FORT WAYNE, IND. – APRIL 20, 2023 – Sarah GiaQuinta, MD, MPH, senior vice president, Community Health and Equity, Parkview Health, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Top 25 Emerging Leaders for 2023.
The Top 25 Emerging Leaders program recognizes the healthcare industry's rising stars age 40 and under who contribute to a culture of innovation and help their organizations achieve and exceed financial, operational and clinical goals.
Dr. GiaQuinta has spent most of her career working in healthcare quality improvement, population health and community health. At Parkview, she leads three teams dedicated to community health outreach and programming – Community Nursing, Community Well-Being and Community Benefit reporting – and oversees the system’s Community Health Improvement program. She and her teams work to promote the health of vulnerable and underserved populations as well as equitable care and health outcomes.
“In her five years with Parkview, Sarah has significantly contributed to our culture of innovation and transformation,” said Dena Jacquay, chief administrative officer, Parkview Health. “She is passionate about working to find root causes of health concerns and addressing the nonmedical factors that impact health outcomes, otherwise known as social determinants of health. Her approach is one that emphasizes prevention and promotes equity and accessibility.”
“At a time of great change for the healthcare industry, this year’s class of emerging leaders demonstrate many of the skills that will be required to move organizations forward and improve patients’ lives,” said Mary Ellen Podmolik, editor-in-chief, Modern Healthcare. “These professionals are true collaborators, working internally with teams to improve workplace culture and efficiency. They also are looking beyond their own doors to better serve their communities. We look forward to watching their careers develop.”
Under GiaQuinta’s leadership, Parkview’s Community Health team has launched successful community programs that are reaching people who are at elevated risk for health concerns due to factors such as low income, lack of access to healthy foods, and other social determinants of health. Among these programs are:
- VeggieRx - A produce prescription program run by Parkview’s Community Well-Being team that assists lowincome or “food insecure” participants who are pregnant or have diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes. Its premise is that fresh food can be used as medicine to manage and prevent diseases influenced by an unhealthy diet.
- Healthy Food Boxes – Patterned after home meal delivery kits, these boxes contain shelf-stable food items and produce, and are designed by a registered dietitian for those who are food insecure, live in a food desert and/or lack transportation to the grocery store.
- The Parkview Community Greenhouse and Learning Kitchen – Built in response to the high rates of dietrelated chronic disease in Allen County, this facility opened shortly after GiaQuinta joined Parkview. Her teams use it to host a rapidly expanding array of programs, including learning labs in nutrition and gardening; youth well-being food and garden education; HEAL Farm Markets and facilitator trainings; and cooking demonstrations with Parkview chefs, fitness instructors and dietitians.
- We Ask Because We Care – This initiative aims to improve the collection of REaL (Race, Ethnicity and preferred Language) patient data. Accurate REaL data allows healthcare providers to identify disparities in health outcomes by race and ethnicity and implement strategies to promote equity.
GiaQuinta has also overseen efforts to:
- Expand preventive care for women by partnering with Francine’s Friends Mobile Mammography to bring this resource to residents of high-risk areas of Fort Wayne that historically have lower rates of breast cancer screening.
- Reach more children ages 0 – 18 with preventive care through Parkview’s Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a doctor’s office on wheels that delivers pediatrics providers to neighborhoods.
- Partner with local nonprofits to provide free services such as health screenings, immunizations, resource navigation and health education to residents facing barriers to traditional healthcare services, including men and women who are experiencing homelessness.
- Protect more students against illness by working with school-based community nurses to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations in the highest-risk elementary schools in the city. The Parkview Community Nursing team also partners with Super Shot to promote access to routine childhood immunizations for all local children.
To understand the impact of unmet social needs on Parkview patients, GiaQuinta partnered with Population Health and Parkview’s Health Services and Informatics Research team to develop a new social determinants of health screening tool so Parkview can identify and document those factors consistently in the electronic medical record (EMR). This information enables providers to serve patients’ needs in a more comprehensive manner.
Outside of Parkview, GiaQuinta is heavily involved in nonprofit work, using her expertise to transform her community a step at a time. She serves on the United Way of Allen County Community Impact Committee and two executive boards. She is also secretary of the board for Matthew 25 Health and Care, and serves as board secretary for Super Shot.
Profiles of all the Top 25 Emerging Leaders honorees, including GiaQuinta, are featured in the March 20, 2023, print edition of MH magazine and online at ModernHealthcare.com/top-emergingleaders.
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