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“People who are closest to the problem are closest to the solution.”
Our Values
Equity. HealthierHere leads with equity. We work to eliminate disparities in health and well-being and address the current power dynamic and structural racism in our health care system that perpetuates inequities.
Partnership. Intentional partnerships between government agencies and community and provider partners is critical. No one participant or sector controls the direction, agenda, and decision-making. We take a multi-sector, multi-pronged approach to make systemic change at the local, state, and federal levels.
Results. HealthierHere improves health outcomes across King County, with a particular focus on health equity and eliminating disparities. We prioritize resources and efforts to those most marginalized. We implement strategies that can scale for broader population health impact.
Community. Populations most impacted by health inequities play a substantive role in our work and are valued for their expertise. We ensure community members have what they need to engage effectively and develop formal, ongoing feedback processes for those making decisions to respond to and take action on consumer recommendations.
Innovation. HealthierHere commits to fundamental system transformation. We prioritize strategies that improve health care delivery and address population health, prevention, and the social determinants of health. We model continuous learning.
Staff
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Staff
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Tavish Donahue
Project Manager
Tavish Donahue, MPH, MA has close to a decade of experience managing projects and improving processes for healthcare and non-profit organizations. Tavish came to HealthierHere after working in Long-term care and community health, ultimately coming to HealthierHere’s attention while working with Seattle-based affordable and public housing organizations to build a model of embedding Community Health Workers in low-income housing communities with residents from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Early on in her career Tavish was a music writer for an alternative weekly paper in her hometown of Charleston, SC and then spent the early 2000s working in the media/communications world of New York City. She loves the PNW lifestyle and outside of work she can be found frequenting local dog parks, seeing live music, and hiking in the mountains.
Alexis Desrosiers
Data Analytics Manager
Alexis Desrosiers joins HealthierHere from the Policy and Research Department of the King County Housing Authority. Alexis has nearly 10 years of experience managing data-focused initiatives with nonprofit and public organizations in a variety of sectors, including housing, community-based counseling and advocacy, public health, and emergency and supportive shelter programs. Alexis’ area of focus is building systems and capacities that enable organizations to effectively utilize and leverage data as a tool, including the development and implementation of analytic strategies, performance measurement and management systems, and cross-sector data partnerships. After living and working in New England for more than a decade, Alexis returned home to Seattle in 2016, where she now lives with her wife and two dogs.
Mary Franzen
Project Manager
Mary Franzen, MPH entered the field of public health after many years in marketing communications, often for healthcare and non-profit clients. She now combines her previous consulting experience with her commitment to bettering healthcare delivery and promoting health equity. She has worked directly with practices to improve patient care and outcomes for medically under-served populations, as well succeed in quality reporting programs and value-based payment models. Outside of work, much of her time is happily devoted to hiking, backpacking, and knitting clothing and accessories to keep her warm while on the trail.
Marya Gingrey
Director of Equity and Community Partnerships
Marya Gingrey is a committed Civil Rights and Social Justice Practitioner offering 25 years of successful social justice, equity and human rights experience. She previously served as the Executive Director for the Regional Equity Network. As a transformational leader skilled in vision sharing, consensus building, relational networking and authentic community engagement, Marya has assisted a variety of organizations in their efforts to become more equitable, diverse and inclusive in their programs and service delivery. She has worked to advance Social Justice, Equity and Civil Rights in health, education, housing, employment, transportation and the criminal justice systems. Firmly rooted in the Puget Sound Region, Marya believes in the collective power of community, organizations and institutions working together to create communities where all people can thrive.
Thuy Hua-Ly
Chief Financial Officer
Thuy Hua-Ly’s expertise includes extensive state government financial background on Medicaid financing mechanisms, rate setting for Medicaid providers, and working with the state legislature. Her prior position as the Chief Financial Officer for the Washington State Health Care Authority prepared her for the unique financing structure of the Medicaid Transformation Project. Thuy’s focus is to provide excellent financial support, processes and strategies to ultimately support and make a difference in the lives of the clients we serve.
Victoria Lo
Project Manager
Victoria’s expertise lies in developing innovative programs for underserved populations. Her previous health delivery transformation experience includes being a founding member of the Medicaid ACO at Partners HealthCare in Massachusetts and launching demonstration projects for the Johns Hopkins Health System in Maryland. After having spent the better part of a decade on the East Coast, this South Seattle native is excited to apply her skills towards improving the well-being of King County residents. In her spare time, Victoria can be found reading up on the latest health policy developments, running, playing board games, or at the theater.
Michael McKee
Director of Clinical Practice Transformation
Michael McKee has more than 25 years’ experience practicing community and public health education, administration and research in nonprofit, academic and government agencies, serving many diverse communities. Before joining HealthierHere, he was Director of Health Services and Community Partnerships at International Community Health Services. He is passionate about serving those who are often marginalized without a voice at the table and enjoys starting new programs. Areas of interest and experience include: health equity and health disparities for refugee and immigrant populations; community health workers; outreach and enrollment – including health system navigation; culturally and linguistically tailored health education; enabling services; population health and chronic disease self-management.
Susan McLaughlin
Executive Director
Susan McLaughlin, PhD provides leadership, overall strategy, operations and work to build collaboration across multiple partners working for better health in the King County region.
Susan came to the King County ACH from the King County Department of Community and Human Services as the Health and Human Services Administrator. She has been a pioneer in advocating for family and youth involvement, including authoring a family inclusion model to ensure family and youth voice in systems and program development. Learn more about Susan from the Public Health Insider blog.
Gena Morgan
Chief Operating Officer
Creating change for social good through innovation has been a unifying theme of Gena Morgan’s career. For over a decade, she worked to develop programs and partnerships through cross-sector collaboration at PATH and Microsoft. Her work at HealthierHere is an exciting new challenge to leverage cross-sector collaboration and the Medicaid Transformation Project to transform the healthcare delivery system and improve the lives of King County residents. She is excited to join HealthierHere after helping develop and launch the King County Accountable Community of Health as an employee of Seattle-King County Public Health. A Seattle native, Gena has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys working cross-culturally, having traveled in 5 continents for both business and pleasure.
Kelsey Robinson
Executive Assistant
Kelsey studied Linguistics, with a focus in deaf studies at the University of Washington. She is excited to join the HealthierHere team as their Executive Assistant. Kelsey has a passion for service and spends much of her free time volunteering locally and in Central America. She is an avid hockey fan and can’t wait for the NHL to come to Seattle.
Melissa Warner
Project Coordinator
Melissa Warner transitioned to HealthierHere from Public Health – Seattle & King County, where she supported the Communications and Policy Teams. Her projects there included work with the King County ACH, translation procedures, and newsletter communications. Prior to Public Health, Melissa coordinated public outreach and engagement for the City of Seattle’s animal shelter, and was co-lead on the department’s Race and Social Justice Initiative Change Team. In a previous life, Melissa managed a local small business in the pet care industry for 10 years.
Lisa Watanabe
Project Manager
Lisa Watanabe joined the team from PATH, a global health non-profit, where she managed strategic planning and organizational change across public health and product development programs. Prior to PATH, she worked as a technology product manager of electronic health records systems, software as a service and mobile applications. As a northwest native, she looks forward to strengthening system-wide coordination and collaboration to address some of the troubling challenges in our region. Outside of work, she enjoys music, art, lectures, reading, and the mountains.
Joseph Whitley
Funds Flow Analyst
Joseph Whitley, MPP, comes to HealthierHere from the Washington State Health Care Authority where he served as a Fiscal Information and Data Analyst. Joseph’s expertise includes Managed Care Rate setting, financial forecasting, and working with the State legislature. Joseph also has extensive knowledge using Medicaid claims and encounter data to do financial analysis and projections. Joseph’s role is to support HealthierHere with Funds Flow analysis and fiscal modeling.
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