September 11, 1007

VAFC Announces New Deputy Executive Director

Glen Allen, VA –– The Virginia Association of Free Clinics (VAFC) announced that Nicki Royall Peet of Williamsburg has been hired as the Deputy Executive Director.

"We are excited to have Nicki serve as the new Deputy Executive Director during this critical growth period of the VAFC," said Lou Markwith, Executive Director of the VAFC. "Her breadth of experiences as an Executive Director of the Gloucester –Matthews Free Clinic and Affiliate Liaison for Rx Partnership will be an asset to the organization and the 50 member Free Clinics."  Ms. Peet will begin immediately to manage the VAFC Accreditation Project which has been funded by a grant from the Virginia Health Care Foundation.     

Ms. Peet has experience with non-profit organizations as an Executive Director and a volunteer. She has broad experience in dealing with free clinics and helping these organizations to achieve new standards and improve patient service. Ms. Peet earned her B.A. in Religion from the College of William and Mary and Masters in Divinity from the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond.

The grant of $161,000 from the Virginia Health Care Foundation to support the VAFC’s accreditation initiative follows a grant in 2006 which assisted the VAFC in conducting an Organizational Quality Assessment (OQA). The OQA identified the strengths of the free clinic system in Virginia and provided a vehicle for clinics to measure themselves against other clinics. Now, the Association through its members is using this valuable information to establish an accreditation program to continue to improve service delivery and begin to focus on even better medical outcomes for clinic patients.

Founded in 1993, the VAFC is the oldest Free Clinic association in the U.S.  Based in Glen Allen, its mission is to support, strengthen, and advocate for Free Clinics in delivering quality health care services to Virginia’s low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents.  Virginia has 50 Free Clinics with 64 clinic sites serving more than 57,000 uninsured Virginians.  More information about the VAFC and Virginia’s Free Clinics is available at www.vafreeclinics.org.

Founded in 1993, the VAFC is the oldest Free Clinic association in the U.S. Its mission is to support, strengthen, and advocate for Free Clinics to deliver quality health care services to Virginia’s low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents. More information about the VAFC and Virginia’s Free Clinics is available at www.vafreeclinics.org.

Phone:
(804) 340-3434

Fax:
(804) 340-3435

Email:
lou@vafreeclinics.org