Woodbury receives award for Lifetime Achievement in Healthcare Transformation at CJA Conference in Washington, DC

Vondie Moore Woodbury, Immediate Past Chair of Communities Joined in Action (CJA), was honored as the first recipient of the Mary Lou Andersen Lifetime Achievement in Healthcare Transformation award during CJA’s 6th Annual Conference “Improving Health – Eliminating Disparities in an Age of Healthcare Reform” held October 5-6, in Washington, D.C.

The Healthcare Transformation award is a board nomination award. Individuals are recognized for their investment in the national community. This award is not given every year, but given when national impact is recognized. As the first recipient of the award, Woodbury will be continuing the high standard of outstanding leadership of our organization and invaluable work throughout the state of Michigan.

Since October 1995, Ms. Woodbury, has been the Director of the Muskegon Community Health Project, one of the oldest community health networks in the US and has been credited with the development of one of the most innovative and successful community programs for the working uninsured – Access Health. In addition to her duties as Director of the Health Project, Ms. Woodbury has recently been named Director of Community Benefit for Trinity Health and serves as a member of Trinity’s Corporate Community Benefit team working with Trinity member hospitals on the integration of community collaborative models.

“The opportunity to present this award to a modern day pioneer who has made so many contributions to community-based healthcare was an honor,” said Tim Cox, Board Chairman for CJA. More than 200 community health leaders were on hand to witness the honor being bestowed during the awards ceremony. As part of the annual 3-day conference, they had traveled to Washington to share best practices for reducing health disparities in light of the new national health policy, hear presentations from community leaders, foundation representatives, health plans, and top US officials. Woodbury opened the conference with a full-day workshop on Congressional Advocacy.

“Throughout its ten-year history, CJA has supported community health collaboratives by promoting best practices and capacity building among our members, and Vondie set the standard,” remarked Connie Brooks, Senior Director at Ascension Health, CJA Board member and Chair of the Annual Awards Ceremony. CJA’s vision includes disruptive change that broadens and strengthens the health care system by addressing head on the social determinants of health, such as unhealthy housing conditions, transportation barriers, lack of food, and continuous healthcare coverage.

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About CJA: CJA’s nearly 200 member organizations work for approximately 8.5 million individuals who are underserved by the traditional health care community. Founded in 2001, CJA is a national membership organization of local and state health collaboratives committed to improving the health of individuals, families, and populations. CJA is a leader in mobilizing communities to build public/private community-based partnerships that ensure access to needed health and human services that produce positive health outcomes. CJA convenes and supports leaders from across the health community to help achieve better health for all people at less cost.