For almost ten years, Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN) has benefited from the hard work of Ross Brooks. He’s been a driver of success for CCHN and a champion of Community Health Centers (CHCs) that CCHN supports.
This Thursday marks Ross’ last day as Chief Operating Officer at CCHN, but he’s not moving far. In the middle of July 2012, he will become the Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Family Health Centers (MFHC) headquartered in Glenwood Springs, CO.
MFHC started with the community efforts of Gilpin County residents in 1977 who started Columbine Family Health Center. Today, there are four MFHC clinics in Black Hawk, Glenwood Springs, Rifle and Basalt, CO.
We at CCHN and Mission Driven Careers know that MFHC is lucky to have Ross’ powerful ideas and passionate dedication to CHCs within their organization. For those of you considering working at MFHC, or any of Colorado’s 15 CHCs, take a peek at Ross’ thoughts about his new job in a short interview:
Mission Driven Careers (MDC): What are some qualities about Mountain Family Health Centers that make you excited to work there?
Ross: MFHC is the health care home for 11,000 Coloradans today and is poised to grow to serve Colorado’s mountain locales. MFHC has great staff, a focused mission, a passionate board of directors, and is home to the most beautifully situated CHCs in the nation, minutes from world class skiing, rafting, hiking, fishing, biking and other outdoor playing.
I hereby start a $1 bet to any other CHC in the nation to prove they’re located in more beautiful locales (send me your pictures at rbrooks@mountainfamily.org). I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead and work with the MFHC team.
MDC: Why do you think CHCs are great places to work?
There are three main reasons I think CHCs are great places to work:
1) CHCs deliver social justice: working at a CHC is meaningful to my heart and sense of social justice as it allows me to use my skills to be in service with others and to pursue the truth that access to health care is a human right, not a privilege.
2) CHCs deliver economic justice: working at a CHC is meaningful to my brain and sense of economic justice as CHCs deliver low-cost, affordable health care to low-income working families, allowing those families to be vibrant contributors to their local economies.
3) CHCs are the future of health care: working at a CHC means I get to be part of the future delivery of health care as CHCs are: locally governed and operated; focused on primary, preventative, and wellness care; and are leading the way in implementing health care reform.
Thank you for the interview Ross.
As you can see Ross is passionate about CHCs — they provide meaningful work for both the head and the heart — and he is just one of the many passionate people you are likely to work with at any of Colorado’s CHCs. Are you ready to take the leap?
You can learn more about Mountain Family Health Centers on their website: mountainfamily.org, or look for job opportunities at other great Colorado CHCs on the CHAMPS job bank.
