Board member profile: Jan Hochstatter
Jan Hochstatter learned about the Project Access model about half way into her 20-year tenure as Executive Director of the Clackamas County Medical Society. It would take the other half for Project Access to launch in Clackamas County.
According to Jan, the main obstacle in getting the program going was the lack of a free clinic that could be used as a portal. “Out of three safety net clinics the County had,” Jan said, “two – in Sandy and in Molalla — have closed in the last two years due to budget constraints. The third one is slated to close within a year or so.”
As Project Access NOW director Jan helped get Project Access programs going in the other Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area counties. When that job was completed, she and other stakeholders revisited the idea of Project Access in Clackamas County.
“Two years ago,” Jan said, “a group of citizens and organizations concerned about access to healthcare in Clackamas County launched the Clackamas Health Access Initiative (“CHAI”), now a stand alone 501c(3) nonprofit. We have people representing various aspects of medical care, such as the Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center, functional service groups, some insurance companies, social workers, County Health and Housing Division and others. Our main focus is addressing access issues in Clackamas County.”
Launched in December 2010, Clackamas County Project Access (“CCPA”) is CHAI’s first program, sharing coordination with Project Access Washington County. The program’s main portal is the County’s remaining community health clinic, on Beavercreek Road in Oregon City. So far, CCPA has enrolled 45 patients; scheduled more than 68 appointments; arranged for 8 surgeries and diabetic testing supplies to be donated; and paid $966 for medications.
Another Project Access portal will soon be the Founders’ Clinic, which is being established in memory of five founding physicians of the Willamette Falls Hospital (since a recent merger, Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center), and whose Foundation has raised more than $140,000 to date. Jan said, “We’re hoping to have the clinic off the ground by the end of this year, and have it open one night a month at first.”
On the Project Access NOW board of directors, Jan serves on the new fund development committee. “We’re working on financial sustainability of the organization,” she said. “So far, we’ve been fairly successful, but we have a big job ahead of us.”
For Jan, serving on the board is a privilege. “It’s very challenging and rewarding at the same time. The people involved are dedicated, hard-working individuals, who have kept their eye on the dream and who bring flexibility and expertise to the table. We derive pleasure and satisfaction from our success. Local solutions are the ones that we need today. Project Access is the most successful local solution I’m aware of.
“We started out with a germ of an idea. Through unique cooperation and collaboration we have a model that involves medical societies, hospitals, insurance companies, safety net clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and many others providing needed healthcare for those that would otherwise not get it. We’ve provided millions of dollars in care to thousands of patients. Where Project Access programs include at most two counties, we have four. I cannot think of a better example of team work.”
(April 2010)
