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(623) 400-5881(623) 400-5881
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intake@wvhealthequity.comintake@wvhealthequity.com
A message from our founder
Most people interact with the healthcare system from birth to the end of life and many times in between. Those interactions can provide vital connections, guidance, and life-saving care. Healthcare should be a positive force for individuals, as well as for the communities that need their service. But for too many, this is not the case. Patients are frustrated by systems that fail to treat them with dignity and respect, are frequently difficult or impossible to access, and often deliver fragmented care. These challenges are exacerbated for individuals and communities that face the greatest challenges—people of color, people with disabilities, women, and all people who experience discrimination—who often report feeling unseen, unwelcome, or disrespected. In a country as wealthy as ours; we can and must do better. Our organization understands that today’s health challenges are influenced by issues well beyond the clinic walls, from the social, economic and environmental factors that shape one’s health to the safety of our surroundings.
Helen Bujak-Bouchard, Founder
Effective and whole-person care recognizes, understands, and acts on behalf of a person’s full range of complex health and health-related needs and priorities. It requires a greater emphasis on promoting wellness, offering primary care and comprehensive preventive services, mental health, and addressing social needs, social risk factors, and adverse social determinants of health. Whole-person care is important for all, but critical for individuals and communities more likely to experience negative social and structural factors, including systemic racism, sexism, and classism, which result in inadequate access to care, poorer quality and fragmented care, worse experience and dissatisfaction with care, and worse outcomes. West Valley OB-GYN is a community-based organization that operates close to where people live, and our staff have a deep understanding of the population and community we serve. Unfortunately, in our neighborhoods and community, there are persistent barriers to health and opportunity to thrive. In response to community need, Nicholas Bujak MD, PLLC, dba West Valley OB-GYN, is opening West Valley Health Equity. Health equity means that everyone in our diverse society should have the opportunity to lead longer, healthier lives.
West Valley Health Equity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located adjacent to West Valley OB-GYN in the highest need quartile of the Arizona Community Profile Dashboards (AZDHS) with the highest proportion of adults living below the Federal Poverty Line. West Valley Health Equity is piloting new ways to more effectively meet the needs of individuals with complex health and social needs, individuals that typically have multiple chronic physical and behavioral health conditions and often face significant economic and social barriers to achieving better health. Our health and social systems typically focus narrowly on an individual’s single need and are not designed to work together to address multiple needs, often leading to costly and avoidable care. Many causes of poor health are best addressed through non-medical interventions that require cross-sector and community collaboration. The foundational goal of West Valley Health Equity is advancing health equity and excellence that is grounded in the ability of individuals to access and receive the full range of affordable care they need, in their community and experience being treated with dignity and respect. The impact of West Valley Health Equity can be measured across multiple domains including effectiveness/quality of services, health and well-being, service delivery, and cost/utilization.
Anything is possible when we provide leadership that encourages empathy and fosters the principles of hope and resilience in the communities we live; it’s more urgent now than ever.
Our Framework
Equity: Everyone deserves a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, regardless of their race, ethnicity, preferred language, gender, sexual identity, age, disability status, religion, employment, income, migrant status, and other factors.
Access to care is inextricably linked to equity—if everyone is to have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, access to high quality and safe healthcare is essential. Enrolling patients in coverage annually has saved lives, reduced health care costs, narrowed racial disparities, and provided peace of mind to those who would otherwise have been uninsured. However, access is not limited to coverage for healthcare services. It includes ensuring that healthcare services are available and affordable to everyone independent of who they are, where they live, or their insurance status.
Programs and Services
West Valley Health Equity’s approach to providing effective whole-person care focuses on achieving equity and excellence. West Valley Health Equity’s target population is underserved urban and rural populations with multiple physical and behavioral health issues and social needs. West Valley Health Equity’s care model is aligned with the Center for Health Care Strategies Complex care model. Complex care seeks to help people with complex needs, many of whom are members of marginalized groups, identify and meet their own health and well-being goals by coordinating access to a wide range of services and supports and building individual self-efficacy. We prioritize wellness and preventive care, which helps people avoid problems that impair their quality of life. We work at individual, community, and system levels to address the root causes of poor health that cross existing boundaries among sectors, fields, and professions. Our services are available to patients regardless of socio-economic circumstances.
