started as senior vice president last December before being promoted to CXO in April.
“Even though you’re not touching lives directly, you’re indirectly touching the lives of millions of people. It puts another level and layer of responsibility when you recognize that everything you do influences 1,496 health centers and 32.5 million patients,” she said.
Over the last 13 years, Bachus has made a large impact working at six different health organizations. Still, she watched Swope Health from afar throughout her career and considered it as the gold standard on how she judges health centers.
“Swope Health has always been a leader at meeting the needs of community. They do it differently and take ideas that are talked about and make them into a reality,” she said. “They’ve always had forward thinking about what’s next, how they can better serve the community, and set a standard.”
