Every year at the Community Health Institute (CHI) & Expo Conference we celebrate the winners of NACHC’s Lifetime Achievement Awards.
These impressive health center leaders have made lasting contributions to strengthening the Community Health Center Movement with their vision, dedication, and commitment to health equity. The words we write here about our 2024 winners don’t sufficiently describe their full legacy of achievement, but we are pleased to share a bit about their outstanding efforts.
Jerry Isikoff: Illinois Infant Welfare Services Family Health
Dr. Isikoff is a clinical psychologist whose passion for people has fueled his 40-year career advocating for mental health services for children and adults. Since 2018, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Infant Welfare Society Family Health (IWS) in Illinois. He has guided adaptions to support the changing healthcare workforce, advanced the provision of Child-centered Health and Advanced Therapies (CHAT), expanded optometry and midwifery services at IWS, and ensured that many IT improvements could support staff and patients. Dr. Isikoff feels it’s essential that staff feel nourished as they support the mission in the important work they do every day.
On the national level, we honor Dr. Isikoff as an essential leader for health center Look-Alikes (LAL), chairing the LAL Advocacy Task Coalition. Organizationally, he is recognized as enhancing the tools and resources necessary for his teams to provide quality and preventive health care services.
Annette Kowal: Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)
Centered on her belief that healthcare is a right, Ms. Kowal has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Community Health Network (CCHN) in Colorado since August 1996. Her deep knowledge stems from a powerful range of experiences over the past 35 years including at the Office of the Colorado State Auditor for Colorado’s Medicaid program, in the executive branches at the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and Colorado’s Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in Colorado’s Indigent Care Program, and as a policy/rate analyst for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) before joining CCHN.
We honor Ms. Kowal as a policy expert and an inspirational health center leader whose enthusiasm and infectious laughter is always a bright spot at NACHC conferences. It’s not a general session at a NACHC conference without one of her famous “Woo Hoos!” from the back of the room. At both state and national levels, she has been a steadfast and passionate advocate for the medically underserved across the state of Colorado and beyond.
Rick Siclari: Florida’s Care Resource
Mr. Siclari has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Care Resource Community Health Center, Inc. in Florida for 25 years, responding to community needs by providing life-changing patient care. His leadership brought comprehensive medical specialties and advanced cutting-edge technology and infrastructure to Southern Florida. He spearheaded the successful corporate merger of the former Health Crisis Network (HCN) and Community Research Initiative of South Florida (CRI) to become the present-day Care Resource. With his keen abilities to initiate growth, Rick has brought Care Resource’s philosophy to life, ensuring equitable care for uninsured and underinsured patients.
As Mr. Siclari retires, we honor his creativity and perseverance as he more than doubled the size of Care Resource’s headquarters, now providing comprehensive care to patients in a renovated 55,000-square-foot high-tech building. Under his leadership, HRSA recognized Care Resources as a 2023 Gold Health Center Quality Leader, ranking it among the top 10% health centers nationally.
Sylvia Partida: National Center for Farmworker Health
As a pivotal leader at the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) for 25 years, Ms. Partida culminated her career as Chief Executive Officer in the Spring of 2024 with her retirement. Her leadership has centered on expanding access to high-quality care for migratory and seasonal agricultural workers, with a push for nationwide collaboration. Her diverse expertise in education, psychology, research, and evaluation enabled her to lead significant initiatives, including the 2015 Agricultural Worker Access Campaign, the National Partnership for Preparedness and Rapid Response to Public Health Emergencies for Agricultural Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other efforts demonstrating her commitment to advocating for farmworkers.
We honor Ms. Partida’s efforts to build resilience among the organizations that serve farmworkers in the U.S., and we’re grateful for her service on numerous committees and in advisory roles at national and local levels. Her distinguished career in the Health Center Movement is marked by her extraordinary leadership, resourcefulness, and dedication to cultivating the next generation of healthcare leaders who sustain our agricultural communities.