Chief Operating Officer at Primary Health Care and HealthConnect Fellow
(October 2019-June 2021)
Mitigating the social determinants of health barriers experienced by school-aged children and their families by designating a community health worker to work directly with kids, families, and school faculty
Before the pandemic hit, Nathan Simpson’s organization hired a community health worker and made introductions with Monroe Elementary School and Goodrell Middle School. When Des Moines Public Schools went virtual during the pandemic, Primary Health Care struggled to maintain the proposed model, as well as its school-based clinics. The federal government’s Public Charge rule also discouraged families from accepting services, even though needs were greater.
Primary Health Care had to focus on maintaining core operations and supporting staff, while also providing testing and immunization services and adapting to ever-changing CDC guidelines. Midway through the pandemic, Primary Health Care’s long-time chief operating officer resigned, and Simpson stepped into that role.
“The experience was challenging, straining, sometimes terrifying, yet also rewarding,” Simpson said. “We emerged from the hallenges of this past year a more resilient, heat-tempered, yet flexible, organization, better equipped to respond to future emergencies and with a greater understanding of the underlying needs of our community.”
Simpson still sees a need for the community health worker model but recognizes that it must be part of a shift in how health care is delivered—from volume-based to value-based reimbursement. This would allow health care providers to do more to support families holistically.
Through interactions with families with school-aged children at Primary Health Care’s clinics, the community health worker engaged patients 157 times between August 2020 and April 2021, primarily addressing food and clothing needs and coordinating interpretation services. Primary Health Care also strengthened its relationship with Des Moines Public Schools stakeholders, which may foster future collaboration on the community health worker model.
