McMinnville, Ore. — Jim Rickards, MD, MBA has had an integral role in forming and shaping Yamhill Community Care Organization from its inception in 2012. As of December 31st, however, he will be leaving his position as Health Strategy Officer to serve an even larger state-wide population, joining the state’s Oregon Health Authority (OHA) as Chief Medical Officer. In his new position, Rickards will manage a Clinical Leadership Team, the Transformation Center, and the Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC), which sets the performance and outcomes metric standards for the state’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs).
Dr. Rickards has been an advocate for the most vulnerable populations in Yamhill CCO’s service area and a firm believer in going beyond patients’ symptoms to address the social determinants of health. As Yamhill CCO’s Health Strategy Officer, Rickards has helped align the CCO’s mission and clinical strategies with local providers and community partners, working to improve the health of Yamhill CCO members and to shift the paradigm from sick-care to preventative and well-care.
In 2014, OHA’s Transformation Center chose Rickards as a Clinical Innovation Fellow in its pilot cohort. With the money awarded from this Fellowship, Rickards launched a teledermatology program to bring much-needed dermatology services into Yamhill County using remote technology.
Rickards has been an actively practicing radiologist in McMinnville for more than seven years. After graduating from Indiana University with his MD, he served as Chief Resident at Cook County Medical Center in Chicago. In 2015, Dr. Rickards received his MBA from OHSU.
Dr. Rickards’ expertise and passion will be greatly missed in the Yamhill communities, and he is working closely with the organization’s leadership to transition his work to a new position, a combined Health Strategy Officer and Medical Director for Yamhill CCO. The position description and recruitment for this full-time role will be released in the next few weeks. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rickards on his new position, and there is no doubt that he will carry the spirit of innovation and community-need to his leadership and projects at the state level.
Please contact Jim Carlough for more information, and check http://yamhillcco.org/about-us/careers for the Health Strategy Officer/Medical Director position posting in the next month.
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About Yamhill Community Care Organization
Yamhill Community Care Organization is a Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) that serves Oregon Health Plan (OHP) members in Yamhill County and parts of Clackamas, Washington, Polk, Marion and Tillamook counties. Yamhill Community Care Organization provides a different way of delivering care, by integrating physical and mental health services, bringing new models of care that are patient-centered and team-focused, and that are governed by people from our community, including social service providers, health care providers and community members.
