Families across the Fox Valley region are gaining new pathways to health care with a $400,000 investment from Medica, a non-profit health plan based in Minnesota that already serves close to 500,000 people in Wisconsin.
The donation to an initiative led by Partnership Community Health Center came about after a community needs assessment, according to Patricia Sarvela, chief development director, for Partnership Community Health Center. PCHS provides medical, dental and behavioral health care through community health workers in Appleton, Oshkosh and Waupaca. In 2024 it reached 18,000 people.
“We knew that the strategies that we have in place are effective and rooted in grassroots community organizing, but we didn’t have the funding,” Sarvela says.
Conversations began between PCHC and Medica, Sarvela said which led them to make a business case that demonstrated they had a sustainable partnerships.
“Your sustainable plan is solid and we know what community health workers can do. We’ve seen it before,” says Josh Gustafson, Medica Wisconsin Market president. “Medica has invested in other states where we have seen those benefits and how it brings people up to a place where we are actually solving the access to care issue. Access to care is not just ‘can I get an appointment with my doctor.’ Its really about empowering and educating individuals and make sure we are showing them the resources that we have.”
PCHC partners with MCI, NEW HMong and People of Progression for culturally specific outreach, mental health forums and education campaigns.
“Community members can help other community members and that is what is going to be sustainable,” says Dr. Pam Her, vice chair for Multicultural Coalition Inc.
Sarvela said, “This is an opportunity for us to be innovative and creative and really address systemic challenges.”
She adds, “These are our neighbors, these are the kids who sit next to your kids at school.”
