Annual Conference

November 17-19, 2024

The VAFCC's Annual Conference was scheduled for November 17-19, 2024, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Williamsburg. The premier educational and networking meeting for Virginia’s free and charitable clinics, their safety net partners, and healthcare advocates, attendees learned, shared, and connected with their peers from across the Commonwealth via diverse speakers and robust content tracks.
 

SCHEDULE

Sunday, November 17

2:00pm - 7:00pm: Optional Pre-Conference Activity at Busch Gardens Christmas Town presented by Anthem HealthKeepers Plus
Experience the world’s most beautiful theme park transformed for the season with over ten million twinkling lights making it one of the largest holiday light displays in North America. In addition to the immersive one-of-a-kind winter wonderland, attendees will also enjoy festive treats, holiday shopping, special photo opportunities and over 25 rides and coasters. 
Complimentary single-day tickets are available for the first 50 conference registrants. After that, tickets are available for purchase during here or during conference registration by attendees at $50 per person (a 55% savings on regularly priced tickets). 

2:30pm - 4:00pm: VAFCC Board Meeting (VAFCC Board Members only)

4:00pm - 9:00pm: Conference Registration

7:30pm - 9:00pm: Welcome Reception presented by VAHP & Mobile Clinic Tours
Catch up with longtime colleagues and make new acquaintances during an evening welcome reception featuring cash bar, heavy appetizers, and a portrait corner for anyone in need of an updated professional headshot. Attendees will also have the chance to tour Old Dominion University Community Care's mobile health clinic which will be parked in the lot outside the conference center. 
 

Monday, November 18

7:00am - 6:00pm: Conference Registration

7:30am - 8:45am: Breakfast

• Virginia Telemental Health Initiative Clinic Meeting (RSVP Required)

8:00am - 6:00pm: Conference Lounge presented by Sentara Health Plans & Exhibits
Enjoy dedicated space to relax and step away for a moment from the conference for a private conversation or time alone. Additionally, we have 25 exhibitors joining us this year which includes a variety of industry supporters and vendors. Scroll down to learn more and be sure to stop by our exhibits.   

9:00am - 10:00am: Breakout One

• Fostering Trust and Integrity in Team Development with Jerry Bridge and Steve Arter with LifeWorks Education (Leadership Track)
  • ​In this interactive workshop, participants will explore and discover together the fundamental principles of leadership and how to apply them easily and effectively. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we’re all leaders in life -- in our careers, homes, and personal endeavors. To lead effectively, trust and integrity are vital. This session will identify how trust and integrity might be missing and ways to consistently re-establish them through best practices in fostering trust, leading to higher productivity and a more positive workplace atmosphere.
• Inclusive Dentistry with Sophie Parson and Misty Ladd, Augusta Regional Dental Clinic (Expanding Care Track)
  • ​For the more than 6.5 million people in the U.S. with special health care needs, oral health is often inaccessible. Individuals with mobility restrictions, developmental disabilities, and long-standing medical conditions often face long wait times and must rely on hospital resources and general anesthesia to receive basic dental care. To address these barriers, the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation is funding Centers for Inclusive Dentistry (CID) to provide the training and resources necessary to deliver affordable, high-quality and dignified dental treatment to persons with special health care needs in free clinics. In this session, we'll hear from the Augusta Regional Dental Clinic, the first free clinic to become a CID, on becoming an inclusive dental home and how you can improve access to care for uninsured and underinsured patients with special health care needs. 
• Navigating the Road to Health Equity: An Interactive Discussion with Ashley Edwards and Cat Hulburt, Americares (Partnerships Track)
  • Join for an engaging session focused on the Roadmap to Health Equity initiative, where attendees will have the opportunity to dive into meaningful conversations, ask questions, and connect with fellow participants. This interactive session will explore key components of the initiative, share insights on implementation, and provide a space for open dialogue to help you better understand and apply the Roadmap to your own work. Come ready to collaborate, share ideas, and learn from others!
• Setting the Stage for Fundraising Success with Nick Sollog, The Sollog Group (Fundraising Track)
  • This session will cover the critical components of how you can best prepare for fundraising success. Key components include incorporating your organizational strategic plan (its purpose, content, etc.) into your development plan, setting important goals by reviewing past results, and crafting a compelling case for support. We’ll also address data management highlighting essential starting points, the necessity of a data hygiene plan as well as reporting and tracking.

10:00am - 10:30am: Break presented by VHHA with Portrait Corner 

• Attendees have the opportunity to update their professional headshot at the Portrait Corner located in the Conference Lounge.

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10:30am - 11:30am: Breakout Two

• Conflict Resolution and Exceptional Outcomes: A Matter of Responsibility with Jerry Bridge and Steve Arter with LifeWorks Education (Leadership Track)
  • ​In this session, we aim to reconceptualize 'responsibility' as the capacity to react confidently, naturally, and without coercion. Engage with fresh new approaches to resolving conflicts and achieving desired outcomes with grace and power. Together we’ll explore and apply responsibility as a reliable tool for resolving conflicts and producing extraordinary outcomes including the repercussions and adverse effects of engaging in the ‘blame game’. We invite you to expand your capacity to confront challenges with an open mindset and dedication to finding solutions.
• Mobile Clinics: The Roads Aren't Always Paved, So Sometimes You Must be a Cowboy with Tammy Speerhas, ODU Community Care Clinic, and Brad Anderson, Mission Mobile Medical (Expanding Care Track)
  • In this session, ODU Community Care Clinic will share their journey over the past several years in trying to meet patients where they are using a mobile healthcare clinic. We'll cover innovative delivery methods, lessons learned, best practices, and other tips.​
• Asynchronous Healthcare - A Gamechanger for Lackey Clinic with Larry Trumbore and Jill Cottel, Lackey Clinic (Partnerships Track)
  • Learn how Lackey Clinic is using new technology for current and prospective patients to receive asynchronous care via any internet-enabled device 24/7. An online adaptive interview allows for diagnosis and treatment recommendations, including prescription if clinically appropriate. This information is securely sent back to patients, and any prescription is routed to a pharmacy of their choice. When needed, the visit can be upgraded to a real-time conversation between the patient and provider (by video, phone, or text messaging). Find out how they're saving time, increasing access, reaching new patients, and reducing barriers with asynchronous healthcare.  
• National Trends in Free & Charitable Clinic Fundraising & What It Tells Us with James Goalder, Bloomerang (Fundraising Track)
  • This session will cover national data collected on free and charitable clinic fundraising practices across the country. Based on this information, we'll share actionable tips you can implement that will elevate your clinic’s fundraising game. We’ll also cover best practices that, while simple, can boost online donations including updates to your online fundraising process, common pitfalls in building your fundraising campaigns, and insights on how online fundraising can positively impact overall donations.

11:30am - 1:00pm: Lunch

• Portrait booth will be open in the lounge and attendees have the opportunity to update their professional headshot.

1:00pm - 2:00pm: Breakout Three

• Embracing Mistakes, Breakdowns & Failures: Critical Keys for Organizational Development with Jerry Bridge and Steve Arter with LifeWorks Education (Leadership Track)
  • Acknowledging and learning from mistakes promotes transparency, builds trust, fosters growth, and makes the workplace more enjoyable. This session will discuss how leaders can embrace mistakes as valuable learning opportunities essential for growth and accomplishment. Together we’ll tackle the notion that making mistakes is important, even necessary, for real growth and accomplishment! Specifically, we'll look at how effective leadership sets a tone in which people are empowered to be open and forthright, free to express themselves, and how effective leaders value and embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning, growth and development.
• Upgrading Your Food Pantry to a Food Pharmacy with Adina Keys and Sally Graham, GoochlandCares (Expanding Care Track)
  • ​Are you ready to take your food pantry to the next level? In this session we'll hear from GoochlandCares who took the principles and practices of "food as medicine" to heart in expanding their food pantry into a food pharmacy program to better serve their patients.  
• Leveraging Peers in Free Clinics with Janine Underwood & Brian Bailey, Bradley Free Clinic, and Jeannie Nelson & Lacey Edwards, Northern Neck Middlesex Free Health Clinic (Partnerships Track)
  • ​Learn how the HOPE Initiative program is leveraging Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (advocates with lived experience in long-term recovery from substance use disorder) to connect patients to a trusted network of treatment and recovery services, while also ensuring patients benefit from holistic healthcare services within a free clinic.
• Putting It All Together: Crafting a Fund Development Strategy & Plan with James Goalder, Bloomerang, and Nick Sollog, The Sollog Group (Fundraising Track)
  • In this highly interactive session, we’ll put what we’ve learned on preparing for fundraising success in the earlier sessions into action. Come prepared with ideas and questions and together we'll craft individualized fundraising strategies and plans for participants to take back to their clinics and implement.

2:00pm - 2:30pm: Break presented by VHHA with Portrait Corner 

• Attendees have the opportunity to update their professional headshot at the Portrait Corner located in the Conference Lounge.

2:30pm - 3:00pm: Featured Remarks by Virginia's Health Commissioner on Advancing Public Health & Clinic Collaborations
Dr. Karen Shelton was named state health commissioner by Governor Glenn Youngkin and brings a wealth of experience in public health operations and policy, health care management, and patient care in both the public and private health sectors. A board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, she has treated patients in Bristol for nearly 20 years before turning her focus to public health, joining the Virginia Department of Health in 2016 to lead the Mount Rogers Health District. She also served as acting director for the LENOWISCO and Cumberland Plateau health districts from January to August of 2021. Dr. Shelton accepted a position with Ballad Health in 2021 as vice president and chief medical officer for Bristol Regional Medical Center and Smyth County Community Hospital. 

3:00pm - 4:00pm: General Session presented by Americares on Addressing the Health Care Workforce Development Challenge in Virginia with Harrison Hayes, Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, Philmika Reid, Virginia Community College System, and Arne Owens, Virginia Department of Health Professionals Efforts to expand access to care, improve the quality of care, and address health disparities depend on the availability of a diverse, well-trained, and adequately sized health care workforce. In this session featuring key statewide partners, we'll explore the state of Virginia's healthcare workforce and current initiatives designed to strengthen and expand it, including collaborations with the safety net.

4:00pm - 5:00pm: Rx Partnership Clinic Recognition (RxP Clinics Only) & Mobile Tours
Any attendees who missed out on Sunday will have another chance to tour Old Dominion University Community Care's mobile health clinic which will be parked in the lot outside the conference center. 

4:30pm - 5:30pm: Clinic Tour of Lackey Clinic (space is limited)
Lackey Clinic is a faith-based free and charitable healthcare center which offers high-quality primary and specialty care, dental care, virtual urgent care, eye care, free and low-cost medications, behavioral health counseling, telehealth services, and spiritual care. Located in Yorktown, Lackey Clinic is a short 20-minute drive from the conference venue. 

6:30pm-9:00pm: Dine Around
Enjoy a meal out together at an area restaurant or stay on-site and dine in at the DoubleTree by Hilton Williamsburg. 
 

Tuesday, November 19

7:00am - 11:00am: Conference Registration

7:30am - 8:45am: Breakfast

8:00am - 11:00pm: Conference Lounge presented by Sentara Health Plans & Exhibits
Enjoy dedicated space to relax and step away for a moment from the conference for a private conversation or time alone. Additionally, we have 25 exhibitors joining us this year which includes a variety of industry supporters and vendors. Scroll down to learn more and be sure to stop by our exhibits.   

9:00am - 10:30am: Closing Plenary presented by VA-SORH & Conference Wrap Up
Being a Leader in Life: Principles and Practices for Exercising Great Leadership, Naturally, and Under Any Circumstance with Jerry Bridge, LifeWorks Education
Designed to offer powerful and actionable insight into the key principles and best practices for transforming leadership and performance, no matter the circumstances, this session will outline keys to effective leadership including authenticity, ownership, commitment, and integrity. Together, we'll learn, explore, and apply new ways of thinking and being a leader, and discover how to exercise leadership effectively in any situation, naturally.

10:30am - 11:00am: Break presented by VHHA

11:00am - 1:00pm: VAFCC Business Meeting (VAFCC Member Clinics only) 
Annual meeting of the membership providing the opportunity to bring members together to share knowledge, make decisions, and to advance our work. 

REGISTRATION 

Conference registration closed on November 1, 2024. All registration needed to be paid for in full and in advance. Scholarships are available for full member clinics in good standing (application available in the VAFCC Resource Library). Refunds will only be issued through October 10, 2024, with a $15 service charge. 

VAFCC Member Clinic Registration

• $325 - Early Bird Member Registration (through September 30)
• $350 - Standard Member Registration (after September 30)

Non-Member Registration

• $400 - Early Bird Member Registration (through September 30)
• $425 - Standard Member Registration (after September 30)

COVID Safety & Crowd Release:
By submitting this registration, I affirm I have read and agree to the following terms:

• You acknowledge that there is a risk of exposure to COVID-19 that could result in illness, disability or death and agree to release and hold harmless VAFCC, its employees, officers, and vendors from and against all claims of damages and liability resulting from exposure to COVID-19 at this event.
• Attendees at any in-person VAFCC event are required to confirm a negative COVID rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of the event. 

Additionally, you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your registration constitutes your consent to such photography, filming, and/or recording and to any use, in all media in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with any VAFCC events.
 

Accommodations

The event was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Williamsburg located at 50 Kingsmill Road. The closest full-service hotel to Busch Gardens Theme Park, it is conveniently located off of Interest 64 with renovated meeting space and hotel rooms. Our rate at the DoubleTree by Hilton Williamsburg was available through November 1, 2024. 

Conference Sponsors

     

     
       

              
  


   

            
 

Conference Exhibitors

The Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (VAFCC) serves as the organized voice of the Commonwealth's healthcare safety net, leading the way to a Virginia where all people have access to comprehensive, quality healthcare. We are excited to offer you the opportunity to partner in our work to support Virginia’s network of free and charitable clinics and those who fall through the gaps.

Interested in becoming a sponsor or exhibitor? Please contact Rebecca Butler at 804.340.3434 or email rbutler@vafreeclinics.org to discuss opportunities.