FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marwa Chebli (609) 689-9930
Bethesda, Md. –Eva Turbiner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zufall Health Center headquartered in Dover, New Jersey, has been honored by National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) with the Elizabeth K. Cooke Most Valuable Player Award. The award is named after the late Elizabeth (Betsey) Cooke, whose constant effort and unflagging persistence as an advocate for America’s Health Centers and their patients set an example for advocates to follow. The Elizabeth Cooke award was presented at the 2016 NACHC Policy and Issues Forum in Washington, D.C., an event attended by more than 2,000 health center leaders from around the U.S.
Ms. Turbiner assumed the leadership of Zufall Health Center in October, 2006 with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. During her tenure, Zufall has grown from one site to eight sites throughout north and central New Jersey that now serve more than 30,000 patients. Ms. Turbiner is a board member of the New Jersey Primary Care Association (NJPCA) and is a veteran of healthcare policy on the state and federal level. Ms. Turbiner has served on a variety of NACHC and NJPCA committees to ensure that the legislative priorities of health centers and the patients they serve remain a strategic local, state and national focus. Ms. Turbiner has also served as a board member for numerous health care-related organizations during her career. Most recently she has served on the Hudson Valley Perinatal Network Board; and the Rockland County Department of Health Priorities Advisory Board.
“We are fortunate to have such a dedicated and committed colleague in Eva Turbiner. It is a source of great pride to the NJPCA to see Eva acknowledged for her innovative leadership in providing exceptional healthcare and recognized for her tireless advocacy to improve healthcare access in New Jersey,” said Jillian Hudspeth, CEO and President of the New Jersey Primary Care Association.
There are 23 Community Health Centers in the state of New Jersey. Community Health Centers started more than fifty years ago as a daring experiment in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty campaign, which led to the opening of the nation’s first health centers in Boston and the Mississippi Delta. Today, that pilot project has evolved into the largest and most successful primary healthcare system in the United States. Health centers serve more than 24 million Americans (1 in 14 people) who live in more than 9,200 rural and urban communities. Health centers also save the U.S. healthcare system more than $24 billion every year in reduced overall costs from preventable hospitalizations and avoidable emergency room visits. To learn more about the mission and accomplishments of health centers in New Jersey and nationwide, please visit www.njpca.org or www.nachc.org.
Founded in 1970, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance and expand access to quality, community-responsive health care for America’s medically under-served and uninsured. NACHC represents the nation’s network of over 1,200 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) which serve over 24 million people through over 9,200 sites located in all of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The New Jersey Primary Care Association (NJPCA) is a member of NACHC and was established in 1989. The 23 community health centers and over 129 sites provide healthcare care to 494,991 patients through over 1.7 million patient visits annually.
