2022 Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Anne King, MBA

We are delighted to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Anne King

• This award is given to a person who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to public health and to the improvement of health in Oregon.
• Anne, who currently serves as the Associate Director for the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN), has been working in public health and health policy for over 20 years in multiple leadership positions.
• Through Anne’s leadership, ORPRN has expanded their research portfolio to include a primary focus on upstream interventions that advance health equity by developing and implementing programs and policies to identify and address unmet social needs.
• Another example of Anne’s strategic and creative leadership to advance public health is the Oregon Accountable Health Communities project, which Anne has directed in partnership with Bruce Goldberg since 2017.
• In all leadership roles, Anne has fostered cross-sector collaborations between clinic, community, payer, and health system partners by developing and implementing creative models of care that advance public health.
• She has also tirelessly and enthusiastically invested in the future workforce for public health through mentorship and training. Many students have worked on her projects and many of have secured employment in public health following the completion of their degrees.
• Importantly, Anne’s contributions are not only in generating evidence, but also in translating research into policies to improve the health of the public.

Policy Champion Award

Northwest PANDAS/PANS Network

OPHA Policy Champion Award 2022 is given to the Northwest PANDAS/PANS Network.  This network focuses on pediatric behavioral disorders, specifically PANS or Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome and PANDAS or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections, which is a subset of PANS. 

Treatments options include behavioral therapy and intravenous administration of immunoglobulins (IVIG) to decrease symptom severity and shorten the course of illness.  A single course of high dose IVIG may be sufficient to produce significant and sustained symptom improvement.  Costs for a single IVIG treatment alone could be 10 to 30 of thousands of dollars.

The Northwest PANDAS/PANS network has worked tirelessly for over a year in the Oregon Health Evidence Review Committee process to ensure  Oregon selected national subject experts, heard from their community of families impacted by these disorders, coordinated additional national subject experts to testify during public hearings, kept their community informed on the progress of the committee and calls to action for public comments, submitted multiple letters of support from leading researchers and medical experts, testified themselves and supported families to testify in front of multiple committees, advocated for the removal of healthcare barriers in order to support health equity and ultimately were key to the passing of guidance which now ensures these children can access a standard of care that was previously unavailable to them.

Their work prompted the insurance commissioner of Oregon to issue a formal notice of the guidance to ALL Oregon insurers and external review organizations. This decision has far-reaching implications beyond our state and has led to conversations about extending these benefits to those in Idaho and Washington. The access to IVIG treatment had been unattainable for many. With the dedicated help of NWPP Network, changes in insurance policies to cover IVIG treatment for these children have been made. NWPPN has worked tirelessly to gain support for thousands of Oregon children who were being denied access to the medical care they need.  With the Northwest PANDA/PANS Network policy advocacy, health inequity in the State of Oregon and elsewhere is now being successfully addressed.

It is an honor to give the 2022 Health Policy Award to the Northwest PANDAS/PANS Network. 

Health Equity Champion Award

The Gorge Native American Collaborative

2022 OPHA Health Equity Award is presented to The Gorge Native American Collaborative.  The Gorge Native American Collaborative (GNAC) is an informal group of over a dozen regional community partners including non-profits, healthcare providers, social service providers, State, Tribal, and county governments, and others organized to offer support to Native American community members in the Columbia River Gorge (which includes Oregon and Washington as the river is not a boundary for Native People).

GNAC is a resource for organizations and their staff for knowledge on how to support the unique needs and priorities of both Tribal and non-affiliated Native community members whether living in Celilo Village, In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access sites, or within towns in Wasco, Hood River, Klickitat, or Skamania Counties. Access and health-equity issues have existed for this population since the land that we now call Oregon was “claimed” from the 9 Tribes residing here. GNAC works to address these health disparities by meeting weekly to discuss services, programs, and other resources to support Native American community members. They collaborate on outreach events and activities to help reduce barriers of access.

 Accomplishments are many and include increased staffing at 4 organizations, culturally specific training for community partners, collaboration and funding of a mobile medical unit specific to natives, culturally specific food box deliveries, vaccines and test kits for community members, and community input opportunities through in -person engagement and activities to continue fostering relationships between Native American community members and programs.  The GNAC is doing true equity and inclusion work that is driving change on the ground level in real-time.

It is an honor to give the 2022 Health Equity Award to the Gorge Native American Collaborative. 

Emerging Leader Award

Leah Swanson, MPH

Leah Swanson works as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Josephine County. Her list of accomplishments to improve public health include: securing FEMA funding for outbreak tracking, building a testing network with local hospital resources and local testing teams to go into congregate settings, securing AmeriCorps funding to help train future public health leaders, setting up vaccine clinics at local community events and fairs, setting up warming and cooling shelters, and securing a grant to purchase storage trailers to be filled with emergency supplies in case of natural disasters.

Leah has demonstrated creativity and innovative thinking, when she led her team through a snowstorm. Leah and her team were heading back to Grants pass when the roads became impassable and traffic eventually came to a complete stop. Leah and her team still had some open vaccines that would end up expiring before making it back to Grants Pass. So, they gloved up and went car to car in the snowstorm offering the COVID vaccine. In her free time you can find Leah volunteering for Meals on Wheels and organizing food boxes for families. Leah’s commitment to Josephine County and public health is the reason why she is this year's Emerging Leader Award winner.

Outstanding Student Poster Awards:

Esmeralda Julyan

Mandana Masoumirad