Neighborhood Health Center Expands Leadership in Response to Growth
PORTLAND, Ore., September 8, 2022 – Neighborhood Health Center (NHC) recently welcomed four new directors to accommodate its organizational growth and expand care for the community.
NHC is a non-profit community health center that offers medical, dental, family planning/reproductive health and behavioral health services to Medicaid, Medicare and underinsured patients in the Portland metro area.
Three of the 14 director positions at NHC are newly created roles, representing a 27 percent increase.
Longtime medical provider Gregory Guffanti, MD, has been named Medical Director of Primary Care Operations, one of three new director positions. In his new role, Dr. Guffanti will provide medical leadership for NHC’s provider team, while maintaining some of his work in the clinics as a family medicine physician.
Dr. Guffanti has been with NHC since 2014, providing primary care to patients at NHC Milwaukie Medical Clinic. Previously, he worked as a clinical instructor at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), where he completed his residency in family medicine.
Nicole Watson joined NHC as Director of Primary Care Operations. Watson will provide leadership for the management and development of NHC’s primary care clinics and operations. She will oversee and support clinic managers, the call center, as well as the referral and panel coordination teams.
“I am committed to supporting our teams, investing in our communities, and to the pursuit of continuous improvement through an approach that combines both flexibility and standardization,” says Watson.
“I look forward to growing together with NHC through a broadening of our reach and services, increasing connections throughout the community, and being the first choice for any patient in need of excellent primary care,” she adds.
Watson joined NHC from OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center where she was a senior practice manager and provided leadership for eight growing clinical departments of 90 staff and 60 providers.
Angela Hall, RN, joined NHC as the Director of Nursing, a new role in NHC leadership designed to promote and support the development of its nursing teams. Hall’s leadership will ensure nursing staff have the proper training, skill sets, and guidance to provide high quality care for patients.
“I always desire for nurses to thrive and work to the top of their scope. I hope that the work we do together will allow for this and contribute further to the mission of NHC,” says Hall.
Hall joined NHC from the Multnomah County Health Department where she was the Regional Nurse Manager of East County Health Center and Rockwood Community Health Center.
Amanda Miller, PA-C, joined NHC as Medical Director of Informatics where she will be responsible for creating the governance structure to prioritize the EPIC team’s clinical work.
Dr. Ann Tseng, NHC’s Chief Medical Officer, had this to say:
“This is a new role and important partner for our Director of IT and with our EPIC team. She will also be an important partner for our Quality team in supporting improvement of our clinical workflows across the organization.”
Miller is a primary care provider with over 17 yrs of clinical practice experience (15 of those years in family medicine). She comes to NHC from OHSU where she was the Primary Care Provider Informaticist for OHSU Health, responsible for partnering with medical and operational leadership on optimization of workflows in EPIC across primary care.
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About Neighborhood Health Center:
Neighborhood Health Center (NHC) is a non-profit community health center that serves a federally designated Medically Underserved Population (MUP) in a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), NHC is governed by a dedicated, patient-majority Board of Directors, committed to the mission of building healthy communities – one neighbor at a time – through patient-centered healthcare, regardless of income or current state of wellness. Learn more: http://nhcoregon.org/
Media Contact:
Penny L. Moore
Tel: 503.941.3054
Email: moorep@NHCOregon.org