Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Maryland is one of the nation's most affluent counties, yet it has an estimated 80,000 low-income residents without health insurance. The Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County (PCC), led for the past seven years by Executive Director Steve Galen, has helped roughly one-third of those residents lacking health insurance access comprehensive health care.
PCC coordinates funding for a network of ten nonprofit clinics and healthcare providers, and supports and operates five programmatic centers that address specific health-care goals for the county. The organization hs helped develop a medical records database, now shared by 11 clinics throughout the region – and the created an assessment center for abused and neglected children.
It's challenging work, given the diverse needs of the Montgomery County population and the many stakeholders – including hospitals, advocacy groups, County government and others – involved in shaping the County's health care delivery system. But Galen, who previously managed the National Institutes of Health's clinical center, is a strategic thinker who has built a career on making health systems work better.
As PCC's leader he transformed a fledgling organization with a $500,000 budget into one with a $13 million budget. He and his staff and partners have increased the number of uninsured receiving healthcare in Montgomery County from about 2,000 people in four clinics to close to 20,000 in more than ten clinics, with three more opening soon. PCC also works with five hospitals and the county government in an enviable public-private partnership. "We work with everyone," Galen says. Through these diverse partnerships Galen has helped create an innovative system in which each patient has a customized plan of care based on current best medical evidence.
Galen helped leverage significant county funding to provide healthcare to the uninsured – including some of the county's most vulnerable residents – and wants to make sure the healthcare available to the uninsured moves beyond a band-aid approach for people in crisis. Instead, he wants clinics to have the resources and systems to provide the highest possible level of care.
Exponent Award nominators cited Galen's intellect, boundless energy, and dedication to organizational improvement. Asked what he's most proud of, Galen says, "We raised the visibility of the issue of health care for the uninsured. Health care is now on the radar."
