A standing committee of a prestigious national organization that focuses on strengthening primary care will now gain the perspective of a a Community Health Center board member. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently appointed Yvonne G. Davis, Board Chair of Health Care Partners of South Carolina, as a committee representative on its Standing Committee on Primary Care to provide expertise in primary care delivery, research, and policy.
Committee focuses on practices and policies in primary care
Participation in the NASEM Standing Committee on Primary Care is significant as members are tasked with maintaining surveillance of the primary care field including published studies and changes in practices and policies. The committee was established to help inform the Initiative for Strengthening Primary Health Care, a coordinated activity across agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture, and will discuss relevant information during public meetings each year while serving as a focal point for discussions on priorities in primary care.
Davis is the Board Chair of Health Care Partners of South Carolina, a Community Health Center that serves patients in Horry, Marion, and Florence counties. Davis also served on the NACHC Board of Directors, holding the position of Consumer/Board Member Representative for 8 years. She is a native South Carolinian, a veteran of higher education, and served in the James A. Rogers Library as the Acquisitions Coordinator and Library Manager for 34 years.
“I am honored to join the NASEM Standing Committee on Primary Care,” Davis said. “As a community health center board member and patient, I look forward to carrying forward the patient perspective to inform the future of primary care.”
NASEM advances the field of primary care
NASEM works to provide independent, objective advice to inform policy with evidence, spark progress and innovation, and confront challenging issues for the benefit of society. The Initiative for Strengthening Primary Health Care was launched by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in response to the NASEM report Implementing High-Quality Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care (2021).
That report outlines five implementation objectives to make high-quality primary care available for everyone in the United States:
- Payment reform: pay for primary care teams to care for people, not doctors to deliver services.
- Ensure Access: ensure that high-quality primary care is available to every individual and family in every community.
- Train primary care teams where people live and work.
- Advance Digital Health: design information technology that serves the patient, family, and interprofessional care team.
- Ensure implementation of high-quality primary care in the United States.
In addition to Davis, Dr. Eboni Winford, PhD, MPH, who is the Director of Research and Health Equity and a licensed psychologist at Cherokee Health Systems, a Community Health Center in Knoxville, TN, was previously appointed to the Standing Committee on Primary Care in 2023. A number of additional committee members also have prior connections or linkages to Community Health Centers.
The Standing Committee on Primary Care will maintain surveillance of the primary care field, including published studies and changes in clinical practices and policies.