Volunteers in Medicine CEO, Jennifer Ryan Named 2022 Women of Influence From the Jacksonville Business Journal
How have you shaped the direction of your organization over the past three years? I have been in my role as CEO at Volunteers in Medicine for over 3 years and this is my life’s mission. I love this organization and the people we serve. After leading one of the first Strategic Plans in over 5 years our board and team came together to focus on increasing awareness of the organization, increasing sustainable funding and planning for growth.
In the three years I have been at Volunteers in Medicine we have increased our reserves, we have found a new space we will move into within the next year where we can grow and serve more of our community, and we have collaborated with all of our free and charitable clinic partners to start JaxCareConnect. The role of JaxCareConnect is to help uninsured adult Duval County residents find a primary care medical home. In addition to establishing primary care, they evaluate the whole person and explore other barriers to healthcare in order to support best possible health outcomes.
What has been your biggest accomplishment over the course of your career? In 2020, with the help of City Council, Volunteers in Medicine was able to open a clinic up on the west side of Jacksonville in ZIP Code 32210 in the middle of a pandemic. 32210 has the highest emergency room utilization, the highest opioid overdoses, and the highest infant mortality.
For years I have wanted to do something to help the 32210 ZIP Code because of lack of access to healthcare and the huge health disparities this community is facing. We opened this clinic on the campus of Inspire to Rise -a community center started by Aida Seeraj a passionate and driven leader who I was drawn to partner with. I have never started something from the ground up. It was a challenge to get new funding and processes in place, extend current relationships to a new location and outreach to a new part of the community. So many times we just talk about an idea but never get to see it through. I am so proud that we could make this happen and that we could do it as a partnership. It is important to find ways to work together to help our community.
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