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Rotary Welcomes TCC CEO

Kevin Sixbey, president of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, welcomed Michael Pease, CEO of The Chautauqua Center, to a speak at a recent meeting of the club.

Michael Pease, CEO of The Chautauqua Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chautauqua County, spoke to the members of The Rotary Club of Jamestown recently at their weekly noon meeting.

Pease earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in healthcare administration and is a nurse as well. During the past 22 years, Pease has worked for various organizations in both clinical and supervisory roles. For the past 12 years since its inception, he has worked for The Chautauqua Center.

Throughout his career, Michael has been responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating a full array of services. He enjoys change management as a key aspect of ensuring organizations not only survive but thrive in the ever-fluctuating, high-pressure healthcare sector.

Pease has been a long-time resident of Chautauqua County and lives in Cherry Creek with his wife of 17 years. He is very active in the community and participates on a number of local, regional and national boards of directors. In his free time, Pease enjoys the outdoors and being active.

In 2009, the Chautauqua County Health Network applied for a federal health center. Ann Abdella and Tory Irgang were instrumental in the effort. The county was one of the highest need areas without a federal health center. In 2012, the Chautauqua County Health Network received funding, and the center saw the first patient in Dunkirk in 2013. Today there are more than 160 staff members and 15,000 individuals have been served since the opening. Primary care is the core, but services also include women’s health, oral health, behavioral health, substance abuse, care coordination and a newly opened pharmacy. The center is open to all people in the community, whether they have insurance. In Jamestown, many new patients are privately insured, Medicare-aged.

The Chautauqua Center is located on Institute Street in a new building. The center utilizes 50,000 square feet and there is space for partners, including the Office of the Aging and others who may be coming.

The Health Center focuses on recruiting local providers as they are most likely to stay. There are currently eight primary care doctors and seven are from the local area. In Jamestown they include Dr. Rudy Mueller, Dr. Kristina Brown, Dr. Paul Robbins, pediatrician, and Dr. Betsy Kidder. Right now, they are averaging 130 patients a week between Dunkirk and Jamestown.

The Chautauqua Center is also trying to bring in specialties not adequately represented in the area, such as dermatology and nephrology. It is also important to note that federally qualified medical centers must have a board of directors and half of them must be patients. The center has 12 board members and 10 are patients.

Some of the challenges regionally are: delayed care especially in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension; a rise in tuberculosis and other diseases that are normally under control because of delayed immunization, that are normally under control; problems with lead; and finally losing health care workers such as nurses, dentists, hygienists, and social workers because of COVID and other mandates.

The number one reason recruiting is difficult or unsuccessful is that the employer must usually find two jobs and satisfy two people, the physician and their partner. One reason doctors tend to come to the Chautauqua Center is because of the incentive of National Health Services Corp. The center has the highest score (highest need), meaning education loans will be paid off if they stay for three years. If the doctor doesn’t have local ties, they leave, which is why the center is focusing on recruiting doctors with a local connection, so they will remain in the area.

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