Later this month, Theresa Tamura will be leaving the Washington Health Alliance to take on a new role as a program manager with the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), where she will help manage the implementation of the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) funding opportunity through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation. CHART aims to sustain access to essential services and address health disparities in rural communities of North Central Washington which encompasses Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties. Theresa has been with the Alliance since September 2019 when she took on the newly created role of directing our members and business engagement work.

During her time with the Alliance, Theresa accomplished a great deal. She created and led many engagement activities to further involve current and past members. She was a significant contributor to the organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and she led a Board of Director’s initiative on reducing opioids in low-back care and dental procedures. In the short-term, Theresa’s committee and other assignments will be transitioned to other team members, including to Denise Giambalvo, our new Director of Purchasing Strategies who begins in mid-January.

Please join us in wishing Theresa the best of luck as she launches the next chapter in her career. Although we will miss her greatly, we are happy to have another strong colleague at the HCA, and know that we will stay in close contact.