Steve McDowell, President

Steve's understanding of health care delivery and the need for integrated systems of care has been shaped by fourteen years of experience, both clinical and administrative, in hospitals, nursing homes, home health, hospice, primary care, and public health. He has worked in development and implementation of both provider-based rural delivery networks and in community-based planning efforts to create integrated systems of care.

Steve formerly was the Director of the Office of Local and Rural Health Systems which managed Migrant Health, Family Planning and Primary Care operations for the State of Kansas, and in that role spearheaded the planning and implementation of the Kansas EACH/RPCH program, (now the Critical Access Hospital Program)now widely recognized as a national leader in alternative rural health program development.

From 1993 through 1998, Steve was Project Director for the Kansas Health Foundation's Integrated Community Health Development Project.

For the past three years, Steve served as the community systems consultant during the development of the Lompoc Valley Community Health Organization. This 501(c)3, whose members include primary care physicians, the local hospital, the public health department and the substance abuse services, has contracts for over 7,000 at risk lives and grants for community health improvement, chronic disease management and care coordination for medically indigent patients totaling over 3 million dollars. Steve has presented the results of these projects in state and national rural health conferences and has been asked to testify before the Kansas legislature and the Congress of the United States on rural health policy issues.

Steve McDowell :: Sheldon Weisgrau