Henry Thompson didn’t have any special thoughts about the Economic Opportunity Family Health Center when he was a youngster. He just knew it as a place where he went for doctor’s visits. Little did he realize that when he got older, he would be its Vice President of Corporate Affairs.
The EOFHC is a federally funded community health center whose mission is to provide comprehensive, accessible, quality health care to the diverse community. It is comprised of 16 facilities, including a 35′ mobile health center.
As Thompson recalls, “When I was a young boy, I used to come to the Center for my vaccinations, annual physicals, and those types of things. At the time I didn’t even know it was a federally sponsored program. I think there is so much misconception about community health centers and clinics. But I just knew I got good care there and that’s where my doctor was located. And I came here all throughout my childhood.
“So for me to come back here and start working, it was more fulfilling because I understood what some of the challenges were that the organization was facing.”
In his position, Thompson said he is the chief compliance officer for the organization. “I oversee our contract management and supply chain initiatives, compliance with the rules and regulations of our funding sources and grant programs, and our accreditation requirements. I also oversee our construction management and property development projects, and our HIPAA compliance with the privacy rule.”
In 2006, Thompson received the Jesse Trice Outstanding Leadership Award, presented annually by the Florida Association of Community Health Centers, and named for Jessie Trice, former President and CEO of EOFHC.
Thompson has been with the Center for more than 8-1/2 years, and he believes people took notice of him during that time. “I (started) in the Human Resources Department and eventually worked myself up the corporate ladder to my current position. I am part of a great team and I’ve been recognized for some of the accomplishments and projects I was leading, and the things we’ve done to move Family Health Center forward.”
One project in particular was that the EOFHC is building a new corporate office in the heart of Liberty City, after the Board charged Thompson with finding some office space. He said the EOFHC is currently leasing its space, but with the price of commercial property skyrocketing, it wasn’t feasible to continue to do that.
“So I came up with the proposal that we should look to develop our new corporate office on some land already owned by Family Health Center,” he said. “This land was the original location from 1970, when Family Health Center received its first grant to provide health services. It operated from two trailers. From that location it moved to a clinic building in 1980, but that land remained vacant.” The Board liked the idea and approved it.
That’s just one of Thompson’s projects, but he has many other goals as well. As he states, “In everything I do, I realize I’m impacting lives. I go back to my experience as a young boy. Having the opportunity to get care at a community health center really made a difference, not only on how I viewed health care but also how I viewed community programs and this whole neighborhood concept in general. So I think the sky’s the limit as far as things I’d like to accomplish. When we continue to look at the incident rate of health and disease, as well as illnesses that plague the community, I think there’s so much more that needs to be done.”
Post Views: 1,012
