NWCPHP Director, Betty Bekemeier and NWRPCA CEO, Bruce Gray
As the Northwest Public Health and Primary Care Leadership Institute prepares to welcome a new cohort, we sat down with Betty Bekemeier and Bruce Gray to discuss the program’s impact and its ongoing relevance in today’s world.
Betty is the Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (NWCPHP) and Bruce is the CEO of the Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA). Both have been involved with the Leadership Institute since its inception. NWCPHP and NWRPCA serve Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and are deeply committed to improving population health and advancing health equity.
Q. What are some outcomes you’ve seen since the Leadership Institute began?
Bruce: The Institute has helped primary care and public health practitioners understand each other’s respective cultures and strategies. This sharing of commonalities has led to practitioners being more comfortable and confident communicating with each other. As communications have improved, richer networks have developed across the region and nationally. I’m seeing practitioners who are more connected and more empowered to work together to affect transformative change, and I find that very inspirational.
Betty: I completely agree with that and will add that we continue to get a high volume of applicants to the Institute. Many of these are co-workers of those who have gone through the program, so they’re seeing first-hand the impacts of the Institute. This is exciting because our graduates are driving positive changes in their communities and in ways others want to emulate.
Q. What successes are you seeing from graduates of the program?
Bruce: We’ve been very excited to see participants from several cohorts advance into higher leadership roles across various organizations. They are energized, motivated, and directly impacting their communities for the better. It fills us with hope knowing that these leaders will continue to have a reverberating impact at a systems-wide level.
Betty: In addition to leadership skills, the Institute has had a very positive networking impact. Our graduates are staying in community with one another and faculty members, and those relationships are going to have constructive impacts for a very long time.
Q. One of the reasons the Institute was created was to bring public health and primary care practitioners together. How successful has this been?
Betty: No matter what field we work in, none of us should be thinking about doing prevention and health promotion work alone. The Institute is helping to bridge the gap between primary care and public health, but unfortunately there’s still a gap. That’s something we’re going to continue to sound the alarm about.
Bruce: Betty’s right. It’s unfortunate, but there are times when both fields can become rigid in their parochial focus. While that’s understandable, it also limits the quality of care we as a health promotion system provide. I think the Institute has been great at addressing this, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle.
Q. What are some things you’ve personally taken away from your involvement in the program?
Bruce: Sitting in on the program sessions has given me a better understanding of the work public health is doing. That’s helped me take a more holistic approach to my work, and has made me a more nimble leader, focused on the overall mission of achieving better health outcomes for all communities.
Betty: We’re very excited to see the positive ripple effects of the Institute. Our graduates are impacting their communities and stepping into more advanced leadership roles. As they do, they’re bringing along the skills and health equity focus they’ve learned.
Bruce: We’ve found it inspiring to see practitioners from various fields collaborating for better outcomes, and we’re excited to see the future impacts from the local level all the way up to the national level.
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Visit the Leadership Institute to learn more about the program and apply.
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Betty Bekemeier is the Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (NWCPHP) and oversees the Center’s activities with federal, state, tribal, and local partners. She is faculty in the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. She received her PhD from the University of Washington, and MPH and MSN from Johns Hopkins University.
Bruce Gray is the CEO of the Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA), a non-profit community health organization focused on improving health access and outcomes across the Northwest. Bruce has an extensive background in healthcare policy, leads NWRPCA’s strategic planning and implementation, and earned his MPA from the University of Washington.
