SFCCC President and CEO Celebrates 20 Years of Leadership
John Gressman, MSW, MA, became the President and CEO of the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium (SFCCC) in 1991. Prior to coming to SFCCC John provided eleven years of President and CEO leadership for outpatient family planning service clinics on the East Coast, designing and crafting new clinical delivery systems. This year we are celebrating his twenty years as President and CEO of SFCCC. John has provided outstanding leadership over this period.
Nationally John is recognized for his work in administration, policy, planning, development, advocacy and community and governmental relations. He has an outstanding reputation for creativity, team-building and leadership through diversity. He is a leading board member, committee chair and committee member for national, state, and local organizations serving on key legislative and health policy committees. In San Francisco John provided a major leadership role, with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, in the implementation of Healthy San Francisco (HSF) an innovative program designed to make health care services accessible and affordable to uninsured San Francisco residents.
During his tenure John has led SFCCC, which like every other health care organization, has been forced to be creative with resources by conceptualizing outcome driven models of care and service delivery; revising current systems of care; and crafting new and expanded partnerships. SFCCC has become a local, state and national leader in each of these challenging areas. Additionally, John’s focus on eliminating silos; moving to long term impact analysis; documenting outcomes; and promoting the work of our Partner Clinics has placed SFCCC at the center of the health care movement.
John credits his leadership success to a dedicated and effective Board of Directors and an experienced and committed SFCCC Team; strong relationships with SFCCC’s Partner Clinics that are based on trust and open and honest communication; and multiple partnerships with a wide variety of community partners. These community partners include elected and appointed officials and their staff, foundations, corporations, and hospital and health care systems that continue to support the work of SFCCC and our Partner Clinics.
The last few years have been the most challenging with the continued downturn in the economy and the passage of Health Care Reform and the subsequent actions and reactions related to it. At the same time, John and SFCCC continuously pursue SFCCC’s guiding vision of access to care for all and continue to provide services to support community health centers in San Francisco, California, across the Country and now internationally. The SFCCC Board, Leadership Team and staff are in a constant state of evaluation and re-design, always seeking to effectively use SFCCC resources to accomplish our mission of striving to enhance access for all San Franciscans. We work to:
- Increase access to care;
- Enhance the quality and continuity of care provided by SFCCC and our Partner Clinics;
- Strengthen the SFCCC workforce and pipeline for the Community Clinic workforce;
- Create and expand strategies to maximize revenues;
- Strive to assure legislative and administrative policies that support Community Clinics.
“In my 20 years at SFCCC and over 30+ years in health care I have experienced dedication, commitment and vibrant energy by many individuals and groups,” John said. “There is an old saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, when I reflect on SFCCC and its achievements it clearly shows that the tough got going and continue to go strong! Thank you to all who serve and give me the honor of serving.”
The following are some of the SFCCC Awards achieved under John’s leadership:
- National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) – “Grassroots Hall of Fame” award. This recognition honors the dedication and energetic efforts by advocates to rally public and political support for the strength and expansion of America’s Health Centers – 2008.
- National Quality Center - 2010 NQC Quality of Care Award for Quality Management Infrastructure Development.
- American Association of Association Executives Award - Associations Advance America (AAA) Award of Excellence - for an Association that makes a difference - SFCCC PHASE (Preventing Heart Attacks and Strokes Everyday) Achievement Award: for an outstanding and innovative quality program.
- National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) – 2009-2010 Program Award – SFCCC AmeriCorps/Community HealthCorps 100% recruitment and retention and 2009-2010 Award for SFCCC being the highest performing program.
- University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) - SFCCC Street Outreach Service (SOS) with the “Excellence in Partnership Award” for providing a unique service learning opportunity to future health professionals.
- Look To End Abuse Permanently (LEAP) Award to SOS - an award that highlights partnerships that seek to address, intervene and end domestic violence
- SFCCC Goes to China - SFCCC President and CEO was asked by Bay Area Council – the business-sponsored, public-policy and advocacy organization for the nine-county Bay Area founded in 1945 - to join a delegation to Shanghai to discuss with Chinese Leaders - Health Care Reform, American Health Care Systems and Community Health Centers as a cornerstone in health care.
- California Veterinary Medical Association Meritorious Award - VET SOS
- American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter – “Organizational Community Service Award” - VET SOS
Thank you John for you continued hard work, inspiration and dedication to SFCCC!
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