About Suzanne
Translating Systems to People and People to Systems
Suzanne Cross has a passion for helping create and improve systems that support people in achieving health and wellbeing. She enjoys supporting others in their discovery, growth and success. She also loves turning data into something actionable to be able to tell your story.
EXPERIENCE:
Suzanne has a deep understanding of healthcare systems and transformation with 20 years experience developing and managing Primary Care Clinics as well as providing medical services to the business community. More recently, she worked for the Columbia Gorge Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) during which she led 3 iterations of the the Community Health Improvement Process for a five-County region, facilitated Community and Clinical Advisory Councils, and was the founder of Bridges to Health Pathways - a beloved cross-sector community care coordination program serving for households needing assistance. In addition, she brought in over $2 million dollars in grant funding to the region and co- authored research and publications.
Suzanne has done web design, software implementation, data analysis (loves a good excel challenge and is learning Power BI), project management, facilitation and program design. She loves to put her creativity into play by designing new or improved systems and uses data to help make data driven decisions regarding system improvement that leads to improved wellbeing. She loves facilitating well organized and inclusive meetings and trainings that support system or people transformation.
Suzanne was an integral part of the Columbia Gorge receiving the RWJF Culture of Health Prize in 2016 and she subsequently, represented the region at the RWJF Culture of Health Prize convening. As part of the National Academy of Medicine Enhanced Incubation Community Health Equity work, Suzanne co-authored the Columbia Gorge Health Equity Plan- out of which came the Gorge Health Equity Collaborative- a group of dedicated organizational partners committed to working on health equity in the region. Suzanne is a fierce advocate for plain language and dedicated to work in diversity, equity and inclusion.
TRAINING:
Suzanne has been trained in Trauma Informed Practices, Developing Equity Leadership through Training and Action (DELTA), Plain Language, Facilitation, Social Justice Transformation, Total Quality Improvement, Transformational Resilience CRM, Ripple Effects Management and Project Management. She is a functional Spanish language speaker and writer.
Suzanne has a Master’s In Public Health and is a certified Community Health Worker.
She believes in collaboration and trust building and feels strongly that we are truly better when we work together!
HOW SHE SPENDS HER FREE TIME:
In her free time Suzanne loves giving back to her community. She is an elected Board member of the Hood River Parks and Recreation District, sits on the Board at One Community Health and is a founding board member of the Hood River Water Polo Club. She has founded two non-profit organizations and a small business. She also supports FIRST Robotics as a long time coach. If you are looking for her you might find her at the pool, in the schools, on the water with her SUP or on the trails with her family of four (missing the one in college) and two dogs (she doesn't usually take the cat or chickens out much).