Avein Saaty-Tafoya, MD, MBA, HCM, EDAC, Chief Executive Officer, Adelante Healthcare, has been named the 2014 Changemaker by The Center for Health Design's Board of Directors.
Given annually, the award honors individuals or organizations that have demonstrated exceptional ability to change the way healthcare facilities are designed and built, and whose work has broad impact on the advancement of healthcare design.
As the CEO of Adelante Healthcare, a federally qualified community health center with seven sites, Avein has overseen delivery of comprehensive primary care services to 40,000 patients in Phoenix and surrounding communities in Maricopa County, AZ since 2006.
Avein is an inspirational leader who has worked with community health centers, primary care associations, hospitals and health plans in various capacities since 1996. Advocating for healthcare equality and access to care in the health center movement has allowed her an opportunity to apply her education in fine art, medicine, public health and business administration in order to make a meaningful difference.
She provided clinical programs leadership for both the Ohio and Arizona Primary Care Associations and currently serves as the chair/president of the Arizona Alliance of Community Health Centers, has been a 2010 Virginia Piper Foundation Fellow, and has served as the Region IX representative on the National Association of Community Health Centers board of directors and on the Farmworker Health, Health Policy, and Clinical Practice committees.
As a representative on the steering committee for the AT Still University Southwest College of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, Avein has helped establish a community campus at Adelante Healthcare for medical students. She was also recently named a trustee on the board of directors for the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and is an ex-officio member of the Region IX Western Clinicians Network board of directors.
"There are so many remarkable things about Avein”, stated Robin Guenther, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, Perkins+Will, and a member of the award selection committee, “including the way she has demonstrated that federally qualified health centers can aggressively pursue affordable, sustainable building and resource stewardship goals.”
Jain Malkin, CID, AAHID, EDAC, also an award selection committee member, went on to note, “Avein's dedication to clinical excellence is matched only by her passion for the aesthetics and functional aspects of the built environment. She views space planning as a strategic initiative to support care delivery innovation. Her approach to improving the health of the community includes offering on-site farmers market days and cooking classes focused on nutritious, local food. In addition, she has established the first LEED Platinum certified health center in the nation. She ensures sustainability statistics are presented to the community at large in an artistic manner to raise awareness of these issues. And, despite budget challenges, Avein's appreciation of art has forged close relationships with artists leading to the inclusion of original works of art throughout her facilities."
Avein will officially accept the Changemaker Award and be the keynote speaker on Monday, November 17, 2014, at the Healthcare Design Conference, in San Diego, CA. To learn more, click here.