In the 18th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Joanna Ekstrom. Joanna works at La Clinica De La Raza, which serves the East Bay area as a federally qualified health center. La Clínica was founded in 1971 to address health barriers and create better lives for the underserved. Today, La Clínica is the first choice for providing multi-lingual, accessible full-scope health care services in the East Bay, no matter a patient’s income level or insurance status. Joanna details how funding for FQHC’s impacts the programs they implement and how her team makes community-based care a realization for thousands of people in California.

Joanna Ekstrom – Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, FQHC in the Bay Area

Joanna Ekstrom works as Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, a Federally Qualified Health Center in the Bay Area, where she oversees the team responsible for program development, grant writing, and grants management. She also works closely with executive leadership on strategic planning, program planning, and other agency initiatives. Previously she worked at UCSF on a cervical cancer screening project, at another FQHC program serving transgender patients, and at a nonprofit mental health agency. Joanna has an MPH in Community Health Science from UCLA and a BA in Sociology and Women’s Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

The crew asked Joanna the following questions:

• For our listeners who may not be aware, can you speak to the great work that La Clinica de la Raza does and who they are?
• You currently serve as a Senior Planner at La Clinica de la Raza. What does your work entail?
• What has your experience been like managing a team of eight?
• What advice would you have for someone who is a first-time manager?
• How does funding differ at an FQHC level? What is funded?
• How do FQHC’s make an impact at the community, state and national level?
• Can you describe a specific program or two that La Clinica de la Raza currently runs?
• It takes a certain kind of person to work for an FQHC when there are other lucrative opportunities? What has made you stay in this work?
• How does the specific nature of the FQHC business affect program offerings or other business decisions? Can you compare that to a typical hospital?
• If someone wanted to get involved with a FQHC, what is the best way?

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!